Epilog: Everything fit as advertised, but the attach point of the cable at the pedal arm is maybe 3/8" forward from the ancient, worn out hook I had been running, so that made the cable stud at the transaxle just a tad shorter than before.
In the process of all this I found that the clutch cables I had had made up by a sailboat rigger, while rugged, are both about 5/8" shorter than an official, 77-1/2" Speedstah cable from VS or Beck. That meant that I had to leverage the throw-out bearing arm with a pry bar to get enough threads sticking out from the stud to get the flying wing nut on.
It worked, but 🤮
Quick email to Anna Kilgore at VMC inc. got me two new clutch cables (Thanks, Anna!), one is now greased and threaded to the back of the car and the new clutch pedal upgrade is almost complete.
Tips for anyone installing a new clutch cable:
- Put a glob of grease in your left hand and grease the cable just as it's going into the tube at the pedals and push it along with your grease-free right hand. Re-grease your hand periodically as the cable will use a lot (and wear a latex glove).
- You can remove the Bowden tube before feeding the new cable through by removing the rear Bowden tube bracket from the transaxle - That's one less piece of resistance for the stud going through and the cable pushes easier. Remember to return the spacer washers on the rear end of the Bowden tube as you found them - That's important.
- If the cable stops pushing through prematurely, like 18" from the end, it has hit the area at the back where it exits the frame - there is a rubber boot there. It has probably hung up on something around there. Just grasp the loop end up near the pedals and give it a couple of good twists clockwise and you'll feel the cable do a flip inside of the tube. Once it flips, try pushing it through. If no go, try another twist or two to rotate the stud on the other end to reposition it and get it past the obstruction. Keep trying - It'll go through eventually.
- Make sure the end going through the Bowden tube is nicely greased or add a bit more grease before you push it through the Bowden tube. Too much is better than not enough grease, here.
- If you forgot to label the Bowden tube ends, the female end goes forward to the frame and fits over the protruding clutch cable tube (you should feel it seat when installing it), while the male end goes rearward to the Bowden tube bracket on the transaxle and has spacer washers on it to cause the tube to bend in the middle about an inch. Re-install the washers on the end of the tube, then re-install the tube to the bracket and the bracket to the transaxle side plate. Torque the transaxle side plate nuts to 22 ft. lbs.
- Lastly, guide the end stud through the loop on the transaxle clutch arm and thread the big wing nut onto it far enough that you get about 3/4" of free play at the top of the clutch pedal. That's it.
- Extra tip: Some of the wing nuts we've been seeing of late are el-cheapo, Asian versions and they have weak threads which can cause the cable stud to eventually pull through them while stripping out the threads, making them useless. I add a 7mm X 1.00 pitch nut to the stud and use it as a locknut onto the wingnut to avoid that. I also use a Dremel and cutting wheel to remove just a small bit of the inner part of each wing to allow an 11mm socket/wrench to fit in there to tighten the locknut against the wing nut.
Hope this helps somebody. gn
