Wire Cables can be Made & Repaired by Yourself | Challenging in Emergency Situations

I'm sure there are Sunday Mechanics who have had throttle cables in poor condition and have pointed the finger of blame at the carburetor itself! Cable condition can be improved by maintenance, but in some situations, the cable may need to be replaced, or it may need to be lengthened or shortened. Short cables cannot be lengthened, but if you have a repair tycoon or a new wire cable (inner cable), you can repair a cable that is about to break during repair and reproduction even if you do not have a replacement cable when the time comes.
Here, we will focus on the self-made and reproduction of wire cables that you should practice repairing when you find yourself in a situation.

I was going to replace it as a first-aid measure.

There are occasional cases where the throttle cable has become too short due to handlebar replacement or, conversely, too long and excessive. In such cases, replacing it with a new cable is not the only solution, but it is also possible to make a cable that fits your car just right. In this section, let's try practicing the work of reducing the excess cable length and replacing the inner cable.

I want to replace only the inner cable.

Many abandoned vehicles that have not been ridden for a while have oil in the various cables that have blown off in some cases. The cable above has had muddy water run into it. This is the situation after pulling out the inner cable for an off-road model. One of the twisted cables in the lower cable was broken, and it was acting as an operating resistance. It is not easy to make a meter cable for a rotating shaft, but for throttle and clutch cables that pull and pull back, only the inner wire can be replaced.

Cable professionals use tools like these

In the past, repair kits for various cables for pro stores and Sunday Mechanics. Repair kits for throttles and clutches for large and small cars were also sold in the past. This kind of kit is really appreciated by Sunday Mechanics who mainly work on old motorcycles. There is also a product called a solder pot that facilitates smooth and reliable solder fixation of the inner cable end tycoon. It is a device for professionals, but it is very easy to use.

The length of the protruding inner is important.

When I checked the throttle cable pull side because of poor operability, I found that the inner wire in the tycoon section that sets into the throttle drum had become sagged. I don't think this is the only cause, but here I will try to replace the inner wire while shortening the outer to fit the handlebar shape. This is a good way to match the length when replacing an up-handle bar to a continental handle bar. How many mm does the inner wire protrude from the outer end before cutting it? Be sure to check and note the amount of protrusion. While nippers can be used to cut the old wire, a special wire cutter can be used to cut the new wire for a clean cut. The wire will not fray and can be cut cleanly and sharply. When the cut inner wire is removed, the cause of the malfunction becomes clear. One of the wires that had been cut at the tie-cock had become twisted and twisted inside. Moreover, the wire had rusted due to water ingress.

Outer cut with a thin-toothed disk.

The outer wire should be cut with a grinder cutting disk in a sharp cut after clarifying the required length. After cutting, remove burrs from the end of the Teflon inner that will allow the inner wire to slide easily. Remove the cable end fittings as they will be reused. Since the end part of the fitting is caulked and hard to pull out, I pulled it out forcefully while pulling and extending the outer coil. It is easy to pull it out if it is heated with a heater. The caulking part of the outer cable of the removed metal fitting is tapped from the inside with a punch to widen it, and the outer cable is inserted and caulked again. This is very small work, but make sure that the metal fittings do not fall out. Spray oil inside the cable and in the fitting passage.

There is a procedure for fixing the solder on the tycoon.

Prepare the size tycoon you need. If you do not need the number of pieces, you can make your own by measuring the size of the tycoon, purchasing a brass rod of the same thickness, and drilling it with a drill. If you use a special wire cutter, the cut end will be sharp without unraveling the wire. After the wire has been threaded through the hole in the taiko, loosen the tip of the wire slightly with the tip of a nipper or the like to prevent it from coming loose. Since the holes in the tycoon were straight, we used a slightly thicker drill to chamfer the holes on one side in advance.
This tapering process strengthens the solder fixation. The wire is threaded so that the end of the wire is on the cable end, and the tip of the wire is loosened using nippers. It is good if the taping does not move. The wire end is open and the hole in the tycoon is chamfered so that the wire with the spreading tip is caught and the tycoon does not rotate smoothly.

Surface treatment with liquid flux before soldering

As a setup before solder fixing, the tycoon and cable are dipped in liquid flux strong acid in a container. This is a preliminary process to improve the adhesion and penetration of solder. Be careful when handling commercial products of strong acid flux. Turn on the power switch of the solder pot and wait for a few minutes. The solder that had hardened in the pot began to melt into a sludge. Since there are impurities floating on the surface of the solder, remove them before dipping the taiko into the pot. As soon as the tycoon is dipped into the solder pot, it makes a sizzling sound and emits flux smoke. After waiting for about 5 seconds, it is raised and cooled by dipping it in a container of hard oil four-wheeler differential oil for use. When we spoke to the cable manufacturer, he told us that this process is very important.

Be careful about the length of protrusion for finished solder

After fixing the tycoon on one side, insert it inside the outer cable and cut the wire according to the previously measured amount of the inner wire sticking out. Solder and fix in place using the same procedure as for the tie-co on the other side, which has already been worked on. Before fixing, check the amount of the inner wire protrusion once again. If the length is wrong, it will be impossible to adjust the play. A difference of 5mm is enough to make the setup impossible.

During carburetor maintenance, we always have to consider the causes of problems other than the carburetor. The first of these would be the electrical system. Many of the causes of idle discrepancies are due to misfiring conditions. There are various causes of misfires, including leaks from plug caps and high-tension cords, so it is important to be a Sunday mechanic who can always determine the cause of trouble from multiple angles.  Here, we practiced changing the length of the throttle cable, but the most important task is fixing the inner cable end tycoon. Many of today's genuine manufacturer's parts are manufactured by press caulking the tycoons, but before the 1960s, various cables were generally manufactured in the manner described here.

When soldering and securing a tycoon, it is best to acid wash the tycoon with a container of strong acid=liquid flux so that the entire wire with the tycoon set in it is soaked. It is difficult to treat the surface of cables and tycoons well when a few drops of flux for container stainless steel sheet metal solder at the time of purchase are applied from use.
That's why you have to submerge it into the flux in the container and soak it. Also, when dipping the cable, it is important to soak the cable about 1 cm (10 mm) in the flux to allow the solder to penetrate the cable by capillary action, which seems to be a trick to increase the strength of the cable.

Here, we used solder pods purchased at a professional store for electrical work parts and equipment, but you can also use a takoyaki plate that is no longer in use. After thoroughly degreasing the plate, cut the sheet metal solder, place it in the takoyaki pot, and heat it on a portable gas stove, which will melt the solder into a sludge.

Once the tycoon is submerged and secured in the melted solder, it is submerged in hard oil 90W differential oil to cool it down, allowing the oil to soak in and protect the area around the tycoon from rust and corrosion. If you want to make your own cables, you should be able to get by with the application of this kind of procedure. I think this is a good reference for DIY restorers.