Smitty Speedometer Cable Fix

[RDKeysor]

For those who have followed this issue, I had a broken speedometer cable in my '60 BN7 fitted with a Toyota 5 speed. This car did not have an angle drive, which means the cable/housing make a fairly quick turn in the space between the tranny connection and the frame. As my car's 4 ft., 5 inch cable didn't allow the most desirable curve at that point (where, incidentally, the original failed), I bought 4 ft, 8 inch cable from Moss. I have now successfully mated the Healey cable (SAE threaded at both ends) to the tranny, metric. The key is the Toyota nut that attaches the housing at the transmission. It will slide off the original cable and over the fitting at the speedo end of the standard Healey cable. I cut off the similar fitting on the new cable and installed the Toyota bit, adding an 0 ring. This is possible because both cable housings have very similar flanges at the tranny end. The Healey cable comes with squared off cable ends most of us are familiar with, but the Toyota cable has a 2"-long steel fitting attached at the tranny. This bit has a small crimped projection that engages inside the threaded connector on the transmission. I cut off this cable fitting and graduallydrilled out the old cable, first dimpling the spot where the cable was cut off, finally stopping with a No. 31 drill, which was slightly smaller than the end of the square cable. I used a small square Swiss file to square the hole inside the fitting, eventually working about half an inch the new cable end into the fitting. After doing this--and it was a lot of work--I lubricated the internal cable, installed it in the housing, and then JB Welded the fitting in place. Once this is done, the cable is captive inside the housing because the fittings at both ends won't go through the housing. The fitting on the cable at the tranny is held captive by the Toyota nut, so the real concern is that the hole in the fitting is squared inside to closely mate with the end of the Healey cable. Before JB Welding, make sure both the speedo end and the tranny end thread into place. Don't ask me how I learned this. I had to shorten the tranny end of the Healey cable just a bit. Others might better contact Pete Delaney or Nisonger to have a cable made with the proper Healey/Toyota fittings. And yes, I have road tested my fix, but I'm keeping Pete's contact information at hand.

 

[steveg]

Great solution!

Be sure the speedo end protrudes protrudes 7/16" per this drawing by Nisonger: