HELP! Clutch cable follies...

kevinseven · 08-29-2003, 08:02 AM

My car has been sitting undriven for about a week and a half...which is enough of a crime. Anyway, I head out to run some errands yesterday and the darn thing is Grind City. It won't go into gear. Georgia humidity I guess has caused the cable to go prematurely slack ;-)

This morning I set about installing the spare TerryCable I've had sitting in my trunk for the last 2 years. Pretty straight forward except I notice that the nuts at the trans end are not quite the same. One is too big and no way has it been locking down the other one...which looks like a lock nut. Obviously a short cut from the mech. that did my clutch last year. Doh!

So I start tightening and wrenching and tightening and the thread just bottoms out. The cable isn't loose by any means but it still wont go into gear.

Do I have one of those nifty 914 cables that's an extra 2 inches? Do I need to Dremel off some thread and add a stack of washers? Or is there something more insidious going in inside the tranny?

John Rogers · 08-29-2003, 08:28 AM

The cables on both our 914s have a piece of tube as a spacer. The Terry cable seems to have a little longer inner cable so you might a longer piece of tube than for a stock cable. To estimate the amount of spacer needed, hold the clutch pedal up with a bungee cord, make sure the outer cable is fully seated over the tube protuding from the firewall and then install the rear portion and run the nuts down and measure the amount of thread showing if you bottom out the nuts. Remember to use TWO new 7mm nuts to lock the adjustment on the rear. Good luck.

kevinseven · 08-29-2003, 08:31 AM

I had a 1974 that had a tube as a spacer. It always bothered me because it just looked so kludgy. I guess it might be the norm these days with all the after market cables. I'll hit Home Depot later and hopefully get myself back on the road.thanks.

pbanders · pbanders's Garage

Check to see if your clutch cable tube has broken free, either inside the tunnel or at the firewall.

RandyH · 08-29-2003, 12:27 PM

kevin,
I had the same problem not long after I installed my terry cable. My problem was just what Brad described. Clutch tube had broken both welds inside the tunnel and also broke through the firewall. After repairing the clutch tube assembly, tranny shifts smoothly.
Randy

kevinseven · 08-30-2003, 11:13 AM

Looks like I escaped with only minimal damage...no broken clutch tube. I wiggled the fire wall. I wiggled what I could reach from inside and it all felt pretty solid.

I bought a wacky coupling nut that was about 1.25" long and used that as a spacer on the threads back at the tranny. The cable was just too long I guess. Now I've got a stiff, quad busting clutch pedal and free run through each gear. Woo Hoo!

SteveStromberg · 08-30-2003, 11:22 AM

The reason is that your flywheel has been resurfaced and the pressure plate sits further into the flywheel. Steve