I am getting real close to hitting the road with this car. It is a Brookville 32 Highboy roadster with a flathead. Behind that is a 39 trans with LZ gears then a closed drive line 36 rear end. The speedometer drive is the turtle type. I have a mechanical SW speedometer that is filling the hole in the dash at this point. I do not have any cable for this. Questions: 1. Will a ford steedo cable marry up to the SW speedometer without any adapter. 2. If I get the correct speedometer driven gear (turtle) for the rear end ratio will the SW speedometer be accurate 3 Or should I just get an electric speedo. Easier to route wire than a cable
i don't think an old ford speedo cable will screw into the SW speedometer. pioneer # CA3002 for 63" cable , CA3004 for 83" ......both should screw into the old Ford turtle speedo drive and the SW speedometer all US speedometers are calibrated 1000 RPM's is 60 MPH , or 1000 turns is one mile. you need to get the correct drive/driven gears in the Ford turtle. or you can buy a ratio adapter FYI....any speedo cable that will screw unto a GM TH350 and Th400 will screw unto the old Ford turtle
A stock Ford cable will go right into a vintage Stewart Warner. The factory Ford speedos were SW too. They changed in the 60's though so those will need a different cable. Getting a custom cable made is not hard though, any speedo shop worth their salt can make exactly what you need.
Maybe I've missed it but I'm surprised I haven't seen any of these street rod or performance places putting out a vintage looking GPS speedometer. I've seen some on ebay out of china and am considering going this route only problem is they look a little too modern for a hot rod.
Don't knock the GPS until you've tried it After years of screwing with speedo gears and dip switches I did a GPS in my new chopped deuce 5 window with vintage curved glass looking gauges and if I didn't tell you you'd never find the GPS sensor. Exactly on the money speed and mileage wise. I'm not saying I'd put a GPS in all my cars but it sure made it easy.
Some transmission/ chassis / where the hell everything had to go to fit and work rods make a regular speedometer cable damned near impossible to route without buying extra 90 degree adapters and other piece and then you get into the calibration thing. Then you go an inch taller on the rear tires and start over again. GPS makes a lot of sense there if you haven't already invested a lot of money in a mechanical speedo. I have to admit though that I wish they did make faces on them that looked proper in traditional rigs instead of looking "new".
The stock 32 speedometer had a 3/4-20 inverted nut on the Stewart Warner as well as the Waltham Danny. So if the OP's speedometer is a true 32 speedo a standard 5/8-18 cable nut used on later SW speedos will not fit.
i read it as the OP had a later Stewart Warner speedometer with the 5/8-18 nut and not an original `32 speedometer
He said Ford speedo cable, so I thought he meant stock 32 Ford. I guess I should have been more specific. I don't have any experience with late model stuff and later speedo cables. Course, he could go GPS........... .
at this point we don't know what speedometer the OP has , we all have been assuming so everyone's advice is correct depending on what he has i have no problem with the GPS , but still prefer a cable.less stuff to wrong and is simple. with a th350 in all three of my hot rods getting the speedometer to read correctly is not a big deal. TCI transmissions has an online calculator to show you what drive/driven gears you need,even has the GM part numbers and color codes. i have a big pile of gears here in a box to work with. with other transmissions and early Ford drivelines i'm sure it is not as easy
The Jalopy Journal
