Trunk heater distribution boxes

[spuggy]

So I got distracted whilst getting the intermittant relay out. "Oooh, shiny".....

The bottom lever on the dash heater control has never felt "right.. Even though I drive with the drivers window down unless it's actually pouring with rain, I'd like to fix it.

In the process of tracking down all the cables and lubing them while I was in there, I can now see what's up: the outer jacket of the cable on the firewall side (e.g. the most difficult ones to get to) of the distribution box in the trunk on the driver's side has popped out of the clip securing it to the bracket.

This is the "slave" cable that crosses over to the passenger side (LHD car, like the Doctor intended).

So, two questions:

What's the best way to get the spring clip apart and then re-assembled so it's gripping the outer jacket of the cable? I've tried messng with a more accessible clip (that needs adjusting slightly) with a pair of pliers and flat bladed screwdriver, but merely suceeded in stabbing myself quite deeply and bleeding all over the freakin' trunk, LOL.

How do you remove the distribution boxes from the trunk? Sure would be easier than trying to mess with that clip in a confined space... There doesn't seem to be anything holding them in that I can see - are they just wedged into some rubber or something? Those strange round posts with the spring clips are holding the boxes themselves together, right?

I'm extremely leery of just yanking on them, I'm willing to bet that's not the right way to do it...

I know I saw an oldish thread on rebuilding these flapper boxes at one time - but my subscription to it seems to have vanished, and I can't see it when searching for it, or remember who posted it... Amazingly, the flappers seem to have gasket material left around the edges. Gosh. Wasn't expecting that...

Thanks for any tips, or pointers to the thread I can't find...

[tcar]

One word: Bentley Manual