I tried to take all of your advice and just have all the work on my '68 done by someone else to save my body from punishment. That lasted one trip to Chevrolet! I went to a Chevy dealer (Lyndon Johnson in Corning, CA) to have my speedo cable replaced. They took hours to look at it then said that they'd have to tear the whole dash apart so it would take days (at $60 per) and they couldn't garentee they wouldn't break stuff. So I said, "Don't think so!" and took her home.
Now I've changed motors, trannies, ect. but I never changed my speedometer cable before.
So I look under this dash board from Hell expecting the hardest to get to cable of all time, and reach up and unscrew the cable. It wasn't even tight. It was in though. So I drove around the block with my finger toughing the end of the cable. It vibrated a little but it wasn't spining. Then I got it on the ramps and saw that that end was connected to the transmission. So I'm pretty sure the cable is just broken. I've got a new one.
Now the question.
Is there something in particular I should know about stringing my speedometer cable in there before I just start taking off stuff as it gets in my way? Or just go in blind like I usually do? :cool:

 

Robert,
Getting at the cable fittings on both ends is probably the hardest part of the job. You have already tackeled that so the rest is pretty easy. Just keep in mind the routing of the speedometer cable so you replace your new one exactly the same. I did mine a while ago and don't recall having to remove things to get it in( I have a small block). If you have an assembly manual for your 68 it should show you how cable is routed. I would also recommend that you lightly lube the cable with white lithium grease before you install it. These new speedo/tach cables come pretty dry from the factory and a dry cable will eventually fail due to heat caused by the friction of the spinning cable. There are tools to prelube the cable but I have done this easily by hand. My method is to take the cable out of the case (be sure you have a very clean area to do this in as you don't want to pick up any dirt or grit on the new cable and with clean hands take some lithium grease (go light with the grease here)between your "clean" finger tips and apply by twisting your fingers so you lightly coat the cable all around. Keep around an inch from both ends free from grease. Reinstall cable back into the case the exact way it was removed. You should be good to go. Also make sure male square ends of cable go smoothly into the female square fittings on back of speedo and side of tranny and be careful not to crossthread when reattaching the cable. Good luck to you on you speedometer cable project. - Rich

 

Thanks Rich!
I was way too busy today but I'll give that a try tomorrow. I printed out your responce so I can't get too stupid and forget something.
You know it's kind of funny though, I posted this days ago and the only answer I got was from a new guy ( I mean 5 posts! ) to the Forum. I guess you'll be very helpful to dumbies like me huh?
Again thanks!

 

I replaced the speedo cable on my 69 (sold) and I didn't have to take anything apart... I just routed the cable the same way as the old one. The space to get the speedo cable on the speedo is tight but it's not impossible to do without pulling the dash. I don't have too big hands - so it was no problem for me... Another option is to pull the dash which is also not too difficult. Just remove the 2 bolts that hold the dash against the center console, 2 bolts body on the left side and the 3 bolts on top of the dash. Disconnect the steering column from the dash and loosen the bolts that hold the steering column against the firewall. Drop the steering column by a couple of inches and pull the dash forward. That's it! Nothing more to it. Charging many hours of labor to change a speedo cable is a ripoff!!!

:cheers:

Olivier

P.S. I recently replaced the starter switch on my 68'. All the maintanance manuals say that you have to remove the radio and pull the switch from below.. That's :bs !!!! I just removed the panel with the windshield wiper switch and pulled the starter switch from there... Changing the starter switch took me 15 minutes... A shop would probably charge 1 - 2 hours of labor....


[Modified by GrandSportC3, 8:32 AM 8/4/2002]