Re: Replacing Broken Hood Release Cable

[deloreanernst@xxxx]

In a message dated 2/2/01 9:50:51 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
deloreanetwork@xxxx writes:

<< I've got a "real" problem with this hood release cable and was hoping that
someone knowledgeable here on the DML would have some wisdom for me.
>>

The hood release cable eventually dies on everybody, if you regularly drive 
your DeLorean, as I do. Especially if you have no gas filler flap, meaning 
you have to open the trunk every time you get gas. The leverage of the 
release handle bends the wire and stresses it each time. I knew this yet 
never got around to put in a backup...until it broke. Duh. I was lucky. 
There was enough of a cable stub showing that I could pull on it with a pair 
of pliers while an assistant jogged the trunk lid up and down and I got my 
hood open. It virtually never fails inside the trunk. If you don't have 
enough stub to work with, you may need to carefully cut the cable cover with 
a pair of wire cutters to get to the the inner cable. But I'd call a DeLorean 
specialist before I took that step, to see if that's the best way to go.
I normally get all my parts from a DeLorean supplier, but in this case I got 
a brake cable from a bicyle shop. It is coated so the end won't fray. After 
replacing my cable, I taped the frayed end of the old one, then ran it 
parallel to the "official" cable, (outside the cable cover,) and tucked it 
behind the firewall carpeting. For next time. Works for me. 
I don't like the "spare loop just inside your hood" method because it looks 
jimmy rigged and sloppy, and might give people bad ideas. 

-Wayne A. Ernst
vin 11174
The New DeLorean Manuals Project