Banpei's two door panda Trueno from Japan

[banpei]

Thanks for that suggestion Ivan, that sounds like a solution that would make it strong enough. I'll consider that option.

I fixed the gauge cluster. No idea why the trip meter didn't function properly. However, when I removed the odometer from the gauge cluster, it functioned perfectly fine. After installing it once more, it still functioned, and today I installed the cluster and then it functioned fine once more.
I also adjusted the speedometer needle by using the chime contacts as a reference point for 103 km/h. It appears to be functioning about right, but I think it's a bit too low now. I only drove about 50km/h and that was about 47km/h on the speedometer.

I also received the horn button, so I installed the steering wheel:

The steering wheel is 33cm, and it feels really nice. Compared to the 36cm Toyota OEM wheel, this steering wheel is really tiny.
How tiny, you may ask? Well, I can't see how fast I'm going on the speedometer!
The photo above shows you what I can read in my usual driving position: 0-20km/h and 140km/h and higher.

For comparison, this is a photo of the OEM steering wheel:


And this is them side by side:

So it's that tiny!


The steering wheel in my car is in the highest position; adjusting it to the lowest position is still fine regarding legroom and now I can read most of the gauge cluster. But I don't think the steering position is comfortable for my arms.
I'll keep it for now, but I think the ideal steering wheel size for the AE86 is 34cm or 35cm.