[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There isn't a cover on there that I know of. To physically inspect the cable, you need to unhook it from the transmission end, then unbolt the pulley. Once the pulley is unbolted from its housing, you can look at the cable where it bends to go around it. After you're done, you put it back together and adjust the clutch again.

A thicker cable would have trouble going through the guide tubes in the center tunnel. It would also be tougher for it to bend around the pulley. The stock cables don't have issues often enough to make that worthwhile in my experience, unless there is some underlying problem. (E.g., if you're dragging it through the mud regularly, or if the clutch tube in the center tunnel is failing, or if the ground strap is missing so the engine/trans grounds through the clutch cable.)

I know people who have adapted the "pull clutch" setup from the 70-71 911 so that the clutch arm action worked the other way around, meaning no pulley was needed. But a much shorter cable was required at that point. And the necessary pieces aren't exactly common or cheap. There have also been hydraulic clutches installed, but usually as part of a complete drivetrain swap.

To me, it's not a big enough problem to make the solutions worthwhile.

--DD