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Hello Packard friends, can someone enlighten me as to why the new speedometer cable from John Ulrich twisted off ? The old original cable did the exact same thing it appears. Both have the first 2" of the drive cable in the gear in the transmission twisted off. I didn't get out of the garage even with my new one. I can turn the cable freely with my fingers. No kinks or acute bends in the cables as I followed the original route per factory install. The gear pulls out easily in the transmission housing. It looks like new with no damage on the teeth. It installs right back into place when I put John's new cable in it. What is up with my 42 Clipper. Only thing wrong with her is her speedo.

The speedometer piece the cable end fits into rotates inside a bushing in the casting. I suspect the speedo has never been lubed and the socket piece in best case has become so dry or gummy it can barely move or worst case it has seized to the bushing.

I believe it would be easier to remove the speedo to do any work so you can see exactly what is happening and have access to give things a thorough lube and cleaning. On a 42 the speedo assy mounting should be very similar to the 47 in the photo below. If so, after the light sockets are removed three screws hold the assy to the dash. One of the top screws also holds one side of the cluster and both go into the pot metal on the front of dash. IIRC, a pressed in nut in the dash metal holds the bottom screw. There may be spacers and antisqueek material along with the screws so if any is present take note of where those might be positioned to get them back in order. If you have a speedo with the trip odometer reset cable, that is held to the bottom edge of the dash by a decorative nut. The cable can be removed from the dash after the knob is removed so the nut can slide off the shaft.

On my 47 with the same basic speedo the bushing was dry and the grease inside the unit which lubes the gear train to the odometer reels was also dry and became hard enough the gear train would not move. There should be an oil hole on the side of the speedo casting near the threads which has a felt wick that carries oil directly to the bushing and keeps a bit of oil in reserve. If it is really dry it may take a few drops there as well as working some oil directly between the rotating piece and the bushing. On some units the oil hole is visible but on others it is a bit far back and sometimes the sheetmetal case may have it partially covered. If the rotating piece has seized then it may be impossible to free and another speedo will be needed.

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Ok Howard, I never imagined the speedo being so gummy it wouldn't move. Oh how I hate laying on this old back with my fat head wedged under the dash. Oh to be 25 again. THANK YOU !

H+LL, I'd settle to be 50 again.

One of the few areas were serviceability has improved is dashboard work.

Even still, if you have an assistant taking the front seat out will make your life easier.

As well if the unit is held in with the original screws, Packard issued a bulletin recommending making 10-32 studs out of screws and using nuts for installation.

When the car was built the dashboard and wiring was installed as a unit prior to the windshield. So if you can't get underneath that thing you can unbolt the entire dashboard. That is a lot more work of course so you may find yourself looking for a youngster.

Today at work they were making fun of me because I still have a low BMI. I laughed. It sure helps laying out all the engineering leads that are used for testing these days.