Joel Levine Speedometer Repair

[LowRyter]

The Veglia Whiteface Speedometer on my 2001 Sport has been jumpy since I bought it with 12k miles on it a few years ago.  The trip odo stem fell out a few months ago and was epoxied back in.  I have 34k miles on it now and the Speedo finally packed it in and froze at 85 mph.  It unfroze and finally froze again forever.

 

I shopped around and got it repaired by Joel Levine in Lafayette Ga.  He turned it around in a week and charged me $294 incl shipping.  Got it back and reinstalled it and it works fine for the brief ride I took (in the rain).  Speedo is steady and trip odo is turning.  

 

I think this is cheaper than getting a Speedhut replacement or from the two other repair shops in the US.  The turn around was definitely quicker than anyone else.  

 

A couple of notes.  I broke the light socket unawares.  Got another one from Harpers and replaced both lamps 3V (for Speedo and Tach).  I also notched the dash housing so I could install and remove the housing without taking the trip odo stem out.  I couldn't get the housing to match up when I was trying to screw the stem back in in the first place. It was much easier just to screw the stem in and put the housing on. 

 

So far, so good.  Joel tells me that Veglia weren't really good in the first place and the quality only got worse.  For now, I recommend him.  

[Scud]

Glad to hear you got it sorted out. I think the price might be similar to some of the Speedhut units, depending on options selected. But it's certainly less work than fitting a Speedhut into the stock gauge cups - and you don't have to replace the tach in order to get your gauges to match.

[LowRyter]

we'll see how long it holds up.  But it is all original. 

[sdhow]

Did he refinish the face and needle for that or just do a mechanical refurb?

[LowRyter]

SD.  He did not.  I should've mentioned it him.  The face was fine but the red needle was faded and he didn't paint it or replace it.  

 

I think he probably would paint the needle- I've done it myself fixing the tach on my EV.  I would guess the face might be another issue since it would require much more work or a replacement.  

 

I would call him and ask.

[Lucky Phil]

So $294 and he didn't spend 5 min painting the needle while he had it apart because he wasn't told to!!!

He wouldn't get my recommendation.

Ciao

[LowRyter]

well Phil, There are 3 shops in the USA that will do this work.  Joel got it done on time and on cost and talked to me about it on the phone.  

 

You know I didn't even think about the needle until I got it back.  But yeah, maybe he should've caught it.  And I should've told him about it.  On the other hand it doesn't look discolored, only white.  

[buellish1]

He wouldn't even talk to me about the ITI speedometer from my 2004 Ballabio,he said he doesn't work on anything that new and told me to throw it away and buy a new one.