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Racto throttle cable routing

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Darrell_Walker

Darrell_Walker

Jedi Knight
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I'm using the Ratco throttle cable linkage as part of my Weber DCOE installation. I've come up with two options for routing the cable. The most direct route will mean the cable will probably be in contact with the headers. The alternative is to run it over to the wheel well. That means more bends in the cable, though they are very gentle, and everything seems to move smoothly. Any opinions on which is better?
 

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Can the cable be shortened? I thought Paul did this.
 
I just purchased a lokar cable off the internet for 35 bucks and made my own bracket I still have to install it, and yes you can shorten the cable and you should so you dont have too many bends
 
Yes, the cable can be shortened, but my concern is then it would lay against the header. Not sure if it is good for it to get that hot.
 

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OK, I studied Paul's installation pictures again, and fiddled a little more, and found that if I let it hang down a bit more, I get around an inch or two of clearance between the header and the cable. It isn't as straight a shot as the routing that hits the header, but much straighter than going out to the wheel well.
 
Darrell, I used a stainless steel tie wrap that I loosely pull the armored throttle cable out of the way with. I routed it over the steel gas line at the carb. That armored cable is lined with nylon and cannot take excessive heat. Best to pull it back and away from your exhaust header. I think I have about 5 inches clearance when pulled toward the carb.
 
I agree with Bill. You need a drop, as I show in mine, but not close to the headers. I have about 5-6 inches between my headers and the cable, even though it doesn't look that way from the camera angle.
 
Hmm, I'll have to play with it some more, maybe going over to the wheel well is still an option. But the end of the cable on the pedal linkage isn't ever going to be 5 inches away, it is about 2 or 3. But if I can minimize the exposure of the rest maybe that will be OK.

Luckily I haven't cut anything yet!
 
I keep looking at the picture and I think that I see the problem. Can you bring the bracket to the front side of the carbs, instead of the rear? That will help get it away from the header and with the flex coupler, you should have no problem hooking up to the linkage.
 
Brosky said:
I keep looking at the picture and I think that I see the problem. Can you bring the bracket to the front side of the carbs, instead of the rear? That will help get it away from the header and with the flex coupler, you should have no problem hooking up to the linkage.
Click to expand...

Do you mean hang it off the front carb, or mean move it further outboard of the engine? If the latter, right now it lines up pretty well with the linkage, moving it out would mean I was pulling at a bit of an angle.

I went out an measured, at there is just over an inch between where the bracket attaches to the cable on the pedal end. The only way to increase that would be to bend the bracket further down, but then the arm won't line up with the cable very well, unless I can figure out additional bends to make.
 
Darrell,

Yes, I mean for you to move it out. Look at the difference in where your fulcrum on the throttle shaft (That is the pedal shaft) is compared to mine. My bracket is over a good 1/4" to 1/2" further right than yours. See the gap between yours and the continuation of the firewall above the passengers legs?

If you block the pedal and scribe the shaft for positional reference, you can possibly slide that fulcrum over a bit and this will take care of any misalignment if you move the bracket to the outboard side of the rear carb.
 
This is the template that I made for my bracket AFTER it was lined up and working well. I wanted to save others the on-off trial and error that I had to do.

EDIT: Now I can't get the pdf file to upload???
 
<span style='font-family: Haettenschweiler'><span style='font-size: 26pt'><span style='font-family: Script MT Bold'>PEDRO</span></span></span>
 
Download this image and print as an 8" X 10" and you will have it.
 
Don,

Please don't use that kind of language here. No matter how pretty you make it look!! LOL!!!
 
Brosky said:
Darrell,

Yes, I mean for you to move it out. Look at the difference in where your fulcrum on the throttle shaft (That is the pedal shaft) is compared to mine. My bracket is over a good 1/4" to 1/2" further right than yours. See the gap between yours and the continuation of the firewall above the passengers legs?

If you block the pedal and scribe the shaft for positional reference, you can possibly slide that fulcrum over a bit and this will take care of any misalignment if you move the bracket to the outboard side of the rear carb.
Click to expand...

Oh, that bracket. I was thinking the carb end one. I'll have to look at the arm, right now it is right up to the slot, it can't move anymore. I'll have to see if the arm can move out on the shaft, but that will be real fun (I don't even know if it is possible to get it out with the engine in place).
 
Darrell,

We're almost there. I want you to consider moving BOTH away from the header.

You can get in there easier on a 4cyl than the 6cyl. (I think!). There is a square headed bolt that has a 1/2" not on the end and the shaft has a small spline on it at the end. Soak everything with WD-40 for a day and your life will become much easier.

This is what it looks like, courtesy TRF.

https://www.zeni.net/trf/TR6-250GC/index.php?menu=C&page=37

Good luck....
 
Hi Paul,

It looks like the TR6 arm is quite different from the 4A. The 4A arm has a collar with a split-pin to hold it. What is worse, the collar is on the "outside", which is why the arm is so much more inboard. Here is a picture from the Moss catalog:

https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=29124&SortOrder=10

I have an idea around attaching a second arm and extending the bracket to move the cable over, I may prototype that.

Thanks for your help!

-Darrell
 
OK, here is my prototype attempt to move the cable further away from the header. With the stock 4A arm, the cable comes within an inch of the header. Even if I could move the arm to a position similar to a TR6, the clearance would be under 2 inches. With this new setup, I have a good 4-5 inches. It all seems pretty stable. The only concern I have is on the lower bracket. The stock bracket already had a bit of flex (from Paul's pictures the body supports it much further out), and adding the extenstion just compounds that. So I may make up a new bracket to mount in line with the new top connection. The only odd thing to deal with if I do that is the bracket won't mount on a flat place, it will be right in the curved area where the steering column would go on a RHD car.
 

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