The Ford Barn

abonetub · 10-25-2018, 01:58 PM

I need to know which type of speedo cable that I need for my 57 Fordo. Does it take the pre '60 one with the mushroom gear, or the one with the more cylindricle gear as used in the c-4?

Larry

KULTULZ · 10-25-2018, 04:20 PM

It should take the style shown below -

paul2748 · 10-25-2018, 08:37 PM

oops - r

Daves55Sedan · 10-25-2018, 11:24 PM

'57 was the first year for a new design of the speedo cable having differences at both ends from the '56 and earlier design. The '57, 58 and 59 years all probably use the exact same cable.
Nowadays, you need to be careful when ordering. The repro distributors are supplying one cable length of a specific design that will fit your car that also fit a variety of other makes, models and years. Thus they will send you one that may be a lot longer than it needs to be. That can cause a problem.

KULTULZ · 10-26-2018, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

'57 was the first year for a new design of the speedo cable having differences at both ends from the '56 and earlier design. The '57, 58 and 59 years all probably use the exact same cable.

Nowadays, you need to be careful when ordering. The repro distributors are supplying one cable length of a specific design that will fit your car that also fit a variety of other makes, models and years.

Thus they will send you one that may be a lot longer than it needs to be. That can cause a problem.

... hmmph ...

Ain't that something?

Daves55Sedan · 10-27-2018, 11:28 PM

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Actually, it is not surprising that the vendors have done this, since the Ford-O-Matics of the '50's were actually used by other car mfr's including Studebaker. Apparently deciding to provide only one length per application greatly simplified their inventory and re-stocking procedures.
Last time I got a speedo cable assembly from one of the repo parts suppliers (probably Concours), it turned out to be about a foot longer than the original Fomoco cable assembly. When I went to install it, I could not use the little one-hole clamp under the driver side floor-pan, because it bunched the extra length of cable up too much near the speedo mechanism and caused a lot of drag upon the inner core. So then, I got underneath and removed that original clamp and installed a new home-made clamp further out having the cable make a wide-sweep bend. It worked better, but was still un-satisfactory. I used it for a couple months and ripped it out. I ended up refurbishing my original cable and re-installing it.

10-25-2018, 01:58 PM	#1
abonetub Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: taylor, Mi Posts: 1	Fordomatic speedometer cable I need to know which type of speedo cable that I need for my 57 Fordo. Does it take the pre '60 one with the mushroom gear, or the one with the more cylindricle gear as used in the c-4? Larry

10-25-2018, 08:37 PM	#3
paul2748 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Midland Park, NJ Posts: 3,982	Re: Fordomatic speedometer cable oops - r

10-25-2018, 11:24 PM	#4
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	Re: Fordomatic speedometer cable '57 was the first year for a new design of the speedo cable having differences at both ends from the '56 and earlier design. The '57, 58 and 59 years all probably use the exact same cable. Nowadays, you need to be careful when ordering. The repro distributors are supplying one cable length of a specific design that will fit your car that also fit a variety of other makes, models and years. Thus they will send you one that may be a lot longer than it needs to be. That can cause a problem.

10-27-2018, 11:28 PM	#6
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	Re: Fordomatic speedometer cable Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Actually, it is not surprising that the vendors have done this, since the Ford-O-Matics of the '50's were actually used by other car mfr's including Studebaker. Apparently deciding to provide only one length per application greatly simplified their inventory and re-stocking procedures. Last time I got a speedo cable assembly from one of the repo parts suppliers (probably Concours), it turned out to be about a foot longer than the original Fomoco cable assembly. When I went to install it, I could not use the little one-hole clamp under the driver side floor-pan, because it bunched the extra length of cable up too much near the speedo mechanism and caused a lot of drag upon the inner core. So then, I got underneath and removed that original clamp and installed a new home-made clamp further out having the cable make a wide-sweep bend. It worked better, but was still un-satisfactory. I used it for a couple months and ripped it out. I ended up refurbishing my original cable and re-installing it.