Can anyone tell me exactly what speedo cable to get for a non-cruise '87 Fifth Ave with a 727 and an OLD STYLE speedo gear and housing? Not the plastic ones from the '80s, the old metal housing. I tried a cable for a '74 Dart with a screw-on fitting on the transmission side but it was too small to screw onto the gear housing.

I bought this housing and gear because the 80s plastic clip-on gears are virtually impossible to find anymore, now I can't find a cable to mate it to my cop car speedo cluster.

Anyone have any ideas?

IIRC, Imperial Services has an assortment of speedo cables. I got a '66 Charger cable from them I think to adapt a late TF to a '63 speedo. Whatever cable you get, remember to lube it before installing it.

I think I got a housing from a pre-68 car, could I just get a gear housing from the 70s and use an off-the-shelf cable? Are they the same size as the 80s?

I don't know.

I couldn't find one for my car either. I took my old one with me to the Autozone I frequent. I just browsed all of their cables and found two that I could use with my old one to make one good cable. I re-used my original cable, just cleaned and lubed it, used the new sheath from the longest one, trimmed down to fit, and used the plastic clip from the other new one to replace my broken one.