I have been toying with the idea of adding cruise control to my 65 Barracuda. While walking though a junkyard, I came across a /6 Mirada with a complete system. While I will obviously need the cruise control unit along with the speedometer and throttle cable, what other parts should I get?

Besides the control switches mounted on the turn signal stalk, is there anything else in the dashboard that I would need? I'm not sure that I even want the turn signal stalk because it also controls the wipers and washer. I might just have to make small control control panel for the dashboard.

Frank

Those early all-mechanical cruise control units made use of dual speedo cables. One went from the trans to the cruise servo, the other from the servo to the speedo. Donno what trans you have in your '65, but only the upper (servo to speedo) cable will swap in. The lower one will require some creativity. Your original '65 cable may work in that application, or you may have to have a cable custom made. Other than that, naw, they're pretty much an overlay system. Servo, cables, switch assembly, and pull cables/linkage brackets between the servo and the carb throttle lever.

As for switches, you could probably just mount some switches of your choice (one on/off toggle or pushbutton, and one momentary-contact) on the dash...

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

For what it's worth, I put two cruise controls from J.C.Whitney on my /6 '75 Coronet some years ago. The 1st was some manf. I can't remember, was very erratic, and ended up being recalled by JCW. The 2nd looked nearly identical but was from CalCustom, if I remember correctly. I made up a custom control panel that looked much nicer than the box it came with, and I just took the speed signal from the -coil rather than put in magnetic pickups and magnets on the driveshaft.

It worked OK and was easy to install, but I don't think it worked quite as well as the factory units - its response wasn't as crisp as the factory one. Also, being vacuum operated, my /6 couldn't give it enough vacuum to pull the throttle all the way open.
It was fine unless you had big hills or mountains, then it just couldn't hack it.

You might consider using the factory stalk to control an aftermarket kit.

K.Beard: Thanks for the advice about aftermarket cruise controls. It was another option I was considering.

Dan: Are you sure that only the servo to speedometer fits? My speedometer cable is terminated with a nut and not a clip. I figured that my A904 transmission would have the same transmission to servo cable as the one in the Mirada.

For anyone thinking about installing an "aftermarket" cruise system, I reccommend, the one made by SCS Frigette. I have installed many of these units, and think they are the best on the market. They have a lifetime warrentee.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Frank: Sounds like you're using a '66 or newer trans, correct? The original '65 trans would've terminated at the trans in a non-threaded fitting. The threaded fitting started in '66 with the new-type speedo drive pinion.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Seems to me they changed from the nut-attached speedo cable at the tranny end to a clip attached cable in the late 70's or early 80's. I do not know how they attached the cable back in the 60's, I've never had a car that old. That Mirada probably has a clip attached cable.

I have not tried it, but I think you can just swap in the whole speedo gear and adaptor from Mirada transmission to y our early Valiant transmission and use the cable that comes with the adaptor.

If you want to use a factory cruise control servo, I would suggest a unit from the 1980's era. They have a larger vacuum diaphragm than the units used throughout the 70's. I think this would work better for a slant that has lower vacuum than a V8 going up hills and such. The electrical and mechanical connections are the same on either unit, they just have different mounting brackets for different applications. Mount so you do not kink the cables.

My 1979 Dodge truck with V8 had a servo with small vacuum diaphragm, it must have had internal problems because going uphill I would loose 5 to 8 MPH, and going downhill it would overshoot 5 MPH or more. Most certainly defective.

I swapped in a servo with large diaphragm from a 87 or so truck and WOW, it holds very close regulation and barely looses any speed going up the steepest hills I encounter around here. Also when hitting "resume" from low speed it will open the throttle enough to kick the tranny into second gear and it stays there until it is almost back to highway set speed.

Aftermarket units.... I have observed many of them are small diameter, thus have a small vacuum diaphragm and may not hold speed on hills. I have an old DANA unit from the late 70's era (got from salvage yard) and it has adjustments for sensitivity, and speed regulation. It is OK, somtimes have to help it on steep hills.
I have a new unit in the box ( I forget what brand - ROSS I think) I want to install on my Valiant. It has the electronics built into the servo unit so has a lot less wiring than the old DANA unit I have. I can not find any external adjustments so I do not know how it will behave. It is made to tap into the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) of newer cars. For our old Valiants, you can get a signal generator that installs on the tranny speedo cable adaptor, then the speedo cable connects to this signal generator. No magnets to strap on the drive shaft. It can connect to ignition coil of engine, but this is mainly to sense if you push in the clutch of a manual tranny vehicle, or if your wheels spin out on slippery surface. If it senses a sudden engine speed change it will disengage the cruise control unit. Where as the old DANA unit I have has no such feature, it'll rev the engine until it blows.

You might check with Chris Yates over at slantsix.com. Not too long ago, he was selling a complete stock cruise control system.

Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

[quote=Craig]For our old Valiants, you can get a signal generator that installs on the tranny speedo cable adaptor, then the speedo cable connects to this signal generator.[/quote]

Nice. This device could also be very useful in engine management system installations. Any pointers to where such devices can be had?

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

When the Tidewater Mopar Club built our red 1968 Barracude giveaway car back in '97 (see http://www.tidewatermoparclub.com/pastcars.html) we had a mix of '67 and '68 parts. I seem to remember that the '67 used the nut at the speedometer and the '68 used the clip design - the trans end was the same. We had no cruise, AC, etc. in it - the 440V8 was a very tight fit.

While I've not purchased one, some of the aftermarket cruise kits say that they don't use engine vacuum.

I should have been a bit more specific. The nut I meant is the one at the speedometer head. I haven't looked underneath to check the termination at the transmission.

My transmission is the original 65 A904 with the cable-operated shifter console. I expected that I could swap in the entire cable at the transmission end but figured I would probably run into a problem at the speedometer.

Ah, we were talking in circles! Yeah, the trans end is different between '60-'65 on the one hand, and '66-up on the other. No interchange here at the trans end; there's no way to make the '66-up cable or speedo pinion housing work in a '65 trans, or vice versa.

[

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Just a thought.............. (mostly theoretical, as I don't have a cruise control to play with)

Couldn't you get a vacuum canister that would accumulate vacuum (accumulating vacuum doesn't sound quite correct as a vacuum is the absence of air.....anyway....) store up the vacuum when there is vacuum, then have that applied to the servo?????????????????????

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Yep. Such vacuum cannisters are very common under the hoods of '80s carbureted cars with cruise control. Ford tended to use ones that look like coffee cans; GM tended to use spherical plastic ones.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

This is the one I got from Rostra Precision Controls (www.rostra.com) They sent me to a local dealer to order it. I was not happy that they charged me nearly $50 for the kit with shipping and "handling". I'm sure these are all generic parts that can be obtained elsewhere for a lot less.




This one you will find on 1986-7 Slant 6 trucks with automatic lock-up transmission. Marked with part number 4374639(It sends a speed signal to the ESA comptuer to control the lock-up torque converter) It is located in the speedometer cable where it passes the steering column. This may also be used on other models in that era. There is also a same/similar device found on some manual transmission trucks but I'm not sure if it is the same as this or not.