clutch cable replacement

[psg]

I see how everything comes apart looking at a manual but...how do you get your hands up into the foot well to detach the cable from the pedal. What don't I know or does the whole assembly come down? psg

[narfire]

You have heard of the "trunk monkey" Well to do this job you need a "clutch monkey"..a small one
This is an evoloution that can become a pain.
The end, as you might see, has a metal "lug" on the end. The cable slips into the fork but on the other side that you cannot see, is a small plastic clip that helps hold the cable in place in the fork. This has to come off more or less by brail and watch where the little bugger lands as you'll need it again. The spring comes off the tab. I have used a good bit of cord (fish net twine) and made a lengthy loop. An assistant with a screw driver in the loop pulls while you are contorted under the dash flips the end of the spring off the tab.
Some will put pennies in the spring to make it longer when putting the spring back and then the first application the pennies will drop out.
Have fun, right up there with the starter top bolt evolution...

[TX82FIAT]

I may have done this wrong. I detach the cable at the tranmission first. This gives me some room to push some slack back under the dash to unhook the barrel from the clutch pedal fork. Install new cable by hooking on barrel under the dash on the pedal first. Then adjust the clutch at trans fork. There are some posys on this.

[psg]

That is what the manual suggests and I thought there would be some posts but I guess I didn't dig deep enough. Do you use the braille method ("foot well monkey" approach) as previously suggested? This looks like one of those projects that you get the car up in the air, take off the old cable and two weeks later finally get the new cable in place. psg

[narfire]

I'll let you know how I make out. I dropped the tranny on the 72 and while I'm at it going to put a new clutch cable in. First time off the floor and not on a hoist.

[psg]

I look forward to the report. psg

[TX82FIAT]

Hooking ther cable up to the transmission is certainly easier with the car in the air. Howeveer, I would make sure the new cable has the barrel properly on the clutch fork before raising the car. That is the part where cousin Vincenso had very small hands and you will need to contort your body to see the right fit. Car in the air is not the best place to hook that cable to the interior pedal fork. It is very important that the barrel on the end of the cable is properly in the pedal clutch fork or the line will eventurlly frey/break from rubbing on the sides. A little grease on the barrel helps if pivot properly. It can be a 20 minute job if lucky or it can be an exercise in Itlaian curse words.

[narfire]

[quote="TX82FIAT"]It can be a 20 minute job if lucky or it can be an exercise in Itlaian curse words.

20 minutes or more trying to get the clip off the cable behind the fork...going home and will try again tomorrow

[narfire]

Ok, got the cable out of the fork.
have a few pics that might help.
Cable,barrel and clip in fork.

Once you have the clip off, have to rotate the barrel 90 deg and then with some fiddling it should come out of the fork.
The cable has a "waist" that will not go through the fork.

Reverse to get the new cable in.


Now I'm taking a break as I need a long set of needle nose pliers to get the clip back on and rotate the clip
Hope this helps
Chris

[fiasco]

I've been through this exercise 3 times, and even now have a new cable sitting on my workbench waiting to go in the car. I never thought about ripping out all the components and setting them on some logs out behind the house. That makes the whole installation process look a lot easier!

-- se

[lionshooter]

Interesting. I've changed my cable at least 4 times in the past 20 years but have never seen that plastic clip. Does it not exist on the '83 or have I been lucky to get along without it?

[TX82FIAT]

same. I don't have the clip on the 82 and did not have it on the 83 or 79.

[narfire]

I never thought about ripping out all the components and setting them on some logs out behind the house. That makes the whole installation process look a lot easier!

Steve, any reason to go play with a chainsaw....

I have done the cable on my 80 and had it had a clip, same with a 81 I had bought several years ago with a cracked firewall issue, so had to change the cable there.
Now trying to figure out how to get the blessed thing back on.