Diesel throttle cable modification*
Got an email from Dr. John S. Culp M.D. a while back, and thought others would find his ingenious throttle cable repair very helpful if they have the same problem. Dr. Culp writes:
I just doubled the horsepower of Pop's old silver 'Vette, with about
10 minutes' work, at no cost.
The throttle cable was quite slack, and the old plastic adjuster had
become firmly welded together so that it was quite impossible to
adjust. Replacing the cable'd be a hard job, the cable would likely
be hard to get, and I decided I'd shim it at the pedal. On lifting
the pedal up from the floor the cable protruded from the socket it
seats in, with its crimped ball on the end. I first tried to put a
split-shot sinker on it, but couldn't get it crimped on well. (Very
limited working space and hard to get to.) So I cut off a piece of
1/4" copper tubing long enough to take up most of the slack (about 1
-1/4"), hacksawed a slot in the side, slipped the resulting spacer
over the cable under the ball and squeezed it on securely. It seats
in the socket, is nice and secure, the pedal height is now about
right for proper heel-and-toeing (though my size 13 feet are a bit
awkward for that), and most importantly the injection pump now opens
up all the way when the go-pedal is pressed down. I took the 'Vette
out for a run around the Cloudland Drive loop in my neighborhood,
with some real killer hills. It handled them with ease. :-)
John
* It wouldn't surprise me if this modification would work just
fine on a gas car also !
Dr. Culp has a 1983 4dr Chevette Diesel, 5spd, silver with gray interior. His car also has
a rear window wiper/washer ! Dr. Culp also writes:
BTW, no joke, I did get it up to 80 MPH on a downhill stretch
yesterday. Didn't plan to exceed 55 on the trip home, but the heady
sensation of power carried me away!
As you can see from the preceding paragraph, Dr. Culp is somewhat of a renegade. Never underestimate the formidable power of the Diesel Chevette ! ( It could explain why most of them are seen with trailer hitches. )
You can check out another unique Diesel engine owned by Dr. Culp here.