Speedometer Cable Replacement

[opus10583]

Hi ,

The speedo end of my 78's speedometer cable broke off and I now have a replacement cable.

Can I do this without a lift?

Will the tranmission fluid drain when I disconnect the tranny end?

Thanks,
Mark

[RRoller123]

On my 80, the transmission end is held into the fitting by a knurled nut, that you can loosen with a pair of pliers. (normal thread, CCW loosen) Once the knurled nut is removed from the threads, the inner cable end (squared off) slides easily out of the fitting. Piece of cake under there, you don't need a lift for that portion. I just went through this a couple of days ago after lubricating the cable at the speedo end. No matter what I did from the dashboard end, I couldn't get it to seat at the transmission, so crawled under and did as above. Piece of cake. Check the seal at the transmission while under there. They are cheap to replace if needed. But I didn't replace mine, so I can't comment on the difficulty of doing that.

[aj81spider]

Unless you're really thin it will be much easier to jack it up .

As RRoller said it's easy to remove the transmission side and no oil leaks out. This is a relatively easy fix: 5 min to disconnect/attach the transmission side, 5 min to open the dash and attach to the speedometer, and half an hour to get your hands behind the console to get the cable through the floor and get the rubber boot seated right. You need little hands or a lot of patience - unfortunately I have neither.

[RRoller123]

And another 3-4 hours to actually get it to attach to the back of the Speedo!

[dmwhiteoak]

Mine is a 78. Removed from trany, no oil leaking. Removed from spedo and broke plastic housing that screws into spedo. Superglued it back together no problem. Would not like to atempt to run cable through firewall. Looked to be a PITA.

[BrwnRecluse]

Just did this on our '78. I had the easy part, went under the car. Wife went under the dash! Cable comes up at the very front of the transmission hump, goes over the steering column through a clip, and then to back of speedo.

[opus10583]

Thanks Everyone!

I can't imagine how the cable enters the cabin, I had the interior stripped down to metal this spring and don't recall seeing the cable transiting the tunnel...

Does anyone have an image/drawing?

Thanks again,
Mark

[RRoller123]

It goes in right near the brake booster, so it shoots straight through into the back of the speedo in the same horizontal plane.

[opus10583]

And another 3-4 hours to actually get it to attach to the back of the Speedo!

Hi,

Would it be easier to secure the speedo end before the tranny end?

Thanks,
Mark

[opus10583]

It goes in right near the brake booster, so it shoots straight through into the back of the speedo in the same horizontal plane.

Hi,

Through the tunnel, or the firewall, I'm very confused?

Thanks,
Mark

[RRoller123]

Firewall, at the same height at the speedometer. Comes ~ straight through and into the back of the speedometer.

[bobplyler]

Would it be easier to secure the speedo end before the tranny end?

Nope.

[aj81spider]

I'm not sure if it differs by year, but on my 74 the cable went horizontally across the dash, then through the floor/top of the transmission tunnel behind the lower console.

[blurple124]

This was the last thing I did on my car before heading off to school. I had some free time, and it took me maybe 20 minutes, tops.

I was replacing the entire cable, so I jacked the front end up, loosened the knurled dash panel fasteners, loosened the screws holding the steering wheel bracket on (this lets the steering wheel drop just enough to get the dash panel out all the way), and went to it.

Pliers helped to get the tranny end off, but I was able to un-do the dash end by hand. Going through the firewall was admittedly tricky, but I poked the old boot out of the firewall and ran the cable before trying to get the new one fitted.

Probably the easiest job I did on the car all summer.

[aj81spider]

OK - I am finally home and can check. Not sure how your 78 is configured, but my 74 and 81 route the cable differently. The 81 is a far easier routing. Basically straight back from the speedometer through the firewall. For your sake I hope that is the routing you have. My 74 routes it behind the dash and goes through the top of the transmission tunnel behind the heater box and the center console.

My interior is out on the 74, so here's a picture of where it goes through the transmission tunnel. You can see the cable and rubber boot behind and above the gas pedal. I installed it with the interior in and it was a PITA to get the rubber boot seated properly.