Cable steering replacement.

[Bonzo]

Hi everybody.

 

Since the boat's old steering cable was getting a bit tatty (the old wire and pulley type) I decided to renew it before it broke. Knowing my luck and being a firm believer in Murphy's Law it would probably break whilst shooting the rapids through Gt Yarmouth!

 

So, I trotted down to my nearest swindlery. I showed the assistant the old wire and said I wanted some new wire."Hump! Washing line steering! No, we don't keep that, its obsolete, I havn't seen that for years" he said sneeringly. No doubt he wanted to sell me a complete new steering system. In my experience this (washing line) type of steering is very reliable if maintained properly and cheap to repair. The existing wire had been on the boat some twenty years so I was a bit taken aback by the man's derogatory comment. Off I trotted to the next swindlery. They didn't stock it either. I could have just used ordinary rigging cable but that was not plastic covered and would have chewed up the plastic pulleys.

 

A visit to B&Q solved the problem. They stocked two thicknesses of the wire plus all sorts of braided rope etc. Well worth a visit for this item and many other items useful to us boaters.

 

 

Bonzo.

 

 

[Happy]

 I hope you didn't tell them it was for a boat. If you had they would have had to multiply the price by 3!  Well that is the norm, isn't it?  Regards Alan.   

[Oddfellow]

How will you swage ends onto these? Won't cable clamps run the risk of being snagged?

[Maxwellian]

Learn something every day. Had to look that one up Andy.

[Bonzo]

Andy. (FBH).

 

Swage the ends? No problems. I just made new clamps out of some small bolts, a bit of braising on the bolts and the old rusted parts of the original clamps. I also used the original thimbles to wrap the cable around for clamping to new springs either side of the attachment to the outboard. I suppose that I could have spent a load of time searching out for clamps but as an old 1960s motor cyclist with a workshop and a welding set that was no problem. Us old bikers know how to sort most problems out. Snagging? No, it does not happen. The whole shebang is good for another twenty years. Hopefully, so will it's owner.

 

Bonzo. 

[Bonzo]

Andy.

 

Here is a photo of one of the reclaimed cable clamps. Now that the rain has washed off the grease I will put a spot of silver paint on the clamps to smarten them up. If I find something better to secure the cables in my travels I will buy it. However, these clamps are quite robust and serve their purpose well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oddfellow]

It was the clamps that I wondered whether they would snag on things.

 

Clamps are readily available in any decent hardware shop (screwfix / Toolstation should have them, though not in stainless I suspect). 

 

Often in situations like this, the clamps can simply get in the way and catch on the transom or other area. Looks like you have sorted it though!

[C.Ricko]

you can always heat shrink the ends instead of tape, it looks better and won't fall off when you forget about it..

[Bonzo]

Thanks for the tip C Ricko. Come to think of it I think I have some electrical shrink sleeving in my workshop. Will do the job when the weather bucks up somewhat and after my priority job of servicing the old egg beater. 

[mjt]

The adhesive lined sleeving is best for keeping water out.

[Bonzo]

Thanks mjt for the input. I will take this into account when improving the setup. It will work ok as it is and there are much more things on the boat's engine that need attention. Unfortunately to put shrink sleeving on the cables requires dismantling of the existing setup so it will not be done in the near future.