Are these factory heater control cables?

[Hardway]

My car is a 8/70 build 240z. The control cables look like old aftermarket choke cables from an auto parts store. The outer sheathing is coiled metal, not plastic. I am missing 1 cable and another is bent up so I am thinking of replacing all 4 to regain smooth operation of everything. I am also missing a cable clamp. Can anyone verify if these are factory cables? I personally don't see any value in keeping them since their lack of function is limiting the overall function of the heating system.

[Namerow]

You're right. Those cables aren't OE. I re-built the cable/lever system for my '70 Z last winter, having had a very similar issue with a bent-up control cable (along with a few other problems). I also had parts on hand from a '72. Here's what I learned.

The control cables for the '70 are 1.0mm diameter. The cable ends (at the Heater Box) are straight. Cable sheaths are smooth black flexy-plastic, ~ 4.7mm OD and ~ 1.0mm wall thickness.

The control cables for the '72 are 1.3mm diameter. The cable ends (at the Heater Box) are looped. Cable sheaths are the same smooth black flexy-plastic, ~ 4.8mm OD and ~ 1.0mm wall thickness.

For the '70, the cable sheaths were in good shape, so I re-used them. For the cables, I bought a coil of 1.0mm tempered steel wire ('music wire') and put the 'dog-leg' bend in (for the lever end) by bending in my bench vise. I had to take the curl out the wire (comes in a tight coil) by pulling the cable back and forth over a length of round bar stock that I clamped in the vise.

Hope this helps. I've posted a few pictures of the '70 lever/cable assembly to illustrate.

[cbuczesk]

Couldn't they be the original cables with the black plastic removed? The bends at the end look as nice as factory bends. And if you replaced the factory cables with generics then why put in the factory bends and also do the "custom" loop at the end? Anyway, I'd replace them with the correct platic covered cables.

Chuck

[Carl Beck]

Beautiful Job Namerow - - I'll bet you had several enjoyable hours doing that.

Had to laugh however - I had to put the "loops" back in cables from a 70- for my 72…

Carl B.

[Namerow]

I learned that working with music wire has 'special challenges'.

[Hardway]

Thanks so much guys! I found a good used set of all 4 cables on Ebay along with the clamp and screw I need. I agree, its odd that the ends of my current cables are made so well. Its possible they are cables from another car. When I did a search on Ebay a cable came up for a MG that looks just like mine.

MG "New" Parts 46 inch Heater or Defroster Cable 62 75 MGB MGBGT | eBay

Funny thing is, the guy I bought the car from had a beautiful Triumph TR-6 parked next to the Z he was restoring. Maybe my cables are the old cables from that car?

Anyways, as always the forum members come through again!

[Namerow]

When an ex-pat Brit car-buddy saw my freshly-restored Z heater box, he said that it looked just like the 'Smiths' heater boxes that he used to see when he worked in the auto trade in Britain back in the late 60's/early 70's. I can't vouch for whether it's a straight-on copy, but it's always worth remembering that Nissan's corporate president in the formative post-war period was something of an anglophile (responsible, in part, for the model names like Cedric, Fairlady, Bluebird, etc.) and the company had a working relationship with BMC/Austin in the 1950's that in many ways led to the 1600 and 2000 Roadsters (and, later, the Fairlady Z, aka 240Z).