The Clutch Cable

A simple cable with two hooks on either side became a source of frustration and constant irritation. Admittedly, it was not the cable which was at fault, rather the procrastinative nature of the owner who had been putting off the replacement of the cable for months.

Its funny how a simple 10 minute job can take months when you have the right excuses. Several months ago, I had replaced the entire clutch assembly and realized that the clutch cable had stretched. The adjustment was at its highest and I still had a lot of freeplay. So the blame for the lack of power was put on the poor clutch cable.

Retaliation came when after purchasing a new cable (Made in Japan and costing around RM40.00). Convenient excuses arosed from within (blame it on the weather, workload, no proper place to work and the list goes on and on..)

Today, I decided to put and end to the outstanding item on the to do list. Summing up all the courage I had, and listening to the Contender theme song on youtube a couple of times, the bonnet latch was pulled, the cable taken out from the boot and ready to be installed.

First up was to remove the cotter pin and detach the cable at the engine side. This took about 10 minutes as I was busy figuring out the best hand placement for this intricate procedure. Next was to remove the cable at the pedal side (There is a metal loop at the end of the cable which hooks on to the clutch pedal). This was fairly easy. Note: Its a good idea to remove the floormats first so that you dont get sand in your hair).

As they say an all good Haynes Workshop Manuals "Re-assembly is the opposite of removal". So, the months of deliberation, procrastination, frustration and inaction was finally put behind me. One would wonder whats the big deal about a clutch cable replacement? The moral of the story is: ______________________ (I'll think of something when the time comes).

Next, to tackle the leaky valve cover...