The metal drum system is attached to the plastic skeleton at only 2 points (North-South) which are spigots in the alloy casting of the input bearing and then peened over. There are no fixings in the East-West plane and the casting should just butt up against the plastic in this orientation.
I say "should" but because of the uncentered leverage of the cable over the years, the alloy casting has bent over time in the East-West direction allowing the assembly to rock about the North-South fixings because the attachment is only a cruciform. The cable outer probably expands when the heater is on, pushing it more over to one side and hence why the problem goes away when hot.
A couple of shots to show the extent of "lean" that the cable has caused over time.
This is one of the only two points that the assembly can be tightened:
That's not a screw its part of the casting. If both can be squeezed to make it tight it might cure it. Ideally the casting should be straightened too but that's a real breakage risk.
Basically the design is too weak for a cable bending into it in an East-West direction. I wonder if there is less strain on the LHD cars.
Shame really because this speedo is spot on against sat-nav and is non-jerky on the needle!
