Corbin speedometer

[Allan]

Today I picked up the missing link in a second Corbin speedo set, the cable housing. These have different sized ferrules to all others and a far better inner cable.

However the cable housing needs some repair to make it serviceable.The outer winding of the housing is missing half a turn of the outer winding, and needs to be repaired
I am loathe to weld it up not wanting any intrusion into the inside of the housing and not wanting to affect the temper of the inner and outer windings. I am looking fo ft suggestions.

I am considering a sheet brass sheath, tinned on the inside and sweated onto either side of the fault onto a tinned housing with a little slower at the ends. Then I thought a second layer could be fixed to the first in the same manner,
the repair being approx 1.5" long.

Any other suggestions?

Allan from down under.

[robert daniello]

I think that I would remove the inner cable, clean the sheath, and silver solder just the damaged joint to make a fillet to bridge the broken section. Compressing along the axis of the sheath may help bring it together before soldering. That should be almost undetectable when finished and you will only lose flexibility in that one joint which is currently broken. That said, be sure that there is not fabric or other non-metal woven into the sheath…

[Russ_Furstnow]

Allen,
You can buy thin brass tubing on line in the size that matches the od of the cable housing. Cut the brass tubing to the length of the repair. Remove the ferrule and slide the brass tubing over the damaged portion to see if all fits well. Take J-B Weld and smear it onto the outer circumfrence of the cable housing and slide the brass tube over the damaged area. Let the J-B Weld cure overnight. Your cable housing will be as good as new. DO NOT heat the cable housing as the coils are spring steel and the temper of the coil will be lost and your cable housing will not recover its flexibility. I have repaired many cable housing, both brass and steel, using this technique.
I hope this helps,
Russ Furstnow

[WayneJ]

I "fixed" mine with some heat shrink tubing over the bad spot, to make it water tight. So far no issues.

[Russ_Furstnow]

The shrink tubing is a great idea to keep the elements out, but I'm not too sure it will provide the support necessary for Allan's cable. Russ Furstnow

[Allan]

Russ, the Corbin cable ends are not necked down like some Stewart ones I have. The ends have an external flange that the ferrules engage. Solid tubing would need to be larger than the cable housing to go over the flanges. I am not willing to try to remove the crimped on end pieces, so a split tube will have to do. Slitted, ready formed tubing may be a better idea than me trying to form brass sheet.
I am aware of the spring steel used in the cable housing, so soft solder was my choice, rather than welding. I like the idea of shrink wrap. The brass would give the repair rigidity and the shrink tubing would cover that. Neat!

Thanks for the ides fellows.

Allan from down under.

[robert daniello]

Allan,

I like that idea as it is reversible like an archival repair.

My only other thought would be laser welding if you have a suitable specialist nearby, done properly the heat affected zone would be thinner than a pencil line it’s quite remarkable in the right hands, Among other things, have seen cracked expanding reamers welded without losing hardness…