Lamborghini Islero Technical Section

TACHOMETER
If your car has a mechanical tach drive, it has a grease nipple on the unit where it attaches to the rear of the cam cover. Keep this lubricated as it will dry out if your Islero is not driven much. The consequence is a destroyed worm/pinion gear set and these have not been available parts since the 60's. I found this out the hard way, of course, and offer the following suggestion. The angle drive is 6 teeth to 12 teeth for a 1:2 ratio to drive the tach cable. Alfa Romeo uses a 7 tooth to 14 tooth angle drive that can be adapted to work. Have a competent machinist make a new aluminum housing to contain the slightly larger gears. The shafts will also need to be modified as will the width of the worm gear. This can be done with some effort and perhaps $200-400 cash plus a case of Italian beer. I have tried to cut my own gears and adapt them to the original housing but the effort is enormous and they only last a short time due to lack of exact fit. Next edition will hopefully include a picture of this finished unit.

Past readers know that I have been exploring solutions for a ruined tach drive. One, of course, is to send your tach to Palo Alto Speedometer and have them convert the innards to an electric unit. The other is to try to continue the spirit of the original and remake the mechanical tach gears. Since new originals were long gone by the 70's, a machinist and I made a new housing and modified a set of Alfa Romeo tach drive gears to work. The results are very good, as the drive ratio is the same as original, the gears are far more robust, and the new unit bolts up to the back of the cam cover looking very much like it belongs there and not calling attention to its minor differences in appearance from the original. In the picture below, the gear set and housing on the upper right is the original and the parts in the lower left are the ones we made or modified.

- Lou Herrin

	*Islero Technical Section*		Last updated May 22, 2001
			*Islero Tech* This information is provided here courtesy of Lou Herrin. For questions or further information, please e-mail him at LuigiDVM@aol.com or visit his website, the Lamborghini Islero Information Exchange at http://members.aol.com/LuigiDVM/index.html .
			*TACHOMETER* If your car has a mechanical tach drive, it has a grease nipple on the unit where it attaches to the rear of the cam cover. Keep this lubricated as it will dry out if your Islero is not driven much. The consequence is a destroyed worm/pinion gear set and these have not been available parts since the 60's. I found this out the hard way, of course, and offer the following suggestion. The angle drive is 6 teeth to 12 teeth for a 1:2 ratio to drive the tach cable. Alfa Romeo uses a 7 tooth to 14 tooth angle drive that can be adapted to work. Have a competent machinist make a new aluminum housing to contain the slightly larger gears. The shafts will also need to be modified as will the width of the worm gear. This can be done with some effort and perhaps $200-400 cash plus a case of Italian beer. I have tried to cut my own gears and adapt them to the original housing but the effort is enormous and they only last a short time due to lack of exact fit. Next edition will hopefully include a picture of this finished unit. Past readers know that I have been exploring solutions for a ruined tach drive. One, of course, is to send your tach to Palo Alto Speedometer and have them convert the innards to an electric unit. The other is to try to continue the spirit of the original and remake the mechanical tach gears. Since new originals were long gone by the 70's, a machinist and I made a new housing and modified a set of Alfa Romeo tach drive gears to work. The results are very good, as the drive ratio is the same as original, the gears are far more robust, and the new unit bolts up to the back of the cam cover looking very much like it belongs there and not calling attention to its minor differences in appearance from the original. In the picture below, the gear set and housing on the upper right is the original and the parts in the lower left are the ones we made or modified. - Lou Herrin
			*SHOCKS* The Armstrong shocks on your Islero are rebuildable. this can be done by Leda Suspension. Their service is very professional and efficient. They ship the shocks to England where they are remanufactured to racing standards and refinished. The bushings are replaced with space age materials and they are returned in beautiful condition. I put about 3,000 miles on my set this Summer and am VERY pleased. See the picture below of the shock absorbers when returned from Leda. Contact them at: Leda Suspension Limited - North America, tel: (248) 542-2370 attn: Danny Criss. - Lou Herrin As parts and services are always a challenge, please feel free to write in with any tips you might have that would be for the benefit of all. E-mail me anytime at LuigiDVM@aol.com.