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MG MGA - Speedometer bouncing

My speedometer needle is bouncing badly - up to plus or minus 10mph. I have a rhd car but am using the longer cable used in LHD cars. There is some comment on this in the archives but I'm wondering if the longer cable is more prone to 'whip' than the shorter version. Thanks.
J H Cole

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/dash/st106.htm
Barney Gaylord

Good comprehensive explanation by Barney as always. His page was a result of my question. I would add that my issue turned out not to be the instrument but the early cable supplied in my Type-9 conversion back in 2000 (now sorted by the supplier). The inner cable was too small for the outer and caused the 'whip'.

If you are using a standard MGA cable (LHD or RHD) and it is in good condition with no oil/grease binding nor frayed cables then I think it unlikely that the fault is there.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Thanks Barney & Steve. I aim to connect an old cable up to the speedo and drive it with an electric drill to see if it improves.
J H Cole

When I disassembled my coupe several years ago, my original speedometer and choke cables were with the car but the grey "plastic" cable sleeves were deteriorated. I removed all of the old sleeves and the inner and outer metal cables are in excellent condition. Is there any way to recover the cables with new grey sleeves?

Jim
JL Cheatham

Jim,

Assuming its available in the US,you could use 'heat shrink'insulation a product you could get at an electrical store. If you get a size slightly larger than your cable and slide it on then as the name suggests just blow it over with a hair dryer or heat gun to shrink it for a nice tight fit. looks great not sure if you can get it in grey though.

Alan
AR Terry

This thread was discussed between 16/11/2016 and 18/11/2016

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