A Frayed Clutch Cable Screwed Up My Day Options

[Steve]

I don't recall O' Reilly's having that small one…..?

I have seen them at O' Reilly's before. They are a flat copper braided looking thing. It's been awhile though. There's an O' Reilly's store in San Juan Capistrano.

[mountainroads]

Right after I bought my latest '73 914, I went to adjust the clutch and I noticed the cable was a bit frayed. I ordered the stuff from Pelican, it's not here and I tempted fate. Well, it broke on the way home today from cars 'n coffee and it made for an interesting and frustrating afternoon. Of course, all the cable end parts are gone too, and I couldn't find anything in the street. More to order from Pelican.

Moral of the story: inspect your clutch cable routinely, and if it is AT ALL coming apart, it's GOING to break.

Yup. Happened to me too, once. Broke right at the pulley, go figure. Big bang as I downshifted to 3rd and clutch pedal went to the floor. Roughly 80 miles and several small towns with red lights between me and home. Luck and careful timing got me all the way. Third was the only gear that offered a prayer of making it without stopping. Fun story now, including California-stopping a red in front of a police station , but left a lasting impression. One of the first things I asked about when I PPI'd my current Fourteener.

- MR

[ThePaintedMan]

These are high quality and work GREAT. For the price, it can't be beat either.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/tay-20308/overview/

I still recommend everyone change theirs whenever they have any kind of electrical issue, or in this case, the clutch cable issue. After 40 years, most of them are corroded and need to be replaced.

[colingreene]

F'ing board software.

[colingreene]

I've got one if your in need. Put your pic's in the Flatbed Thread. And (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif) Gentlemen, this could have been avoided had you just converted to a modern day drivetrain. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stirthepot.gif)

Upgrade to a modern drivetrain, Whats the point in owning a old car, why not just buy a boxster.
I have a firm theory that anyone who buys a old car and puts a new powertrain in it just proves the neither have the skill or desire to maintain the vintage aspect of the car nor the ability to properly convert a older car to a newer drivetrain.
Thats why you find things like home depot copper pipe in cooling systems in these "Conversions"

[Larmo63]

What is the process for taking out the center console? I see the two big phillips screws, what else is there holding it in?

I assume this needs to come out to access the pedal end of the clutch cable…….

[r_towle]

Take off the face panel.
Two screws up top to bottom of dash
Take off bottom plate at shifter, screws holding unit down to tunnel

Up and out towards rear

[Larmo63]

Yeah, I got it out, I had never done it, pretty easy, thank you.

New question, How far do you run the FRONT threads into the front yoke/clevis?

It seems as if I can't get the right adjustment in the back, I think I need to loosen the setscrew on theta yoke and run the cabe FORWARD into that a little bit more.

Also, It seems as if the pedal doesn't want to come all the way back to its full disengaged position.

Anybody have a pic of the proper place the front of the cable should be in the front clevis? All the way?

Thanks for the help.

[r_towle]

No pic, but go are far in as you can without restricting the movement.
It's about 20 turns or so.

It's really best to put it in as far as you can because you have loads (lots and lots) of adjustment under the car, and you really won't want to stick your head down there again any time soon once you put the whole console etc back together....then take your aleve and beer.

[rgalla9146]

Larmo, a couple of zip ties can hold the end of the cable onto the throwout arm. That should (in theory) keep it from going anywhere if the cable breaks.

Ndfrigi, your problem is in the ignition circuit, the tach going crazy indicates that. It may be as simple as the points getting unplugged! Time to check in your distributor. You can also unplug the tach signal wire (black/purple) from the coil's (-) terminal to see if there's a short there causing a lack of spark.

--DD

As I read about Larmos broken clutch cable I thought the same thing as you Dave.
The problem is not just the broken cable but also the missing trunion and special nuts.
We need some kind of loose safety wire devise to keep the parts from scattering.
Or maybe a short, soft rubber leash attached to the pulley side of the adjustment end.

[Larmo63]

Threading the pedal end of the cable farther in. Thank you.

[Dave_Darling]

Haynes has a measurement for how far you thread the cable into the pedal-side clevis. I figure it has to be just far enough to double-nut, and maybe a thread past. You can take up the rest of the slack at the transmission end. A couple of oversize nuts, or a short piece of pipe, make a decent spacer.

--DD

[914_teener]

Larmo, a couple of zip ties can hold the end of the cable onto the throwout arm. That should (in theory) keep it from going anywhere if the cable breaks.

Ndfrigi, your problem is in the ignition circuit, the tach going crazy indicates that. It may be as simple as the points getting unplugged! Time to check in your distributor. You can also unplug the tach signal wire (black/purple) from the coil's (-) terminal to see if there's a short there causing a lack of spark.

--DD

As I read about Larmos broken clutch cable I thought the same thing as you Dave.
The problem is not just the broken cable but also the missing trunion and special nuts.
We need some kind of loose safety wire devise to keep the parts from scattering.
Or maybe a short, soft rubber leash attached to the pulley side of the adjustment end.

You could use a broken surf leash Lawrence.

Glad you got it sorted.

[Mikey914]

Larmo, a couple of zip ties can hold the end of the cable onto the throwout arm. That should (in theory) keep it from going anywhere if the cable breaks.

Ndfrigi, your problem is in the ignition circuit, the tach going crazy indicates that. It may be as simple as the points getting unplugged! Time to check in your distributor. You can also unplug the tach signal wire (black/purple) from the coil's (-) terminal to see if there's a short there causing a lack of spark.

--DD

As I read about Larmos broken clutch cable I thought the same thing as you Dave.
The problem is not just the broken cable but also the missing trunion and special nuts.
We need some kind of loose safety wire devise to keep the parts from scattering.
Or maybe a short, soft rubber leash attached to the pulley side of the adjustment end.

Got those pretty inexpensively
http://www.shop.914rubber.com/Clutch-cable...m?categoryId=-1
http://www.shop.914rubber.com/7mm-Nut-for-...m?categoryId=-1

For $6.40 worth of hardware may not be worth the effort

Complete set up

http://www.shop.914rubber.com/Clutch-cable...ing-GB-CCBP.htm