Speedo Install Ques on a 71

[John Moore]

I am fixing to reinstall the driver's side dash pad on my 1971 and I am wondering if there are any tricks or tips on best way to reconnect the speedo cable to the back of it's housing? I took the cable out of it's housing and lubed it while I had everything apart, and when I put it back in the housing, I had to rotate it till it seated back to its original position. Do I now have to worry about the shaft not mating to the housing on the back of the pad? If you have done this before, you know what a pain it is to get the dash pad out, and I don't want to go through that again! Thanks.

John

[Joe L.]

Re: Speedo Install Ques on a 71

John-----

You don't need to worry about the shaft (speedo cable) just because you rotated it to get it to seat. That was necessary to allow the opposite cable end to seat in the transmission speedo driven gear. If the cable is seated properly (which it likely is if it's back to its original position relative to the outer housing end), then all you need to do is to install it on the speedometer. To do this, you will need to position your left side dash pad in roughly its installed position but 2-4" short of fully installed. Then, you will need to get your hands behind it and snap the cable end onto the speedo head fitting (your 71 uses a snap-on cable and not a threaded type as was used on many earlier Corvettes; I think that the difficulty of access was one of the main reasons that GM went to the snap-on cable types)

[John Moore]

Re: Speedo Install Ques on a 71

Joe,

Thanks for the informative response! You are correct on the assumption of the seating of the cable. I was careful to notice it's position (i.e. depth) relative to the cable housing before removing. It is now back to it's original depth, so I assume it is seated properly. Although I am still wondering why I won't have to jiggle the dash pad one way or the other to get that end of the cable seated. BTW, I don't think GM gaind much whith the snap type connetor. They should have built more space. I have small hands, and getting everything disconnected and reconnected is just about the hardest think I have ever done on a car (a close second would be the heater core I just replaced!)

John