It was almost the perfect overtake

[dougc]

We’d been dawdling for the last mile or so. Precisely thirty eight miles per hour in a NSL zone. Unsurprisingly the perpetrator wore a flat cap and drove a purple Nissan Micra. Rounding a long sweeping downhill right hander, an enticing stretch of tarmac came into view. A good half mile of clear road with no turnings, junctions, dips or dodgy looking cambers.

Blip and change down to third.

Check mirror and blind spot – no sign of the many bikers out today.

Indicate and pull out to opposing lane.

Check ahead – all clear.

Feed in the throttle progressively. Alongside Mr Ditherer and I catch a look of bewilderment and confusion as to the source of this massive wall of noise that has appeared alongside. The accelerator reaches the end of its travel as I nose past then ‘PING’. Revs die. Pedal goes to the firewall. Mr Ditherer looks confused as he slowly starts to gain on me and passes as I coast to the side of the road with hazards on and 60’s F1 style arm in the air.

I suppose there are worse places to wait 3 hours for recovery



Does anyone know where I can get an accelerator cable from?

[Chuggaboom]

tvrcarparts.com - 01884 266755

[Chris71]

Sorry to hear that Doug, but glad to hear everything's ok - I can think of worse situation to suddenly loose the throttle! I should immagine TVR Car Parts are a good place to start with regards to a new one.

Then when you get it going again, bring it down to the next PH meet - looks like it should be a good'un.

[Barkychoc]

It will more than likely have snapped at the pedal end, cut a couple of inches or so of the cable outer sheath off (to give you a couple of inches of the inner cable) then make a loop through the pedal fixing and secure it with a clamp of some description.
A couple of wire connectors taken to bits would do it so you have the metal tube bit with screws in the side.

They all chafe and eventually snap - its a TVR feature

[dougc]

Snapped at the engine end and pulled about a foot through into the footwell. Spoken to tvrcarparts and they're calling me back to sort out shipping later in the week so all is good. Is it a fiddly job?

[Barkychoc]

The pedal end is a bit of a challenge, removing the drivers seat is an option (4 bolts) to make life easier.
Do it outside too so you can open the door fully.

Make sure when its fitted that it is adjusted so you get full throttle but there isn't excessive tension on it.

[Roy C]

It's probably worth keeping the original and getting the inner cable replaced. It should be fairly easy to fit a replacement.

A few years back, I was in TVRMark's S3 near Le Mans when a similar thing happened (overtaking a Landrover). But I had been badgering him to carry a spare, so it was a quick roadside job to replace it.

[dougc]

Hmmmmm. Wonder whether I could replace the metal cable with the rest of the set-up in situ - would save a lot of hassle. It looks like nothing more than think bicycle brake cable or am I missing something?

[Barkychoc]

I don't think you are missing anything - in fact it doesn't even have to be as strong as a bike brake cable as it only has to pull against the spring not apply the brakes!

[V8S]

If you buy one, buy two and keep the other in the boot!

The V8 one can be replaced at the roadside reasonably easily, don't know about the V6.

[Roy C]

V8S said:

The V8 one can be replaced at the roadside reasonably easily, don't know about the V6.

[dougc]

Afternoon all. Just back from a quick hoon to make sure everything works OK. The new cable was rather a fiddle to fit. Straight forward enough but fiddly, especially getting the old cable out of the top of the pedal and the new one in. Ended up taking out the drivers seat and removing the steering wheel to get space to manoeuvre, but I am a big bugger so this isn't strictly neccessary.

A new cable has highlighted just how stretched the other one was. I can now heel and toe effectively (as long as I avoid the wheel with my knees) and response is very sharp. I suggest that everyone go and check their cables tomorrow and take up the slack if required. Its made a real difference.

Also cranked up the shock absorber settings a bit while I was tinkering today and its feeling better than ever

Thanks to Neil at TVR car parts.

[GreenV8S]

Fit a throttle stop under the pedal. You'll be amazed how much less travel the pedal has.

Make sure the cable is lined up with the pedal where it passes through the bulkhead.

Don't adjust the pedal too high since this puts a kink in the cable at the 'idle' position.

Keep the old broken cable. Cut the frayed end off the inner, and shorten the outer by slightly more so you have enough room to put a screw-on cable nipple on it. Before you refit the ferule that goes through the pedal, open the end out into a bellmouth shape so the cable sees a smooth curve rather than a sharp edge.