TOPIC: Airguide Speedo identification and disassembly

So this is the Airguide Speedo that came with my recently acquired Glasspar Seafair. I've been trying to decipher what model number it could be, and there are zero markings on it. I have also looked all over the internet and never come across one with this particular face or circular layout of the words "Airguide Contralog Speedometer". Does anyone have any way of identifying the model?

Also, as it appears to function from a basic blow test and the glass and bezel are in basically perfect shape, I'd like to pull it apart for cleaning and to repaint the needle red as it should be. I'm also not sure if the center of the face was originally white like many I've seen and the white has simply bleached off like the needle or if it was silver and there's just tarnish on the face. In either case, anyone ever pull one apart? it doesn't seem like removing the two slotted screws and the hex nut on the pitot tube will release the backing from the face. Am I missing something?


Thank you in advance for any help!

Good clean looking speedo. I'm from the school "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The two screws on the back will release the back from the meter but it should not need a "cleaning". It's just a circular brass tube that expands with air pressure. I've taken one apart many years ago only to break the glass face. There are professionals that renew instruments if you really want it to be new.
This guy used to live by me but since moved to MN, why anyone would do that is a mystery
www.kocianinstruments.com/

Looks like No.713 mounted in the panel shown and that appears to be a match to what is on your boat. Dont lose that either.

Airguide was in the Chicago neighborhood where I grew up and I had girlfriend who worked there as a secretary. Now the factory has been converted to loft apartments and is appropriately name Compass Point.


I too have Airguide instruments and I think they used a press to fit them together. I never had any luck pulling one apart although I didn’t try all that hard. And I didn’t want to mess it up so I did like Cal says and just cleaned them up real good.

Thanks,
Terry

Thanks for the input guys. After more reading online it does seem to be a compression fit between housing and bezel.

Terry, it would appear to be a 713, but I just find it odd that the Airguide lettering on mine is different...not stylized but just plain font and going around the center. Seems, ummm...Kind of wishful thinking to have put a 50 MPH speedo on a Seafair, no?

What other instrumentation do you have on Mama Mia besides the speedo? And if you have a tach, does it have the little sending unit as well or is it set up to the coil? (Not sure if the Merc Tower has a magneto or a coil)

Also, thanks for posting those cool ads!

My guess is it might be a little bit newer model. My speedo is from 1959 or 60 and looks like the ones on Terry's info. The one that was on my 1959 Thompson when I got it was a 707 but I wanted to put my depth finder in that spot on top of the dash and I had the other one laying in a box so I switched them. I think it is a 709. Just by the styling, my guess is yours is early to mid 60's. I agree also - if it ain't broke, don't break it.
Bill

Like Bill suggested your gauge appears to have later style graphics.


I noticed that compass on your boat is the Airguide No.87 and is the same as mine.


My friend Jim bought the full package recommended by Airguide for the outboard cruiser.

Compass, Speedometer, Tachometer, Barometer and Clock. He didn’t need the Course Monitor cuz they was runnin’ rivers. Last gauge on the right is the Merc battery voltmeter. Also original to the boat are chart lights on the cabin header.


I added this clock and barometer to cover a hole in the bulkhead where the nephew installed a tape deck.



The Airguide tach on Mama Mia! has the correct sending unit for the Merc 6-cyl I’m running which has a distributor. The same gauge was offered with the unique black box for different motors.

When I first pulled those gauges off, I found an old return address sticker on the back of the clock.
I surmised a previous owner had returned the instrument to the factory for repair and stuck on the label. Just for the heck of it I used directory assistance and got a phone # for the address in Birmingham AL. I called and a gentleman answered, I asked if it was Jim Meyers, whose name was on the label, I was speaking to? He answered in the affirmative, so I first told him he didn’t know me but – he cuts me off and says, “Well if I don’t know you then I don’t need to talk to you”. Click!

Damn I blew it. I thought I would send a letter and introduce myself and try to initiate a conversation.
But I got no patience, so I waited about 10 minutes and called back. Same guy answers, I say “Hey don’t hang up, I think I got your old Glasspar”. That got his attention, this time he does not hang up and responds, “Well I don’t think so, cuz I still have my Glasspars”.
Jim was getting up in the years and after talking for a while he recalled the Sedan was his second Glasspar. We bought the boat from his nephew who lived in IL.


I ended up cruising down to Alabama and took Jim out on his old boat back in 07. Cruised 700 miles over 10 days on the Tennessee river.


Now how cool is this? Just noticed that catalog page shows a Glasspar G3 race boat which is another example of Bill Tritt’s genius.

Thanks,
Terry

Hey Eperot,
Here you go, 2 attached. Looks like you have a stainless steel model 715 that sold for $15.95. It's the only Airguide pamphlet I have, #973. Not sure if that means 1973. "Marine" where you have "Contralog" but close!
thx

Eric,
Thanks for that info...so it would seem my speedo was replaced then at some point. That's fine as I plan on finding the correct era Airguide Speedo and matching tach, plus I am working on something that I hope to post here in the not too distant future regarding gauges.

It's a shame it took them so long to catch on to stainless steel, because the bezel is still gorgeous. The odd thing to me is that the earlier 1950s and 1960s Airguides came with different bezel materials depending on which style you got. The flush mount, what I have, seemed to be pressed chromed steel, but the surface mounts seemed to be a chromed pot metal that aged terribly. They're all pitted and gross when you find them on ebay.

Eric (yup, I'm also Eric)

So I found out the answer to how you remove the bezel from the gauge....Very simple. Drop it on the ground.
LOL. Quite unintentionally, I dropped the speedo and when it hit my floor it popped apart into the component pieces...and nothing broke! Even the glass was perfect! This was fortuitous as I just bought a decent period correct Airguide to use parts from to make one perfect unit. It's a 45 MPH unit so I'll use my case, bezel and glass and from the ebay find I'll use the face, needle and mechanism.

The mechanism itself is really wild to see just how delicate it is and how it works.

I actually am in the process of restoring a Glasspar Seafair Sedan as well and am trying to save the original Airguide tach and speedo. The speedo looks to be a No. 713 based on the catalog ads, and the tach is the same one on Mama Mia! Does anyone have any tips on how to test these for function? The speedo needs to be tore down and the face either replaced or repaired. The poor old paint has flaked off very badly and makes the unit nearly unreadable. I'll attach some pictures when I'm back at the boat later. We are going today to pick up an early 70's 1150 Tower of Power for it.

Hey afrost1564,

Welcome to FiberGlassics.

The best way to test a tach is hook it up to a motor when possible.
You can check the gauge for continuity with a meter and the black box should run infinity to meg ohms.


The gauge you see on Mama Mia! was not correct for the Merc 800 I run. Its the model 653 @ 6k for 2 & 4 cyl w magneto.

The Merc 1150 Tower O’ Power you’re talking about ideally hooks up to the model 651 8k unit.

Airguide tach guide.



Found this some time ago and this answers many questions.

Thanks,
Terry