After replacing the worn odometer gears (thanks odometergears.com), I took the opportunity to also replace the bulbs with LCDs and downward adjust the speed pot to compensate for about 10 mph too high.
After putting everything back together, the odometer worked perfectly and the LCDs looked great. The speedometer needle, however, was now sticking at about 50 mph. I took everything apart again and readjusted the speedo pot a tad higher and cleaned everything with Caig Deoxit (AWESOME CONTACT CLEANER!).
After everything was back together, the needle still stuck AND that stupid black bezel around the clock had come loose and was askew.
After reading about the warped faceplate I took a good look at the dial and saw the problem. The faceplate looked fine and flat and the spindle was not touching the sides of the hole. BUT, when I looked from the side, it looked like the needle was too close to the GLASS.
Took everything apart again and tried to push the needle further down the spindle but wouldn't move. Because of their shape, I couldn't add washers as spacers so I used very small black foam to cover the 4 holes where the screws attached the module to the glass housing. I used rubber cement to ensure they wouldn't move and a pin to poke holes where the screws would go through. I also readjusted the speedo pot to my best estimate of where I thought it would be most accurate- all the way counterclockwise then about 2 "clicks/mm" clockwise. It ended up just a hair past straight up.
Put everything back together and all worked perfectly!
Points to remember :
1) Do not remove the needle unless absolutely necessary. I removed it the first try and think this caused the sticking.
2) In addition to possibly rubbing the black faceplate, also consider the needle rubbing the glass. My whole purpose of this post is to add this point. I looked EVERYWHERE and never saw this issue. So if this can help 1 person it is worth the post.
3) Glue that stupid black clock bezel down!
In the attached picture you can see the black foam over the screw holes. Washers would have been better but I didn't have any that had a big enough hole for the screws AND small enough outer diameter to fit all 4 locations. You could Drexel down the small plastic barriers so washers would fit but I was pretty sure the foam would work.
Also note that I glued a couple of silica packets that come in vitamin bottles to possibly help with internal moisture. Not sure if this works, but I haven't had any moisture since installing them.
I highly advise taking a picture of the interior so you know where all the screws go. Mine is a 1992 model with the later gortex holes and I've included that picture.
