Working on setting up a push/pull cable for heater valve operation. Need about 5' of cable. Looking for a little better quality, smoother operating cable than the ones commonly found in parts stores that are spiral wrapped, but have no liner for the wire. I really like the Teflon lined ones that are very smooth and don't seize up, but most are $35 and up. Does anyone know a source and part number/description for something that might fit the bill but be priced a little less? Thanks!
Years ago (late 60's) I redid my Healey dash and used Volvo choke cables. They were pretty cl***y looking and cheap. Or you could use vintage Ford cables. Either way, look for choke and throttle cables used on older cars. Gary
Pony up the $35, anything else is going to be more. The cables I used to buy were right at $100, for fire truck operations. Bones
A friend made up some cables he got from a bicycle shop. He bought the outer piece/sheath & glued the ends to the cut piece. He said the outer sheath is used on racing bicycles & came in an 8 foot piece. The cabling was bought by the foot. The only thing is the cable is only good for a pull operation. He rigged up a spring so the cable would retract. The ends of the cables he found on a Briggs & Stratton website but bought thru Amazon. Now that I think about it I bought something similar for a gokart's throttle cable a number of years ago.
Thanks guys. Probably better to spend just a few more bucks for a good cable than fret with trying to make something work and have $100 worth of frustration.
Last time I made one up for an overdrive application I experimented and found that I could replace the inner wire (.055") with a .062" length of music wire, which was much more rigid.
You might check the Aircraft Spruce website. They sell aircraft parts and supplies, especially for homebuilt A/C, and sell good quality parts, though they are reasonably priced as they do not have to have the certification paperwork required of production A/C. Cables of various types should be readily available. Look for ‘mixture control’ and/or ‘carb heat’ cables. The mixture control type often have a push ****on release in the knob that allows a setting to be maintained.....great for temp control of your heater.
Hnstray is right the air craft cables are very good and i have paid less than a hundred bucks for them.