This is just an update. Everything worked for awhile, but last Sunday when going to my first cruise of the year the speedo quit registering, and the OD quit shifting. Obviously the GV signal generator is no longer spinning. When I drove it home it worked again for about 10 minutes so it seems something is slipping, and maybe not broken. Their tech guy Tim is theorizing that the drive shaft on the Auto Meter speedo sending unit is not aligning with the output of the GV signal generator. This causes undue friction, and thus causes the gears to slip in the tail shaft out put gear set.

The GV set up is this: The GV tail shaft has what looks like a typical opening in it for a speedo drive gear fitting. In the case of the Mopar unit the gear housing has a 90 degree angle so the speedo cable extension is parallel to the body of the trans. This extension which is about 2 feet long threads onto their signal generator which sends a speed related signal to the GV computer. The stock speedo cable is supposed to thread onto the front side of the signal generator. I have threaded the Auto Meter sending unit on this instead since there is no cable to the speedometer.

If the GV signal generator does not spin, the GV computer thinks the car is sitting still, and it will not shift into OD until it gets to 20 MPH. My understanding is that the primary reason for this is so the OD cannot be engaged while in reverse, which would do damage to the clutches.

I have ordered the 4 inch long speedo cable to go between the signal generator and the Auto Masters speedo sending unit in order to eliminate the alignment problems. Tim thinks this will solve the problem, but I have my doubts. I drove it up and down the driveway last night, and the speedo did not register. In the past it worked for awhile. Now it does not. So whatever is or was slipping after a short drive is now slipping early on. I do not know what the gears look like in the speedo gear housing, and I do not know how they are held onto their respective shafts. I can imagine that either the gear has been forced to slip so much that it now has no purchase at all. I can also imagine that maybe a roll pin either burst through the sides of a nylon gear, or that the same pin possible sheared off, or is gone all together.

I thought I would wait until the short cable arrives and at least give that a chance before I took the gear housing out of the tail shaft and took it apart to examine it. In any event, Tim said they would warrantee it if it is defective or damaged. It seems it may be a month or more before I can get this worked out.

Sam

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Short extension cable arrived today, and it was the wrong one. Very disappointing. When notified, Gear Vendor Tim was very apologetic and said he would send the right one out immediately. So another week or more is lost. I will keep you posted.

Sam

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Sam,thanks again for your updates...I just wish it was better news...is it worth taking your Autometer signal generator off and then rotate the tailshaft to check if the actual overdrive unit speedo drive is working? Just thinking that would eliminate a few possibilities and save time waiting for drive cables etc if they aren't necessary? Please keep is posted...hope it's an easy fix!

The actual GV speedometer drive from the tail shaft is working for the first five minutes. Then it starts to slip and things first get goofy and finally quit working altogether. Something in the gear housing starts to slip. I have asked Tim if there is a gear that is pressed on that could be slipping, and he did not have an answer that made sense. The gear on the output shaft of the OD unit is held in with a woodruf key. It seems that would either work or not. I suppose the key could have slipped out of place, but that does not seem likely to me. He said nothing that shed any light on how the gears in the cable housing were held on. Until I get the new cable extension I am just content to leave it alone. The housing can be taken apart, and if I really wanted to get into, I suppose I could find out what is going on right now. It certainly is possible to at least unhook the Autogauge speedo sending unit and see if it works for longer. That would point the problem as being excessive friction in that connection. I may try that today.

So given these teething problems, I am disappointed that GV did not have their own engineering worked out better, especially since I spent the big money assuming they had done so. It now seems that the simplest way to work this would be to bi-pass the computer altogether and switch it manually. This would be best done with a relay wired into the reverse light circuit to shut it off when in reverse. In this case you would simply shift in and out of over drive with a switch either on the shifter or floor. In this case you would need the GV adapter, which seems to have worked out OK, the OD unit, a switch and relay and you are ready to go. Knowing what I know now, that might be the way I would go if doing it again.

I feel certain I can get this working correctly, and am happy with it for the first 5 minutes of driving.

Sam

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Determined output gear from speedometer drive is slipping on shaft, thus failing to transmit motion to GV signal generator and speedo sending unit. Suspect this happened with initial test drive when there was interference at speedometer sending unit hook up. Weakest part, (hopefully only one) is what failed. GV has said they would stand behind their warrantee and send new one, but think I may not get this in time to take car to Mason Dixon races. I do not race anyway, but always look forward to driving to this event and parking in infield.

Sam

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Pretty sure Fed-Ex or UPS could have you the part by Friday! That gives 2 weeks to get her ready! I think someone may be pulling your leg Sam.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

I've been secretly hoping Sam can shake out all the bugs and bring it to the Chrysler Carlisle meet somewhere around Jul 9.

Sam seems so far along and is getting so close to calling it a wrap but a few miles on on the GV unit will tell more in the reliability category?

GV must be learning a thing of two from Sam's efforts and be especially appreciative of the feedback and practical knowledge Sam is sharing.....I know I am!

Thanks you Sam.....Don

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1965 Dart 125k, 225, Carter BBD Super Six, 2 1/4 single exhaust., sbp manual scare-bird front disc, 7 1/4 rear 2.94 sure grip, 15 x 4.5 wheels, 833 OD with hyd. throw-out bearing, electric fan, ram air/heated air, Accusump.

I can go to Carlisle on July 10th. I see no reason why I cannot. This is a busy, busy summer with 3 extended travel commitments for family memorial services and a professional convention. But the 10th of July is open. Sounds like fun.

I agreed to pay the extra fee for 2 day air delivery of the part. It still will not get here before Monday unless that had a late UPS pickup in California. Hopefully things will go smoothly once the new part is installed. They said they would prefer I NOT take the old one apart, but send it back to them for inspection. I really want to take it apart myself and see what happened.

Sam

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Best to know if it's a one off factory assembly mistake or a defective design?
What could the factory know better about examining it then Sam?
Finally it seems that Sam has earned the right to know about the GV product under the skin details?

My calendar was set for the Chrysler Carlisle event early on because of Sam's top potential attraction for me! I am glad you have a chance of going!

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1965 Dart 125k, 225, Carter BBD Super Six, 2 1/4 single exhaust., sbp manual scare-bird front disc, 7 1/4 rear 2.94 sure grip, 15 x 4.5 wheels, 833 OD with hyd. throw-out bearing, electric fan, ram air/heated air, Accusump.

That's mighty kind of you friend. I hope to see you there.

Sam

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Gear Vendors informed me, AFTER I called them, that the parts had to be back ordered. I suspect they simply messed up and forgot. I went ahead and wired it for manual engagement using the button on the shifter knob. I finished too late last night to test drive it, but it cycled correctly while sitting still.

I could hear the solenoid engaging and the console mounted indicator light came on. I suspect it will be just fine. I am looking forward to being able to cruise at 30 mph in 2nd over. With the lockup and 3.00 gears in third gear at 30mph it was lugging at 1200rpm. Yes, the lock up was still locked up when slowing down to 30.

I will install the new speedo drive but may just leave it manual if I like it enough. This automatic computer deal introduces another level of complexity that is supposed to make it dummy proof by making it impossible to engage below 20mph. It seems like it is just one more thing to fail. I now know two local guys who have theirs wired manually and like it.

I will drive it tonight, and probably take it it to the Sunday cruise. It will be nice to feel like I can move on to another project.

Sam

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Good for you. Looking forward to hear more how you like it. The OD in my Dart Lite was super, and I LOVE my late model Challenger with the 0.5 6th gear OD.....75 mph at 1750 RPM !

The test drive went well. I need to move the light to a more visible place. Does anyone see a problem with cruising in town in second gear. Second over is a perfect gear for local, 35 mph driving.

I will have to get a much better feel for the timing of the upshift into OD to use this as a 6 spd. There is a slight delay on the upshift to od, and shifting from 2 over to 3 under is pretty ungraceful at this point.

The best place to put the indicator light for the OD would be to replace the knock gauge on the A pillar. Now that the turbo is off, the knock sensor seems somewhat gratuitous. It would be possible to make a faceplate for the gauge pod for the light, which would then be at eye level. Right now I must glance down as i am slowing down to make sure I am disengaging OD. This takes my eyes off the road, which I do not like.

Thanks for the support through this project. It was nice to know guys were pulling for me here. Bottom line: I like it. Although the factory support was a little more talk than action. At this point, if doing it again I would consider seriously seeing if the would sell it as a strictly manual set up, without the computer.

Sam

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V8 or six on the Charger?
Sam

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Congrats, Sam. Very interested to see the car next week.

Lou

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