can you use aftermarket guages i.e. Smiths and pass the SVA?
AFAIA, yes, so long as they have the correct radius on bezels or you fit them within a certain arc scribed behind the steering wheel.
ATB
Simon
As long as the speedo reads the speed within the specified accuracy limits then everything else is your own business.
The only worry then is the shape of the bezel, as Simon says.
cheers,
David
Persoanlly I'm going for the 'get the car through the SVA and then make it how I want it' method!
I'm taking the donor binacle apart so I will have a seperate speedo and rev counter, but still original bits so there shouldn't be a problem with
calibration etc.
Spent a happy evening 'clocking' the speedo back to zero miles with a battery drill!!
Kelvin
[Edited on 17/1/03 by Kelvin]
is that legal? LOL! neway i think i will use the same methos as you kelvin and then buy some decent Smiths clocks! its gonna set me back about £3-400 but hey wots money for? LOL
I think it's more not in the spirit of the SVA rather than illegal. (I hope!!)
The dials will work and be callibrated correctly, so it's hopefully one less thing to worry about on the day. Also it's cheaper!
In the same vain, I'm going for an aero screen to start with and probably put a proper windscreen on after test.
As long as the car will still pass an MOT after it's registered, where's the problem? 
Kelvin
I can't see there'd be any problems with winding the odometer back. After all, if you buy a new set of clocks, it'll be set to zero, and I've got a
feeling that the odo isn't to record the distance the clock has been!!! Winding it back to try to sell it for more money (debateable anyway) or
winding it back so that it looks like you've done fewer miles than you really have so you don't have to pay as much for insurance is almost definately
illegal, so now is the time to wind it back!!
Kingr
Kelvin,
I'm not planning a windscreen. Just a (full width) wind deflector.
No heating either!!
Ever!!
ATB
Simon
In order to save a few bob the old Skoda's had nice separate instruments which were made to Smiths designs,and there must be plenty of them in the
scrappies.
Ian
I picked up a set from a triumph Dolomite, cost £15 came with smiths speedo & tacho,volt,water temp and fuel guage.
If you remove the whole panel it even has the voltage regulator on the back.
Take care Dan.
quote:
Originally posted by robinbastd
In order to save a few bob the old Skoda's had nice separate instruments which were made to Smiths designs,and there must be plenty of them in the scrappies.
Ian
I set mine back to zero just by prodding the numbers with a thin screwdriver. It's a lot quicker than the drill cos the speedo didn't go backwards.
The tester never mentioned it. If it's not done with the intention of defrauding anyone it doesn't matter. The electronic digital one we used in my
mates car was resettable with a button push anyway.
yours, Pete.
yep. I noticed the skoda dials look useable too. the car I saw em in looked like it had a bezel that would come out with them and look nice mounted on
a flat panel dash. Problem is getting the speedo connected and reading right i would guess.
atb
steve