[zagrot]

i was thinking about this post while i was driving earlier tonight, mostly because i thought i spotted a highway patrolman (but if the "this is your speed" radar signs are accurate, my speedo is dead on so i would have been ticketed anyway). since most early vw's are of dubious origin, and most certianly not virgins, it is possible that an earlier owner has been poking around in the speedometer, probably due to the odometer problem (there is a plastic gear in there that is prone to breakage; maybe sure to break is more accurate). most people's intuition is to reassemble the speedo with the needle pointing at the stop, but if you look at the graduations it is clear that the scale starts at 10mph. the correct way to assemble the speed is with the needle pointing at a barely noticable mark on the very edge of the of the gauge face (so i seem to remember). this mark is 0mph, after the needle is set you'd just lift it enough to clear the peg at 10mph and pass it over into the useful part of the scale. removing the needle is not for the faint of heart as they are prone to breakage during the process, but the gist of the thing is to use two small prying insturments and two small blocks, one on each side of the needle, and pry it straight off of the post. don't reseat it with a vengance, just incase you find yourself doing the job later.