clutch cable replacement hell

The clutch cable that came on the car began to fray at the rear threaded end, I decided to replace it. A member here had previously recommended that I have a new spare cable on hand, which I did. Yesterday I began the process of switching old for new, had disconnected the wingnut, removed pedal assembly, began to pull out the old cable through the pedal-end opening in the side of the tunnel. The old cable slid for maybe six inches then began to bind, pulled harder, cable slid maybe another inch, kept trying, got my son to help, both of us pulling like hell, we might have got it maybe a fourth of the way out. I really regret not smearing grease on the clutch end of the cable before I started pulling. HELP! Any and all suggestions are welcome.

How badly was the cable frayed? There was a fair amount of clearance on mine inside the tube. I don't suppose you can push it back out.
What happened with mine was the tube broke loose front and back inside the tunnel. The only way I could replace the cable was to cut a hole in the tunnel fore and aft and hold the tube in place while I put a new cable thru it. Its working well with the tube unattached at either end. I'm wondering if your tube came loose at either/ both ends and that is what is binding the cable. You can just see it at the aft end by removing the plate over the hockey stick shift adjuster. Its way down at the bottom but you can yank on the cable and peer down with the aid of a small flashlight to see if anything is moving. In the front, I cut a hole in the passengers side of the tunnel to facilitate theinstalllation of a new cable. If you do that, you'll be able to see the front attachment status of the tube.
Hope that helps.
ed

Thanks Ed. The cable did not seem frayed to the point that it would restrict removal and it seemed to begin sliding along easily enough when I first started it. I'm pretty sure the tube is still attached to the tunnel. Feels very unlikely that I can reverse the process and make it go back the other way now.

Did you remove the bowden tube before pulling the cable? If not, cable could be stuck in there. The bowden tube is flexible and connects the pan to the transaxle. The tubes can fail over time and collapse slightly and leave no room for a frayed cable. Hope this is the problem. Good Luck

Greg,

At the end of the cable that attaches to the clutch pedal "hook" there is a loop of some sort and probably a ferrule where the loop doubles back on itself. Depends on the year of the pan.

If you cut the loop off of the cable and put the end into a drill chuck, you can get a pretty good grip on it as you tighten it down.

Use a variable speed drill and start rotating the cable. Hold the cable (use a greased glove or rag) steady, down where it enters the tunnel/tube and see if you can get it to work back and forth a bit as it's spinning (sort of like a speedometer cable in it's sleeve) work it out this way, tugging on the drill as you vary the speed.

I've had some luck using this method on my E-brakes, maybe it'll work on the clutch as well.

Luck,

TC

Greg,

Another consideration is to obtain some small vinyl tubing that will fit into the tub encapusalating the Clutch Cable. Fish the Vinyl tubing into the path the Cable went and once the tubing can't be fished any further, apply some penetrating oil down the Vinyl Tubing. If you have compressed you can force the penetrating oil with air to possible lubricate the siezed cable and "Free it Up" utilizing the Electric Drill Motor/Chuck suggestion.

Good Luck,

Jack Blake

Thanks everyone, good ideas. I got it done and the new one installed. Apparently the frayed cable strands formed themselves into a sort of second cable shape as I began to pull it through, in effect it was like 2 cables side by side trying to pass through the tube simultaneously - it just got too tight in there. It was beyond the Bowden tube where it jammed though. I raised the front of the car, injected some oil in the forward end of the tube, gave it time to flow back, fished the forward end of the cable through the forward opening of the tunnel, hooked a small hoist to the loop end of the cable, anchored the other end of the hoist and slowly cranked the hoist. I half expected the tube was gonna break loose, but luckily the cable slid on out. The new one went in with no problem, did have to pull the Bowden tube loose to get the threaded end of the cable through. Next time I will try cutting the cable at the top of the Bowden tube before trying to pull it out.

Aahhhh . . . of course, 99. The OLD CHAIN HOIST TRICK! Now why didn't I think of that . . . ?

Got to give my almost-18 yr old son credit for that idea, I think he was tired of being drafted into pulling on the thing. After reading the above, now I'm inclined to replace the bowden tube too, I did't really examine it, that's got to be some high pressure friction occurring in that bend.

Greg,

I hope you have gotten you Speedster back on the road.

I have a question about your replacement clutch cable.

Did you shorten the replacement utilizing "Cable Lamps" or what method did you use for obtaining a replacement cable the correct length.

Thank you,

Jack Blake

Jack, yes I got it back on the road and doing fine. I had gotten a replacement cable from Vintage - it was the correct length for Speedster application and didn't have to be shortened or modified, about $12 I think.

Jack
I shortened one using the thingie the cable loops back through and then clamped the end to the existing cable. It broke. SOOO I whacked a cable into two parts and clamped the two parts together, ends up being one straight cable with the two pieces in parallel. So far it works ~ 1 year.

Bill:

I ran one like that for over 4 years on a dune buggy (ovelapped cables with two cable clamps holding it all together) and it never let go once. It holds stronger than it looks.

gn

Me too Gord & Bill; I had one like that in a Dune Buggy I used to have and it never game me a single problem.