VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 50 Chevy Speedometer

Before the question I just GOTTA convey just how much fun it is eavesdropping on you guys/gals, especially when you're giving each other a ration of dung. It's like being in the coffee shop with a thousand of my best friends. Good advise seasoned with a dollop of giggles(oops, guys don't giggle). Anyway...just replaced speedo cable , but obviously not the problem. Speedo still squeals and I can still do 0-70 mph in under 100 feet.(Any Corvette owners wanna race for titles?)Think it's toast. One, how do I remove it(don't tell me I have to drop the dash) and two, anybody have a source for a rebuilt replacement or a reputable rebuilder(lotsa ads in Hemmings, but....who do you trust?)

If you remove the access panel that's on the firewall, (under the hood, on the left side, where the voltage regulator is); you'll be able to see all you need to remove the speedo head.
It's a lot easier then doing the removal from under the dash.
Once out try cleaning it with an arousal spray cleaner and then lube it with some form of spray lubricant. Not WD40 it's a great penetrating oil but it evaporates.
It it still jumping around then look for a re-builder.
The new cable you installed was it properly lubricated?

Dan.

First, I know nothing!
Obviously, it could be the speedo itself.

If you're cable is new, it likely isn't a problem. If it is NOS, it could need lubrication (lube dried out)
.
There's all kinds of ways to lube 'em. I'm a hard-head. I do it like I was taught 60 years ago.

Take it loose at the speedo. Slide the "cable" out of the housing. As you reinsert the cable into the housing, pack the cable with as much vasoline as it will retain. Messy, yes. But it does work. 'Never had to pack one the second time.

Good luck,
Gaither

Had the same problem with my '50.....took it out and had a speedometer repair shop clean and lube it and recalibrate it.
You could try lubing the inner cable first. If you use a light grease apply it to the lower 2/3's only as too much can work its way up into the head. I have had luck with just motor oil on the cable as there is probably some hardened grease in the cable and the oil will soften it up.

Just remembered that I had this picture.
It was taken looking through the access hole from under the hood.
I've circled the two instrument cluster retaining bolts.



Dan.

Totally AWESOME, Dan.(The picture, of course, but also the previous advise.) If you guys won't choke on a bit of impromptu poetry: Just say Yes
To the firewall
Access.
(Maybe it's a haiku. Who knows.)My spine(what's left of it) is already rejoicing. That lying on your back with legs over the seat back was okay at 17, but now 50 years later....hmmm, not so much. Who'd a thunk? An access panel...a "back door" rather than crawling thru a window. The wife always says that if she wants to hide something from me, she puts it in plain view. Old Ed will never notice.


On a more serious note, who wouldn't expect that a brand new cable WOULDN'T come already lubed and ready to install. Certainly not me. I know they make a lube specifically for speedo cables...gonna get me some, though I have no doubt what you guys recommended will work just fine. Access panel...still can't get over that...after all that squirming around under the dash. Sheeesh!

Needless to say, guys but thanks loads. And, Dan, like the sounds of your car...V8 etc. Thought that might be a sacrilege on this VCCA site(all anal restoration in tenor). You may be bothered by me again in the future, though for now I'm kinda digging the slow-mo hum of the six-banger and three on the tree geriatric cruising more age appropriate for a guy of my advanced years. Ha Ha!

Gaither, first, you obviously don't "don't know anything"...60 years of messin' with cars? As for hard-headed, hummmph, you and I are in style now...we're called "old school" (or to be cool, "old skool").Appreciate your input and will go with Vasoline if I can't find the cable lube I think is out there. No doubt the "greasy kid stuff" will work just fine(I know, Vaseline is not petroleum jelly. Ha Ha! Though a little dab of either will "do ya".) Thanks again.

Chevnut: And to you too thanks for the input. To whom did you send your speedometer for that "tune-up". Do you recommend them? The ads in Hemmings all SOUND good, but they're supposed to, right? Though I'm gonna follow your, Gaither, and Gene's advise and lube up, my gut tells me that "howling in cowling" ain't gonna give up to a dab o' grease.

I probably ought to start a new thread (is that what it's called)on this, but anybody have a clue why my driver side door won't totally latch. Back in the day(as they say) my high school buddy had a '49 fast back with a passenger side door that would fling open in a hard left turn. Great chuckles at the expense of the hapless kid riding shotgun, but my one-armed dad didn't find it so humorous. Ha Ha!! Ah, a problem for another day.

We have a shop here in the Milwaukee area. Its been around for over 65 years. I used to take customers speedometers there in 1950 when I drove the parts truck for a Chevrolet dealer.

I found it easier to take out the three screws that hold the speedometer in the instrument guage cluster. One screw is visible in the picture, the lower left one, just above the black wrapped wire bundle. Don't take out the two rubber bushed screws! The lower right one is partially visible, and the top one is not visible at all, but will be after you pull out the high beam indicator lamp. Make sure your screwdriver is big enough to fill the slot, as these screws are really tight. I have had the speedos out and back in on both of my 1950s within the past 12 months. A screw-holding screwdriver will be very handy when you put the upper screw back in. I never have figured out how to do this from the access panel. I have always had to do it from under the dash. Take out the front seat if you need more room.

For future referance.
Best way to get at the underside of the dash, is to pull the front seat and lay down some old blankets. This lets you get under the dash alot easier. I did this when I rewired my 48 last year.

the 1949-1950 dash is nothing like a 1948. The 1949-1950 ash curves under and the bottom and it is next to impossible to get a hand or even see under the dash. Removing the firewalll door makes the job fairly easy. Thats why it is there.

Learn something new everyday. Even us old timers.

Vasoline...Now, there's an idea...I often use it for other things...