Tach Cable Replacement – Like Yoga In The Bilge.

I hope thats just a prop shaft in my back!

Over the past 3 months I have worked in the yard lifting, digging, planting, building, and worked on all the boats. I see it as a way to get exercise and keep the old heart rate up in some sort of odd way. And it feels great. I have come to realize that sitting in meetings all day long aint a good thing for an old body, or brain, or anything. But my mind can not stand the routine of a workout. I need to be doing something productive with anything I do.

Help, I have fallen and I can’t get up.

Oh look, a rat turd! How did it find its way in that little nook?

So the other day, the tach stopped working on Stinky. What a pile of crap, come on 90 years later it stops! So I called  VanNess Engineering to order a new Tach cable. And two days later a brand new Cable showed up. They make them in case you need one.

Broken. See that little key!

Someone had fixed it with electrical tape at one point in its long life

The side in the dash was fine. Love taking photos of parts like this. The art of grease and metal.

I measured the cable to order a new one. The job of making a new one requires specific tools that VanNess has.

So, I think, this should be an easy job, taking it out was easy. OH! NOOOOOOOO! It’s like taking a boat apart is easy, putting it back together is an entirely new adventure. And working in a 16 foot enclosed boat on a boat lift adds to the fun for sure.

You cant see it from above, so I used my iPhone on selfie mode to find the key to the hole. DON’T GO THERE TROY!

UGH

The tricky part is getting key holes to line up while standing above it all. And threading it on the Engine. 1 hr later and two Tylenol, I had stretched muscles I didn’t know I had, including the brain muscles. And although felt like I had been beaten up felt like I had accomplished something while stretching myself, physically and spiritually. All that from replacing a tach cable.

Make sure it lines up! Good god!

I need to go soak in a hot tub… going 34mph at 3,000 RPM

 

17 replies
  1. Fred
    Fred says:

    Matt — just throw that cable away and get a new electronic tach for cryin’ out loud. You hook up two wires and your are finished. If you’re putting a V-8 in the Sportsman, this is a minor concession by comparison.

  2. Frank@Falmouth
    Frank@Falmouth says:

    Just the tach cable….then what next?.. Dont go there, its a slippery slope! LOL I doubt any electric device would last 80 years! That new cable will be good for probably another 80 I love the challenge and reward of fixing old mechanical things…. Theres a soul to old school systems (good) that isnt there with electronic parts (easily cursed or posessed,) I am continually tinkering with an old Series IIA LandRover and love the simplicity, except the Lucas electrics.. I digress…
    The art of grease and metal ! Yes!!!

  3. Bill
    Bill says:

    put it on the engine first then you can turn the cable from the other end to line up the keyway. then just turn the tach to match up with the final connection

  4. John Rothert
    John Rothert says:

    Great pics of just the kind of drive you nuts jobs we all do and love…
    Not to be a skeptic BUT…34 at 3K?? That ole rat turd infest SOB will fly? Was that on GPS or a transom dragger? Cool not matter what!!!

    John in Va.

  5. Mark
    Mark says:

    I would rather do ten tach cables over one throttle cable. Getting inboard to the carb is way worser than the bottom of the distributor.

    Being over 6 feet tall doesn’t help either.

  6. Art
    Art says:

    Hell I see your problem……………………you don’t have your “rose” colored glasses on.

  7. Dick Dow
    Dick Dow says:

    Hey Matt, you’re a true bilge rat now… 😉 There have been many times working on the various boats – particularly the cruisers – when I’ve found myself in positions where it was relatively easy to get in, but getting out becomes an entirely different situation. And half the time, once you get in there you discover you needed a different tool! Fun stuff!

  8. Craig A. McIntosh
    Craig A. McIntosh says:

    just love and appreciate your narrative – awesome; thanks:

    …1 hr later and two Tylenol, I had stretched muscles I didn’t know I had, including the brain muscles. And although felt like I had been beaten up felt like I had accomplished something while stretching myself, physically and spiritually. All that from replacing a tach cable.

  9. Randy
    Randy says:

    “Someone had fixed it with electrical tape at one point in its long life” — there’s the problem. If the previous owner had used duct tape instead of electrical tape it would have still been working!!

  10. m-fine
    m-fine says:

    When faced with this problem, I had Kocian convert my tach to electric and restore it to better than new condition.

  11. Dick Hansen
    Dick Hansen says:

    I wish that it had been a tach cable and not the clutch cable that broke on my old 911 driving back from LA. Like your joy from accomplishing something, I too learned to shift through the gears without using the clutch, although I don’t know how much damage I did to the tranny!

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