awhitetr6 wrote:

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Hey all, just got out of pending status with a couple of burning questions.  Ill post them separately to keep them that way. 

 

First up silly American question.  My 1965 Parisienne Speedo and Odometer report in miles, right?  I was told by a previous owner that it was kilometers but as far as I can tell Canada didn't go metric until 1970 so a '65 would be miles right? So if the speedo is off (not sure if it is at this point anyway) the tranny probably has the wrong gear in it for the rear end ratio I'm thinking but I digress.  Miles or Kilometers is the question.

 

Thanks in advance for your response

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 No such thing as a silly question

Welcome to the site

The 65 was definitely in Miles, if wrong speedo gear we can figure that out also

Gerry P

Welcome from Edmonton, defiantly miles

73SC wrote:

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The first new Pontiac I had that was Kilometers was a 1976 Grand LeMans with a sbc 350 built in Oshawa. During transition GM Canada used speedometers that were in miles with a sub scale kilometers. After complete switch the sub scale was miles and primary was kilometers. I stand to be corrected however I believe in Canadian Pontiacs 1975 was the first year that kilometers appeared as the sub scale.

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 Must have been mid '76 as I had a '76 Nova in miles and a '77 in km.

I always thought 1977 was the change-over year. Prior to 1977, speedos had dual units, but the main display was mph and odometer was miles. From 1977, odometers read kilometers, and speedos had kph as the primary units.

I know 1977 was the year all the signs in the country were changed from mph to kph...


regardless of whether the change over was 1976 or 1977, I cannot imagine the 1965 speedo would be in kph unless the car was exported to a metric country (Europe? S. America?).

 

After looking at the photo of your dash:  Definitely MILES per hour. 

-- Edited by 66 Beau on Saturday 31st of August 2013 10:28:22 AM

Here are some pics to review, its re-motored with a 305 done before we got it

That is a very nice car, 65 is an iconic classic Pontiac style.

The corporate 305 is blue to be like all the US Pontiacs in Oregon around him....it should proudly wear Canadian Pontiac orange. You can get that at Canadian Tire. For some reason its called Chevrolet orange.

I stand to be corrected but the 1978 Model Year was the first to have primary scale and odometer in kilos. So this would have happened in later 1977.

Do any of you older fellows remember the speedo adapter that screwed on to the transmission and speedo cable screwed into it. Converted your mph to kph.

sold at Canadian Tire in the mid 70's. this may be the case here, how many remember the replacement decals that when over you speedo face. 

Just a thought, take a peek at your transmission when the speedo cable attaches.

pontiax wrote:

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Do any of you older fellows remember the speedo adapter that screwed on to the transmission and speedo cable screwed into it. Converted your mph to kph.

sold at Canadian Tire in the mid 70's. this may be the case here, how many remember the replacement decals that when over you speedo face. 

Just a thought, take a peek at your transmission when the speedo cable attaches.

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I think I have one of those adapters around here somewhere.   I bought in the early 80's at a discount place, still in the package.  I don't think they were big sellers as the accellerated the odometer reading.

pontiax wrote:

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how many remember the replacement decals that when over you speedo face. 

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 Found this in a '68 Parisienne I parted out. The Canadian government handed them out free at the time. They basically made a mess of your speedo!

 

thank you one and all for all of this information, good to find helpful people in the world

One more I forgot to list is My girlfriends new toy she bought herself

1981 Alfa Romeo Spider

quick question. The speedo seems to read in kph (100=60mph) would that happen if the 85 tranny had the metric speedo gear? The tranny and motor are both from 85 I am pretty sure. The car was redone in Canada and then purchased by an Oregonian and brought here after that particular mod. so either it has the metric speedo gear in the tranny, or he "adapted it" so it would read in KPH. I didn't deal with the seller but from what I've been told he may not have been totally above board. there were several things that didn't seem right in hindsight based on current research. for instance he told the buyer it was a corvette 350 motor, but it turns out to be a 305 that probably was in a truck. other things seemed shaky. anyway that's neither here nor there, but I am still curious about the speedo reading.