If someone wants to give this a shot, I will send you a pointer and center pivot to use as models. Although you probably only need the pointer, unless you want to 100% reproduce the pointer with its original location/fastening pins.

20190902_145821.jpg


20190902_152735.jpg
 
I'm not a 3D printer guy but https://www.shapeways.com/ has a design service available. But I must add, every 3D printed part I've ever seen left a textured surface that had to be removed with abrasives and filler to get a decent surface. There is also density and dimensional stability unknowns with printing resins.

Have you thought about just scratching one out of plastic rod? Honestly, it's not that hard. It's probably closer to the density of the original material too. Any local hobby shop like Hobbytown or Hobby Lobby stock Evergreen polystyrene in all shapes and sizes. Evergreen happens to come in only one color though, white! How convenient, huh. I'd start with quarter-round:
https://evergreenscalemodels.com/collections/14-35cm-white-opaque-polystyrene-half-round
 
Last edited:
Have you thought about just scratching one out of plastic rod?
Are you thinking to make just the straight (white) needle portion and secure it to the original (black) base portion? Otherwise, how would you make it mount to the speedo? I am not a modeler and have never removed the Fiat needles so I really don't know and am asking for a education.

20190902_145821.jpg
 
Just the white rod needs to be replaced. I would reuse the black base. The difficulty I think would be getting the mass and moment of inertia the same so it doesn't throw off the speedo calibration.

Notice in the needle photos how the shaft has been mitred out to lighten the needle shaft? It may be what causes the distortion as the plastic shrinks (and possibly lightens) over time. This may also be why Speedos tend to read too high as they age? Pure speculation...
 
Last edited:
I would think that getting a piece of aluminum and using that would a nice choice which wouldn’t be affected by heat, plasticizer migration and other environmental conditions.

It could be cut and formed to look like the plastic part from the view side and glued to the base part.

This would weigh roughly what the plastic part does but be more durable over time.
 
I think a solid piece of aluminum might be too heavy but thin sheet would be light enough. Other cars use a piece of flat aluminum photo etched or die cut from sheet as a pointer. But the X has that thick 3D triangular cross section. You'd have to make a tool to form it. Below is a simple test using .005" aluminum sheet. It would be much harder to do than plastic. Lines represent an inch.
P_20190905_213519.jpg
 
so it doesn't throw off the speedo calibration
Ha, it can't get any worse. May actually improve it. :D

I recall old posts that used matchsticks, shish kabob skewers, and all manner of materials. I could be wrong but I seriously doubt the slight difference in weight will make any difference.
 
My speedo cable made noise and the speedo bounced some; when I changed it, the cable itself (not the housing) had broken strands internally, came out of the housing a full 6" longer than the replacement, and felt very 'noodly".
 
Wouldn't be tres cool if they can print the needles with glowing material like the stuff in watches and gun sights?
 
Does anyone elses speedo jiggle around a lot while driving? What causes this?
I believe you are not referring to the rhythmic speed dependant oscillations of a dry frayed cable, but more like a loose needle that randomly jiggles about? If so, I suspect that is the nature of how the mechanism is designed. Of the countless vintage cars I've played with over the decades, many of them had this behavior (British cars with Smiths speedo were particularly bad). I guess it was a function of the type of mechanism used in speedos back then. I'm not very knowledgeable about how these gauges work, but I have taken a couple of old speedos apart to try and repair them. Typically there is no direct connection between the needle portion and the drive cable portion. So the needle sort of "floats" allowing them to bounce, especially in vehicles that have a rougher ride with lots of vibrations and jostling about. In fact I've noticed in some cases the jiggling needle is much worse on very rough roads compared to really smooth ones. No idea if this is actually the case with the X's speedo, as I said I'm just speculating. But there is a very obvious difference between this action and a bad cable. When the drive cable is the cause you will see a distinct pattern of the needle sweeping back and forth, often with wider sweeps as the speed increases (although sometimes it is the opposite, it actually decreases with speed). And the oscillations are fairly steady, not random like the "loose needle" action.

If what you are referring to is not a cable problem, I have no idea if there is anything that can be done about it. Maybe a newer mechanism (with less wear) will do it less? Or maybe there is something that can be lubricated or even buffered somehow to reduce it? Hopefully a speedo expert here will offer more info. But considering the vagueness of the speedo's accuracy I'm not overly concerned about it on my cars. It kind of gives it a vintage car character to go along with the smell, noise, rough ride and crudeness of it all. I love it. Although I'll never own a British car again (Italian is bad enough :D), they are the epitome of this sensation.
 
I have dimensions for speedo and tach needles if anyone wants to give it a try!

One thing's for sure, LOTS of potential customers!!!

I had to print a few things at work today, so I added a speedometer needle to the mix. The black base is as it came from the printer, the needle has two coats of white Rustoleum bonding primer. This is done on a Stratasys polyjet machine. I don't think these part are all that well suited for the more common FDM machines (the ones using ABS or PLA filament).

The center of mass is a mm or so away from the pivot point according the SolidWorks; a bit more than that after I painted the needle. The needle fits on the original injection molded base as well as on the 3D printed one. STL files attached in case anyone wants to play with these.

P1000896.JPG
 

Attachments

  • Needle.zip
    33.8 KB · Views: 147
Looks nice; wonder how it will age...better than the original, hopefully!
 
Just a preview of the progress I'm making with these needles:

1634689979538.png

1634690281191.png

1634690296673.png

1634690374039.png


Perfect fit. Perfect dimensions. Hollow needle the same as original. As noted earlier, FDM is the wrong technology for printing these, but with some final sanding and all white ABS (this stuff had the metallic filler) I think I can make FDM work. I'll get some made with SLA to see how they come out, but I think I'm close to a solution here.

SolidWorks and STL file here for anyone wanting to print one.
 

Attachments

  • X19 Needle.zip
    171.6 KB · Views: 116
I had downloaded this same 3D file and was planning to print them out and install them on a instrument cluster Jeff was good enough to provide. I read about a guy who did it, he uses the original base, gently preyed off the needle then super glues in the printed needle to the old base.

I think FDM will work but will move to a .2mm print head.
 
Just a preview of the progress I'm making with these needles:

View attachment 53903
View attachment 53904
View attachment 53905
View attachment 53906

Perfect fit. Perfect dimensions. Hollow needle the same as original. As noted earlier, FDM is the wrong technology for printing these, but with some final sanding and all white ABS (this stuff had the metallic filler) I think I can make FDM work. I'll get some made with SLA to see how they come out, but I think I'm close to a solution here.

SolidWorks and STL file here for anyone wanting to print one.
Freaking OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
 
Back
Top