Hello,

As I progress in my 52' Ford F1 restoration I have noticed something that may be sort of a problem for me and I was wandering what some of you may have done in a similar situation.

I have replaced the old 3 speed transmission with a newer 5 Speed M5r2 from a 1990 Ford pickup. What type, how, or is it possible to get a speedometer cable that will hook up to this newer transmission that will be compatible with my original gauges? I have found some reproduction gauges I/e Doc's Kustom Gauges, that I have considered buying, but my wife is fond of the original gauges.

So, is it possible to do this? Or what have some of you guys done on this type of Restoration?

Thanks again guys! Without your help my efforts would be very, very limited!

Jon Preston
1952 Ford F1
302 with 5 Speed M5r2

 

Hello Jon, prob. does not help but my first go around with my F-7 I put a 302 automatic in it with 4 wheel drive transfer case still attached. I did nothing to the speedometer cable except plug it in.

I used the same cable that was in the mid 80s pickup I robbed the drivetrain from.

I had my wife follow me down the road just to see how far off it was and as it turned out it was within 5 or 7 miles an hour which I just kept in mind and adjusted my driving habits with.

I know it seems hard to believe that this would have worked at all but it did.

 

Thank you for your input! I will see what I can come up with and hopefully mine will work too! I really appreciate the help!

Thank You!

Jon Preston

 

There are many custom speedometer cable companies that will match up whatever you have. There are also adapters (little gearboxes) that allow you to correct the readings. It isn't cheap, of course, probably $100 all told, but having an accurate speedo and odometer is worth it IMO.

 

I'll do some research and try to find a few places that offer the cables. I used to own a 1972 Duster that the speedometer read about 5 mph different, so I always carried an extra speedometer cable in the backseat for the alibi of "I just got a new cable officer and I'm gonna fix it...."

Thank you guys very much and I greatly appreciate all of the help!!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks again,

Jon Preston

 

Assuming your new transmission still uses a driven cable system (many new ones are electronic), you can generally get a different driven gear in the trans to change the speedo ratio if your speedo is off. As said earlier, most of the cables themselves are just a square drive that has been used for years, it is generally the length and ends that are different. A quick trip to NAPA with the ends that you need may be a good possibility.

 

Same nylon DRIVEN speedo gears used since 1960, 16 thru 21 teeth available from Ford. Off 5-7 MPH, you need to either deduct or add one tooth, depending on if too fast/slow

 

Use your GPS to see how far out the speedo is or better yet buy a GPS speedo from somewhere like Speedhut.com for instance. John

 

I used a universal cable from Summit Racing. It has the 5/8 end for the mechanical speedo, and I was able to find a Ford version for the transmission end. There are a bunch of sites if you search to figure out which drive gear to use based on tire size and rear-end gear ratio.

It was something like this part: Lokar Speedometer Cables SP1502U - SummitRacing.com

I also found an app for my iphone called justspeed. It is a GPS speedometer. It is pretty accurate if you can hold it at a constant speed. It's not so good if you are changing speeds.

Some speedos have a 3/4" fitting, so check to see what you have.

Dan

 

I have the same proplem.My AOD has the 2 wire sensor in the trans.I have played around with it and have found that you can take the white cap off the end of it and inside there is still a square drive shaft that a cable will go into.The original cable will not fit inside because the end is to big.I am going to grind it down to a smaller diameter the silicone or eboxy it together.Should work.