Throttle cable mod

The Oily Bits S1 Specific Topics
1

OK I am in the process of doing another mod to my car that following a few sticky throttle posts recently, I thought may be of interest.

When stripping my car out, I had a good look at the throttle linkage at the pedal end and to be honest I think we will all agree it is laughable. Mine was loose and rattley and not very direct. To be honest I reckon it was a bit of a Friday afternoon at 4:30 back of a fag packet design. So I thought there has to be something better than this that can be done. Plus the standard cable as we all know is just a bloody bike brake cable with a metal outer that means any slight radius you put the cable under makes it sticky and once a bit of moisture has got in there and corrosion has started it is all over.

So on a recent trip to Nick Whales I was having a bit of a glance in the engine bay of an S2 Exige while I was waiting for the parts guy and I noticed the throttle cable was a lovely spiral bound jobbie and that its run took in some quite tight turns. So I shoved my head in the foot well and saw that they had changed the pedal end of the linkage as well.

So with the parts book out I ordered all of the little brackets and stuff and the cable to see if I could convert to the late S2 spec of throttle linkage and cable.

All of the stuff arrived yesterday and I am well chuffed. The cable is an awesome Teflon lined thing that you can basically tie in a knot and it still slides as smoothly as if it was lying straight.

Here�s a picture of the bits that you need.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/allthebits.jpg[/image]

Individually you need the cable � Part number LA120J0007F

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/cableTBend.jpg[/image]

The picture above shows the Throttle body end of the cable. I have jenveys which basically have a pinch bolt, so I will simply chop the end off and clamp it with my pinch bolt

The following picture shows the pedal end

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/cablepedalend.jpg[/image]

Into the socket on the pedal end fits the following ball ended stud � Part number LA117W6745F

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/ballend.jpg[/image]

This ball ended stud bolts into the following bracket that simply nut and bolts to the throttle pedal � Part number LA117J0089F

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/throttlebracket.jpg[/image]

You then have a small bracket that bolts to the car and holds the cable � Part number LA117J0087F

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/chassisbracket.jpg[/image]

There is then a throttle return spring that runs between our new throttle pedal mounted cable bracket and the above bracket fitted to the car � Part number LA117J6010F

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/spring.jpg[/image]

You can see all of the parts and how they fit together on this following page from the Lotus parts book

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/manual.jpg[/image]

I had a mess with the cable and it is awesome. I looped the cable round three times

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/twistedcable.jpg[/image]

And you can still pull and push the cable as easy as if it was lying in a straight line. Its great!!!

The other thing that is awesome is the cost. All of the above, from Lotus, with no discount, including VAT only came to �50.68

This has to be a worthwhile conversion for all of us S1 owners!!!

Sean…

2

looks like it’s a great mod.
Only concern is the cable travel, as the diabolical lever fitted as standard acts as multiplier, giving some longer cable movement for a given pedal travel…

3

Thought about that, done the measurements (the salesman in Nick Whales must have wondered what the hell I was doing. lol), and the cable travel is cool.

4

Looks a cool mod Sean - and complete cost is less than an S1 replacement throttle cable

5

Sean, top mod, as usual.

Question: is the TB end of the cable the same kind and size of fitting as the std one? (I have the std TB’s)

I have felt my cable a little vague, as you describe and if this sorts the feeling out, I’m going for it.

6

I don’t know, I can’t remember what the cable fitting on the standard TB’s looks like. I will have a look at my standard ones (if I can remember where ethey are. lol). If not, I’m sure we can do something to make it work.

7

Uldis, I dug out my original TB’s today. The new cable fits perfectly!!!

I installed the whole kit today, will post some pics up later. The pedal feels awesome!!!

Sean…

8

Sean - you need to be on a retainer with Lotus.

WHEN they take you on will you nip into the design department and sort the back end on that bl00dy Europa

9

Thanks Sean.
Will order that too!

10

I installed the far superior S2 Exige throttle cable / linkage system today. It�s good to know there is something good about the S2 (only Joking)

It was really easy to do. I started at the pedal end. The old cable bracket simply unscrews and gets launched into the middle of next week!!!

There is a pop riveted bracket that holds one end of the old throttle return spring. The S2 kit comes with a new, better return spring system, so the rivets are drilled out and that can also be launched across the garden.

The rivet hole nearest to the drivers side is in exactly the right place for one of the mounting holes for the new bracket. Just run a 5mm drill through the hole to allow a bolt to pass through. With the one end secured it is easy to mark and drill the second mounting hole.

I learnt the hard way, but the new cable is very very very slightly to large to fit through the new bracket. Simply run a 10mm drill through the cable mounting hole to open it up slightly. Basically we are probably talking the thickness of the coatings on the cable nipple and the mounting bracket.

Then fix the cable to the bracket before mounting it as it makes getting the spring clip on a lot easier (I learnt that the hard way to!!)

You then need to unbolt the ball joint from the original bracket on the pedal. The old and new ball joints are the same size, so I did actually try using the original pedal bracket. However it doesn�t work as the hole on the new cable bracket that takes the one end of the throttle return spring is on opposite side to the original setup, plus the mounting height for the cable on the pedal is slightly different.

So simply drill out the rivet (5mm drill again) and the old bracket can go the same was as the rest of the original stuff.

The new bracket simply nut and bolts to the throttle pedal.

Next you can fit the cable. There is a small spring clip on the cable end that has to be removed, then pop the cable on and put the retaining spring clip back in. You can then fit the return spring, this was a bit fiddly, but a good pair of needle nose pliers will get the job done.

That�s the pedal end sorted.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/NewThrottlecableinstalledpedalend.jpg[/image]

Then run the cable to the back, under the engine and up through the throttle bodies. The adjuster on the new cable is the same size so simply fitted straight in. I cut the brass nipple off and simply passed the cable threw the pinch bolt and Bob�s ya Mom!!!

I was on my own today, so I couldn�t adjust the throttle to ensure full throttle etc. As I couldn�t push the pedal down and look at the TB�s at the same time. Lol. I will set it up tomorrow. As I mentioned I did measure the throw and everything was cool, so I am only expecting to only make a minor tweak if any at all to the throttle stop on the pedal.

The Throttle Body end

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/NewThrottlecableinstalledengineend.jpg[/image]

Note how tight the cable turn is and I swear the pedal feels smoother than Britney Spears butt!! (I presume she has a smooth butt)

11

Adjusted the throttle stop toaday. The new cable needs a little more travel. However the bracket can be moved down the pedal by at least an inch. This pulls the cable a lot furter for a given pedal travel. Using the standard hole is perfectly fine, but I do like an on/off throttle pedal, so I may adjust it. I’m going to leave it how it is until I have driven it, as I may decide its OK.

Still can’t get over how much better the feel of the pedal is!!

Sean…

12

Nice work Sean

13

Chaps

Have you seen the “cross posted” thread on SELOC?

http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=67569

14

Just looked…


Posted by M100:

Quote:

Originally posted by elise_s1
still not convinced the increased pedal travel will give a sharp enough throttle response to suit all tastes…

the crappy std lever is a 2.3X multiplier, which means you need to move the pivot on the pedal more than two times lower to achieve the same travel ratio (attaching the cable where the blue circle is)




Absolutely. There is no physical way this mod can achieve more than around 50% throttle opening, mounting the pedal attachment lower to achieve movement to match the original multiplier will, unless the bracket is altered, rapidly cause wear where the cable inner passes throught the outer ferrule. The only way I think something like this is going to work is to radically modify the new bracket (but I don’t think there will be the space) or to have the cable inner pass over a quadrant or pulley to keep the cable aligned.

Good way of slowing the car down though

15

Guys, Guys, Guys. Chill. I have just looked at the SELOC post (never really been on there before) and put them straight. I can assure you the mod works perfectly. I know because I have done it. I have adjusted the throttle stop on the pedal and yes as I stated the pedal travel is slightly, and I emphasise “slightly” further, but of no real consiquence.

The guy on SELOC is getting confused because he isn’t taking into account that on the original linkage the rod that connects the pedal to the crappy sea saw linkage does not pull straight, so for a given pedal travel you are getting quite a bit less than 2.3 times the cable movement on the other end

I stated that I may move the bracket on my pedal lower, to make the throttle responce more “on and off” because that is what I like and I mean I like it a lot. But that is totally a personal preference thing. I am the same with clutches, I hate having to push any pedals down very far.

Sean…

16

Hi Sean,
I never said it isn’t going to work…
The problem on SELOC thread was about it being shown as the panacea against all the throttle problems for Elises, Exiges and whatever else around, irrespective of TBs fitted on the car or pedal “feel” desired.
Both pedal stops could be adjusted to give a fair bit of extra travel and this has proved to be more than enough for your TBs… after all it works out of the box for the Toyota, so it isn’t that far out.
About the multiplier, the angled lever still has a ratio above 2X (see attached pic), but this will affect only the pedal feel, as most of the travel on the std lever is wasted in play, twist and flex.
[image]http://www.sandercock.com/Pictures/TBS2.JPG[/image]

cheers
Carlo

17

Carlo I wasn’t having a pop at you or anyone else for that matter. I understand that because it works on my Jenveys doesn’t mean it will work on every other type of TB. I just wanted to say that in reality the mod does work and is a fantastic upgrade, I still can’t get over the feel.

At the end of the day its absolutly no skin off my nose if people do the mod or not.

I am lucky with the jenveys because I can also adjust the point on the TB end to decrease the amount of cable movement required to get full throttle.

If people are interested, I don’t mind having a look at fitting the cable to my original Exige TB’s to see if it works OK on those. I have chopped the nipple off now, but I am sure I can use a solderless niple or something like that .

18

I have chopped the nipple off now, but I am sure I can use a solderless niple or something like that .

I could use a solderless nipple right now

19

I could use a solderless nipple right now

Here you go matey!!

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/solderlessnipple.jpg[/image]

The things I do for you!!!

20

Not exactly what I had in mind…