Dino Saga 080420 _ Speedometer Cable | FerrariChat

Dino Saga 080420 _ Speedometer Cable

Discussion in 'Corbani's Corner' started by John Corbani, Apr 20, 2008.

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  1. John Corbani

    John Corbani Formula 3
    Honorary Owner

    May 5, 2005
    1,153
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Full Name:
    John Corbani
    #1 John Corbani, Apr 20, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Dino Saga 080420 _ Speedometer Cable

    Remember the speedo died just as I was getting the car detailed for Bella Italia. Had to order a new cable from GT in Phoenix. Was here Monday. I had the left rear wheel go bad on the way to San Diego so had to get that started first. Took the wheel apart and took the pieces to a machine shop. Wanted to measure each section. Outer rim, inner rim and hub. Where was the problem? Suspected inner rim because that was the one welded and the 4 bolts that broke were near the weld site. But had to be sure that something else was not causing the problem. While waiting I went back to the speedometer cable.

    In the old days I would take the car to Jack Bianchi on Haley St. He retired a couple of years ago and Seth bought the business and named it Mastercraft Motors. Seth has worked on fine cars but mostly in the German area. Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, VW. He respects Ferraris and works on them selectively. There are lots of old Ferraris in Santa Barbara but they are only driven “in season.” Then there are the new ones that require the computer gear to thoroughly service them and that costs a fortune. He has some gear and Jack will lend books and expertise but the Ferrari business can’t keep a large mechanical shop and a body shop running. He needs volume so sticking to high end German is very good business. But there are a lot of owners of exotics who need the simple stuff fixed by someone who will not break the things he does not know. It is a rare shop that knows what it doesn’t know and takes appropriate action. Generally go back to the customer with: “what do I do now, Boss?” Seth and his mechanics do that. It is refreshing.

    The Dino is the kind of car that is in the perfect position to get good service at a reasonable price. It just needed a lift and a mechanic with a light touch. I pulled the bolt holding the speedo cable against the starter opening in the bell housing. The break was near there and the cable housing looked like it had a bad kink there. It did but when looking farther I found that I could not get my hand into the area where the cable tied into the rear end. There was 2-3 feet of cable still stuck in the housing that had to come out before finding out whether the new cable would fit in the old housing. Off to Mastercraft Motors. A day in line and then to a mechanic. Little bit of labor got the old cable housing clear and lubed and the kinks smoothed out. The new inner cable exactly matched the two pieces that came out. Did not have to use new housing. The only end play limit was at the speedo end of the cable. Blew gear oil down old housing. New inner cable went in perfectly, housing screwed on easily and a quick drive around the block showed all in good shape. No loping at 10 mph like in the old days.

    Got info back on wheel parts. Inner rim had more than 0.150” of runout and a wavy inner clamping area. Looks like either get a new spinning or get a new set of wheels. Gotti is still in the business of making 3 piece wheels from spinnings. Filled out their order form and sent it off. Will try to compare prices before I commit in any direction. Hope for a response in a week or so. Don’t know the typical time frame for purchases from France. In the meantime I took some pictures of the old inner speedo cable. Nothing pretty but maybe some lessons.

    John
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  2. frankwissman

    frankwissman Karting

    May 6, 2006
    62
    Charleston, SC
    Full Name:
    Frank Wissman
    Hi, John,

    Great post!
    I have the cable free at both ends but do not see / understand how to pull it out. Where does the cable go from the speedometer, I can't see it from behind the front panel and know it goes into the 'service tube' exiting in the engine bay. Can the inner cable be replaced without extracting the housing?

    Cheers,
    Frank
     
  3. John Corbani

    John Corbani Formula 3
    Honorary Owner

    May 5, 2005
    1,153
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Full Name:
    John Corbani
    Frank,
    Cable outer jacket goes down through front fiberglass, goes under bellypan, under engine and over to gearbox. No need to move anything. Probably can't anyway. Grab hold of the inner cable at the speedometer end and slowly pull out. Twisting will probably help. Put new inner cable in and you are done. Word I got was that there is only one size cable used on speedometers so all are identical. If you have to replace outer jacket, God help you. Looking at omgjon's pictures might help but it won't be fun.
    John
     

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