My original cables were cut by Bubba and new ends were installed ..sort of. They are functional but showing their age with a lot of corrosion.

How difficult is it to change out the positive cable on my 70 Roadster with Manual Trans.? Negative cable looks to be a 10 minute job.

Thanks guys,



Bill

|UPDATED|9/9/2004 6:16:59 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

BLennox said: Negative cable looks to be a 10 minute job.

if you have a set of ramps... the job shouldnt take longer than 10 minutes for both.

If your tunnel insulation is still in place, and old, be careful pulling it loose from the clips. Ben's right, it isn't a bad job if you can get the car high enough to get to the tunnel.

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Thanks guys. Someone told me that it was really difficult to get to.

Bill

There's worse stuff to get to on other cars!
Compared to working on a lot of the import crap, our cars are fairly easy to access almost anything!

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Trust me, its not a ten minute job,it takes that long to get the car in the air, if you want to pull the tunnel insalation in one piece you have to pull the shifter handle, or cut it and metel tape it later, don't forget the bellhouseing- tunnel collar, the cable runs tight against the trans on a four-speed car, pray that the bolts that hold the c-clamps that hold the cable tight to the body don't spin, they are a rivit type bolt and are held tight by the fiberglass, some of the replacement cables are not as long as originals, leave it a little long on the starter side so you can pull the cable off the starter without pulling the cable bracket, depending how lucky you are maybe a couple hours or more

|UPDATED|9/10/2004 9:12:44 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Did this myself several months ago...not an easy job. The cables are a bit larger..."O" gauge makes them a bit stiffer and harder to bend around underneath. The originals are aluminum and seem to have bent easier than the new ones. The worst part is that 6 of the 7 riveted in bolt stud busted off and had to buy the rivets, a rivet gun, and all the studs to fix...be very careful you do not break any of these. Soak them for a week with pb blaster before you attempt. If you break one off, they are buried on the inside, underneath the carpet, seats, park brake assembly....etc. Next problem is the damn huge bushings fit too tight where they go through the floor pan at the battery. Had to cut the holes a bit bigger so my fat fingers could push it in the floor pan. You must do anything possible to save the hardware in the car...it is a royal bitch getting to the studs if they break off. Since I had the car completely stripped down...this was the first thing I fixed on the reassembly of the car. The General put the + cable in first and then built the car around it - just like a motorcycle battery. The - is a piece of cake. It can be done...but definitely a weekend project...no wonder Bubba cut them off to do your repair.

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Bruce
72 Coupe L48 4sp
Custom Blue/Silver/Pearl

(Click for a larger pic)

Blu72 is right on, its those damn cable bolt-nuts, I had a problem with a few,butI was lucky handled it from under the car, I was replacing the clutch and had the trans out and it still took me 2-3 hours, wait till winter!

maybe its a year difference or some one had already replaced mine.. but ive replaced the battery cables on both my 69's... and from the time i rolled it up on the lift to the time I rolled it off couldnt have been more than a half hour....

That PB Blaster that BLU72 is speaking of is the best penetrating oil I have ever used,this stuff actualley works, it comes in a yellow and red can, got it a Kragen's, don't use WD anymore.

Ben, it probley took me longer because I'am cursed with being really anal,everything has to be jussst right,really perrrfect,after I double check everything I check it again, because I might have forgot I double checked it because I started to look at something else, I hardley do anything twice. ask Ken

I will wait til winter and soak them with PB Blaster as suggested.

My vette is a Texas car and so far have not broken off a single bolt or stud. Hope the good fortune continues.

Thank you for all of the input. Like most repairs on these cars there is a lot more than meets the eyes.

You guys are the best.


Bill

Heres a small tip for getting cables and vacuum hoses through those tight fitting rubber grommets. They make what they call wire lube. Kinda like KY-jelly for wires. They use it to fish wires through conduits. They sell it at Lowes and other places. Just lube it up and slide it though you can wipe it all off with a little denatured alcohol when your done.

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After Shark said: Heres a small tip for getting cables and vacuum hoses through those tight fitting rubber grommets. They make what they call wire lube. Kinda like KY-jelly for wires. They use it to fish wires through conduits. They sell it at Lowes and other places. Just lube it up and slide it though you can wipe it all off with a little denatured alcohol when your done.

I always use dish soap for wire lube...

works great for pulling wire

Once you use the PB stuff, you'll never go back. It can be found just about anywhere...if you look around you can see it on just about any hardware store shelf. Just soak, tap lightly, soak again, tap on it...I was surprised how well it works. Some things of course you need the hot wrench.

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Bruce
72 Coupe L48 4sp
Custom Blue/Silver/Pearl

(Click for a larger pic)

My 78 is underneath the car and pretty easy to change. Did earlier models run inside the cock-pit?

Agree with PB. Thanks for the tip about dish soap, I never thought of that one.

--Eric