1966 Tachometer cable issue
I have a couple of questions, but also wanted to document my experience in case someone else has a similar problem.
Just a few miles after completing a full restoration my tach started to act up. At idle the needle would flutter or bounce around a lot. It would stabilize at higher RPM.
Finally last week it stopped working completely. Using another tach and cable under the hood everything worked fine. So the problem had to be either the tach or the cable. Disconnecting the cable from the tach we found that the tip of the tach cable (in this case plastic tip) was broken off and the tip was stuck inside the tachometer. It was broken flush and trying various tools, mostly various tweezers, we could not get the tip out. None of the tip was sticking out to get ahold of. I did not what to have to pull the cluster!!!
I had an aha-moment. we took a thin wooden shaft and a very small dot of 5-minute epoxy and held it in place until it stuck to the end of broken cable tip and then pulled it right out. The stick with the plastic tip is at the bottom of the attached picture.
In the restoration, I used an original tach cable sheath (at the top in the attached picture) and a inner cable that I took out of a tach cable assembly that I got from one of the corvette vendors. It was the correct length. The problem is that it has a plastic tip (lower cable with broken tip in the attached picture). The cable at the top is the original OEM cable, but the other end of it is broken, so of no use. The cable in the middle is again from a corvette vendor, correct length, but again with a plastic tip.
I refuse to use one with a plastic tip again.
Now for my questions:
Per the judging sheets, the tach cable is 2 originality and 2 condition. How does a reproduction judge? The repros match the description somewhat, i.e. knurled end, zinc, black sheath, but are not crimped correctly or have the wording on the end of the knurled knob. I'm hoping it would only be 1 point for originality and not 4.
Has anyone bought a correct length tach cable (23 to 23 1/2 inches as I measured the OEM) that had steel tips on both ends?
Thanks,
DOn
Just a few miles after completing a full restoration my tach started to act up. At idle the needle would flutter or bounce around a lot. It would stabilize at higher RPM.
Finally last week it stopped working completely. Using another tach and cable under the hood everything worked fine. So the problem had to be either the tach or the cable. Disconnecting the cable from the tach we found that the tip of the tach cable (in this case plastic tip) was broken off and the tip was stuck inside the tachometer. It was broken flush and trying various tools, mostly various tweezers, we could not get the tip out. None of the tip was sticking out to get ahold of. I did not what to have to pull the cluster!!!
I had an aha-moment. we took a thin wooden shaft and a very small dot of 5-minute epoxy and held it in place until it stuck to the end of broken cable tip and then pulled it right out. The stick with the plastic tip is at the bottom of the attached picture.
In the restoration, I used an original tach cable sheath (at the top in the attached picture) and a inner cable that I took out of a tach cable assembly that I got from one of the corvette vendors. It was the correct length. The problem is that it has a plastic tip (lower cable with broken tip in the attached picture). The cable at the top is the original OEM cable, but the other end of it is broken, so of no use. The cable in the middle is again from a corvette vendor, correct length, but again with a plastic tip.
I refuse to use one with a plastic tip again.
Now for my questions:
Per the judging sheets, the tach cable is 2 originality and 2 condition. How does a reproduction judge? The repros match the description somewhat, i.e. knurled end, zinc, black sheath, but are not crimped correctly or have the wording on the end of the knurled knob. I'm hoping it would only be 1 point for originality and not 4.
Has anyone bought a correct length tach cable (23 to 23 1/2 inches as I measured the OEM) that had steel tips on both ends?
Thanks,
DOn
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