speedometer question

hoggyrubber

i was taking a break today from the electrical and i started to hook up my speedometer but it wouldn't go in. if any of you remember i was missing the pinion but got one several months back. i removed and lubed the cable a while back. the new pinion engages the cable and fully seats against the conical end of on the cable housing. the conical end in the picture is cleaned up now. the plug shown in the transmission just pushes in or out and was being held in by the cap screw at the side.
my problem is the end on the cable housing will not go all the way in to seat. the pinion bottoms out against the machined place on the inside the transmission before the lip of the cable housing end touches the outside of tranny. it will slide all the way in with the pinion out but it has movement side to side , like it's not tight. the tranny is a late 2 lever '52 and the car/ cable housing is a '53.
am i missing a spacer that will hold cable out? do i need a different cable housing end? what is up? thanks, stacy k

Park_W

Sounds like you may have an incorrect pinion. What are the numbers on it? If you have a parts book, both the Stewart-Warner and the Hudson numbers are there ... you can compare what you've got with what's specified.

hoggyrubber

sorry, after all that typin' last night i forgot to post the picture! the # on the gear end of pinion is sw105168. the number on the shaft end is sw104855. i looked it up at the time and thought i was getting the correct one. the gear on the end of pinion is only 3/8" thick and that is about the amount the cable housing sticks out.
and like i said with the pinion out and just cable end inserted it has a lot of "waller" because the machined hole in the tranny seems to have to big an ID. so it is just seems like it it needs a spacer or insert driven in the tranny to make the ID smaller and give it more depth. but i have never seen one hooked up so my imagination is prob wrong. this pipe plug is just stuck inside the tranny to keep the fluid in. neither the car i bought with this engine or the car i am putting it in had the speedo hooked up.

Park_W

That pinion shows in the parts book as for '41-'47 trannies. Stepdown numbers all begin with 3 (Hudson nr) and 4 (SW nr.) Numbers for '52 2-lever without OD are 304703 and 448322. With OD they're 306725 and 448286.

hoggyrubber

well that is why i should check twice, i guess. thanks for the info, i will be on the hunt for another. stacy k

hoggyrubber

well i got the correct pinion today and it still won't go in. both of them are the same lenth and the gear on the end is same thickness, but the tooth pich is different. but i can't get mine to seat in the tranny! the only thing i can think of is it's the wrong speedo cable. but why would it have the wrong one on the car? the easier answer is i am doing something/ over looking something but what? the conical end with pinion inside just seems too long at bottoms out against what looks to be machined place in tranny. if i remove pinion it will go in enouigh to seat. i took several pictures to see if anyone can show me the light. the first one is it in as rar as it will go, next is it out showing pinion gear and lenth of conical end, last is it installed without pinion which is how i left it. also it's not just the gears meshing up because without it being all the way in i can waller it around because it isn't in to the big part yet.

hoggyrubber

the pictures show up as red x's on my computer but if i double click on one of them it shows the picture.

Hudson Grandpa

Park: SW 447290. Just had transmiision overhauled. speedo was reading 20 mph over. This was the partinside the tranny. Not enough teeth. My car is 54 cpe Borg Warner. New gears now reads correct.
What car does this belong to?

Park_W

Grandpa,
I just checked the '48-'54 parts book, and that number is not among the ones listed there. That said, the book doesn't show ones for the B-W tranny, so that may be what it's for. Unfortunately my Hudson B-W repair manual doesn't say anything about the speedo gears.

hoggyrubber

the tranny is out of a 52 hornet double lever shift tranny, the car is a 53 and this is the speedo that was on it when i got it. i think i have the correct pinion now it is 448322. unless something moves at the very end of the hole where it goes in i don't think it will work. the fiber gear on the end of the pinion just is too thick to let it go in. if it was missing something inside tranny that might explain it. i can see the gear that would drive pinion inside tranny and it looks like it is too close to mouth of hole to work with this long end on the speedo shaft. can anyone tell from the pictures i posted?

Park_W

hr, it might be worth emailing or calling Al Saffrahn or Dr. Doug, who have a lot of experience with the 2-lever trannies. Describe the problem and see if they've encountered it or can explain what's going on.

hoggyrubber

i thought i would drudge this thread back up since i never got my speedo working. i talked to dr doug a while back and he said there were some short speedo plugins/ pinions. while i was adjusting the valves i was looking at this and had a idea! which is sometimes not a good thing. i was thinking about grinding about 1/4" off this speedo plugin which goes in the tranny. then trying to press the gear down 1/4" farther on the pinion and cutting the excess off. what do you guys think? i really don't have much to lose. i don't know if i can actually find one of these short speedo cables and then a short pinion! i don't know if this gear would crack if i tried pressing it down further.