tach

[ranchbird]

Anybody know a company that rebuilds the factory tach, now I know why the cable was disconnected under the dash. I installed a Mallory tach drive distributor and new cable and the tach makes a bunch of racket and jumps all over.

[CSavaglio]

Speedometer Service in Colorado Springs. Old school shop... He's rebuild every vintage speedo tach, generator and starter in ever car I've owned for the last 10 or 15 years. He does mail service and I used to send him stuff when I lived away from the springs.

He rebuilt my tbirds tach and speedo about 4 or 5 years ago and just did my 51 Fords a few months ago. And my 48 Buick's a few before that. He doesn't charge a flat rate... Depends on what it needs... $50-150 and mine have typically been around 100.

He does excellent work and is fair priced.

[paul2748]

Williamson's in Arkansas rebuilds all kinds of gauges.

[ranchbird]

Thanks for the info.

[ron56]

My tach did the same thing but there really isn't much to it. You might first want to take it apart and try cleaning it. I did mine a couple of years ago and it was really gummed up. The drive shaft should turn freely.

[ranchbird]

I contacted speedometer service in Colorado, $90-$130 and a two week turnaround.

[Walt711]

My tach used to jump around until it finally stopped working. When I removed the cable, there was no lubrication at all in it. My new cable came pre-lubed and has been working perfectly for several years.

[paul2748]

There is a small oiling hole on the top of the tach. The tach must be removed to access it. Oil it with light machine oil, like 3 in 1 oil. I had a similar problem, oiled it, and it was okay.

[Dradea]

Sorry to hijack a tach thread with a speedo question, but here goes: is there a similar "lube oil hole" for the speedo/speedo cable? My '56 has worked decently (not too smooth, but serviceable) since it came into our family in about 1975. But I have just recently returned the car to road service after an approximate 20 year garage rest... Speedo now does not work at low speeds, then "jumps" to about 40 and then tends to hangout at anywhere from 40-60 mph regardless of actual speed. I think it just needs some lube/cleaning. Any advice is appreciated.

[ron56]

Hi, When I got my bird about 2 years ago both my tach and the speedometer didn't work and made noise. I found both the tach and the speedo were gummed up and would not turn freely. The noise was from the cable drive spinning in the socket. In my case I removed both the tach and the speedo and used carb cleaner to free up the (for lack of a better word) driveshaft. One thought would be to disconnect the speedo cable and you should find a plastic adapter that goes between the speedo and the cable and see if you can turn it easy. If not the only way I would know to fix the problem is to remove the speedo. And yes if I remember there is a place to add oil. A small hole on top of where the cable attaches but I have no idea how you reach it with the speedo in the car.

[paul2748]

The hole I mentioned above is in the unit itself, not the cable.

To lube the cable, you must remove the cable from the speedo and bring it down so you cam remove the inner cable. Then use something like lithium grease. They do make a lube just for speedo cables. After the inner part is removed, put some grease into the outer cable. Start threading the inner piece into the outer, greasing the cable as you insert. Very messy job. Be sure to have the carpet covered with something. Note how the cable was routed before you disconnect it so you know how it goes back.

Sorry to hijack a tach thread with a speedo question, but here goes: is there a similar "lube oil hole" for the speedo/speedo cable? My '56 has worked decently (not too smooth, but serviceable) since it came into our family in about 1975. But I have just recently returned the car to road service after an approximate 20 year garage rest... Speedo now does not work at low speeds, then "jumps" to about 40 and then tends to hangout at anywhere from 40-60 mph regardless of actual speed. I think it just needs some lube/cleaning. Any advice is appreciated.

[Dradea]

The hole I mentioned above is in the unit itself, not the cable.

To lube the cable, you must remove the cable from the speedo and bring it down so you cam remove the inner cable. Then use something like lithium grease. They do make a lube just for speedo cables. After the inner part is removed, put some grease into the outer cable. Start threading the inner piece into the outer, greasing the cable as you insert. Very messy job. Be sure to have the carpet covered with something. Note how the cable was routed before you disconnect it so you know how it goes back.

Thanks Paul - so something best to add to my to-list when the seats & other interior parts comes out when I'm under the dash... The things I plan on doing when in the dash:
1) speedo lube per above
2) replace headlight switch (mine has an intermittent short, causes dash lights & tail/brake lights to quit... any other concern you guys suspect here?)
3) install mechanical brake light switch
4) rework my stock HVAC controls, currently the face plate is not/will not stay mounted onto the "press-fit bosses" of the control module housing... hence it then "hangs out of the dash"...

[paul2748]

Dradea - can't think of anything right now.

In the future, If you have questions it is always better to start with a new entry (thread), even if your question is akin to what has been discussed previously. This prevents it being missed.