Speedo Drive

[Heuer]

Long one is Smiths BG2402/02 (#C17087 for the Moss box), short one is Smiths BG2402/08 (#C25547 for the all synchro box). SNGB now only supply BG2402/08.

I am wondering if you got it off so easily because it was broken?

[andrewh]

ok, well something is odd here. Mine, the broken is here prior to being broken and as you can see it is short drive. There is no need for a long drive pinion even if it will fit in imho



and it has the ID Smiths BG2402/02 and the broken end that I have recovered is the correct slightly rounded off or chamfered end to the drive. So , I think possible the problem of removal relates to the length of the drive, namely if it has the wrong angle drive its impossible to remove without dropping gearbox etc etc. I will check the depth of the female in the gearbox tomorrow

[David Oslo]

Commenting the picture a few posts further up (Friday), where David first says that Andrew's (drive) gearbox looks to be narrower, I wonder if it's an optical illusion. I think the knurled brass ring on Andrew's is in the "pulled back" position, thus hiding the the narrow neck of the aluminium housing. The two pics (Andrew vs David) then give the impression of being shorter.

I had a look at my Moss box (I have one spare) and the angle drive gearbox looks like David's, with the short 'neck' visible before the larger brass knurled ring.

Of course the length of the stickout is another thing altogether.

[andrewh]

on close inspection it looks likely to me that the speedo cable, my original one had kinked slightly were it is clipped onto the bulkhead above the bell housing. When I tried to put the inner back in the outer it jammed at this point.

What is the generally best lubricant to put in the new speedo cable in most peoples opinion. I read somewhere not oil?

[christopher storey]

No, certainly not oil which works its way up the cable and causes problems in the instrument. I use spray on silicon grease, available from places like Maplins . And it's best to lubricate only the lower two-thirds of the cable

[David Oslo]

According to FAQ from a Speedometer service shop in California it should be cleaned with solvent, dried, then greased with a non-migrating (whatever that is) grease, preferably lithium based. http://speedometershop.com/faq.html

I've also seen quite a few car folks recommending dry lubricant sprays (e.g. the PTFE, Teflons and Graphite stuff). Goes on as a spray, solvent evaporates, and leaves a slippy coating. I've used the stuff for many years on sail tracks and batten cars to good effect (e.g. yachting).

Reckon most important aspect is to clean off the old gunk (e.g. 50 year old gunk) before applying lubricant of choice.

[andrewh]

thanks chaps. I have some Carlube silicon grease which should suffice or some spray on light Grease. I feel sure one of these will be fine. Perhaps the new cable comes already lubricated anyway.

Threading the new speedo cable through the bulkhead without stripping all the inderneath sound deadening and hardura off will be a challenge. I am planning on attaching a wire to the old cable as it is pulled out I should be able to use the wire to pull the new cable through the same route.

[David Oslo]

Just a thought ... what about only swapping the cable (i.e. the inner bit) ... leave the old outer (sheath) in position ?

[Heuer]

Not a good idea - the inner surface of the sheath de laminates and causes the cable to bind or be damaged and you are back to a knackered gear drive. Originality is all very well and, as can be seen from our 'Factory Fit' thread, intriguing but you reach a point where the car will be so original you can't drive it!

[andrewh]

indeed. I don't want to pull all this apart again for quite some time if I can avoid it. I think a new speedo cable complete and new angle drive should solve it. !

[David Oslo]

New thought. When I'm pulling cables or ropes to replace old ones (e.g house / boat), I bind the new cable / rope to the old one. Butted togehter, not overlapped, so as to be within original diameter of the route along which it has to pass. Black electrical tape works fine, wind around one end, then down and around the other, then back and fro to create a load transfer.

This method could be used to pull through the new (complete) speedo cable, on the tail of the old one.

[Heuer]

You are making the assumption the new inner cable is made to exactly the same dimensions as the old one which is unlikely given manufacturers are locked into metric and convert from imperial, rounding up/down as appropriate. We have seen this with brake/clutch slave seals made in China which leak. Nothing to do with quality per se, just that they don't have the equipment to deal with imperial measurements.

[David Oslo]

I've moved on from idea of just swapping the inner cable :D

Idea got shot down, and we all learnt a bit in the process.

[andrewh]

I like the idea of the taping the cables together. I will try that thanks. I am awaiting delivery of my new parts so wont be getting on with this until later in the week as I have other things in the diary this week.

[andrewh]

ok, well by way of finishing off the thread, at least my input, I have now replaced both the angle drive and the cable. I adopted the suggestion made by David Oslo of taping the old and new cables together so they could be threaded through the bulkhead. This worked fine with some careful backing up occasionally so as not to put too much stress on the tape where the cables are linked together. One other observation is that one has to remove the grommet in the bulkhead under the rear carburettor and if you have another person to help this will avoid scraping the new outer cable on the sharp edge of the bulkhead..

I have yet to test drive the new cable as it is snowing in Kent and my plan to crack off down my drive has now been scuppered.

One final observation, is that having chosen to pull our the inside to get at the angle drive it is evident that this is not necessary , at least on a 3.8 with an original Moss box . I could have released the angle drive from underneath and saved myself a lot of bother so my advice is to explore this possibility before committing to strip out the centre trim. Apart from anything else crouched inside my FHC working on this has again proven that E types are for small people! Thanks for all the help offered .

[Vegard]

Holy thread resurrection!

On my dad's 68, the needle is dead but the odometer is working. I guess this means it's the gauge that's faulty in some way. Has anyone experienced this?
Maybe a good excuse to go and buy a KmH one instead of the MpH which is fitted at the moment?

[JagWaugh]

Holy thread resurrection!

On my dad's 68, the needle is dead but the odometer is working. I guess this means it's the gauge that's faulty in some way. Has anyone experienced this?
Maybe a good excuse to go and buy a KmH one instead of the MpH which is fitted at the moment?

Your angledrive and cable work, the problem is in the speedo head. See the bible: http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/mis ... repair.pdf

[DeusExMaxima]

Holy thread resurrection again!! Does the same advice apply for a 68 2+2 Borg Warner automatic transmission for removing the speedo cable end or angle Drive?