1960 with factory 4 speed. Speedometer was working, not bouncing, then there was funny spinning noise like the cable wound up and broke. Speedometer stopped working. I hope its just the cable but I won't be able to confirm that until I remove it. And that is my question. How do I remove it. I have searched 5 pages of threads titled speedometer cable replacement and the advice varies.

1. Is there a video showing the job?
2. Can I remove the cable from the speedometer end by lowering the steering column and without moving the cluster? Some posts even said it was possible without lowering the column, but I don't think that's for me. Will I be able to reach it with my hand? One poster used very long pliers (or maybe vice grips). Did not say how he got it back on though.
3. On the transmission end, will I need to remove the cross member? Some posts said yes. One seemed to say no. I have removed the entire transmission assembly in the past, in order to replace the clutch but I do not recall the details of the speedometer cable disconnection. I have not crawled under there yet to inspect the situation.

This is an older, frame off restoration and every thing is super clean and new looking. The restoration was before 1998 and I have had it since 2004. Its not numbers matching but otherwise is all correct.

 

If you wear S gloves, maybe. If you wear XL gloves like me, good luck...



Seriously, you need to give it a try. Some folks are more adept at this stuff than others.

It's a beautiful car.

 

It's tight but you can get to it. No need to loosen the column.
I have seen photos of a special tool for grabbing and turning those ridged nuts.
I've never had one myself though.
I had my young son do it years ago.. But he's 24 now with full-sized hands!

 

I have large hands but not sausage fingers
i was able to get my hand in there to replace it pretty easy
it is tight but definitely doable

 

Which end? Both? Behind the cluster. And at the transmission end? From reading those 5 pages of threads it did seem that some were able to do that. Others had to make room at both ends.

 

Step one, disconnect the battery.
Step two, make sure the battery is disconnected. If that speedometer nut touches the ammeter leads, or lighter wire, or ignition switch contact (and it will because it is under tension and will jump in a random direction when disconnected), you'll see sparks and smoke like you never should see in a car.

I changed just the internal cable by disconnecting the nut on the back of the speedometer and pulling the housing down and sliding the cable out and sliding a new one into the housing and rotating it until it fit into the transmission gear fitting without disconnecting that end. It didn't work long and I ended up changing the housing and cable together. I didn't drop the column or remove anything from the transmission except the housing nut. Leave the locking bolt and tab tightened on the transmission so that the gear doesn't pull out. Insert the new cable end and housing into the transmission and tighten the housing nut. Make sure you have the correct end of the cable at the transmission. The end with the ferrell on it goes to the speedometer in the dash. You'll have to feed the new housing and cable up and through the grommet and under some obstructions in the dash to align straight into the speedometer fitting. It's tight and you can only touch the knurled nut with finger tips, so it takes some work.
I don't want to go back and retype the earlier, but let me say that the easier way is to feed it through the grommet and connect it to the speedometer first, then do the transmission end so that you can spin the internal cable to ensure that it is inserted into the gear mechanism in the speedometer. Then connect the transmission end. Route the housing so that it doesn't touch your exhaust. There is an attached clip on the tunnel housing that it clips behind to hold it up away from that.
Before you do this, disconnect the battery!!!

 

Jack,
You forgot to mention one very important thing...disconnect the battery before doing anything else

 

I didn't last time and the cable slipped out of my hand and touched the lighter connection. It looked like someone was welding and melted the speedometer cable in two in an instant. It glowed red and dropped on the cabin floor, fortunately on a rag instead of the carpet and the rag smoked too. So "disconnect the battery"

 

The cable is broken. I was able to access the speedometer cable nut on the speedometer end with the tool pictured. I have no idea yet how I am going to put it back on. But I pulled the cable out from the speedometer end, and sure enough its broken. It looks like the piece that goes into the transmission broke off right at the end of the cable - from the length. I have what is supposed to be the correct cable length for the 4 speed (62 in nominal), from CC, but I am a little concerned that the length may be slightly different. I'll know more when I recover the broke piece underneath.

I uses long reach hose grabber pliers - to reach the nut, but I think any long reach pliers might have worked.

 

those are the exact pliers i bought as well

 

If you want to be sure you have the correct cable and only want to do this job once, may I recommend the following company.
https://deluxespeedometer.com/