The speedometer needle was getting bouncy over the summer so I figured I would lubricate the speedometer cable.  My daughter and I disconnected both ends and slid the cable out.  Her she is cleaning the cable.  I can't tell if she is mad about the camera, the kerosene, or the grease. 

We lubricated the cable and put it back in.  But I think I put it in backwards.  Because the very next day the speedometer stopped working.  I found the end of the cable was all unraveled.

NAPA to the rescue!  They had a replacement generic speedometer core.   I removed the old cable from the car and cleaned the cable sheath carefully both inside and out.  I then cut the new cable to length and crimped the end on the cable.  You can see the crimp tool that came with the cable in the picture.  I just put it in a vice and squeezed.

Before putting the cable back in the sheath I lubricated it with a graphite-based lubricant designed for this job.

Here is the end of the cable that attaches to the speedometer.  Before reattaching this I put a couple drops of oil in the speedometer.  There is a little oil cup on it but I could not get a picture.   I needed a mirror and three hands just to reach the top of the speedometer.

This is the other end attached to the transmission.  When I measured the cable I found I actually have the cable for a car with overdrive.  That means the cable is about 8 inches longer than I need but it might be handy if I put an overdrive transmission in the car.