12/8/00 Cables and Chrome

I stopped by a local bicycle shop to look for some control cable as I mentioned I would a couple of days ago. I didn’t have a lot of cash on me when I walked into the store, so I hoped it wasn’t going to be expensive. I explained that I needed the black sheathed cable used on bicycles for a car I was restoring. The proprietor was nice older man who immediately knew what I needed, and said guys with Go-carts come in all the time needing this type of cable. I told him that I had plenty of piano wire (from a couple of months ago, remember?) to run inside the cable, as long as he could cut me a length of 65 inches. He showed me a box of “Shimano” cable that was perfect for my application. It was slightly thinner than my original cable, but would only be noticeable if I held them next to each other. It will be better than new because this new cable has a teflon lining inside the spiral wound steel cable. This will keep the inside of the cable well lubricated without ever needing any oil!

As we cut the two lengths of cable, I began to wonder how he sold this stuff. Ferrari parts are usually sold by the inch, and no matter what the unit price was, it would always be expensive! Not wanting to sound cheap, I followed the owner to the sales counter to ring me up. As he punched in the numbers, the total came to…$1.39, and so I believe this was the cheapest thing I had to buy for my Ferrari!

I installed all the new heater cables once I got back to my shop, and everything fit perfectly in the center console. The action was teflon smooth, and I’m sure every time I go to turn on the heat, I’ll remember the nice bicycle cable making this all happen.

Since I got my chrome pieces back, I started the re-assembly process with the trunk parts. Before the license plate light was bolted in, I needed to find the right screws, washers, and lock washers. Finding all the right parts took most of the time.

I wasn’t as lucky finding the right nuts for the trunk lock, but I at least made a gasket for it. The rest of the time was spent trying to align the trunk lid so the latch would close correctly. Getting frustrated, I called it a day. Sometimes, you just have to step away!

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