Gear cables - How to Change.

Never fails...It's a sunny weekend and I have broken the MGF again.
I sorted out my clutch hydraulic problems a couple of weeks ago and now It appears
I have broken a gearchange cable. Backing into the driveway yesterday I slapped it into reverse
a little hard and the shift lever went limp as...well, you know...
I still have to jack the car up to confirm but and there is nothing hanging down under the car.
I pulled the console and the cables are connected at that end so it seems I may have pulled the end off
one of them.
I'll get the car up on stands this afternoon and confirm, but it looks like I will have to justify
more car expenses to SWMBO...sigh*

I jacked the car up and the cause of the lack of shifting is clear.
The lower cable pulled out of it's end. I'm sure the condition of the rubber insert (see 2nd pic)
was the cause of the crappy shifting and was certainly responsible for the eventual cable failure.
I do have a couple of questions... Portland trading sells very nice replacement cable sets which include inner and outer cables.
Does anyone know if it is possible to swap the inner cable only, and save the grief of swapping the outer?
Of course this assumes that the outer is in good shape and will work dimensionally with the Portland inner cable.
The second question is:
Rimmers sell what they call an uprated cable kit, which I assume is the Portland kit. Can anyone confirm this?
I can check with Rimmers on Monday, but it would be simpler if someone can confirm this.
Portland ship via Royal Mail which will take a couple of weeks to get to me here in Canada. If I can get the kit from Rimmers I will have to pay a bit more but they can ship via UPS and I will have the parts on Wednesday.
Anyway, any info would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Rich

Note Cable is not Attached!

The Rubber was completely Perished.
Only goodwill was keeping the car shifting!

You can replace the ball joints easily enough, but the rod has snapped on yours. I'm not sure how the cable attaches to the rod.
If the rod detaches from the cable it would be possible, in theory to replace only the inner cable. I'll research further.

Thanks David.
It looks like the cable was crimped into the rod end. I can see the stub still inside.
If I can just swap out the inner that would be way better than having to get the closing plate off and back on.
The front end just has a threaded section of rod with bo ball end so I will try disconnecting it and pushing it through.
The worst thing that can happen is it will stick inside the cable and I will have to change the whole thing.
According to Dieter's site it's doable with the subframe in place but doesn't look like a very pleasant job.
At least I can see how my Mark 2 console looks while I have everything apart. I can't decide whether to sand it smooth and paint it silver or go with the original gray finish. Unfortunately I haven't got a Mark 2 heater panel yet so I can't install it permanently.

Rich in Vancouver wrote: I jacked the car up and the cause of the lack of shifting is clear.
The lower cable pulled out of it's end. I'm sure the condition of the rubber insert (see 2nd pic)
was the cause of the crappy shifting and was certainly responsible for the eventual cable failure.
I do have a couple of questions... Portland trading sells very nice replacement cable sets which include inner and outer cables.
Does anyone know if it is possible to swap the inner cable only, and save the grief of swapping the outer?
Of course this assumes that the outer is in good shape and will work dimensionally with the Portland inner cable.
The second question is:
Rimmers sell what they call an uprated cable kit, which I assume is the Portland kit. Can anyone confirm this?
I can check with Rimmers on Monday, but it would be simpler if someone can confirm this.
Portland ship via Royal Mail which will take a couple of weeks to get to me here in Canada. If I can get the kit from Rimmers I will have to pay a bit more but they can ship via UPS and I will have the parts on Wednesday.
Anyway, any info would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Rich

Note Cable is not Attached!

The Rubber was completely Perished.
Only goodwill was keeping the car shifting!

Rich , i understand that the Portland products kit are far better cables for improved performance and have better adjusters, you can buy just one cable or both, or repair parts and rubber gaiters. i dont think that you can pull a new innards through the old outer and when you think about it they are probably over 15 years old, i would personally consider replacing both, especially after all of the other work you have done. :thumbsup: Just keep remembering that MG stands for "MONEY GRABBER" :omg: :thumbsup:

I haven't heard that one before Bryan-Good One!
I couldn't help hoping for an easy out, but of course you are right.
I may as well suck it up and do the job properly after all I wouldn't
want to spend my spare time relaxing.
That just wouldn'y be right! :ohmy:

I'm still waiting for a reply from Rimmers to find out if their uprated kit includes both cables.
My assumption is that it does but I have been bitten on the a*se assuming things before!

Rich in Vancouver wrote: ..... spare time relaxing.

sp a re t ime ? :dry: What on Earth is that?

That would be the time I would prefer to spend driving the car if I wasn't fixing it...apparently.

PQD44 wrote:

Rich in Vancouver wrote: ..... spare time relaxing.

sp a re t ime ? :dry: What on Earth is that?

Rich, I'm right behind you - mine went yesterday

As I always try to have the 'glass half full' outlook there were 2 pluses:

1. It was stuck in 1st less than a mile from home

2. It didn't happen when I was in Scotland with the Border Patrol :woohoo:

Laz1957 wrote: Rich, I'm right behind you - mine went yesterday

As I always try to have the 'glass half full' outlook there were 2 pluses:

1. It was stuck in 1st less than a mile from home

2. It didn't happen when I was in Scotland with the Border Patrol :woohoo:

Has it broken or has the locating clip just come off?

Not sure yet David - I haven't had a chance to take a look, and I still need to research what I am looking for.

Also, I don't have the equipment to raise the back of the car - what is the best method?

BTW the new shiny exhaust has arrived. I need the gaskets and bolts for the exhaust to adapter and adapter to cat. After our conversation in Scotland are these the best ones to get?

MGF, MG F, MGTF, MG TF Cat Fitting Kit Stainless Completed

Would it also be prudent to buy a couple of these?

Exhaust Bracket

I have a cheap Chinese 3-ton trolley jack that does the job.
Under the rear of the car you will see a steel loop sticking down right next to where the gear linkage is. You can jack under that loop and then put jack stands under the subframe
I checked with Rimmers and they only sell the cables singly and at a price about the same as Portland Trading's price for the pair. My reason for wanting to go with Rimmers is that they offer UPS shipping which gets the parts to me within 2 days. Portland only shows air mail which would take a couple of weeks particularly as we are just getting over a postal strike and things are not up to speed yet. I have e-mailed Portland to ask if they can do faster shipping so will be keeping my fingers crossed.
Dieter's site has a good how-to on changing the cables the easy way and a fellow named Valter in Portugal has come up with an even quicker way. Gearchange Cables
I think I'll try his method, but first have to get the cables here!