Palo Alto
Speedometer

Speedometer Repair and Gauge Restoration in Downtown Palo Alto

Palo Alto Speedometer has been on Emerson Street since 1957. Claus Mees opened the shop when a speedometer was a mechanical instrument with a cable running to the gearbox, and his son Hartmut runs it today, in a trade where few shops are left. What has not changed is the work, taking an instrument apart on the bench, finding out why it stopped telling the truth, and putting it back together so it reads correctly for another few decades.

We restore, repair and customize automotive gauges, and we program mileage into modern instrument clusters. Both sides of the shop run side by side, which is unusual for a shop as most places do one or the other, but we feel that we have mastered both. More about the shop and its history.

What Comes Across Our Bench

Speedometers, tachometers, fuel, oil pressure, oil level and oil temperature gauges, clocks, ammeters, voltmeters, boost gauges, air-fuel ratio gauges, cylinder head temperature gauges, combination gauges, and complete instrument clusters.

Most of what we see is VDO, Smiths, Veglia, Jaeger and Motometer, the five makers that account for the majority of what was fitted to European cars from the 1950s onward, and we can also take on Stewart-Warner and other makes. If you are not sure what is in your dashboard, send us a photograph and we will tell you.

On the restoration and repair side the cars are mostly Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, De Tomaso, BMW, along with Volkswagen, Lamborghini, Triumph, Lotus and Fiat. You can see recent work in our gallery, including a 1967 Porsche 911S, a 356 Pre-A, a Ferrari 250 TdF and a BMW R75/5.

Porsche Gauge Restoration, Repair and Customization

Porsche work has come across our benches for decades, from 356 and early 911 instruments through to modern clusters, and it is what we are best known for. The connection goes back to the beginning. Our founder, Claus Mees, worked at VDO, where Porsche’s instruments were manufactured, and he brought that factory knowledge with him when he opened on Emerson Street in 1957. We have been doing Porsche gauge restoration, Porsche gauge repair and Porsche gauge customization for so long that our work is the standard the rest of the trade is measured against. For an owner who wants the pinnacle of Porsche gauge work, whether that is a 356 Pre-A speedometer rebuilt to OEM level, a 911 tachometer repaired and recalibrated, or a one-off set of custom dials built for a restomod, this is the premier shop to send it to. Several hundred of our gauges have been shown at concours events and Porsche shows across the country and around the world.

Mercedes-Benz Gauge Restoration, Repair and Customization

Mercedes-Benz is the other marque we specialize in, and for much the same reason. VDO supplied those instruments too, so the work our founder learned at the factory applies to a Mercedes dashboard as directly as it does to a Porsche one. We handle Mercedes-Benz gauge restoration, repair and customization from 1928 all the way through to the mid-1990s cluster era. We have done dozens of fully restored Gullwing and Roadster gauge sets, and customers have described the finished work as looking like fine jewelry.

What a Full Restoration Involves

A full restoration means stripping the instrument down, cleaning, and repairing the movement, replacing worn components, refinishing or reprinting the dial to the original artwork, painting the needles back to their original color, cleaning or replacing the lens and bezel, then calibrating and testing it before it goes back in the box. We work to OEM-level restoration quality, which means the newly screened dial looks no different than when it came off the production line. That is what concours judging asks for, and it is the standard we hold whether or not a car is going to be judged.

A full restoration typically takes about five to six weeks. Depending on where it falls in the queue it can be shorter, but five to six weeks is the honest number to plan around.

Speedometer and Gauge Repair

Not everything needs a restoration. Speedometer repair is the bulk of what comes through the door, and a great deal of our work is a straightforward fix: an inop odometer, a seized movement, a fogged lens, a broken needle. We will tell you honestly which one your gauge needs rather than selling you the bigger job. Most repairs are finished within a week, though some will take four to five weeks depending on what we find and what parts it needs.

Speedometer and Tachometer Conversions

We also convert kilometer speedometers to miles per hour, and vice versa, which is a common job on imported cars. That means changing the gearing and the dial to match whatever you are converting to.

We also convert mechanical tachometers to electric. This is a very common conversion on many different cars, from Porsche 356s to Triumph TR4s.

Our Warranty

Every job we do carries a two-year warranty. Where we have only done cosmetic work, the warranty covers the cosmetic parts and the calibration, but not the long-term functionality of a movement we were not asked to rebuild.

Custom Gauges and Dials

Our customization service gives you complete and total control over what appears on your gauges. We can stay in the same lane as OEM, or change patterns, fonts and logos. Whatever it is, we will do it. We will change colors if that is what you want, build three-dimensional dials with texture and vibrant colors, or carry a single theme across a whole set of gauges. The aim is to build something meaningful to you and to your car. More about restoration, repairs and customization.

What It Costs

There are so many different types of services and jobs, and so much optionality in any given repair, that the only honest answer is to get a quote from us. Call and describe what you have, send us an inquiry, or send us the gauges so we can dive into it and really diagnose what the issue is, that is how you get the most accurate estimate.

Mileage Cluster Programming

When a modern instrument cluster fails it is usually replaced rather than repaired, and the replacement arrives reading zero. We are authorized to set mileage. There are two scenarios in which we do mileage cluster programming: through a verified dealership where we have a partnership, or through a private party. Private-party programming requires a signed Odometer Agreement Form. To view the odometer agreement form please go to our Form Downloads Page.

Most programming takes about two to three days once we have the unit. We are a preferred vendor for Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Acura and Genesis among other brands, and this is the side of the shop that handles Japanese and other modern vehicles. Dealerships: we need a written purchase order number, not one given over the phone. Private owners: the signed odometer agreement and a copy of your driver's license have to travel with the cluster, and our order form prints that agreement for you already filled in. The mileage we set is recorded on your invoice. More about mileage cluster programming.

Sending Us Your Gauges

Most of our work arrives by mail from across the country. Fill out the order form, print the ticket number it gives you, and put that printout in the box with the instruments. The ticket number is how your parts and your paperwork stay together once they are on the bench.

If you are not ready to ship and just want to know whether something is worth saving, send us an inquiry instead. A photograph and your year, make and model is usually enough for us to tell you what you are dealing with.

Visit the Shop

718 Emerson St, Palo Alto, California 94301. Open Monday to Friday, 7am to 4pm. Phone (650) 323-0243. You are welcome to bring instruments in person if you are local. We will take your details and explain how the process works, and if you would like us to test the gauge while you are here we are happy to do that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you work on Porsche gauges?

Yes, and it is what we are best known for. Porsche is built into the foundation of the shop, because our founder Claus worked at VDO, where Porsche’s gauges were manufactured. Owners, collectors and concours judges have called our gauge restoration the premier work in the industry, and several hundred of our gauges have been featured at concours events and Porsche shows across the country and around the world. Our Porsche gauge customization has been just as popular, because the design is done entirely in-house, which means you can specify every detail of what you see on the dial.

Do you work on Mercedes-Benz gauges?

Yes. Mercedes-Benz is our other specialty, and it comes from the same VDO background. Whether it is a Mercedes-Benz SSK or a W-126, we can restore those gauges to factory original, repair them, and customize them to your liking.

How long does a speedometer repair take?

Most repairs are finished within a week, though some take four to five weeks depending on what we find and what parts are needed. A full restoration typically takes five to six weeks, and mileage cluster programming is usually two to three days once we have the unit.

How much does gauge repair or restoration cost?

There are so many different services, and so much optionality in any given repair, that the only honest answer is to get a quote from us. Call and describe what you have, send us an inquiry, or send us the gauges so we can diagnose the problem properly and give you the most accurate estimate.

Do you warranty your work?

Yes. Every job carries a two-year warranty. Where we have only done cosmetic work, the warranty covers the cosmetic parts and the calibration, but not the long-term functionality of a movement we were not asked to rebuild.

Can I ship my gauges to you from out of state?

Yes. Most of our work arrives by mail from across the country. Fill out the order form on our site, print the ticket number it gives you, and put that printout in the box with the instruments.

Is it legal to set the mileage on a replacement instrument cluster?

Yes, when it’s done properly and documented. When a cluster fails it’s usually replaced rather than repaired, and the replacement arrives reading zero — which doesn’t match the car. Federal odometer rules require that the recorded mileage reflect the vehicle’s actual mileage, so setting a replacement cluster to match the car is a correction, not a rollback.

This applies to used clusters as well as new ones. A used cluster arrives carrying another car’s mileage, and that can be corrected to match your vehicle with the same documentation.

Every job requires the vehicle’s VIN on the paperwork, whether it comes from a dealership or a private owner. Beyond that, a dealership job needs a written purchase order number. A private owner needs a signed Odometer Agreement Form giving the true mileage, along with a copy of your driver’s license. The mileage we set is recorded on your invoice, so there’s a paper trail.

What we won’t do is set a cluster to a figure that doesn’t match the vehicle. If the mileage you give us doesn’t match what the car has actually travelled, we can’t help.