I'm finishing a restoration project a friend of mine started 20+ years ago, and the speedometer not working is one of the only things left to do. The cable spins with the transmission and the needle moves if you spin the back of the speedometer, but nothing when they are put together. Is there something missing from the end of the cable? it looks to me like the square hole in the back of the speedometer is bigger than the square end of the cable. Thanks.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Noticed the nut is pretty chewed up in the thread ,is it screwing up tight as in fully engaged ?, could be the pic but it looks like its stripped or maybe has been cross-threaded @ some stage ?.
Do you have a speedo reset cable ? if so fit it to the speedo and run it backwards with a battery drill ,it should turn easily ,that test will tell you the speedo is ok and no broken gears .
All worth trying , good luck.

Agreed. That cable nut seems pretty gnarly. If it passes the reset cable test, ane speedo cable should do it.

Did you mention if the cable is spinning on both ends? Just thinking it was a broken cable.

the cable ends are actually good, just a weird reflection in the pic, but I did figure something out; the cable spins backwards for this speedometer! It works fine in reverse. Do 911 speedometers spin a different direction than 914 speedometers? Or is there a different angle gear drive in the back for the 911 & 914?

After a little research it looks like the angle drives are different and i must have a 911 angle drive. That's good news because now I don't have to change the cable on a car I just finished putting the interior into (with a full length center console full of electronics).