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Another free, junk box repair

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin
Offline
After my last Frankenstein Alternator Repair , I though maybe I'd be done with these junk-box repairs for a while.
Not so.
grin.gif


The speedometer in my '69 MGB died. After a bit of checking, the cable and actual speedometer seemed fine. This was worrisome to me, since it might mean the problem was in the trans.

After some internet searching, I realized the trans has a right-angle output drive that can be removed. Upon removal, I realized this device had a very short piece of driveshaft cable that was driven off the trans. This short piece of cable was shredded and was the cause of the problem. The right angle drive device seemed a bit stiff so I did more research.

According to John Twist, it's OK to discard this right angle drive and replace with a slightly longer overdrive trans cable attached directly to the trans (taking care not to have any sharp bends in the cable).

Then I remembered I had a spare cable from my Austin A35 that I will never use. Turns out it is a little longer than the stock MGB cable and has the same ends.

All is fixed now and the speedo works fine.....another freebee repair!
 
You're making us proud, Nial. Me, I've just been driving without the speedo for the last year...
 
Cool thing to know!
THank you
 
That right-angle drive has been problematic for a while. The caps could pop off, or in Nial's case the lube likely dried up and the gears bound. I've a real collection of the things with various issues. For a period of time in the mid '90's the "counterfeit" ones were $80 and would self-destruct in short order. I'd do the MacGyver thing with the O.D. cable and move on.
 
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