CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion - emergency hood release cable

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emergency hood release cable - EASY with pics

My hood release cable has worked fine since I bought my 88' but many threads here have mentioned horror stories of a broken cable and not being able to get the hood open.

One great solution that has been discussed here was a set of emergency release cables in the wipers area.

I decided to make a pair for mine and thought I would take some photo's to share for people like me who find a photo or drawing often times more understandable than only words.

Total cost was $7.00 !! 1/16" wire cable at .69 cents a foot, and one package of Cable Clamps and Stops and state tax. The clamps are aluminum and need to be hit with a hammer against a steel bar to crimp the cable properly.

Here is the location of the existing factory installed cable. Adjacent to the cable connection is a small opening that allows the 1/16" cable to go through.
http://starvedrockcorvettes.com/clampSU.jpg

This next one is a close up of the clamps I used.

http://starvedrockcorvettes.com/clampB.jpg

Since I was using 1/16 cable I decided to drill a 1/8" hole through the rubber guard below the wipers to allow free movement. I tried to make the cable lay as straight as possible. This photo is the cable before being cut and the stop being put on.

http://starvedrockcorvettes.com/clamp4.jpg

These next two photo's show the cables completed, and the last is a close up of the connection. I intend to paint them black to make them blend in and not be so noticable.

Total time 30 minutes (a guy has to sip some malt beverage on a job like this :cheers: )

I now have a great piece of mind knowing if my primary cable fails, I can still gain access to the underhood to fix it.

http://starvedrockcorvettes.com/clamp3.jpg

http://starvedrockcorvettes.com/clamp8.jpg

http://starvedrockcorvettes.com/clamp9.jpg

Hope this is helpful for some of you :flag: :cheers:

Larry

That's exactly what I did a couple of years ago.
I have never needed to use them but they do work great!

Smart and cheap mod to do to any old car with a cable release. I put one my dad's corsica a few years back and we have had to use it a couple of times.

Nice job and a great write-up! :cheers:

Nice pics - thank you

thanks,excellent,i just put some black zip ties yesterday just in case !

cool, I used black to hide mine more.

Simple and effective. great job.:cool:

Don't order the ones from Ecklers. They will rust.

:o I have all the parts to install the release in my tool box. They have been in there for 2+ years.

Thanks for the post, this was a job I was going to do in the spring and forgot. It's on my list now. Good job putting the pictures and info together. :thumbs:

Thanks everyone :thumbs: Glad that you found this useful.

I agree with the fact they should be black, that is why in my details I said I only had to paint them black to be finished. It was too windy the day I did this to attempt to paint them. :ack:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmtrtrnd (Post 1570974093)

Thanks for the post, this was a job I was going to do in the spring and forgot. It's on my list now. Good job putting the pictures and info together. :thumbs:

:iagree:

It's been one of those things I keep putting off, but need to do!
Excellent writeup and pics! :cheers:

Nice job and good pic's. I had an 18" black zip tie for years....now I use a pull cable like yours but never had the emergency to use.

Thats exactly what I did to mine least year.

Nice job! I'm lazy and bought some of the ready-made cables, but it's a little project that's well worth doing, BEFORE it's needed ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmers (Post 1570976982)

Thats exactly what I did to mine least year.

X2 But a great writeup and pics, good job :thumbs:

Thanks for the write up:cheers:

emergency hood cable

I installed my emergency cables last night, My hood cable broke Sunday. I pulled RF tire & pulled some bolts out of wheel well. I then used long screwdriver to push hood latch open. I went to good ole Wally world last night & bought 2, 12" 50 lb fishing leaders for .$50 snapped each 1 on to each hood latch. It works great. I thought since my hood release cable was new there would be no problem, luckly I was home when release cable came off.

Excellent!! thanks for the pics too:)