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Replacing Heater Control Cables In Your Datsun Roadster
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When I took the my heater out of my 69 Datsun roadster I found that the heater control cable wires were broken off and could not be re-used without replacing the wire. I located a source for the wire, but when I removed the dash and had the heater control levers and original cables in my hand I found it impossible to move the wires inside of their plastic jackets. Finding replacement wire was easy. I went to my local hobby shop and purchased three pieces of 0.055” piano wire, more commonly known in the hobby shop as control wire. This wire is very stiff, but bendable, and replaces the wire originally installed by Datsun perfectly. It is fairly easy to make the Z bend on one end of the piano wire using a pair of pliers and a little elbow grease ( see note below). They tell me there is a tool for this step, but it is too much money if you are only making three cables.The next problem was how to get the old wire out of the jacket and insert the new wire in its place. Not a chance. After looking around the Internet for any thick wall tubing that might be suitable I spotted my son’s bicycle in the garage. The control cable jackets looked like they would be perfect. The next day I visited my local bicycle repair shop. The control cables for bicycles come in two different sizes. 1.2mm ID , and 1.8mm ID. Not knowing which way to go for sure I chose the 1.8mm ID jacket and brought a few feet home with me. The piano wire slid in easily, and the cable jacket was easy to cut with a standard pair of good wire cutters. This outer jacket is really better than original because the inner lining of the control cable jacket is a nylon tube in which the wire slides very nicely. Now I have a nice set of very smooth heater control cables and it only cost me about nine bucks for everything. ----- Mark Tyler added this bit of info on the Roadster list It's a good idea to heat music wire to cherry red where you are going to put a sharp bend in it. It will bend much easier and won't snap from fatigue at the bending point. Bending work hardens music wire. Since it's already hardened at the factory some annealing is called for. Thanx Marc
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