Crude - but it works!

[Nickodell]

C'mon, admit it, you've often worried about another "what if?" The fifth most OMYGOD! after No Steering! No Brakes! No Oil Pressure! and Smoke from Under the Dash! is when you pull the bonnet release and the handle comes away in your hand because the cable broke. Now what do you do, use a can opener? My safeguard against this, I'll be the first to admit, is crude.

But it works. And the beauty of it is that you keep the cable; my Emergency Opener acts like a fire extinguisher. You hope you won't need it, but it's there if you do.

What I used was a plastic-coated coat hanger, cut and straightened into a rod about 30" long. One end is bent into a U shape with square corners, and slipped over the ferrule that holds the cable:

The main part of the rod is pushed through the firewall next to the cable outer jacket, and a loop formed under the dash, ensuring that all of the rod is clear of hot electrical parts.

IMPORTANT! In forming the U-shape which goes around the cable ferrule, you must cut the end of the leg short enough so that there is at least 1/2" clearance from the firewall when the latch mechanism is fully retracted, whether using the rod or the bonnet cable as usual. If you don't, neither system will open the bonnet.

And note that I'm not suggesting using the thin coat hangers you get your shirts back from the dry cleaners on. I mean the ones made from 1/8" thick material.

 

[Chuck Ingram]

I used a cable
Drilled the arm and used a cable clamp from a bicycle brake.Easy enough to drill a small bolt in place of a clamp..Ran the cable through and left enough to be able to pull.kept it short enough to be out of sight.
I used a 2 inch 7/16th bolt for a handle.It is heavy enough to keep the cable straight.You hardly notice the cable.sorry no picture of it

 

[65beam]

crude fix

the best fix is to get rid of the cable and go to the earlier rod . it doesn't break.

 

[64beam]

Hi guys,

When did the bonnet release go from a rod to a cable? I like the idea of an emergency cable even though I have a rod (eventually all mechanical devices will fail ). I don't think I will use a coat hanger though .

Regards, Robin.

 

[skywords]

Way to much effort. when the cable breaks simply put the car in nuetral and hold the throttle to the floor until the hole appears in the hood allowing easy access to the latch.

 

[65beam]

bonnet cables

mike,
not all series 5 cars had the cable.i have two series 5 cars with the rod.somewhere i saw the number that the switch was made to the cable but i don't remember anymore.

 

[SIVAllan]

My S IV (late 1963) has the rod; the S V parts car (end of 1967) also has the rod.

Allan

 

[volvoguys]

Cable bonnet releases made their first appearance on Alpine V body number B395004386.

Mark

 

[weaselkeeper]

If one is really worried about it, a cable/hardware replacement schedule could be devised by the worrier. Unfortunately, there is unlikely Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) statisics available for the cable and associated hardware, so the time between scheduled changes might vary according to how worried one is. Maybe every 5 years or 5000 actuations.....which ever is first? Or.... an occasional inspection of said cable at the expected failure points (likely swedges/clamps/ or connecting points) with a cable change when wear is indicated. No one can or should be faulted for providing redundency when warranted by cost or pain-in-the-a** factors.

Sunbeams fit into the category of vehicles associated with sound advise my father once gave me....."Never buy a vehicle larger than you can push." Now if I could just follow that advise. 2c

 

[SIVAllan]

My S IV (late 1963) has the rod; the S V parts car (end of 1967) also has the rod.

Allan

I want to correct an error in the above statement.

After I cleaned off the crud on the S V parts car, what looked like a rod assembly turned out to be a cable assembly.

Mea culpa.

Allan