Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1955 fordomatic speedometor plastic gear, hemmings motor news, line mechanic

Question
Hi:
I am having trouble with the inner cable-last try broke at the trans/end.
How do I replace the complete cable/housing assem. without loosing the plastic gear [referred to]?
If it drops into the tailpiece, where can I obtain another one?
Some good photo's showing all of the parts involved would be helpfull.
Thanks, Lee

Answer
There is supposed to be a spring clip in the transmission end of the cable that holds the gear when removing it. Back in the day when I was A Ford line mechanic we used to loose the plastic gears all the time into the transmission tail shaft housing. What did we do you ask? We left them there and they never bothered anything. I have pulled transmissions apart and found two or three of them in there. My stock answer for “where can I find….” Is to latch on to a copy of Hemmings Motor News, the old car hobbies classified bible. There are many companies that supply parts for old cars, trucks, and now RV’s and you will find them in Hemmings. www.hemmings.com. As far as replacing the complete cable it is a very simple straight forward "follow the cable" process from the transmission to the speedometer head.
Brad