Topic: Rear brake cables

[ruppstang]

Well, since all you restorers by trade are throwing out your junk cables (rusty, frayed, cut)...maybe somebody has a pair of rubber ends at the backing plates (see pictures).

My cables are ok and I am building an occasionally driven car so I can work with a few items 'less than perfect'.
Whether I find other rubbers or not, I will be using my original cables over.

Richard I have bought the back plate rubber seals from AMK before. It is the boots on the other end that are not reproduced.

[67gtasanjose]

Richard I have bought the back plate rubber seals from AMK before. It is the boots on the other end that are not reproduced.

Thanks. I found another reference in a different thread too with an AMK number of F-1791, I saw these in the AMK catalog a while back too but thought they were for the front end of the cable, different than mine at the first-look.

NPD sells them I see now too (2B635-1A), I imagine everyone who carries AMK products has them available.

On my next order sheet now.

[67gtasanjose]

UPDATE ON IDEA TO USE LATEX TUBING:
I stretched/rolled about an inch and a half's worth of the stuff over the end. It is leaving some of the Spiral impressions in the latex. Obviously it does not have the original ribbed look either. Though it would be difficult, I believe I can figure out some way to get about a foot onto this cable.

Any thoughts on how it looks?

Any ideas, such as putting a buildup of RTV onto the cable, let cure, (used underneath of this tubing) before rolling/sliding it over top of it? The tubing rolls over itself as you install it, so there might be quite a fight to slide it on. I did not try any lube yet.

[Bossbill]

I've owned my SJ car since 1986. With that said and not being able to vouch for what previous owners have done, here is a pic of what I believe to be a factory brake cable and sleeve.
The rubber does not appear to have any lines or ribs on it, just bumps where it has conformed to the cable underneath. I left a bit of thinner on the cable in order to see the bumps better.

[67gtasanjose]

I've owned my SJ car since 1986. With that said and not being able to vouch for what previous owners have done, here is a pic of what I believe to be a factory brake cable and sleeve.
The rubber does not appear to have any lines or ribs on it, just bumps where it has conformed to the cable underneath. I left a bit of thinner on the cable in order to see the bumps better.

Thanks Bill.

After reviewing other pics, I see the spiral pattern looks to be typical. That aspect makes the job easier IMHO. Regarding the ribs, I just scraped through the crud on my original dry-rotted hose rubber and also see no ribs. Scott's must have come from a different supplier.

[67gtasanjose]

I worked a matching length onto one cable.

It wasn't easy and my fingers will need a break for round 2 but how's this look?

[Bossbill]

I took a piece of hose off of my parts car and washed it as good as I could.
I do see a parting line on one portion that looks like an extrusion line.
Look at the top of this pic. This line is not raised, it appears to be indented.

[jwc66k]

I do see a parting line on one portion that looks like an extrusion line.
Look at the top of this pic. This line is not raised, it appears to be indented.

Residual manufacturing marks from the die. The tube may be extruded flat, formed into a round and then bonded.
Jim

[67gta289]

This is what mine looked like. 

[Bob Gaines]

The rubber protector can have ribs or no ribs. It is typical the see the outline of the spiral in the rubber.

[Bossbill]

UPDATE ON IDEA TO USE LATEX TUBING:

SNIP

Any thoughts on how it looks?

Your first picture of the latex replacement is not very good.
Can you clean up your original and then place it next to latex replacement cable so we can see how close they are to each other?

If you didn't tell anyone do you think they could tell that it was latex?
Would Bob Gaines give it a pass? 

There is a caveat to using latex. It doesn't like light and may degrade over time due to ozone and atmospheric conditions.
But it usually lasts for quite a number of years. Just don't expect it to last as long as the original rubber.

[67gtasanjose]

...Can you clean up your original and then place it next to latex replacement cable so we can see how close they are to each other?

...If you didn't tell anyone do you think they could tell that it was latex?

Cleaned it up and clamped it next to the Latex while on the cable. Close enough for me. As far as clearer images, what else would you like to see? IMHO, it matches my original 99.9% with the only noticeable difference being the material is Latex. After cleaning my original better today, I found no evidence of any seam nor any ribbing in the rubber/plastic it is made from.

Would Bob Gaines give it a pass? 

Who knows. Chances are he would want to see it in person.

There is a caveat to using latex. It doesn't like light and may degrade over time due to ozone and atmospheric conditions.
But it usually lasts for quite a number of years. Just don't expect it to last as long as the original rubber.

Understood. I do plan to occasionally drive my car (seldom, but occasionally). Chances are I will keep a slit-open rubber hose to slide over the latex to protect it while driving, with plans to remove it for any recognizable judged event.

[Bossbill]

Thanks for the better pic!

My order should be here soon as I'm on the coast.

[Bob Gaines]

Cleaned it up and clamped it next to the Latex while on the cable. Close enough for me. As far as clearer images, what else would you like to see? IMHO, it matches my original 99.9% with the only noticeable difference being the material is Latex. After cleaning my original better today, I found no evidence of any seam nor any ribbing in the rubber/plastic it is made from.

Who knows. Chances are he would want to see it in person.

Understood. I do plan to occasionally drive my car (seldom, but occasionally). Chances are I will keep a slit-open rubber hose to slide over the latex to protect it while driving, with plans to remove it for any recognizable judged event.

At least in the pictures it looks better then I thought it would. Bravo.

[Bossbill]

Tried to show the OEM rubber hose ribbing. Question on the yellow paint splash, was it applied after it was installed in the brake backing plate?

I think after I first posted about this I threw my cables back onto the rack. While figuring out my specific brake spring colors, the issue of the fingers that hold the PB cable in the brake backing plate came up.

krelboyne posted this pic back on reply 28:

so that appears to solve my issue of color.
I've attached what mine look like and yellow is not the first thing that came to mind!

However, I found another color on the other end. And it's blue!
Shown here are both of my cables -- left cable dangling and the right shown in normal and closeup view.
Can anyone verify they also have this color?