Throttle cable - made of brass?

sakean99 · Post by **sakean99** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:17 pm

Went to replace my battered throttle cable with one I had made up from a bike gear cable yesterday - then I discovered that the one I have may be pretty bent, but it seems to be made of brass! The inner wire AND the outer reinforcing are clearly brass coloured. Putting mere steel in their place did not seem like a good idea for a motor mainly to be used in sea water so I straightened it up as neat as I could & looked at a good used replacement on e-bay. When I asked the vendor "is it made of brass like my original?" I got a reply that implied I had the only brass throttle cable in the world "coz brass is too soft". Perhaps it is me that is too soft? It still sure looks and feels like brass.
So, you seagull experts, what are real seagull throttle cables made of? Where brass ones ever used? I don't see the problem, they don't have any real stress on them and brass is perfect for resisting corosion and it would somewhat explain the Â£15 cost of a new one.

headcase · Post by **headcase** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:40 pm

They don't cost Â£15 from our host John, just got a brand new stainless one from him for much less than that. Drop him a line...
I've also got a couple of brass coloured ones, don't know if they are made of brass but they work fine and being soft it makes it easier to straighten out any kinks

Steve

sakean99 · Post by **sakean99** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:49 pm

Thanks for that. I'm actually beginning to think I will keep the battered old one and just slip a poly tube over the outer casing to stiffen it up a bit as suggested by another poster. I mean, weren't these things designed for "field maintenance techniques" anyway? New stuff might just look a bit out of place!

I might even get an old brass tank to make it look more like a genuinely old one rather than just a badly battered new one.

headcase · Post by **headcase** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 9:35 pm

The brass tank would be a big step in the right direction. If you have a later model with a steel tank it's only a matter of time before the problems start...
Just don't try to source one on ebay, if you hadn't noticed yet there are some real bandits out there. Post a wanted ad on this site or email John SOS for parts, you're unlikely to get ripped off here !!

Steve

Post by **John@sos** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:18 pm

Some of the cables I have seen have indeed had brass inners, but the outers were mild steel!

I have cables made up for some motors, as I maintain the cables as standard for some are about 2" short, thus easily kinked. They are all mild steel.

With a bit of waterproof grease they last. The part that seems to fail is the outer sheath and the steel wound part inside it, especially if the cable is the standard short Villiers one and the lever gets to creep up the tiller arm! As the ones I have have a thicker outer and are a little longer over all, they are outlasting the others!

Maybe I will be able to get all stainless ones made one day, a bit longer and they will be almost indestructable!

Regards,
John
SOS

sakean99 · Post by **sakean99** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:11 pm

Thanks for all the info. I straightened up the old cable a treat - it IS all brass (including the outer cable reinforcing). Using poly sheath over it to stiffen it didn't seem to work, moving the tiller up & down put stress on the cable at the ends of the sheathing so I took it off.

You're right about the steel tank. I threw away a 1/3rd tank of fuel & rust when I first got the "refurbished engine" (off e-bay of course!). The gauze fuel filter was definitely doing a good job tho'

Saving Old Seagulls

Throttle cable - made of brass?

Throttle cable - made of brass?

Cables