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since the spindle-drive speedometer cable on the 60's cars cannot be purchased new any more, I restored mine (from my '66 Starfire) recently and thought I share how I did it:
Remove speedometer cable from car
Remove cable core from jacket
Remove all black plastic lining with a cutter from steel jacket base (be careful not to damage anything, especially the white plastic guide piece)
Thoroughly inspect and clean remaining steel jacket surface for best adhesion of heat shrink, treat any damages or bends
Insert speedometer cable core and check for free/easy spinning, check and fix any issues, then remove core again
Use 3:1 shrink tube with glue on inside to create a new liner on steel jacket
Start with the lower, short part from spindle connection to white plastic guide, insert a piece of shrink tube from bottom (wheel spindle) end since this nut cannot escape up onto the cable. Ensure to have the same length as before. Hint: Do not cut shrink tube to exact length before shrinking since also it's length might shrink during this step (however this is typically not much). Instead, cut to final length when only 1-2cm left to be shrinked
When finished with the lower part, insert shrink tube for the upper part, but also route it from the lower end to avoid that the speedometer connection nut escapes downwards. The already applied shrink tube on the lower part will keep the white plastic guide in place. Also here, cut it only to final length once there are only 1-2cm left to be shrinked
Put back all the brackets, including a (new) firewall seal
Apply some grease in the lower third of the speedometer cable core and put it back inside.
Install the cable on the car again
Ready. Result looks great in the engine compartment and has nice original style flexibility. Hope it keeps its function for the car's next 59 years...
I bought standard material on eBay, had to search a bit for the right fit. I don't post links here since bought from vendors in Germany which probably doesn't make sense for most of you. Parts I used:
Two meters (approx. 78") of heat shrink tube
Shrink factor: 3:1
Glued inside
Unshrinked diameter about 3/4" or 19mm in order to guide to over the end nut
Firewall grommet
Outer diameter for firewall: 1"
inner hole diameter for speedometer cable: 1/2"
Cheers, Steffen
Pics for guidance:
Speedo cable lower end with cracks and zip ties
More cracks, everything completely messed up
More cracks and zip ties
Terrible looks
Upper end looked a bit better since behind dashboard inside passenger compartment
Started to cearfully dismantle the plastic liner
Continued to remove (black) plastic liner, kept the white guidance on the cable
Completely removed the plastic liner
applied the heat shrink with glue on inside, started from top (speedometer gauge) end
Bottom end after heat shrink application, looks good
guidance tube with heat shrink applied, looks like new
Top end with heat shrink and new firewall grommet, nice
Top end detail view
Bottom end finished
Speedo cable installed back on the vehicle
Speedo cable routing (engine was not in the car on this pic)
WOW! Awesome work! This is one of the worries on my 67 Delta.
You are very welcome Joe! I saw the other thread recently where speedometer parts supply was discussed and thought I also give back to the great community here.
The most critical issue for the described fix is the state of health the steel sleeve is in. If this is too corroded, bent, squeezed or has other damages, then the procedure will not be able to conserve the speedo cable. So in case of doubt it might be better to check and fix rather earlier than later. Also, this preventive approach gives a good feeling whenever opening the hood since it just looks nice 🙂.
Hi all, thanks much for the feedback, happy to see I can also contribute a bit to the great community here!
@cfair , I turned the steering right and accessed from the backside. Then just used a normal open end wrench and tried to loosen it carefully. This worked in my case, same when tightening again.
Heating up an open end wrench and bending it for better fit on the nut could help in more difficult cases.
Or even better: Remove the steering arm for better access, which would require removing the brake drum before. Knowing the speedo cable is a precious piece without spare parts available I probably would go this way in case of difficulties.
Steffen,
You inspired me to replace my '66 98 convertible lower speedo cable this morning. Complete success. I had reconditioned an old one wrapping the outer spiral cable in vacuum line, split length wise, then secured with upholstery hog rings.
My old one worked o.k., but the speedometer needle tended to "waver" or "flutter" a little bit. With the new cable it looks like that problem is completely gone. This is especially good with the cruise control since the wheel input is what the system reacts to --- if the wheel input wavers or flutters so will the cruise control. No fun and probably unsafe.
Many thanks for reminding me with your photos of how this job is done.
Hi Chris,
Glad to hear that it worked for you! Also a good approach to use a fitting vacuum line, so you don't need to heat shrink it...
I'm happy that the howto is useful. Anyway, we need to keep our precious cars up and running, and especially parts which are impossible to get new today (like the speedo cable).
