Speedo retainer clip for 79-83-ish Gauge and housing

[BRetty]

Greetings,

I've been reading the forums for months trying to figure out all the quirks with my '73 C10 I bought last year. My gearhead buddy had to close down his shop suddenly before we could dig into it, so absent his guidance this site has been my lifeline.

Current problem is this: My square is a '73 C10 that at some point divorced his first transmission and took up with a TH350C. Later he married the dash panel from an '81 GMC Suburban and ended up as stepdad to her brood of 79-83-era gauges. (Understanding the shotgun marraige and that I needed to look at '81 wiring diagrams not '73 would have saved much anguish and heartache.)

One thing that could work is the Speedometer. The cable was not connected, but it is connected at the transmission and fits into the back of the speedo like a warm hug. So I ordered a replacement retainer clip from LMC and though it would be a happy ending.

(My Speedometer looks like LMC Part #
36-1862 SPEEDOMETER 2ND DESIGN CHEVY GMC 79-80
)

These pictures show the problem: there is no place to attach the retainer.

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From the long thread on "Cluster Teardown" I noted that the OP Green79Scottsdale had a housing with a different back than mine, and little alighment studs for the retainer:

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One of the members in that thread, 84K20, has the same back as mine. Unfortunately Attaching the cable with that back was not discussed in the thread, and none of the manuals or parts catalogs seem to show the back of these clusters.

Clearly I have a mismatch amongst the "buffet-style" components in my dash. Maybe the cable housing just screws on to the back of the gauge? If anybody knows how this cable is meant to attach to its speedometer, that would be new info for me, and I would be very appreciative. I am considering just drilling a few extra holes in the housing, or is there a differnt clip I should have?

Last here are pictures of my housing and my cable yearning to mate with a gauge.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

BRetty

 

[Russtypickle]

Hey, it's been a few years but I ran into the same issue. I see there wasn't a lot of people chiming into your thread either, I think this is a very niche issue. Did you manage to drill a hole successfully? If so, where did you drill it? My old speedo (85) has the hole drilled on the bottom of the speedo but I'm thinking my 79 is actually backwards so I should be drilling the hole above the cable to avoid moving parts below?

 

[Radiohead]

Damn, just had mine out on a '79 and IIRC, the clip pushed down to disengage the speedo cable housing. So, in the original photo up top, it looks like a hole for the screw is provided.

Have you since figured it out BRetty? What did you do?

 

[BRetty]

I don't recall what I did, but it turned out to be not as precice as I thought. IIRC I just kinda jammed the cable in and did something with the retainer, it sorta worked and I've been afraid to pull it out again to do stuff like lube the cable.

I honestly have gone extremely Zen with the whole concept of instruments. It's not a goddamed airplane. Do I really need a speedometer? Be serious -- you know how fast you are going, it's either the right speed, or wrong. You're not 16 years old, use your judgement. Same with my gas gauge. It's either empty or full. I drive until I run out of gas, then put in 3 gallons from the jug I keep behind the seat and go to the nearest gas sation.

This may not be helpful to you, but I feel better about things....

 

[ali_c20]

Greetings,

I've been reading the forums for months trying to figure out all the quirks with my '73 C10 I bought last year. My gearhead buddy had to close down his shop suddenly before we could dig into it, so absent his guidance this site has been my lifeline.

Current problem is this: My square is a '73 C10 that at some point divorced his first transmission and took up with a TH350C. Later he married the dash panel from an '81 GMC Suburban and ended up as stepdad to her brood of 79-83-era gauges. (Understanding the shotgun marraige and that I needed to look at '81 wiring diagrams not '73 would have saved much anguish and heartache.)

One thing that could work is the Speedometer. The cable was not connected, but it is connected at the transmission and fits into the back of the speedo like a warm hug. So I ordered a replacement retainer clip from LMC and though it would be a happy ending.

(My Speedometer looks like LMC Part #
36-1862 SPEEDOMETER 2ND DESIGN CHEVY GMC 79-80
)

These pictures show the problem: there is no place to attach the retainer.

You must be registered for see images attach

From the long thread on "Cluster Teardown" I noted that the OP Green79Scottsdale had a housing with a different back than mine, and little alighment studs for the retainer:

You must be registered for see images attach

One of the members in that thread, 84K20, has the same back as mine. Unfortunately Attaching the cable with that back was not discussed in the thread, and none of the manuals or parts catalogs seem to show the back of these clusters.

Clearly I have a mismatch amongst the "buffet-style" components in my dash. Maybe the cable housing just screws on to the back of the gauge? If anybody knows how this cable is meant to attach to its speedometer, that would be new info for me, and I would be very appreciative. I am considering just drilling a few extra holes in the housing, or is there a differnt clip I should have?

Last here are pictures of my housing and my cable yearning to mate with a gauge.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

BRetty

You have 81 - 87 cluster backing plate. There are 2 different versions and also for tach and none tach.
The retainer clip on the 81 - 87 speedos is attached to the speedo and not the backing plate.
Pre 81 with tach:

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You must be registered for see images attach

81 up without tach:

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You must be registered for see images attach

81 up speedo:

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Russtypickle]

okay so I drilled the back and it's pretty straight forward, just go slow. Here's what I did, and why....

First, pick the correct location. There's a gear on the top or bottom (both mine were different) (see photo), you'll want to drill on the other side where there's nothing behind. It's easier to see on the older units but you can see both "shaft" ends on the new units. I started with a 5/64 bit and went down to the depth of the screw. Then went up to a 3/32 bit to get to the correct diameter for the factory screw. Be careful not to go through if you can avoid it, I didn't on mine and I used tape around the sides to keep filings from getting into the unit. Once drilled the screw goes in nicely. Again, go slow and measure the depth lots.