Cascade Crew

[Xophertony]

for those that do not know i recieved a rather hefty speeding ticket a few weeks ago in my 2.8L 1986 firebird. i was radar gunned at 86 in 55.

i was on 58 in the mountains on the way back from K-falls. it was a beutifull sunny day with light traffic. people had been passing me all day and i finally decided to punch it up abouve 65 through the corners because it was fun. somwhere through this area the speed dropped to 55 from 65, i don't remember where but i am not going to try and pull the ole "i thought the limit was XX" when i am this close to a "wreckless driving" charge.

when the cop passed me in the other lane around i curve i figured there was no way for him to know how fast i was going (did not know the radar could do that), but i knew he could tell i was speeding. so slowed down right away and watched my mirror. after about a minute of no cop i figured i was in the clear and my heart rate began to return to normal. that was right about the time smokey cought up to me.

here is the good part. when i looked down at my speedo after i passed him i was only doing 70, but i had allready let off the gas. now i KNOW my car did not slow down by 16 MPH in one or two seconds, so this has led me to believe that my speedo is off. (i have actualy thought it was off for a while, but never had hard proof)

after the officer finished the usual barage of questions (which i am surprised did not include "can you step out of the vehicle and place your hands on the hood") he gave me my ticket. (and gave back my keys ) that is when i asked him if it would make a difference in court if my speedo was off. to which he replied "do you actualy think it is that off"? in total disbelief. "no, not that off, but i had me at 70 when i passed you, and your gun says 86, i am thinking your gun is probably more acurate then my 20year old GM guage, and i was wondering if that would matter to the judge". he said it would likely knock the ticket down if i could proove it. "he hears that every day, so you will have to provide proof, if you do the judge will take that into consideration"

so my task becomes clear. i must get my speedo checked. the only issue is that i have NO idea where to do this. i ask the local repair shop where i get my alignments done, and the dealership, both have no clue. finally i call the dyno shope that hosts our dyno gathering every year. they say they can do that and will provide a written document of how off the speedo is, so that i can show it to the judge.

anyway, i will be dynoing at 10am on thursday july 15th if anyone wants to tag along and take pictures. finally will have some numbers on this tiny little thing.

[Twilightoptics]

Speedometer & Cruise Control Shop
8411 B NE Fourth Plain Rd
Vancouver, WA 98662 - 6555

(360) 254-8329

[Xophertony]

thanks paul.

EDIT*
wow, you just saved me about $75... but now i won't get dyno numbers too. i guess it will hafta wait until the dyno gathering next year.

[Twilightoptics]

Note sure just what they might charge to check or whatever but I had my speedo calibrated, new needle put on, and the odometer changed to my current milage on my car for like $29.



Keep in mind, if you changed rear gears in the car, your speedo will be off also... it's not JUST the speedo itself. All the speedos are calibrated to a specific setting. All the same. Its the transmission driven and drive speedo gears that are changed to reflect the rear end.

[Xophertony]

just a check is $15. i'll be hitting them up on friday.

[82camaro383]

Where do you guys do the group dynos at. I'm thinking about getting my car dyno once i put my new gears in.

[Dewey316]

The last 4 years, we have gone to McGee's Auto in Lake-O.

[slut]

I had the same problem (speedo like 15% low) on my camaro. The speedo shop I went to installed a speedo adapter on the transmission and gave me a certificate saying it was now accurate. I forget how much it costed, but it wasn't that bad.