Heater valve control cable

John Vardanian · Post by **John Vardanian** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 12:17 am

Does anyone have a good source for this cable?

I went to a lawn mower shop and their smallest diameter was too thick. I also checked a hobby shop, they have the right diameter cable but only in 3-4 foot lengths.

Thanks.

john

Post by **tyang** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 12:44 am

Hi John,

Two words: Bicycle Shop!
http://www.tomyang.net/cars/ferrari.html?ferrari127.htm
Oh, and a piano shop!
http://www.tomyang.net/cars/ferrari.html?ferrari75.htm
Tom

John Vardanian · Post by **John Vardanian** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 1:18 am

Thanks Tom. Why didn't I think of that?!

Another question... How did you free the old sheath from its landing point and how did you secure the new one? In mine it seems the sheath is press fitted, meaning, it's crimped in. Thanks.

john

Post by **tyang** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:02 am

Hi John,

VERY CAREFULLY! Yeah, it's tricky. The control cable is spiral wound, so perhaps twisting it while pulling it will let the cable constrict enough to come out. The new stuff is narrower, so crimping it in place should be fine.

Good luck, and let us know if you find a better technique.

Tom

Chris Coios · Post by **Chris Coios** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 3:33 pm

Another good source for cable and fittings is Aircraft Spruce. They supply materials to the experimental aircraft builders. Lots of interesting hardware, paints, insulation, odd supplies, etc.

Chris

Keith Milne · Post by **Keith Milne** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:03 pm

Another good source would be a motorcycle shop. I have a whole drawer full of throttle and brake cables that would easily fit the bill.

jsa330 · Post by **jsa330** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 3:21 pm

tyang wrote:Hi John,

VERY CAREFULLY! Yeah, it's tricky. The control cable is spiral wound, so perhaps twisting it while pulling it will let the cable constrict enough to come out. The new stuff is narrower, so crimping it in place should be fine.

Good luck, and let us know if you find a better technique.

Tom

Tom, are you referring to the bicycle shop cable? It's cold now in Texas and I'm going out to look for some cable for my 330, since the old one is corroded and unuseable. It looks like I will have to take out the driver's seat to get enough work room to remove and replace the cable at the control lever. As long as I'm at it, I might as well take out the tachometer and send it off for a rebuild.

Rudy van Daalen Wetters · Fri Nov 12, 2004 5:45 pm

I located my heater cable at a NAPA Auto Parts store here in Southern California. It works effortlessly.

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001

jsa330 · Post by **jsa330** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 12:19 am

I went out to a bicycle shop this afternoon and bought a 5'-6'' length of solid, stiff wire cable in a plastic coated sheath. It slips back and forth very easily and will definitely work at the heater valve lever under the hood. I am going to have to remove the front seat to get comfortably to the back of the lever assembly to attach the new cable, but it's no big deal, maybe I'll go ahead and take out the tach for a rebuild and get an estimate to redo the front seats from the cheap crappy recover I had done last year.

When I get the cable fixed, I'll post how it went.

John Vardanian · Post by **John Vardanian** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 4:07 am

Well, I went to a couple of bicycle shops but all I could find was stranded cable, which works well for pulling but not pushing. I was trying to save the sheath and just replace the core. The parts stores only sold choke cables which would work fine as long as use the cable along with its own sheath.

I ended up buying piano wire. Thanks to everyone's suggesstions.

john

jsa330 · Post by **jsa330** » Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:07 pm

John Vardanian wrote:Well, I went to a couple of bicycle shops but all I could find was stranded cable, which works well for pulling but not pushing. I was trying to save the sheath and just replace the core. The parts stores only sold choke cables which would work fine as long as use the cable along with its own sheath.

I ended up buying piano wire. Thanks to everyone's suggesstions.

john

John, the kind of bicycle cable I got is called Positron, and they got it from the back of the store when I told them I needed cable for a push/pull function and couldn't use the braided kind.

John Vardanian · Post by **John Vardanian** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 1:36 am

bc49,

Thanks. I wished I had known about the Positron business earlier. But I put in the piano wire today and it worked fine. Thanks for your help.

john

Leo · Post by **Leo** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:06 pm

for all interested i have a roll of factory original heater cable.
sure not to last......

jsa330 · Post by **jsa330** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:53 pm

Leo wrote:for all interested i have a roll of factory original heater cable.
sure not to last......

Leo, how about some particulars, such as price and condition?

Thanks

Leo · Post by **Leo** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 5:00 pm

the cable is perfect and brand new NOS goods. it is $10. per foot.
i only have one small roll. no idea how many feet need to do a car.
i think that the cable is the same from the 250 cars thru the 365 series, but i don't know for sure. hope this helps.