Aftermarket speedometer cable

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druggles85

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Oct 25, 2009
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Okay, so I bought a Pioneer cable when I had the dash out of my car. I threw away all the cruise control garbage. And went straight from the speedo drive.

The pioneer cable is crap. The square ends on the cable are too small, I had to hammer them into rectangles to get them to catch in the speedo and the drive. And it works pretty damn inconsistently.

Is it worth the extra money for an acdelco cable? Or are they all just crap now?
 

69hurstolds

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Jan 2, 2006
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I can't speak for the Pioneer, et al, aftermarket stuff, but I'm betting there's only a couple of places at best that make the cables any more. I've only used the "old" NOS stuff.

Don't know if they're ALL crap anymore, but it appears all the newer ones, regardless of brand, have the bright, shiny, cheap looking zinc silver ends on them. They just sort of look like they're not as well-made as the old OEM stuff. Plastic tips seem to rule the day in many applications, and they seem to have combined a lot of the part numbers to just a few that should fit almost everything now.

Rktpwrd had just bought a new ACDelco single cable for an '84 200-4R setup in his car, so maybe he could chime in and describe his experience with the Delco unit. Apparently it works, although GM recommendation of the part number shows it to be 100" long, which he said was about a foot longer than it needed to be. He said his had a plastic tip on it or something which MIGHT be some sort of size adapter? Or maybe a sacrificial piece that can be replaced if need be. I don't know.
 
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druggles85

Pendejo
Oct 25, 2009
282
468
63
Exeter, NH
I can't speak for the Pioneer, et al, aftermarket stuff, but I'm betting there's only a couple of places at best that make the cables any more. I've only used the "old" NOS stuff.

Don't know if they're ALL crap anymore, but it appears all the newer ones, regardless of brand, have the bright, shiny, cheap looking zinc silver ends on them. They just sort of look like they're not as well-made as the old OEM stuff. Plastic tips seem to rule the day in many applications, and they seem to have combined a lot of the part numbers to just a few that should fit almost everything now.

Rktpwrd had just bought a new ACDelco single cable for an '84 200-4R setup in his car, so maybe he could chime in and describe his experience with the Delco unit. Apparently it works, although GM recommendation of the part number shows it to be 100" long, which he said was about a foot longer than it needed to be. He said his had a plastic tip on it or something which MIGHT be some sort of size adapter? Or maybe a sacrificial piece that can be replaced if need be. I don't know.

I should have returned it. But I really wanted to put my dash back in that day. I connected the cable to my speedo first and spun the other end with a cordless drill... Nothing!

I looked at it really puzzled for a while because the speedo worked when I took the car apart. Compared it to the old cable and the square end was smaller. I mean I'm assuming the entire cable is a smaller diameter. Hammered both ends until the square was a rectangle and put it together.

I don't remember what length cable I bought, I didn't follow the factory routing. I'll need to take it out and measure before I can search for a nos one.
 

69hurstolds

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What car, what transmission? That will help narrow it down. I gather you had the split cable cruise control (K35) from 83 and earlier, so you can simply use the 1984 version of your car as your baseline vehicle or the NON-cruise version of yours. They had K34 cruise from 84-88, which had nothing to do with the speedo cable. So you should be able to find a close match to start with. If you have a 200-4R, you probably can get by with something around 90" or so based on Rktpwrd review of his.
 
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druggles85

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Oct 25, 2009
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Exeter, NH
What car, what transmission? That will help narrow it down. I gather you had the split cable cruise control (K35) from 83 and earlier, so you can simply use the 1984 version of your car as your baseline vehicle or the NON-cruise version of yours. They had K34 cruise from 84-88, which had nothing to do with the speedo cable. So you should be able to find a close match to start with. If you have a 200-4R, you probably can get by with something around 90" or so based on Rktpwrd review of his.

Yeah, sorry I didn't realize the newer models were different. It had the split cable cruise.
Car is an 83 Regal with a Chevy 350 and a T5 from an 85 Camaro.

The transmission has a Chevette Mainshaft, and Tailshaft housing installed. It has new regular style gm drive and driven gears installed, and a 1:1 speedometer reverse adapter. The adapter points towards the engine, so I couldn't route the cable like the factory had it.
Going off memory I think I'm using a 60" cable. But a couple more inches wouldn't hurt, especially for clearance around the z bar...

**Edit** OMFG z-bar. It must have looped around it somehow. That's why it stops working when I shift gears. The z bar is trying to pull the cable out of both ends. God damn I'm dumb...

Still the cable is a super low quality part, and I need to replace it.
 

69hurstolds

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Jan 2, 2006
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67" long work? Check these out. Old style Delco. Not sure which end you have on the transmission end of things, but if it's the typical screw on ring... don't worry about the connector in the middle. Most of the factory units had this as well.

EDIT: You're Frankensteining this, so I absolve myself of all accountability as to what may or may not fit.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5335822911&icep_item=283841558235

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5335822911&icep_item=223569008859
 
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druggles85

Pendejo
Oct 25, 2009
282
468
63
Exeter, NH
67" long work? Check these out. Old style Delco. Not sure which end you have on the transmission end of things, but if it's the typical screw on ring... don't worry about the connector in the middle. Most of the factory units had this as well.

EDIT: You're Frankensteining this, so I absolve myself of all accountability as to what may or may not fit.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5335822911&icep_item=283841558235

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5335822911&icep_item=223569008859

LMAO, Probably be perfect. 60" is a bit tight, 80" was a mile too long but 67" might be what I'm looking for.

Does that connecter in the middle have a use like fine tuning the ratio with an adapter or something?
 
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