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PostPosted: Sun Jul 25, 2021 12:34 am 
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I am nearly finished with the essential mechanics toward finishing up my 1923 DB Roadster. I have three serviceable North East Electric Company, Type 3850 speedometers which came in the boxes of parts provided with the car. However, all three of these speedometers turn left to right, and the speedometer cable on the transmission turns right to left. I talked to Roger Hartley regarding this problem and he said it was due to a changeover of the folks who manufactured the speedometers during the cross over years 1922 to 1923, and he said short of buying a replacement speedometer of the proper rotation, he had no suggestion. He mentioned that I may be able to find a direction reversal adapter at one of the speed shops, but I have scored a zero on this effort. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am magnamously curious why this has not been a forever problem with these cars.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:20 pm 
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Location: Portland Oregon
Been working through this myself. Cars before 740XXX were left rotation and used the finer toothed gear in the transmission, after that the teeth were wider with right rotation. Something like the Johns Manville was made for left rotation. I was not aware that NE even made a left rotation speedometer. You might pop the cover off the box and take a look. Maybe someone installed the wrong gear.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 25, 2021 4:35 pm 
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I'm not sure if this will help or not. I bought a 100 mph JM Stewart speedometer for my 1927 Indian from Janu the "Speedo Rat". The ring gear for the Indian is on the left side of the rear wheel. The speedometer worked fine but the odometer went backwards, subtracting milage. Janu said it must have originally been on a Harley with the ring gear on the right side of the rear wheel. He fixed it internally in the head of the speedometer. Maybe there is a way to do that with the North East Electric. Just a suggestion.

Darryl.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 1:48 pm 
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DarrylCutter wrote:
I'm not sure if this will help or not. I bought a 100 mph JM Stewart speedometer for my 1927 Indian from Janu the "Speedo Rat". The ring gear for the Indian is on the left side of the rear wheel. The speedometer worked fine but the odometer went backwards, subtracting milage. Janu said it must have originally been on a Harley with the ring gear on the right side of the rear wheel. He fixed it internally in the head of the speedometer. Maybe there is a way to do that with the North East Electric. Just a suggestion.

Darryl.

Thanks for your response Darryl. While working on my 1923 dodge roaster, I learned a lesson regarding another idiosyncrasy that Dodge brothers included in their cars. Roger dodger Hartley gave me some good tips in regards to why the floorboards I had cut from the old boards furnished with the car wouldn’t fit. It’s called the 2 inch rule, and Dodge brothers applied it fairly across the board with all their cars. Since that is not the topic of this post, I’ll let you investigate that on your own. Apparently, there was a change over from the needle type to the drum type speedometer sometime in the 1923 model year. It appears, that the needle type speedometer has a drive gear on the main shaft of the transmission which has a right twist to it. My car has a drum type speedometer, and the transmission drive gear has a left twist. As it has been noted by other comments on this thread the direction of rotation of the drive cable isn’t the only concern considering that the spacing of the teeth on the gears are different too. I have two other parts transmissions for the car, and until close inspection, I thought they were the same. The shape of the foot pedals and spacing on the floorboard of the shift lever/emergency brake handle matches the photo of the 1923 DB Roadster as shown in the operator’s manual. And, the pedals and shift lever on the rebuilt transmission provided with the car matches the photo. But, the speedometer gear on this transmission will not work with the speedometer in my 1923 DB Roadster. The rebuilt transmission also had a lock cylinder behind the shift lever, and Roger says that is not correct for that year (1923) transmission. Each of the other two parts transmissions have the shift lever/emergency brake handle situated about 7” closer to the firewall, and, instead of the tiny, round pedals, have wide, narrow pedals. One also has a different, more extreme bend in the shift lever which places it nearer the drivers hand. This makes shifting easier and the shorter emergency brake handle allows it to fit under the dash, when released, and provides more floor space to enter and leave the car. I was fearful of trying to change the speedometer drive gear from the shaft of the parts transmission to the transmission I had presently installed in the car. And it was a certainty that I wasn’t about to buy a needle type speedometer to replace the drum type presently in the car. So, even though Roger said the parts transmission, which also has a lock, and different pedals, and shift lever forward of the one in the car, was not a 1923 transmission, I rebuilt it, and that’s what is in the car now. Placement of the shift lever does open up the floor in front of the seat, the more extreme bend of the shift lever does make shifting easier, and having the emergency brake someplace other than resting against the passenger seat is great. However, having the levers on the transmission top moved 7” forward means that the starter button can only be reached when the transmission is in neutral, and the elongated pedals could interfere with the gas pedal unless attention is paid when stopping. When the weather warms I may remove the clutch and transmission again and see if the speedometer drive gear, or even the whole main shaft can be exchanged between the two transmissions.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 2:01 pm 
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MarkGregush wrote:
Been working through this myself. Cars before 740XXX were left rotation and used the finer toothed gear in the transmission, after that the teeth were wider with right rotation. Something like the Johns Manville was made for left rotation. I was not aware that NE even made a left rotation speedometer. You might pop the cover off the box and take a look. Maybe someone installed the wrong gear.

Hi Mark. I won’t make a lengthy, redundant post of the one I just made to Darryl. I do want you to know I appreciate your response, and I am curious as to how you finally resolved the problem. The cover on on the rebuilt transmission, furnished with the car, has a lock behind the shift tower. By the scarring on the back of the forks it’s apparent that this lock is interfering with the forks going to their full rearward position. However, neither of the other two parts transmission covers will fit this one. So, to get the car operational, so I can continue working on it during the winter, I just built another transmission and installed it in the car. You are right about the width and spacing of the transmission speedometer drive gears. Thanks again for your response.


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 3:46 am 
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Location: Portland Oregon
For my 1920, the left rotation Johns-Manfield 115 speedometer would be correct, which is what the transmission in the car is. I have a number of the drum type speedometers along with 3 more transmission beside the one in the car. 1 of those has the left setup, the other 2 right, all 4 having the gear shift lever and parking brake to the rear of the cover. My choice is to find the correct speedometer or do some parts swapping when I do some clutch work, so I can use the drum type. Until I get the title taken care of, all work on the car is on hold.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:50 pm 
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Hi Mark.I used a couple of the spare transmissions and built one for the 1923 Dodge with the correct drive gear for the drum type speedometer. I am really happy with the extra amount of floor space the newly installed transmission provides, since the shift lever and emergency brake are both moved to the front of the cover. However, it sure does make the starter button a bit more difficult to reach, and it does cramp the accelerator pedal a tad. But, with the roadster, when the shift lever is on the rear of the cover, and with the old emergency brake lever, getting into and out of the drivers seat is really a pain. If you are familiar with the 1923 Dodge Bros Roadster, you are also aware that it is impossible for a average sized man to enter the drivers seat using the drivers side door. I still have some upholstery work to do before I make the car a frequent driver, but so far the car performs well and the speedometer now reads correctly. I sure wish they made a kit to replace the starter/generator on the car with a alternator and separate starter.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2022 7:00 pm 
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Location: Portland Oregon
Driving a Model T, I am use to getting in on the passenger side. :lol:


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:28 pm 
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Hi Mark. I am unfamiliar with Model T’s, so this is news to me. Having learned a bit more about cars of this era though, I have found, to the manufacturers anyway, it seemed unimportant, possibly considered unsafe, and certainly discouraged, to enter, or exit a car from the drivers side door. And, to communicate the importance of practicing this, many cars, such as my 1927 Willys, was built with the only outside door lock on the passenger side door.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 1:05 pm 
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MarkGregush wrote:
For my 1920, the left rotation Johns-Manfield 115 speedometer would be correct, which is what the transmission in the car is. I have a number of the drum type speedometers along with 3 more transmission beside the one in the car. 1 of those has the left setup, the other 2 right, all 4 having the gear shift lever and parking brake to the rear of the cover. My choice is to find the correct speedometer or do some parts swapping when I do some clutch work, so I can use the drum type. Until I get the title taken care of, all work on the car is on hold.




HI Mark. I am again being vexed by the reversed speedometer dilemma, and want to revisit this aging thread to ask how your similar problem was resolved.
You said that you had one transmission with a gear for left speedometer rotation and two more with gears for right hand rotation.
Did you manage to find a speedometer which matched the right hand rotating gear or did you have to use one with a left hand rotation?
If you did find one for use with the counterclockwise rotating gear, could you please let me know what the model number is, and where I can get one?
Thanks much…..
Jack


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2023 7:46 pm 
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Location: Portland Oregon
I don't look at this page very often but have been following you on AACA/Dodge Brothers section.
I have not done anything re pulling transmission and doing a swap to the later righthand rotation drive gear. Hoping to find a lefthand type Johns Manville before having to do that.
Reading your posts on AACA, sounds like you got it sorted out on were on to other "issues" with the car.


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