I use Ford Speedometer Cable Lubricant (Grease), E6TZ-19581-A. One can of this will last a lifetime.

 

I really HATE false information.
WD40 is not going to evaporate in a day or a year.

Heres a spot on my driveway that I WD40 ed some lug nuts last month, It's also wear I wash my car everyday. Seems it didn't evaporate. Although I wish it would.

 

http://www.ehow.com/way_5485040_can-...or-opener.html

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&h...w=1345&bih=569

It's the difference between a porous and non-porous surface. Your concrete soaked it up and the mineral spirits do take a bit longer to leave. Water takes longer to evaporate on concrete than the roof of your car. Skate across it barefooted and tell us how well lubed the concrete is.

WD40 is the crescent wrench of the lube world. It's OK when nothing else is available but for nearly every application, there's a better tool. I keep a gallon of it handy in my business, but not for anything permanent. For cables, squeaks, and anything you want it to last on, something better should be used - ESPECIALLY if it's hard to get to for when you have to do it again.

 

I agree with that.
That being said, That stuff is still slippery, I wash my car nearly every day right there and slip most of the time I walk across it.

I also said " If your going to use any kind of grease use the di-electric grease
and sparingly. " I don't think it's necessary to use grease but if you have to, then use the di-electric grease.
WD40 will work just fine on a speedometer cable that's enclosed in a rubber//steel tube and closed off at both ends.

People can sure do whatever they wish and if the person who owns the speedometer cable wishes to put grease on his cable, I really don't care. I was just giving my opinion just as you did or 2+2 or the other guy. I don't think any opinion is worth more than the other. If I was going to use anything, (Now) besides WD40 on a speedometer cable, I would probably give that stuff 2+2 said he used.

 

I have a 65 with a 200 and my speed up to 45 is the same as a newer car side by side with my car. Although when I am going 65 they are only going 55. Would this gear be the reasoning for that? I have standard wheels, i beleive the 14".

 

If your speed is the same at one speed it should be the same at all speeds.
The gear would not effect that. If you changed the gear so that the higher speeds would match then the lower speeds wouldn't match, with your speedometer. I think it's going to be in the gage itself. I know the needle is not attached directly to the cable or it would break at any speed in reverse, It must be some kind of a magnetic thing that when the cable turns inside the gage it transfers to the pointer. But I'm not sure, At any rate, it has to be in the gage, not the cable or the gear. Now don't go buying a gage, check with more people hear as to how the cable is hooked to the needle.

 

Probably the gauge (spring) and not the gear. Here is a good description of how it works.

The basis behind a mechanical speedometer is that a mechanical linkage, (basically a well lubricated cable) spins at a speed proportional to wheel speed. this enclosed cable travels the length of the vehicle (from the back differential in my case) all the way to the back of the dashboard. at the dashboard a mechanical device converts rpm of the shaft to miles per hour. Suprising as it sounds, the spinning shaft is connected to a magnet. this magnet spins inside an aluminum cup. The spinning magnet induces an eddy current in the aluminum, causing the aluminum disk to move in the same direction as the spinning magnet. the aluminum disk is fighting a weak spring with a well defined spring constant, so, as magnet rpm increases the induced eddy force on the aluminum cup increases, and the position of the aluminum disk fights the weak spring. the postion of this aluminum disk is now your speedometer. a mechanical derivative machine, all to find vehicle speed. Apparentley this made monetary sense at one point in time.

 

sounds like a lot of work went into developing a speedo.

 

So is it hard to fix the guage or do you need a whole new guage?

 

I would recommend replacement with a good used one. Someone smarter than me might be able to repair it. I just don't like taking things in and out 50 times while trying to figure out the repair.