Spitfire 1500 sticking throttle cable

[Doctor slow]

Title says it all. My throttle cable is sticking and jerky to use, and it gets worse when engine is hot. Tried cleaning inner cable with WD40, also lubricating it with very light oil, lubricating carburettor linkages and pedal "hinge". Visible parts of inner cable don't appear to be rusty or worn. Cable doesn't stick when off the car and held straight, but I can be convinced that it rubs slightly when curved as when on the car. I now need a new cable, since I tried removing the brass ferrule  where it goes through bulkhead and replacing it with a bicycle cable adjuster, since the ferrule looked slightly worn where the inner cable exits, but this made no difference. So, question is, is this "normal", and I just live with it, is there a different, better cable I can use, or do I torch the car and buy a proper one? Any help very gratefully received.

[Pete Lewis]

yes get push bike brake cables     select one with the right pear drop end and get a solderless nipple to fit at the cut end  

you can get more than one from a long rear brake cable  and often made to a better spec than some throttle cables sold 

as some are just awfull .

Pete

[Peter Truman]

Had a bike brake cable on the daughters Mk2 Spit after converting from rod and lever 15 years ago and it works a treat, only issue is cable is stainless strands so you can't solder it at the ends, as Pete says you use solderless nipples unfortunately when you tighten them up they spray out doesn't affect performance just aesthetics. Before tightening solderless nipple up you could try a bit of shrink sleeve on the free end. 

[wimpus]

On my spit 1500  8 years ago I had bought 2 cables, but throttle kept sticking.

Sometimes you needed to press the pedal hard, sometimes not.

And very fun when you learn to drive with it!

 

Since then got the outer sleeve and gear cable from a bicycle shop (and some other bits).

Now 130.000miles driven... still working good and smooth.

 

[Colin Lindsay]

My late MK3 GT6 had some kind of bracket / lever arrangement with plastic bushes, which when worn meant you had to put increasing pressure on the accelerator then bang - it moved and you took off like a rocket. 

[NonMember]

1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said:

My late MK3 GT6 had some kind of bracket / lever arrangement with plastic bushes,

I'll have to go check mine - I don't think it has the "progression cam" thing, though I remember my 2500S had one. When they work properly, they're not a bad idea - they make it easier to open the throttle gently from closed but rapidly over the last half where the angle doesn't make so much difference. But, as you noted, when worn they can cause seriously unpleasant stiction.

[Doctor slow]

OK thank you all for that help. So, is a halfords brake cable good enough? 

[Pete Lewis]

yes  or  any bike shop 

Pete

[Clive]

16 hours ago, Doctor slow said:

OK thank you all for that help. So, is a halfords brake cable good enough? 

After a few issues, I got all anal about the cable quality. In the end I bought PTFE lined outer cable and polished stainless inner cables. REALLY smooth. A little more expensive, but we are talking maybe £2 more....