Joey,
The BIG SECRET about Tiger speedo cables and housings is that most
speedo shops will immediately tell you they haven't the tooling, or
parts, for British speedo's. Except for the better shops, that work on
domestic and foreign cars, this is true. The Rootes speedometer attach
hardware, on both sides of both ends, is different than American
standards they are equipped for.
There is, however, a MAJOR EXCEPTION! Although the Sunbeam Alpine fits
the above class, the Sunbeam TIGER is different. The speedo has Ford
spec cable attach threads, as does the cable attach nut, and the inner
core meets the Ford standard size in cable as well as the "squished"
square end. On the other end it also matches an American transmission.
Unfortunately, the inside gears, etc. of the speedo are Smiths/Jaeger
standards, and some are difficult to come by.
But the cable is easily replaced by a US shop, using Ford type tooling.
I recommend the heavy duty cable, and careful attention to the cable
length, so that the replacement does not apply pressure on the internal
receptacle by being too long. This could kill the speedo. Make sure
good grease is used.
There are two shops that specialize in Smiths/Jaeger instruments. At
one time MOMA was the trade name of a married couple, MOrris and MArtha,
and they lived in Los Angeles. After the divorce, Martha got the rights
to the MOMA name, but both are still in business, and do good work.
The BEST calibration of a speedo is on a rear wheel dynamometer, which
measures road speed and distance to compare to instrument readings. If
your speedo needs repair, you will need to determine the ratio of cable
turn to rear wheel turn. This is usually done by marking the rear tire,
properly inflated, at the ground interface. Disconnect an operating
cable, let it hang down below the dash, and put a piece of masking tape
on it. Either push the car a defined short distance, and count the
cable rotations, or push the car a specified number of cable rotations
and measure the distance traveled. MOMA and Morris have their own
preferences, but the result is the same, if not as good as a dynamometer.
Each speedometer, in the US, is built to a standard 1,000 turns per
mile. In England, they have a different standard. Each CAR, and even
varying by year (Mk I, IA vs Mk II) have different gearing inside. The
standard Mk I, IA is printed on the bottom of the speedometer, and
should say "980", meaning 980 turns per mile. Isn't that a wonderful
system of standardization?
Good Luck,
Steve Laifman
Caseyh4312@aol.com wrote:
>hi guys,
>
>one of the last things to do on my tiger is to change the speedo cable. When
>we were driving around the neighborhood, it was jumping all over the place.
>from 20-80 when we were prolly doing 50 or something like that, but i really
>dont know.
>
>But i need some advice on how to change it. Any tips either? And it goes
>from the speedo to the tranny right? How is it easiest to do?
>
>Let me know.
>
>Thanks for all the help to get my tiger goin again.
>
>Joey Hiykel 1966 Tiger MK1A
>B382001072 LRXFE JAL# 661104
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