I cut off the end and checked the speedometer, which seemed to work fine.

Quiz of the day: How many strands in a 54 speedometer cable? I honestly thought the cable might have been a flexible steel cable all the way from speedo to transmssion so when I saw the wire I peeled mine back layer by layer.

I found 4 layers of copper strands around a single center strand. Each layer had 4 wires spun in the same direction. Each layer spun the opposite direction. I count 17 wires in total. This is probably obvious and known to everyone but me. The more I dig in and learn about these trucks, the more I am amazed at the simple purity of every component's design.

Photos of unraveled speedo cable at the end of this link


Last edited by Ritchie 54; 05/12/2013 6:44 PM.
Bob

1954 Chevy 3100 5-Window
1954 5-Window COE aka "THE BEAST"
Bill Ritchie's Original Truck

Granddad's Hardware Store: Ritchie Hardware, Concord, N.C.
Bethesda, MD