Steering Cable Problem

I had a brainstorm to fix my problem last night about 10:00 headed to memphis and if it works, it would solve everything. Will let you know yea or nea. Wish me luck.

Keeganino wrote: In the words of the late great John Lennon- "There are no problems only solutions." You will get this thing licked!

Oh, you are so right............I just finished putting it in and I believe she is good to go.

Here was my plan:

If I ran the cable up the air tube, it would be too short.

I could not pull the old cable out so I cut it off and only left three or four feet encased in foam beneath the floor.

I could not return the cable and get a longer one because I had scratched this one messing with the above options.

So this is what I thought up two nights ago in the darkness of Mississippi: I would run the cable up the PVC tube with the electrical, bilge hose and transmission and throttle cable. I was worried about the 90degree turn until I talked with Tommy at White Lake marine who assured me that anything other than bending completely in half would work fine. So after a lot of struggling pulling the cable up the tube to where it comes out underneath the dash, I used a sawsall, coping saw and a straight hack saw blade to cut out the back side of the tubing after removing an area of foam about the size of two softballs laid side by side. The cable now comes out the back of the tubing, makes a big sweeping turn and right in to the helm like it did 35 years ago.

I hooked up a quick connector that was shipped with my cable and the new cable snapped right in. The clevis kit and tube clamp in the back went in perfect. Cost me about $190 for everything.

Now I need to spend a day putting it all back together and making a couple of changes while everything is apart.

Thanks to everyone for your support especialy AT, Pete and Keegan. I wish I had your knowledge and skills because as frustrating as this boat can be sometimes, I like fixing what's broke. I also like the comments I get. A guy at the gas station literally begged me to sell him the boat........maybe I should have talked to him as he was driving a brand new Land Rover$$$$$$

Will post a couple of pictures later......If I drank alchohol, I think I would have myself a cold one right about now.


scott

Scott,
Glad to hear you will be on the water again. Look at all you have learned and what a nice boat...
That is what I was trying to suggest back on page one. Sometimes I can't get my thoughts to the keyboard.
Anyway I ordered a new steering cable for my boat after reading about your ordeal. I think mine was original. Monty

I think the life on these steering cables must be about 30-35 years. Luckily the PO of my boat had to replace mine 3 years ago when it broke and left him stranded. It seems that the steering cable might be a good "replace while your in there" item on 70's and earlier boats. Either that or make sure you can easily pull a new one.

Glad you worked it out Scott. Good Idea cutting out the back of the Elbow. I used two 45 degree elbows joined by about 6 inches of straight pipe to achieve a 90 and it worked great. I was able to pull all my cables with no problems. I actually had a 90 in place at first and returned it after reading up on here.

Monty,

Do a Google search and type in SA27620 or Teleflex sa27620 and you will see the part you need.

I bought my cable from marineenginepart.com and this connector was in the box with the cable. It is about $14-$16 if you buy it separate. All you do is screw this in to the top of your helm and insert the cable until it clicks. Then you insert a cotter pin per the instructions and your done.

Be sure to take the plastic off the end before you insert it in the helm



Scott

Monty,

I would just look at one of the places you found in the google search or call skidim, white lake marine or marineengineparts.com and I am sure somebody has it but it is definitely what you need.

scott