After the recent hurricane on Long Island NY, I was advised the long running Smiths agents, Nisonger is no longer going to do instrument repairs (their facility, parts and repair equipment was heavily damaged) but they are still in business selling various reproduction Smiths instruments and gauges. They say these are competitive in pricing to rebuilding the old ones which they say are often in pretty bad shape at this point in time. I’ve used Nisonger over many decades for my various British cars, so ending the rebuild service was a disappointment, So if you are not a throw away and replace sort of person what recommendations are there for repair and overhaul services. Replacing a speedo is problematic as the mileage will likely be zero on a replacement one. So who is out there now and what is their reputation?
Nisonger has been around for a long time. They are listed in the back of the XK120 Service Manual as the sole authorized repair facility for Smiths Instruments in the USA. Since they did a lot of warrantee replacements for Smiths they ended up with a lot of instruments that were defective in some way, which they kept and stored. These became a source of spare parts for repairs to instruments when the original parts were no longer manufactured. I sent my E-Type speedometer to Nisonger when I changed its differential because I knew that they would have the proper little replacement gears to make it read accurately. After the flood, Peter Bayer, the owner, decided that it was too much of a setback, so he took the opportunity to consolidate the business to concentrate on just sales. Much of his replacement parts inventory was purchased by Morris Mintz of West Valley Instruments, who continues to do excellent instrument restorations. There’s a certain continuity there, since Morris started his career 50 years ago by working at Nisonger. So you might say the torch has been passed.
Thanks for this, Mike. I will bookmark their website for future use.
I just became aware of an instrument repair firm in UK, JDO Instruments
Classic Car Instrument Repairs ( Est 1963 )
Fixed price repairs for most British & European Classic Car Instruments
48hr service available… No UK vat
Tele: 01535 603570 / Mobile: 07872 071512