Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

I bought a neglected old '58 Ford nine-passenger Country Sedan field car that's turned out to be something very different than I had anticipated- turns out that it was a project someone had put a bunch of work into before it was parked back in the '90s.

Anyway- among a number of decent mods the PO had done was swapping in a 3.03 3-sp toploader, set up properly through the factory shifter. The speedo cable cooked itself against the exhaust in an hour or two of running, so it likely didn't have many miles between installation and my getting it roadworthy. Order a new speedo cable, which naturally doesn't fit. On the tranny end, I find this drive gear setup that looks to my untrained eye like something out of a TH350, with a 7/8" threaded attachment for the speedo cable. I know some Ford trucks used a threaded speedo cable for toploaders, but I thought those were 5/8" setups. What exactly am I looking at, and would I be better served trying to swap this for the Ford equivalent or is there a GM cable that would make my problems go away?

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Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

Get in touch with Rusty at Speedometer Service in Colorado. He provided me with a new speedo cable for my '54 Ranch Wagon with an AOD. I'm sure he can sort it for you. He's a vendor on the HAMB and offers a discount for Alliance members.

https://www.speedoservice.com/
(719) 632-3165

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

I believe Ford did sell the 3.03 to GM and maybe even AMC for awhile in Jeeps. Thought that Ford stayed true to the Ford bolt pattern and made the buyers adapt. Maybe the speedo cable adapter also.

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

I had a 3.03 trans in my 64 Fairlane and it looked like this at the ends

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

Is there an ID TAG on the trans?

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

Ford also used the T86 top loader in lighter duty applications for quite a while. The 3.03 Ford top loader came along in the early 60s around 1963 or 64. It's easy to tell them apart due to the shape & size of the top cover.

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

No ID tag, looks like a later version case to my uneducated eye.
Did early Fords use a similar bullet setup? Could this just be the PO's creative engineering at work?

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Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

Your transmission looks to be a mid 65 or up with the dual pattern bellhousing holes. You do have an ID tag, right side at front between the bellhousing bolts. Aluminum tag held on with a rivet. Spray it off with some brake clean. You can decode it online. http://www.davidkeetoploaders.com/

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

I understand that all Ford cars used the type of trans gear and cable shown in my picture above starting in 1957. . Even some of the 5 speeds. The picture with the speedo insert does not look stock to me, but I'm no expert. All my later automatics, three speeds, and four speeds used the type of cable at the trans end as shown in my picture above. It uses a clip on gear like picture below. There are differences in # of teeth and pitch of the teeth.


If you take out that piece in the trans, does it look like my picture on the end and use the gear I pictured?

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

It's a cable housing adapter -

https://www.texasindustrialelectric.com/speedo.asp

Re: Toploader speedo cable mystery
 

Looks like we have a winner!