Hot Rods Stewart Warner "wings" speedometer problem

I have a new Stewart Warner mechanical speedometer, and a new cable. The car is a hot rod '37 Plymouth truck and it has a TH350 transmission. I have the cable in the transmission fine, it turns the cable with no problem. However, the end that goes into the Stewart Warner gauge is not engaging to turn the gauge; seems short or too small. I have verified that the cable turns the inner cable/wire when driving down the road, and increases at speed. However, it seems as if the cable either isn't long enough at the gauge end, or the fitting area is a little larger on the Stewart Warner gauge....anyone run into a problem like this? Thank you for all insight....(I will call Stewart Warner tech Monday, but wondering if someone has had this or a similar issue).

 

Ask Rusty @e1956v from Speedometer service in Colorado. Good guy, knows his stuff, and an Alliance vendor as well.

 

61504bat, I will do that. Thank you.

 

Here are a couple of pictures that may help...

 

I had the same problem Got a new cable problem fixed. One other way would be replace the inner cable in the old housing making a bit longer.

 

I'm not sure of the design inside the speedometer, can you check engagement with a caliper?

 

X2 on Rusty

 

I fought a mechanical drive speedometer problem and it was the size of the male square on the end of the cable being smaller than the female square in the speedometer head....(don't go there guys)
a trip to NAPA for a universal cable didn't fix it...just the cable that goes in the housing...
I had to build up the cable end with some silver solder and then file a larger square....
maybe not your problem ..... too short or two small...one of the two

 

Just answered the PM
From the pictures cable length looks ok, so as stated in a previous post the cable square size should be from .102 to .104 I have seen aftermarket cables squared down to .99 and sometimes that will just spin in the magnet.
Sometimes you can get away with a .100 square size but that’s on the edge.

 

Cable too short ? Pull the flexible inner piece out, lay it on your bench or floor & make note of the length. now, place one end in your vice & gently pull on the other end until it stretches about 3/4''. Blow out & straighten any kinks in jacket, lube w/ graphite & re-install.

 

Thank you all for your guidance. I will be talking to Stewart Warner tech support tomorrow. Hopefully the have some solutions. If not, I will see about a different cable, modifying the cable, or if there are adapters.

 

All, I spoke to Stewart Warner Tech. They verified that the square female end on their gauge is .104". The weren't really much help. I measure the inner depth of the gauge and it seems to be about the same as the cable part that sticks out. I am going to try another cable to see if that makes a difference.

 

So, I was able to get anther cable, and by chance, it seems to work. I could not discern any difference when comparing the two. It seems that there is enough play in the internal wire/line that if you push it into the Speedometer side first, you can, as long as you don't pull it out, then go into the transmission. However, it also seems like adding a shim behind the bezel that hold the line in place (on the gauge side) would move the line just enough to keep it in the gauge female orifice, permanently. Here's a picture of what I am thinking, that may help. (of course, the shim is home-made).

 

I have seen speedometer cables with that exact shim installed from the factory. Couldn't tell you what cars they were on though.