Gear change cable gaiters

[sailorbob]

It appears the S4 gear change cable gaiters (part no. A082F6369F) are no longer available and the quoted replacement (part no. A082F6573F) is not suitable. The correct gaiter has a 20mm diameter bore at the sheath end but the later gaiter is only 11.5mm. Any one know of an alternative? Thanks.

[steve930]

May be a silly question but is the rubber pliable enough to expand from 11.5 - 20mm? it may well stretch, some of the universal c.v. joint rubbers expand loads.

Otherwise maybe look towards renault of a similar vintage

[sailorbob]

Not really, I've tried to stretch them over and it's not happening easily enough not to expect them to fail prematurely.

[rogerch]

I'd fancy your chances to find something suitable at a motor cycle parts place.

[stevefh]

hi i kept the large ends of the original type plus a few "rings"of rubber and "wound" and glued the new smaller end inside it seems ok

[sailorbob]

I was thinking of doing the same but only one is salvageable.

Any one know the dimensions of the MGF's gaiters? From photos they look similar but not long enough.

[Rich H]

I found that, I just fitted them anyway and used cable ties to secure them to the thinner portion of cable guide.

[sailorbob]

I didn't fancy doing that as it appeared to be a compromise.

[dodge1979]

Ive had to do the same, Ill look into a better solution in the near future. If I come up with anything Ill post it here of course!

[sailorbob]

The MGF cable gaiters are about 20mm at the sheath end so I've ordered a couple. Hopefully I can make a hybrid out of the two

[Rich H]

Keep us updated!

[Alan Paterson]

Hopefully I'm not telling my Granny how to suck eggs here, but have you tried soaking the gaiters in really hot (almost boiling) soapy water for 20 mins before fitting, then using neat Fairy Liquid to help them go on?

It's a bit of a guddle, but it should do the trick.

Alan

[sailorbob]

You probably would be able to get them over, it's just that I think they would split in a very short time due to being over stretched.

[sailorbob]

Not quite as snugly fitting as the original but better then nothing!

[Loose Cannon]

Any more developments or confirmations on gear cable gaiters? I've just ordered a pair from Lotus and somewhat dismayed to see the comment above that they won't fit!

How did those MGF parts do? The MGF ones listed on Ebay look a lot shorter than the pic above.

[Chillidoggy]

The ones supplied to me by SJ two years ago I felt were incorrect, as try as I might, I couldn't get them over the alloy cable ends. I spoke to Steve, and he said that it was the best he could do, and to persevere. After every trick in the book, I gave up, and ended up cutting off the gaiter end cuffs (the big end) in order to stretch them over. I wasn't happy about doing it, but I got them to fit, and used thin cable ties to secure them. After 5,000 miles, they're still in place.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Going to try a pair of these;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Steering-Cable-Protector-Boot-for-Boats-Extends-Steering-Cable-Life/120831697688?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3D506baa5bb6624955bea740eb77854949%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D120831697688

which may be Sailorbob's solution, not sure until he chimes in. Easily vailable in the USA, not so easy over here. Will report back on their suitability.

[Chillidoggy]

The gear-change cables look like Teleflex Morse items, used extensively as control cables for boats.

[sailorbob]

The photo in my post of 25/07/11 is showing a hybrid of the MGF and Lotus gaiter.

[Chillidoggy]

http://www.angleseymarinesupplies.com/boat-steering-parts-cables.php

Scroll down.

[Loose Cannon]

I looked at them but their shipping was extortionate, ordered from these instead;

http://trickettmarine.co.uk/steering-cable-protector.html

[Loose Cannon]

2 hours ago, sailorbob said:

The photo in my post of 25/07/11 is showing a hybrid of the MGF and Lotus gaiter.

So with the join near the left in the photo, the concertina bit is original Lotus and the 1" end MGF?

Mines buggered along all the bellows unfortunately so a Frankenstein creation wouldn't work. It looks like a dealer in the past has tried adjusting the gearchange but the rod end threads have been siezed, thus they have twisted the entire cable and boot a couple of turns, nice.

[Loose Cannon]

This is the original manufacturer if any help is needed sourcing them worldwide.

 

[sailorbob]

The sheath end of the MGF gaiter has a 20 mm bore which is a tiny bit larger than the original A082F6369F gaiter.

Edited October 17, 2016 by sailorbob

[Chillidoggy]

Just found some old photos I took when I had the same problem. You can see the original gaiter has a much larger end than the SJ -supplied one. That's the one I cut the end off, and cable tied. No matter what I did, I could not get it to fit as supplied over the alloy cable ends.

Mark - check the gaiter length is sufficient for the job, that looks a bit short to me.