Tach drive

[Little red 69]

Hello all!
Can I start my car with the tach cable removed? I have never had a tach drive distributor apart before and I am not sure how the little gears are held in.
Thanks
Donnie
STW!

 

[Jack]

OK to run disconnected

Donnie:
My 71 cpe has factory GM tach drive distributor...it's td gears are toast...I disconnected the cable at dist..and have driven it THOUSANDS of miles. What I did do was to remove the large threaded coupler from the dist (turn CCW to remove)...and slid it out...along with the small cross gear...then I permanently removed the cross gear from the coupler...then I packed the coupler with...yes, toilet paper to keep dust out of distributor shaft...then replaced the coupler into distributor housing (turn CW to tighten)....I've had no problems. BTW, when facing the cross gear, it rotates CW when running...you can check your tach/cable by chucking the distributor-end of cable in a drill-motor...and running it CCW...you'll need long arms or a helper to do this and read the tach! I've recently acquired an NOS Accel dual point with tach drive... will use this along with MSD 6 spark box ... If I ever finish building the darn motor! Hope this helps. Let us know how things unfold.
JACK
71 CPE

 

[Little red 69]

Thanks!

Jack,
Thanks for all the info! I picked up my new cable today. I need to reorient my distributor so the cable wont be so bent. I dont think that will be too much of a problem.
I need to get everything back together, I'm dying to get it back on the road.
Thanks again!
Donnie
STW