Working Man's Burbon

[HO455]

Today's project was to finish up the throttle cable replacement. I got started last week on this by getting a cable out of a 79 Burban at the U-pull-it. And once I got it back to the shop and looked at it in the truck I realized the ends where the cables connected to the pedal were different, I decided I to replace the pedal instead of trying to modify the existing one. So back to the wrecking yard where I got a pedal out of a 75 C20. The whole reason for changing cables is the PO had converted the linkage rod to a cable style, which is nice, with the exception of the pedal and cable must have come from a motor home or something as the cable is 63" long. To make it work he had the cable make a big loop around the brake booster (1st photo blue line show cable routing). I also wasn't thrilled about the angle of the cable between the carb and the cable bracket (2nd photo) or the fact he had Ty-rapped the spark plug wires to this big loop of cable The combination made for a stiff gas pedal. Once I removed the old cable I got to see the hacked hole in the firewall that was supposed to hold the cable (3rd photo) Obviously a patch was needed so that was the first task. Cut out a piece of sheet metal then, cut a rectangular hole in it for the cable to snap into. I don't know why but GM put the cutout for the throttle cable at an angle so I tried to match the angle in my patch. (4th photo). It took me at least an hour to form the patch to match the shape of the firewall. I planned to pop rivet the patch to the firewall so three hole were drilled. Then I filed down the bad spots in the firewall and drilled matching holes for the rivets. I put some sealant on the patch, riveted it into place, and gave it a squirt with a rattle can. The old cable and the new one fresh from wrecking yard. (Last photo)