A B Motosport Gear Cables

[hilda]

Hi
I am going to fit new gear change cables to my 1990 Elan after Xmas,has anybody any do's, dont's or tips before I make the attempt. I understand it is not the easiest of jobs !

Cheers

John

[tweetdriver63]

Actually, it's not that difficult.
Take the intake pipe off and move the header tank.
There are instructions on the wiki I believe.
I haven't installed AB cables, but I did put in replacement OEM cables. I just tied the gearbox end of the new cables to the shifter end of the old ones, and then pulled them through the tunnel from the engine compartment.
Anyway, refer to the wiki using the link above, and you should find good instructions.

[Elanlover]

This is best done with an "apprentice" as its difficult and takes much longer if you try it alone. When you unbolt the existing cables from the gearbox tie some nylon string (or similarly strong twine) to the ends and then to the ends of the new cables. Pull them through from inside the car. Do it one at a time as two cables ends won't both pass through the tunnel aperture at the same time (or easily anyway). Its actually a simply job to do, it just takes a bit of time and patience.

[tweetdriver63]

Has anybody else had any problems with the bracket that comes with the AB cables?

I'm installing my AB cables right now, and the bracket doesn't seem right. On the old bracket, the upper part is angled toward the front of the car as compared to the lower (cross-shaft cable) part. On the bracket that came with the AB cables, both parts of the bracket are perpendicular to the base. The result is that the moving part of the cross-gate cable is pulled at an angle from the bracket and sleeve of the cable, which causes it to bind. I had everything in and discovered that I couldn't move the shifter side to side.

Has this happened to anybody else?

I'm going to try to use the old bracket with the AB cables, but I'm not sure it will work because the holes are so much bigger than the cables.

[Monty]

I had no problems with the bracket and not heard of anyone else having a problem

Here`s a pic of AB`s site


http://www.abmotosport.com/Elan_products.html

[tweetdriver63]

That's exactly what the bracket I got looks like. Now, look at the picture and imagine the cable on the left (the cross-gate cable) angles about 10 deg or so to left (of the picture) on the gearbox side of the bracket. The moving part of the cable then binds against the stationary part, making it pretty much impossible to move the shifter side to side.

[Steve A]

Can anyone tell me how much these cables cost and how long do they take to arrive?

[theelanman]

:) Can anyone tell me how much these cables cost and how long do they take to arrive?

£250 and about a week to arrive

[tweetdriver63]

If you look at the picture from the AB website above, you can see another problem with the bracket with regards the cross-gate cable. Notice that the cable in the picture is adjusted all the way to the end of the threads. On my car, I noticed that when I disconnect that cable at the bracket and move the gear lever side to side, when the shifter is in the area laterally where I think it should be in third/fourth gear (leaning slightly toward the driver's side as in the manual), the threaded area of the cable is completely behind the bracket. In other words, it's not possible to adjust the cable to the proper place using that bracket.

Is there any way the problem could actually be in the tunnel? Twisted cables or something? I don't think so. I pulled the cables through together like the instructions in the Wiki say, which was a bear. I don't think they're twisted though.

I think I'm going to fabricate a new bracket that will put both cables side-by-side on the bracket (not staggered), and will incorporate the angled face like my original bracket, for the cross-gate cable.

[tweetdriver63]

Just a couple of questions, now that I've hijacked this thread.

My cross-gate cable angles toward the front of the car about 5-10 degrees, and on closer inspection, it looks as though the original cable bracket was modified to accomodate the angle. It occurs to me that if a previous owner made a custom short-shift modification, which would shorten the cross-gate lever, moving the lever attachment point toward the front of the car, that could cause the angle off. This would also necessitate the modification to the bracket. Does this make sense to anybody?

Fed Elan owners: Have you ever adjusted your cables following the guidance in the service manual? I noticed this when I replaced my cables with newer OEM cables a while back: When I unlocked the locking sleeves and pushed the cross-shaft lever to the right (passenger side on Fed car) to put the gearbox in third, then positioned the gear shift lever 5 deg forward and 10 deg toward the driver's side as the manual describes, the result was that the shift lever couldn't be moved toward first/second gear. The only way to adjust my cables so that all gears were usable left the shifter basically vertical in first/second, and leaning toward the passenger side in all other gears. It occurs to me that that would probably be perfect in a RHD car. Are the brackets (both OEM and AB) designed for UK cars only? Is this an oversight on both Lotus' and AB's part? Or am I nuts?

[tigerdog]

Houdini had installed AB Cables shortly before I bought Smaug from him. When I purchased the car, the shifter was angled waaaay over towards the right (passenger LHD) side and very stiff indeed. I used the manual instructions as a general guide (shifter in 3rd, etc) and like you, I found the AB adjuster barrel a little short for perfect placement. I believe the cable and mechanism was designed for RHD and darn those silly Yanks - aren't their arms longer anyway?

I did find that I was able to take a LOT of stiffness out of the side-to-side action by moving the adjustor nuts to the extremes, grabbing the cable just behind the barrel and moving it around/back and forth until it "settled" into a position that didn't bind.

[tweetdriver63]

I had a machine shop modify the bracket, so now there's no problem adjusting it so the shifter is where it should be. I still have the problem with stiffness, and the self-centering spring(?) isn't working. Another member said he had the same problem (not self-centering, and very stiff side-to-side) and he fixed it by drilling out the hole in the cable end slightly larger. The fit is so tight on mine (and was on his) that the cable end has to be forced onto the pin of the cross-gate lever. Apparently it needs to be just loose enough that it allows the cable end to rotate slightly around the pin, or it makes it hard for the cable to move the lever. I'm going to try that fix on Sunday when I have a chance to get back to work on it.

[hilda]

Hi
Got the cables fitted at last.
They seem to be slightly longer than the originals which meant we had some difficulty getting them to lie properly but now working Ok if a little bit stiff. They do seem to be bedding in though & loosening up.

John

[tigerdog]

They do seem to be bedding in though & loosening up.

Mine have loosened considerably since I first got the car, so I believe this must be typical for these cables.

[DAdragna]

Has anyone ordered and installed the AB cables here in the US lately? Just wondering because it is on my list of to-do's and I am concerned about the bracket design being a problem on the federal cars. Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan A

[tweetdriver63]

Has anyone ordered and installed the AB cables here in the US lately? Just wondering because it is on my list of to-do's and I am concerned about the bracket design being a problem on the federal cars. Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan A

I did. You can read details in previous posts. I took the AB bracket and my original bracket to a local machine/welding shop and they modified the AB bracket for me for about $25. They made a new base and attached the vertical parts (where the cable openings are) to it so that they aren't staggered, but are side-by-side (sorry I didn't take any pics). If I just used the AB bracket as shipped, I would still be having to live with the shifter leaning well over toward the passenger side. Right now, the shifter is straight up in 3rd gear.

The base ended up being a little too big, so the corner closest to the engine hit on a rise in the transmission casing. I McGuyvered a couple of spacers for the two bolts at the back of the base in order to solve that problem. I just used two nuts that are slightly bigger than the bolts for that. It worked perfectly, and even set the cables at a slightly better angle toward the gearbox levers.

I also had to drill out the holes in the gearbox ends to make them fit over the shafts. Use a 5/16" or 11/32" bit for that.

My cables have loosened up considerably since I installed them, but I still have a problem with the self-centering not working. I'm hoping in time, as the cables loosen and settle in, that will sort itself out.

[tigerdog]

I am concerned about the bracket design being a problem on the federal cars. Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Smaug wears AB cables along with Dave's Short Shift. They were installed prior to my purchasing the car but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of modification to the bracket or cables. They look just like the photos posted on AB's web site.

[DAdragna]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the information.

Dan A

[richone]

hi has anyone have the email address for ab motosport looking for some cables

ta richard

[Specky]

I have his email.

Is Willb still the point of contact? or has this come to an end?

TTFN