Keller speedometers

[Smitty]

Photos of what I'm selling; will come back later with prices and details. (Bear with me, I'm just learning how to do this stuff).

[Smitty]

[DeanFHobart]

How much for the 45 to 65? Actually would like a 40 to 60..... the range that I used for ASH back in the day.

[Smitty]

Okay, let's get some details. Excuse the sort of grainy quality of the photos when blown up, my little digital camera is an early one. I took a couple of shots of the whole "collection" (sorry Dean, these are all I have, no 40-60) so you could see that I have plenty of mounting brackets, pitot tubes new and old-style, and so on. I gave all the lenses a quick cleanup; after replacing one, all are now good ones, not scuffed up. I did no other detailing, which would end up with me having so much time in them I'd have to charge more. If I were doing it, besides cosmetic detailing I would put a little light lubricant on the movement, and then test accuracy with compressed air. I personally don't have a real accurate guage on my compressor to do this. Ric Montoya and probably others have a table relating air pressure to indicated speed for calibration purposes. I gave Len Keller a couple of these to test and they checked out fine, but I'm not sure which ones now. They've been sitting in a box for several decades, so I don't know why they would have changed much from Keller's initial settings. Maybe Alan Thorsen can still check them, I don't know that. Or any big city instrument shop.

Back to cosmetics, and they look plenty good enough for boat-testing now. Except as noted, the wrinkle paint is good, there's no rust/corrosion except maybe a few tiny pits in the chromed ring, and again the lenses are in good shape. All the meters have the back-mounts on them. Most have the pitot tubes attached via a reinforced type of hose, though that's something you might renew anyway with some hose from an auto parts store (so don't ask me about hose length).


a) The one oddball: Aqua Meter 5-45mph, screws to the dash; no hose, chrome somewhat pitted but chrome polish should make it look quite acceptable. Dial face is a bit faded, but lens is good. I'd include an old-style (brass, wide) Keller pitot tube and transom mount. This unit would be good for a sea-flea (what they call a Minimax and similar playboat these days) or an old restored pleasure boat. $45 plus shipping.


b) Early (Fifties?) Keller 15-45mph, red wrinkle finish, silver dial, screws to the dash. It's on the left in the second set of photos. Pretty nice shape with a little detail-cleanup, good paint. No hose. Old-style pitot tube and mount. This ought to go to a collector who is restoring a boat from that era. $70 plus shipping.


c) Keller blue face (late-'60s/early '70s?) 40-80mph. This one guage has the black wrinkle paint somewhat peeling off the back, so if you want it beautiful you would strip and re-shoot the black wrinkle. Has hose and the long, skinny late model pitot tube with bracket. $70 plus shipping.


d) another Keller blue face 40-80mph, pretty much like the one above but in a little better shape, good paint. It has an unreinforced hose that is pretty short, should probably be replaced. Same new style pitot as the one above. $80 plus shipping.


e) Keller blue face 45-65mph with hose and the late pitot tube. The lens on this one is not quite as good as the others, and though perfectly good for boat-testing, if you want it really looking good you could look for a better lens (maybe Thorsen has some new ones left?). This was about the ultimate test instrument (well, there was a 50-65mph unit) for dialing-in a B or C Stock hydro or runabout back in the day, and I wish I had had it at that time. Probably wouldn't have helped, since I couldn't make two consecutive good starts to save my life, LOL. $75 plus shipping.


f) Keller early-'60s blue dial 35-70mph. Has hose and late pitot tube (although I can substitute an earlier brass pitot which might be more period-correct if you're into that). On this one the chrome ring that holds the lens is quite rough; you could try to dent it out, find a better one, or just use it. The lens is fine. Not sure, but I think this was the speedo I had for BSH, and one that I had Keller test. I think I robbed the good chome ring off this one to put on one of the 40-80 units when I started running an A Konig. Almost all these speedos came with miscellaneous other racing junque. $70 plus shipping.


g) Keller blue face (mid-'60s?) 70-110mph. No hose, late pitot. $80 plus shipping.


Additionally, but not shown here, if you have a sailboat or something else that's slow, I have a brand-new-in-original-box Air Guide Model 700 0-15mph from the '60s and never mounted in a boat. $95 plus shipping.


As to shipping, I guess the way to do this is to wrap the speedo in bubble wrap and put it in one of those pre-paid boxes the Post Office sells, plus add a little insurance. So whatever that costs would be what I'll add for shipping. Also, I think I'd take your check and wait for it to clear before shipping, unless you want to do it some other way. We'll figure it out.

PM me.

[Smitty]

A plug for my good buddy who de-bugged my laptop and then helped me get the photos from my camera to the laptop to this thread. Andy Crain is a multiple-prize-winning photographer in the Seattle area. If anyone here wants something better than the usual amateur snapshots of his rig or his races, you can't do better than Andy. He has plenty of experience shooting high-speed action, having been local WMRRA (Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association) club photographer for 13 years, 1984-97. He tells me he once shot an Inboard race as well.

crainphotography.com

[Smitty]

Price reduction, refer to above.

a) $45
b) $55
c) $60
d) $70
e) $65
f) $50
g) $60
Air-Guide sailboat speedo, NOS in box, $75

This is as low as I'll go unless you're buying more than one.

[ottawamercguy]

Please email me at peterorke@gmail.com.

[TNT Teen]

Sent you a PM Smitty

[Smitty]

Just answered.

[Smitty]

Having a time with this miserable computer this morning. If you send a PM, or I haven't responded to your email, try again. The glitch might have been something I did.

[61-W]

You can send me an email or just call me so we can talk over the details.

jsbuckmaster@aol.com
Or
920-915-8661

Thanks Jeff

[ZUL8TR]

Which ones have been sold?

[Smitty]

Both of the 40-80mph units have been spoken for, also the 110mph one.

[ZUL8TR]

Sent you a PM today

[61-W]

How do I get a hold of you!

[Smitty]

Okay, all the serious racing speedometers have been spoken for by early responders, with some checks on the way. Assuming as I do that everybody's checks will be good, the only Keller left is the red one from the late-Fifties that bolts on. I'm saving that for somebody who can show me his photo of an old boat of the same period. The sea flea speedo and the sailboat speedo are still available. Thanks, all, for your interest. --Smitty.

[ZUL8TR]

Smitty sent you a PM
Pete

[ZUL8TR]

Smitty
PM sent
Pete