pastortom1
Well-Known Member
A while back, I had my original 67 Cuda speedo rebuilt and calibrated by Redline (If I remember right).......They seemed to do a good job......Put it in the car with the original cable and it worked fine.....BUT, I drove the car VERY little.
After 3 or 4 years of 200 miles per/year if it was lucky, I brought it to Florida to begin the detailing and rebuild. I hooked up the speedo with a new cable, and have had nothing but trouble ever since. It actually acts like an old worn out unit that's not accurate, squeaks and squawks and just generally goes nuts.
I've seen it before and have corrected a few, but this one has me pullin' out my hair for some reason.
I removed the dash and speedo today and cleaned everything up. Checked the unit, and found little to no problems with movement.....the magnet was OK and everything was free and working great......After a very light lube, she was near perfect. Hooked the cable back up for a test, and it simply jammed the needle.......I've seen cables too long before (no joke) that pressurized the drive-shaft of the unit so much that it froze the needle....sure enough, it seemed this was my problem. I carefully trimmed the length with a rotary sander, trimmed the width just a squeak to be sure it wasn't hanging up inside the cable socket, and it helped free up the movement somewhat.......BUT, still puts too much pressure into the shaft socket and drives the needle nuts.
With zero pressure against the cable socket on the back of the speedo, you can spin the unit to hearts content and get a nearly perfect working speedo. Insert the cable and begin to tighten just a little, and it starts to jam and run like crap. Right now, I have the cable threads (where it screws onto the back of the unit) nearly all the way off. The speedo works, but not right......close, but no cigar.
Funny thing is that I have a spare speedo, and it does the same thing......
Specific question concerning the cable.......I can't remember from past experiences.......When a new cable is attached to the transmission and tightened down, is the inner cable then able to be "pulled out" from the dash end? I thought that they were "fixed" at that point and couldn't be pulled out from the outer casing......This one CAN be pulled.....I pulled it over an inch before stopping and thought the other end broke........BUT it still works.......but not right.....Just ain't right......Erratic.......not accurate........I was thinking that if that cable is "traveling" inside the casing (in and out, so to speak...even small amounts) then it would change the pressure exerted to the drive shaft of the speedo......and again, when you do that, the speedo will just not work properly.
If any of you guys have experience monkeying with these internals or cables and have had similar problems, chime in here and lets chew on it a little.......
This one is drivin' me a little nuts.........
I'm wondering if I should try another new cable and see what happens......Maybe this one is just not right in some way.......
After 3 or 4 years of 200 miles per/year if it was lucky, I brought it to Florida to begin the detailing and rebuild. I hooked up the speedo with a new cable, and have had nothing but trouble ever since. It actually acts like an old worn out unit that's not accurate, squeaks and squawks and just generally goes nuts.
I've seen it before and have corrected a few, but this one has me pullin' out my hair for some reason.
I removed the dash and speedo today and cleaned everything up. Checked the unit, and found little to no problems with movement.....the magnet was OK and everything was free and working great......After a very light lube, she was near perfect. Hooked the cable back up for a test, and it simply jammed the needle.......I've seen cables too long before (no joke) that pressurized the drive-shaft of the unit so much that it froze the needle....sure enough, it seemed this was my problem. I carefully trimmed the length with a rotary sander, trimmed the width just a squeak to be sure it wasn't hanging up inside the cable socket, and it helped free up the movement somewhat.......BUT, still puts too much pressure into the shaft socket and drives the needle nuts.
With zero pressure against the cable socket on the back of the speedo, you can spin the unit to hearts content and get a nearly perfect working speedo. Insert the cable and begin to tighten just a little, and it starts to jam and run like crap. Right now, I have the cable threads (where it screws onto the back of the unit) nearly all the way off. The speedo works, but not right......close, but no cigar.
Funny thing is that I have a spare speedo, and it does the same thing......
Specific question concerning the cable.......I can't remember from past experiences.......When a new cable is attached to the transmission and tightened down, is the inner cable then able to be "pulled out" from the dash end? I thought that they were "fixed" at that point and couldn't be pulled out from the outer casing......This one CAN be pulled.....I pulled it over an inch before stopping and thought the other end broke........BUT it still works.......but not right.....Just ain't right......Erratic.......not accurate........I was thinking that if that cable is "traveling" inside the casing (in and out, so to speak...even small amounts) then it would change the pressure exerted to the drive shaft of the speedo......and again, when you do that, the speedo will just not work properly.
If any of you guys have experience monkeying with these internals or cables and have had similar problems, chime in here and lets chew on it a little.......
This one is drivin' me a little nuts.........
I'm wondering if I should try another new cable and see what happens......Maybe this one is just not right in some way.......