Clutch cable guide tube fix?

Hi all,

Worst nightmare this afternoon - a box full of neutral whilst crossing London, right at the start of Brompton Road in Knightsbridge. Had to call for a very nice man in his big yellow taxi who expertly applied his trade with a large bag of zip ties. Anyway it was enough to get us home.

The end of the clutch cable guide tube has fatigued its way off the rear suspension tube - I believe this is a common problem.

So, before this weekend warrior with a welder tacks the bracket back on again, does anyone happen to know what the best practice is for a good, permanent fix?

Cheers - D

 

This happened to me when I was moving my kombi out of the garage. It got caught on a jack stand. The flexible section you can buy and replace but you will need to repair the tube.

 

Yep, that’s the question really. Is it a matter of just fixing what’s there or is there a mod I could do to make it stronger and less likely to fail?

 

Mine snapped in pretty much the same place. I didn’t notice until I was rebuilding the van after the resto so didn’t want to weld in a new tube.
I scrounged a 15cm length of suitably sized pipe and got the end turned down in a lathe so that it could fit inside the old tube. It’s been fine for 3+ years.




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Can’t tell from the pic but if your tube is still intact I’d just weld the bracket back on.


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I've had this issue and will post up a picture of what I did tomorrow. It involved making an extension to the existing conduit with a bracket to the gear box mounts. Slightly agricultural but it's out of sight and robust.

 

Thanks James - that’s really helpful, but I don’t quite understand the new extension bit. Did part of the old tube snap off or did you modify the Bowden tube? Or is it a different design to mine?

Ooh yes please!

 

The end of my tube had snapped off, I couldn't quite tell from your pic if you had the same issue?
The extension was fitted to bring the tube back to the right length.

 

Both I reckon - too short and fallen off.

 

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Ah, right, now I understand.
Looks like mine snapped off too. I had no idea! (I’ve only had it for 10 years). That’ll explain why I had to put so much bend in the Bowden to take up the slack. I like your solution then, thanks!

 

As promised here is what I did.
Slid a larger tube over the existing conduit with the correct tube tack welded on. Made up bracket so tube could be fixed with the bowden sleeve snug on the end. A bit rudimentary but it's been like that for about fifteen years or so. I believe that the clutch cable is original as I never needed to change it in over twenty five years.

 

Just for reference, here is mine that looks original.

 

The end of the tube needs to finish roughly in line with the back edge of the torsion bar tube, to give you the right bend on the Bowden tube

 

Thanks Nick - job’s a good’n on that too. Great photos.

And thanks @Chrisd - just what I wanted.

So I know what I need to do I think; tack on an extended tube using a sleeve and recreate the bracket welded to the suspension tube. Just need to get round to it now!

 

You know already, but…take the clutch cable out before you start welding, or you might end up with a one-position clutch…

 

But you need the clutch cable to earth the starter ... (it happens if you dont have a gearbox earth strap that the clutch cable takes the current. instead sometimes )

 

Just see Harrods in the picture. I used to work in Knightsbridge.

 

The same works with the kickdown cable on an old autobox. Then you wonder why you’re stuck in first gear

 

Is this a little bit like the wheel nuts problem at Dartford