71 Vette Tach Cable
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 237
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From: San Jose area CA
71 Vette Tach Cable
I reattached the tach cable for the 71 into the back of the tach - now the other end will no longer reach into the back of the distributer. How come they made these cables so short? Anyone else have this issue with their speedo / tach cables?
Is there a cable extension - I need about 3 inches or even less to get it to reach the back of the dist easily.
Thanks,
Is there a cable extension - I need about 3 inches or even less to get it to reach the back of the dist easily.
Thanks,
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,040
Likes: 109
Originally Posted by 67VetteMan
I reattached the tach cable for the 71 into the back of the tach - now the other end will no longer reach into the back of the distributer. How come they made these cables so short? Anyone else have this issue with their speedo / tach cables?
Is there a cable extension - I need about 3 inches or even less to get it to reach the back of the dist easily.
Thanks,
Is there a cable extension - I need about 3 inches or even less to get it to reach the back of the dist easily.
Thanks,
Aprils fool day is still 3 months away.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 237
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From: San Jose area CA
Originally Posted by 1971corvette
You reattached the cable and now it is 3 inches short Aprils fool day is still 3 months away.
Aprils fool day is still 3 months away.Both places - back of the tach and back of the distributor - are tight fits for my hands so I thought I was picking the best of 2 evils. Now sure the cables ever fit
And it's not 3 inches short but it could use a few more inches to connect correctly... rerouting it is not possible unless I put another hole in the firewall to get it closer to the distributor....
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,040
Likes: 109
do you have the distribtor in correct location.
Now that I read your post it has come back to my mind,mine was to long so I cut it to length and recrimped the screw on housing,then what I did (very carefully )was grind the cable itself to a square to fit in the square slot,it has been working great.
(note ) it is difficult to grind the cable,if you go to deep then the small wire just falls apart.
I used a piece of old cable to learn on then I did the cable.
Now that I read your post it has come back to my mind,mine was to long so I cut it to length and recrimped the screw on housing,then what I did (very carefully )was grind the cable itself to a square to fit in the square slot,it has been working great.
(note ) it is difficult to grind the cable,if you go to deep then the small wire just falls apart.
I used a piece of old cable to learn on then I did the cable.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 237
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From: San Jose area CA
Distributor seems to be in the correct location...
So no one else has had an issue with a short tach cable? (all puns aside) I even had difficulties with the tach cable in my 67 when I had to replace the tach cable gear.
So no one else has had an issue with a short tach cable? (all puns aside) I even had difficulties with the tach cable in my 67 when I had to replace the tach cable gear.
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Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,652
Likes: 80
From: Lakeland Florida
There was a Chevy bulletin about clocking a distributor to help alleviate the problem with the binding cables. Instead of having your distributor at the "normal" position, you may have to rotate it clockwise by one spark plug wire position. When you do this, you will need to rotate your spark plugs counterclockwise by one position to maintain the correct firing order. The position between the rotor to the plug wire will not change, and the firing order will be the same. The relative position of the #1 plug in the firing order will not change. The relative position of the vacuum advance cannister will change, but that has no effect on the timing of the engine.
By rotating the distributor clockwise the tach cable connection will align better with your cable, and it should almost connect at a direct input, rather than the 90 degree bend you are trying to make fit.
kdf
By rotating the distributor clockwise the tach cable connection will align better with your cable, and it should almost connect at a direct input, rather than the 90 degree bend you are trying to make fit.
kdf
East bound and down...
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 987
Likes: 3
From: Jonesboro Arkansas
Originally Posted by kdf1986
There was a Chevy bulletin about clocking a distributor to help alleviate the problem with the binding cables. Instead of having your distributor at the "normal" position, you may have to rotate it clockwise by one spark plug wire position. When you do this, you will need to rotate your spark plugs counterclockwise by one position to maintain the correct firing order. The position between the rotor to the plug wire will not change, and the firing order will be the same. The relative position of the #1 plug in the firing order will not change. The relative position of the vacuum advance cannister will change, but that has no effect on the timing of the engine.
By rotating the distributor clockwise the tach cable connection will align better with your cable, and it should almost connect at a direct input, rather than the 90 degree bend you are trying to make fit.
kdf
By rotating the distributor clockwise the tach cable connection will align better with your cable, and it should almost connect at a direct input, rather than the 90 degree bend you are trying to make fit.
kdf
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 237
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From: San Jose area CA
The cable extension on the Mid America website states it's 9 inches long - others in this thread have stated an issue when the cable was too long. As you can see from the pict - I'm off by way less than 9" - a 3" extension would almost be better...
The cheapest option would be rotating the dist clockwise and rotating the plug wires counter.
Thanks for all the options.
The cheapest option would be rotating the dist clockwise and rotating the plug wires counter.
Thanks for all the options.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 4,930
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From: AnyTown NJ
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Originally Posted by 67VetteMan
The cable extension on the Mid America website states it's 9 inches long - others in this thread have stated an issue when the cable was too long. As you can see from the pict - I'm off by way less than 9" - a 3" extension would almost be better...
The cheapest option would be rotating the dist clockwise and rotating the plug wires counter.
Thanks for all the options.
The cheapest option would be rotating the dist clockwise and rotating the plug wires counter.
Thanks for all the options.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 237
Likes: 0
From: San Jose area CA
Thanks everyone for the responses. I rotated the dist clockwise one plug and rotated the wires counter clockwise. Nice straight tach cable - that actually attaches now...
and works!!!!!!!!
and works!!!!!!!!
Last edited by 67VetteMan; Jan 18, 2006 at 07:03 PM. Reason: added more
