Broken hood release cable - problem now solved.

[davtay]

This relates to my- Help!! Hood release has broken -posting 09/16/05. The car was hoisted on a lift at our local auto repair shop, that works with foreign cars. The tire-changing franchises in the area did not really want to touch it.
For those members who asked to know the outcome; the broom handle approach from underneath does not work - at least for this case with 1974 TR6. The exhaust pipe and starter motor are in the line of sight which is also blocked by the heater hoses into the bulkhead below the latch. The method they used was to remove the front supports on the hood from underneath. They may have used long extension tools with flexible couplings or ( since one of the guys was very tall and thin with long arms) they may have been able to reach up from underneath. It is apparently their little "secret". Anyway, they then used a flat strip of steel 2-3ft long approx 1" wide, 3/16" thick, drilled 1/2" hole near one end and sawed across at 45 degrees to the top and bottom of the hole to form a hook tool that they inserted to fit over the cable clamp boss on the latch arm, and then swung it over to the left to release the latch. The hood was then taken off completely. It does not appear to have been damaged - thank goodness. It cost $80, but could have been much worse.
I had provided them with all of your responses and pictures, which they said were very valuable in defining the problem. The removal of the hood from the front had been mentioned as a possibility by jimbar -- many thanks jimbar.
It turned out the cable had not broken - it had pulled out of the wire clamp. This suggests that a back-up clamp (which they call a screw-trunnion ) should definitely be used on important cables like this. The other back ups mentioned by various forum members are also excellent ideas. One always closes the barn door after the animals have escaped. Triumph obviously did not design any planned or easy method of latch access in case of a broken release cable. The access through the wiring grommet (not the grommet that carries the choke and heater valve cables) should also work since it is directly under the latch arm. References to this, and a special tool, were also given in the replies to my posting. This may have been the final approach if they had not been able to detach the hood at the garage.
Once again, many thanks for all your help to all the forum members who responded to my distress call.
Regards, davtay.

 

[Guest]

My understanding is that this was never a big problem for UK market TR6's, since the hood release cable is on the right and is thus much shorter and has less bends in it to get to the latch assembly. Still doesn't explain why Triumph never addressed it though, since most TR6's came here.

My solution to this problem was to completely replace the standard braided steel wire type cable with a solid steel core cable. This is an off the shelf part at most good speed shops, it's just a Holley choke cable. Perfect length, has a chromed steel jacket that ensures nothing will cut into it and severe the cable and the cable itself is as I said a solid heavy gauge wire. For those into originality this won't work, as the handle is just a plain black round plastic knob, but I'm pretty sure this thing will never break unless you've got a gorilla pulling on it. To make sure it doesn't pull out of the latch I bent the cable around the setscrew area twice before cutting off the excess. Best part is you can remove it and not have it get all distorted and come unwound like the braided cables after you've tightened down on them once or twice.

Glad you got through the crisis. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif