Bonnet release cable - close one

[Ozstyle]

Hi,

went to open the bonnet and the cable was solid would not budge. Did the usual banged the bonnet, pulled at release handle as hard as I dare, got on my knees and prayed, cursed TVR for another top piece of design. Luckily, I followed the cable up from the release handle to the bulk head grabbed the cable and pulled it through the bulkhead until -POP, bonnet released. Looks like the internal wire has siezed to the outer sheath. So a couple of questions,

1) Any know the OEM for the cable? - looks very similar to a Land Rover Discovery item to me.
2) If the cable had broken at the release mechanism I would have been stuffed, can't access mechanism from below or behind the dash - any tips how to release the bonnet if this happens?

thanks

Ozstyle

[Simon says]

I used one of these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MG-MGB-%26-GT-bonnet-release... but what ever you use make sure the outer as the plastic covering/insulation and not bare metal otherwise you will be back to square one once a bit of water and moisture have penetrated said outer,this is the reason for most failures on this design my original seized because the outer cracked and allowed moisture to corrode the innards,I seem to remember someone running fishing rod line or welding wire parallel to the scuttle panel as a back-up in case of cable failure,probably worth a search

[Ozstyle]

Thanks for the reply,
new release cable bought and fitted. I noticed the black plastic covering on the original had cracked and gone brittle over time (15 years) due to engine bay heat. The interal plastic sleave had also cracked and broken up. The outer steel sheath and inner wire were pretty in good condition just some minor corrosion. Now just got to fit an emergency release wire, across the scuttle to the wiper motor looks like the way to go.

Ozstyle

[FlipFlopGriff]

If you fit an emergency I would have throught runn it downwards and attached to the chassis so you can access from underneath as it pulls in a downward direction anyway.
FFG

[Ozstyle]

Thought about running a cable down to the chassis which is an option, but the release lever arm for the locking mechanism moves from left to right (looking from front of car) when being opened, so a cable across the engine bay under the scuttle seems the most logical route.

[Ozstyle]

Ok, just to close this off, I have fitted an emergency bonnet release. So for those interested, a how to described below.

I used a length 0.6 mm welding wire, attached one end to the release mechanism arm, ran the wire across the back of the engine bay under the perforated scuttle panel. I actually ran the wire through a length of release cable outer sheath (left over from item bought to replace orignial bonnet release cable). I attached the end of the outer sheath to the window wiper motor with a cable tie and then looped the end of the welding wire leaving it sitting on the wiper motor housing. With the bonnet shut I can lift up the bonnet up enough above the wiper motor to hook out the welding wire end. So should the bonnet release cable snap or the end stop come loose I can release the bonnet, hopefuly I'll never need to use it.

Ozstyle

[Aussie John]

Well done Mark, sounds like a good idea. [ always better than the axe and chainsaw method!]