Able Cable: How to Install a New Corvette Speedometer Cable

ABLE CABLE :
HOW TO INSTALL A NEW SPEEDOMETER CABLE

When you drive an older Corvette, it's just a matter of time before you have to replace the speedometer and/or tachometer cable. This is not something that sneaks up on you - usually the failure is proceeded by either a noisy cable due to lack of lubrication or external damage takes place when the hot exhaust cooks the cable, causing it to fail outright. Not a problem because you can replace your squeaky or broken cable with a new speedometer cable from Zip Products, Inc.

Available in a number of part numbers to fit a variety of years between 1956 and 1982, automatic or manual, and cruise control or non-cruise, the Zip cables are a perfect replacement for the worn or frayed originals. We’re replacing the speedo cable in a ’74 Corvette, which actually uses a 2-piece cable. The long section is routed from the speedometer into the engine bay, while the shorter piece extends the cable to reach the driver's side of the transmission. The speedometer cable R&R is fairly easy as long as you remember that "flexibility" is the key, not only for the cable but also for the installation, as you’ll see in our photos. Let’s get started on our 1974 Corvette and we'll show you what we mean.
	01: This is that “flexibility” I talked about earlier. Our technician must have been double-jointed because he crawled onto the floorboard and under the dash to unclip the cable from the back of the speedometer in just a few seconds.
	02: Here's the old cable after being passed through the firewall into the engine bay. Simply drop it down from here and move to the underside of the car.
	03: Don't lose or damage the grommet on the end of the cable. It seals the opening where the cable goes through the firewall. You’ll need to reuse it on the new cable.
	04: Here’s our old cable hanging down after pulling it through the firewall. You can see where the connection is made to the shorter piece that connects to the transmission. As it turned out, our Hooker headers cooked our cable, something we should have checked when installing the header/sidepipes.

	05: You can clearly see the damage done from our headers. This is one of those lessons that need to be experienced only once, then you become a cable routing expert.
	06: This is where the short cable connects to the transmission.
	07: When routing the new cable to the speedometer, we passed it through a brace that would keep it clear from the headers with plenty on slack on either end. Then simply pass the cable up into the engine bay, attach the grommet before passing the cable through firewall, then into the back of the speedometer. Don’t forget the clip that secures the cable to the speedometer.

	ABLE CABLE : HOW TO INSTALL A NEW SPEEDOMETER CABLE IN YOUR CORVETTE SOURCE: Zip Products, Inc. 8067 Fast Lane Mechanicsville, VA 23111 (800) 962-9632 PARTS LIST: 68-82 Speedometer Cables 63-67 Speedometer Cables