Speedo drive cable?

[adi]

I know this sounds a little silly, but i genuinely cant find it,  where the hell does the speedo cable bolt into on the villiers power unit in my scootacar?

When i flipped the schassis over, i saw the speedo cable just hanging there, and i actually couldnt find where it bolts to at all.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks

[rayburrow]

I know this sounds a little silly, but i genuinely cant find it,  where the hell does the speedo cable bolt into on the villiers power unit in my scootacar?

When i flipped the schassis over, i saw the speedo cable just hanging there, and i actually couldnt find where it bolts to at all.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks

Can't actually speak for the Scootacar, but my Bond Minicar mkD uses the same Villiers  9e engine.   The speedo drive is not taken from the engine, but from the nearside wheel hub!      My guess is that on such a ubiquitous engine as the 9e, used on bikes and cars of all types, with all sorts of wheel sizes, it would be pointless providing a speedo drive from the engine itself. 

[Chris Thomas]

Dear Adi

I would agree with Rayburrow as the speedo drive would never have come off the engine, otherwise it would be a rev counter. Off the gearbox maybe, but more likely off one of the wheels. On early VW beetles it connected to a square hole in the front wheel brake hub with a split pin. So it could be something that simple.

Where are all the scootacar owners when you want them?

Chris Thomas

[adi]

On pretty much all beetles its connected like you said to the hub through a square driver, although correctly its supposed to be a circlip and not a splitpin, but this is a common mod.

Im sorry, i think i may have written this in a slightly confusing way, due to lack of experience with these things. When i said power unit, i meant the whole engine/gearbox/chain/rear wheel assembly.

The reason im asking is because the cable is dangling near the gearbox, and is routed there through several clamps mounted on the schassis, and also through a hole in the schassis, and is also way too long to reach the front hubs.

So its long enough to reach the rear engine/gearbox area, is dangling under the engine/gearbox area, and is held in place by clamps and holes for its route, going to the engine and gearbox area. The patina/rust/oil on the cable and its calmps suggests nothing has moved for a very long time.

So, that makes me assume that, it must connect to SOMETHING in the engine/gearbox area.

[Grant Kearney]

The Scootacar makes use of a speedo drive from the gearbox.  This is located on the underside of the box and between the 2 sides of the engine cradle.  The speedodrive is above 3" long and 1 wide with a very fine threaded piece sticking out to thread the cable onto.  You require a 'fork' drive that fits into the speedo cable (which often getsm lost when the cable is removed) and is pushed into the speedo drive and is held in place by threading the collar on the cable onto the above mentioned fine threaded piece.  New cables for the Mk1 are available from Speedy Cables at reasonable cost.

[marcus]

That seems like a definitive answer to your question!
 It is also worth remembering when working on cars from the 50s, made on and for tiny budgets, that things often changed from one batch to the next. Also previous owners may have made mods/replacements which give false clues to how things should be. When I was re-building a Velorex we had all sorts of guessing games due to the car's history of mods and botches, and wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to get things "right", then found that mine NEVER had the part I was trying to get right!

[adi]

Ah, ok, thanks for the info, i will look again for the speedo drive.

Odd how the speedo cable would be disconneted tho. And how i positivly could NOT find a drive for it. I mean...i COULD have just missed, but im pretty sure that even after no breakfast and alot of welding fumes, i would still have noticed it. And i looked for it specially.

Is it possible that the car has had an engine transplant, like for example, an engine from a bike or something, which would not have the scootacar specific cable drive?

[marcus]

That's the kind of scenario you have to be prepared for! Sadly a speedo is a legal requirement, but if you come across an insurmountable problem here, the law does not define what type of speedo. so a suitably modified magnetic/electronic bicycle speedo is legal, as long as you can persuade the MOT tester! One of the only retrospective law for cars is that if they have a full width fixed windscreen then they must have wiper(s) and screen washer, even if not originally fitted to the vehicle. When I had a Velorex I used a squeeze-trigger Windolene bottle and some fine plastic tube, it worked it passed

[Bob Purton]

"So long as you can persuade the MOT tester"? As far as I know speedo function is not a part of the MOT test. I have never seen my examiner test a speedo on any of my vehicles old or modern. Then again, I might just have an ify examiner. Talking of dodgy MOT's, I was talking to an old AC ace owner for Surrey yesterday who told me that when his MOT ran out he would simply call his local garage and tell them, they would reply " Oh, I will put one in the post for you. Those were the days!

[marcus]

I consulted a local MOT tester whilst getting my Velorex running what was the minimum amount of stuff I needed to have fitted and working, and he said speedo  was needed, but I don't think he checked it, he was happy to know that I had asked and made the effort to get everything prepared according to his advice. I had no head lghts ("if it's not fitted, it does not need to work!), just brake lights and indicators, washer and wiper. Other laws (Construction and Use) would be used against me if I was driving a car without headlights in dark/bad weather. But like you, I have never had anyone check speedo on any vehicle I have put in for MOT.

[Bob Purton]

Seams like Adi just needs to stuff the other end of the speedo cable in a hole somewhere and forget about it then! No, I think he will want it working as he strikes me as the kind of guy who does things properly and quite right too!

[adi]

Hey.

Well, the issue of a working speedo for mot is well debated, and i know it well, remember, speedos dont always behave when fitted with non standard wheels or hubs/axles from another vehicle. Its something that i know well but is beyond the scope of this thread.

If i wanted to get it a MOT like it was, im sure there would be ways around this, like you said, stuffing it into somewhere, etc. Mot testers are human too, cant notice everything at once, etc etc etc you know the story.

But this is not the issue here.

The issue is, i want to know how fast im going! Remember, this car isnt a museum exibit, i will actually DRIVE it sometimes, so a functioning speedo is an advantage.

Sure, i could use a sat-nav, but i would prefer to get the original speedo working, as its THERE, might as well make it work. It would bug me otherwise.

Iv been beach-fishing today (ugh...how many times will they drag me out fishing....you never catch anything...its a waste of time), so i havnt had the chance to look at the car much.

I will be sure to look for the speedo driver.

As a side note, while im here, does anyone happen to have a big list of scootacar engine and schassis numbers? Because if mine is the original engine, then it must have the speedo driver. If anyone happens to have such a list, i will find what my schassis/engine number is, i have it written somewhere.

[marcus]

I quite agree about knowing how fast you are going, and regard any reasonably reliable device for that as essential (e.g. cycle speedo), because there are lots of speed cameras these days. The reason for something like a "daylight" MOT/jury rigged/stripped down spec is that it can permit you to use the car on the road (carefully perhaps!) which is a good way of testing it all out while you finalise the details and get everything nicely adjusted

[Grant Kearney]

All Mk1 Scootacar engine numbers start with 714B.  This was the unique code that Villiers gave to the 9E blower/dynastart engines supplied to Hunslet.  The later Mk2 with the updated 9E start with the code 192D.
9E engines were a very popular power unit and were fitted to endless british bikes as well as Bond Minicars.  Few however had a fan fitted to cool the cylinder which makes the 9E blower fitted to the Mk1 Scootacar, Frisky, some Invalid Carriages (Sir Cyphus will be able to list them) and Bond Scooters very rare. 
I find my Scootacar speedo works very well and is accurate with an acheiveable top speed of 62mph !

[Jawmedead]

I tried the link on Rumcars web for the Scootacar Register (www.scootacar.org.uk) but it seems this does not open and is unobtainable. Is there a new site for Scootacars?