The above artical & photos by lugnutz is what convensed my to have the courage to give it a try. I followed the directions & photos & I am very happy with the results.
Thanks,
Odie55
I'm always delighted to read that someone has found my web pages useful. I will presume you have an S10 T5 with the cable style speedo connection. The VSS speedo connection cannot be converted to accept a speedometer cable (unless you send it off and have a metal fabricator modify it).
Anyway, most speedometer cables have square ends. The T5 driven gear is a plastic gear that lives inside a bullet shaped housing mounted on the side of the T5 tail housing. One end of the cable fits into the stem of the driven gear and the other goes into the back of your factory instrument cluster where it connects to the speedometer. Since the T5 is likely longer than your original transmission, you should measure the distance between the 2 parts with a piece of rope or figure out how much your current speedo cable falls short.
Here are some pictures to get you thinking.
As I mentioned in my prior post, you will need to make sure you get the right combination of
DRIVE GEAR and
DRIVEN GEAR to go along with your
REAR AXLE GEAR and
REAR TIRE DIAMETER. All 4 factors are important if you want the speedometer to be accurate. You might need to change the drive gear (comes in red = 9 teeth or blue = 7 teeth) in order to find the correct combination because DRIVEN GEARS are only made with certain tooth counts (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 teeth)
When I installed a T5 in my 1965 C10, I needed a longer than factory speedometer cable. I bought a new cable at NAPA for a Chevy NOVA. I can't remember the length, but it works perfectly fine. GM didn't change a lot of simple things like speedometer cables from year to year. I doubt that you will need an adapter.
If by chance you have a tail housing with the VSS connection, then we will need to have a whole different discussion.
These photos and web pages might help answer some questions. A TH350 driven gear housing is the part you'll need to hold the driven gear if yours is missing.
Drive Gear and Driven Gears for a T5 Just disregard the stuff labeled for a Camaro. It doesn't apply to your T5.
