Series 3 More done today...but not fully successful....

so, i attempted to start changing the speedo cable. pulled the old one out from the back of teh dash into the bonnet area. inserted the new one, and now i have two issues, i wonder if anyone can help please:
1 - i am having a right nightmare installing the gromit. its very hard and no matter how much lubrication i put it doesnt want to go in. any ideas at all?
2 - more importantly, i put the clip into the speedo itself and using a drill i got it going from the other end and the speedo dial didnt move :-(
do the speedos themselves go wrong much? or did i not maybe insert it fully? i will try again tomorrow. but it was a disappointing end to the day
thanks in advance...

p.s. restored the front plate back to yellow. i think these generally are yellow...

Were you using the drill in the reverse direction? It needs to be in reverse for the speedo to respond.

Really, going backwards?. No I didn't try it tbh.
I will give it another go tomorrow

It also has to engage properly at the speedo end

thank you. i didn't hear a click when i put it in, so i suspect (hope) i just didnt put the cable far enough

Don’t forget to hold the end up and wrap it in tape. That way when you pour oil down the line to lubricate the cable it goes where it’s ment to and not down your arm.
It’ll stop the speedo from bouncing.

Thank you all.
so i've been racking my brain because i just can't get it working. I believe however i have now found the problem. refer to the attached photo. the inner hole appears to be much wider that the diameter of the cable. so the cable is spinning inside the speedo. just to test it, i put some tape at the end of an old speedo cable and shoehorned it in, and voila, it works.
so am i missing a thingymajiggy inside there to keep the cable in securely? plan B, can i put some glue on the cable stick it in and hope it glues?
i don't really, at this stage want to spend on buying a new speedo one in all honestly..

advice is very wecome

You could try flattening the end of the cable with a big hammer until it catches.
Big hammers generally work in series engineering.
I had similar at the gearbox end via the previous bodgers. Strangely the replacement didn’t need beating.

I'm sure they had different sizes for military clocks, maybe I dreamt it ...