throttle cable trouble, sleeve broken, stuck in tube... Options

[lotus_65]

My throttle cable broke at the carb linkage so it needed to be replaced. No big deal, right?

Unfortunately the white plastic sleeve is broken at the firewall and WILL NOT BUDGE. Won't pull, won't push.

I can (barely) get a needle nose on it, but it seems bound up inside the tube somewhere. I haven't pulled the cable out of the sleeve yet, as I had hoped to attach a string to help the new cable into place.

I also dis-assembled the interior to get at the tunnel from the shifter, but there's no obvious advantage there. I ALMOST bought a sawzall to cut another access panel there, but came off that ledge... for now.

What a PITA. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Anyone?
paul

[lotus_65]

i haven't checked this thread in a while, still a little pissed. thanks for the comparisons.

in summary, i tried pulling from the rear until some strands of the cable started breaking.
i cut a large access hole in the tunnel between the existing one up front and the shifter mount area. from there i tried 1/8th inch steel rods from the home store but i had little area to create leverage unless i cut the tunnel comletely to the pedal assembly and i wasn't willing to do that.

with the access point so high in the firewall i couldn't create the leverage needed to push out the front so out came the motor.

i was able to re-thread the cable so the swedged end could pull towards the front.
i assembled a pulley to the pedal assembly access hole and mounted a come-along to the rafters in the garage. i really should have taken a pic as it would have illustrated the frustrations of this event well.

anyway i was then able to apply very strong pressure with that, while simultaniously hammering ever longer peices of (upgraded) 3/16th" steel rod as hard as i could.
i could only increase the length of the rod an inch-inch and a half or it would bend under the power of my fury.
20 minutes of that was all it could take and finally relented. but the fun wasn't over.

then i bought a threaded 1/8th inch rod and grooved it, torqued it, bent it until it started grinding through the mess inside the tube.
it's hard to describe the black, junk that came out. all i can say is i can see why it was so tough.

days and days of thinking, doing, failing, planning, buying, doing, failing, buying, trying, buying, thinking, trying, failing. you get the idea.

these pics are of my boring tool. anyone wanna buy it... onethousanddollarsamerican! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)