questions on our "new" 1955 Victoria

[woodrow]

When we bought the '55 Victoria the speedometer would work fine then stop after a few miles. I bought a new cable and driven gear and installed them. On the first test run the speedometer worked fine and very quietly. However, when I drove the car yesterday it didn't work at all?? Suggestions would be appreciated. Second question is in regard to an oil leak. Seems we have a motor oil leak under the car. Looks to be coming from somewhere under the car about where the brake pedal is. The car sits pretty low so it's difficult to get under there to check and I don't have a lift.

[dmsfrr]

A few things to check for an oil leak on the left rear side of the engine:
possibly running down the back of the engine from the valley pan cover,
oil filter gasket,
oil pressure switch,
oil pump gaskets,
. . .

[paul2748]

Check the rocker cover gaskets

[Daves55Sedan]

Speedo: When you buy the new cable assembly, it might not be lubricated. Repro parts suppliers sell tubes of graphite grease for these separately. Disconnect cable at back of speedo and partially pull out cable core to see if it is dry. If so, get the graphite grease (also sold in most chain auto parts stores) and squeeze the contents of the tube down into the cable housing. Push the cable back in. May need to rotate the cable slightly while gently pushing down so the square end becomes re-engaged with the speedo driven gear. Re-connect cable assembly at back of speedometer and see if it works better.
Note: some of these repro cables have cores that are cut just a little too short thus they do not engage with the speedo mechanism after the core settles fully seated into the driven gear recess. Get an electric drill with a square bit plugged into the back of the speedometer to test the speedo operation without the cable connected to make sure the speedometer itself is not hanging up. But usually, the symptoms you describe pertain to a cable problem. If I remember correctly, you need a reversing drill and have the drill set to rotate in reverse. Don't operate the drill at high speed as that may damage the speedometer.

[Daves55Sedan]

Oil leak: I suggest raising the car enough off the floor to crawl under and look at undercarriage for fluid drips at low spots on oil pump, bolts around the rear of oil pan and transmission pan. Determine if fluid is oil or ATF. The old Y-block engines often get a rear main seal leak after about 60K miles. If everything is oily, clean off everything good with a solvent and dry. Then drive car around for a half hour and get under car again and check. Also look at fluid level in the master cylinder to see if it is low. Master cylinder could be leaking at the back. Rebuild kit is pretty cheap and easy to install. Then bleed air out of all wheel cylinders while keeping master cylinder full of brake fluid.
Other than that, save the sawdust out of your table saw and keep in a large coffee can so you can use it to soak up oil on your garage floor.

[Daves55Sedan]

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If it turns out that the speedometer mechanism itself is at fault, many of us here have removed our instrument clusters and taken the speedo out, then carefully cleaned and re-oiled them ourselves, but if you are too scared to do it, you can have one of a few auto instrument service companies repair your speedo. But that is real expensive. Use the search box in this website to find other folks here who have done both.

[Hot Rod Reverend]

If you need some information on the speedometer assembly, check this link here for photos and a video showing lubrication and other things...
https://www.hotrodreverend.com/singl...Odometer-Reset

[woodrow]

Thanks for all the good replies on my questions. Regarding the oil leak, I now think it's coming from the oil filter. When I got the car the oil and filter had not been changed in a while and getting the old filter off was difficult. I'm guessing that when I replaced the filter with a new one I probably wasn't careful in cleaning up the site before installing the new one. On the speedo, the comment about the inside wire being too short sounds like the most likely problem. I'll be messin' with the car off and on and will report results. Thanks again for the answers. By the way, I did test the speedo with the power drill in reverse and the speedo works fine so it must be the cable.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by woodrow

Thanks for all the good replies on my questions. Regarding the oil leak, I now think it's coming from the oil filter. When I got the car the oil and filter had not been changed in a while and getting the old filter off was difficult. .....

Is it the spin-on style or a bolt-on canister?
Some of the aftermarket spin-on adapters have a flimsy rubber gasket that can cause a leak between the adapter plate & block. The stiffer fiber gasket should work better.

With the area wiped down, if you can safely get under the car with a good light while the engine is running you may be able to see the leak.
I had the same problem with a freshly rebuilt 292. -in reply #2 above-
Two rubber gaskets, a new adapter plate and an oil sending unit later it's fine. (I don't have a lift either, heavy duty jackstands and a floor jack.)
.