Speedo cable question

[pereirac]

Hi,
I am looking to replace the speedo cable on my Sprint. There seem to be different lengths available depending on the age of the car. Just wondered why the earlier cars had shorter speedo cables after all the speedo and gearbox positions never changed??
What should the correct length be for my 72 car?

Thanks

Carl

[elanner]

I'm curious about this too.

My current speedo cable is definitely the wrong length, only reaching the speedo (LHD car) by passing through the chassis inspection hole, behind the carpet by the passenger's leg, and then behind the heater. Running a cable through the normal route has been on my to-do list for a couple of years, and would hopefully cure the the minor needle bounce (unless it's the speedo itself).

I have two new cables - the first, at 45 3/4" (measured from the ends of the caps), was purchased from a Lotus parts supplier in the UK. The other, at 51 1/2" , came up sometime later on eBay, was described as an original Elan LHD speedo cable.

I wouldn't be surprised if LHD & RHD use different length cables, but I can't find any indication of this in the parts manual.

Carl: according to the parts manuals hosted by rdent.com the part number was the same from S1-Sprint. So not age related.

Of course, if the 45 3/4" cable is just for RHD cars, then mine's for sale!

Nick

[pereirac]

Nice website, rdent.com... scary prices for Elan parts in the US though ...

Looks like speedo cable is somewhere between 39' and 54'..... Better phone Susan Miller or Paul Matty...

Carl

[ericbushby]

I still have the cable which was replaced when I thought it may be the cause of a fault.
It measures 48" outer sheath and 49.5" inner cable. It seemed to be the right length when it was in and the new one fitted equally well, although I did not measure that one.
I bought the new one from Susan Miller.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC