Has anyone ever replaced the tach cable without removing the entire cluster?
I don't know how much room there will be to reach in and unscrew it from the tach.
Thanks, Bud

 

I’ve done that in my 67 vert. I even had to remove a small red plastic piece of the old cables end from inside the tach itself.

 

I believe it can be done, I’m about to attempt it again after I thought mine was too short.
Turns out I had to pull the distributor and yes, the gear was on 180 out, not allowing proper orientation.
So would be interested to hear how others have done it too.

 

I've removed the tach cable with dash installed on my C2 2 times and about to do the 3rd. If its too tight to loosen with fingers, then a very small channel lock pliers will work. Disconnect battery. Depending on your size, you may have to remove front seat. Also, stretch first! Lol

 

I have also removed mine. It was pretty easy to do, just had the lay on the floor and look up under the dash and loosen the cable.

 

I just did it on my '67 A/C car, it was not a big deal. Unhook the battery cable. If it's AC, remove the lower air duct on the driver's side. Using a super long needlenose pliers, use them vertically just behind the cig lighter and get on the cable ferrule nut. I'm arthritic so I use a big mirror to look at what I'm doing. Break it loose with the pliers and turn it until you're tired of turning it (since you can only turn it a few degrees each grab). Regular cheap extra long needle nose works, but even better if you have the type with the circle tips. With your left arm reach up around the backside of the cluster and you can get on the ferrule nut and spin it off. Long arms helps here but even with an AC car there was not much in the way. Remove cable and grommet from the engine side. Feed the new cable from the engine side and connect it to the tach first.

On the engine side, pull the dist shielding and the rear intake bolt that holds the plug wire loom and you can get at it easily from there. Order a new firewall grommet as yours is likely hard as a rock and will need to be replaced. Use a seal puller to install the grommet- pull on the puller using the curved tip to get the grommet into place once the cable is installed. On my '67 the grommet is a two-holer, the speedo cable also runs through it.

No cluster removal, column stays, no seat removal or anything. Flat rate is probably .6 or something if you're young and fast. Speedo guy says all mid years take the same cable so install should be similar or exact.




Old cable and new one from the speedo guy in Colorado.




This is a seal puller, it works great to get the firewall grommet into place.

This is a clusterf#% picture of installing the grommet. Pull on the tool using the tip to work the grommet into place from the driver's side, it worked really well for me.

 

BAmacker's instructions are bang on. I replaced the speedo cable on my '67 A/C coupe, and other than wishing my fingers were smaller, the job was doable with some contortioning. No need to remove the seat, unless you're Kobe Bryant...

One tip I'll pass along is be easy when using any lubricant on the speedo or tach cables. I overdid it when installing a new tach cable and the excess lube migrated up the cable and gummed up the tachometer, causing the needle to get 'stuck' intermittently. The malady fixed itself after about a year and a half when the lube wore out enough to allow free movement of the tach needle. Sometimes problems go away on their own, but best to not cause them in the first place!

Good luck with your cable replacement.