Speedometer problem

[RallySnake]

Oxford,

My Arntz only has about 3 inches between the back of the speedometer and the fiberglass firewall. I have tried 90 degree connectors and flexible cables, but they never work very long and the needle tends to fluctuate a lot. I could not find a single cable long enough, so I joined two together to make an extra long cable. This is the way I did it:

1. I found a short length of tough plastic tubing that had an inside diameter smaller than the outside diameter of the two cable ends.
2. After carefully measuring the lengths of the cables and housings, I drilled each end of the tube to precisely fit the metal sleeve on each of the two cables with the right amount of drive cable projecting out of the far ends.
3. I drilled a 1/8" hole in the center of the plastic tube.
4. I cut a few lengthwise slots about a 1/2 inch long in each end of the tube to allow it to compress.
5. I cleaned the inside of the tube.
6. I found an electrical crimp-on connector that fit tightly on the square ends of the drive cables.
7. I removed the plastic insulator from the crimp-on connector.
8. I greased each cable with Slick 50 grease.
9. I slid one end of the first speedometer cable through the plastic tube and then crimped the two drive cables together.
10. I mixed high strength epoxy and applied it to the outside of the metal sleeves on the ends of the two cables to be joined.
11. I pushed the two cables into the plastic tubing and clamped them in place with heater hose clamps over the cut ends making sure that epoxy was sealing all the cuts.
12. I put the assembly under a hot light bulb to give the epoxy extra strength and left it for 24 hours.
13. I installed the cable. It is now long enough to pass straight through the firewall, over the right bank of the engine, loop around over the passenger footbox, drop down across the back of the engine, curve back over the transmission, loop down along the bottom of the driver's side of the transmission and up into the tailshaft housing.
14. I used a bunch of cable ties to hold the assembly in place and kept the bends as gradual as I could.
15. I sprayed a little Triflow lube into the hole in the middle of the plastic tube then sealed it up.

Works great and the speedometer needle doesn't even fluctuate!

Paul