Date:         Sun, 19 May 1996 21:26:03 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         walshp@h1l6xa.nawc-ad-indy.navy.mil (Pat Walsh)
Subject:      Report:  Replacing heater cables in '71

Well, while I had the bus up in the air for all the brake work (see other
post), I decided to tackle replacing the heater cables.  This is another
thing that had been bugging me since I bought the bus.  I'd replaced the
heat exchangers awhile back but the cables were unhooked when I bought
it and I couldn't really figure out the "installation kits" that came
with the new ones so I'd just wired them open for the winter.  Plus, the
existing cables were bent and jammed and didn't move when you moved the
controls.

I'd ordered new ones from Wolfsburg West when I'd ordered the brake lines.
There's several different lengths depending on the year of your bus so you
have to give your chassis number.  The cable is pretty much like a bicycle
brake cable, ie. an inside part and a sheath, with about 6"-12" of the
inner part exposed at each end.  The inner part on the ones I got was
encased in a thin plastic covering to allow it to slide easier in the
sheath and maybe to prevent rust.  The left and right cables are different
lengths so don't get them mixed up.  To remove the old cables, you first
need to work back at the heat exchanger end.  If your old cables are still
hooked up, then you've got a leg up on this procedure since you'll be able
to see how the new ones are supposed to attach.  This isn't really covered
well in any of the books I have.  So unhook the inner cable from the heat
exchanger flap.  Now you need to remove a couple of plastic pieces from
the end of the metal tube in which the heater cable runs.  This part is
really hard to describe, and I couldn't find pictures in the books.  But
there's a small bracket welded to the frame, with a hole in the free end
and a slot cutting through the hole.  It's very similar to the brackets
the brake lines fit through if you're familiar with those.  Basically just
an L bracket with a round hole drilled through, and a notch connecting
the hole to the outside world.  The tube that holds the heater cable ends
right even with this bracket, and the end of the tube just hangs
unattached (except for this piece of plastic I'm going to describe next)
in space.  There's a cylindrical piece of plastic that fits over the end
of the tube and then snaps in the notch in the bracket.  It has a hole
along it's center line, to let the inner cable pass through.  You need to
pry the plastic cylinder out of the notch in the bracket and then take it
off.  Don't try to rotate it back and forth because it's flat on one side
and won't turn in the slot.  Okay, now you've got the plastic piece off.
Right inside it is another plastic piece:  a small plastic ferule that
will slip over the inner cable but not allow the sheath to pass through.
Set these two pieces aside.

Okay, you're done at the heater end for awhile.  Go up front underneath
and find where the cables come out from inside (with the pan removed).
It's way up front by the bumper and about in the center.  I used tin snips
to cut the cables here (make sure it's the CORRECT cables and not
something else).  I then pulled the cables out of the metal tubes they
ride in, toward the front of the bus.  Now go inside the cab.  You need
to remove the driver's side kick panel.  The cables attach to the red heat
levers with little spring things that are kind of self apparent once you
see them.  You need to stagger the position of the levers so you can get
the cables out.  The sheath of the cables has a metal band at the
dashboard end, that's held by a spring clamp on the bracket.  Again, it's
not hard to figure out.  The dashboard part of the installation is pretty
straightforward.  I didn't need to take anything apart (other than the
kick panel) and accessed the cables easily under the dash.  Once you have
the cable ends disconnected, you can pull the short (cut) cables out.

Now you're ready to install the new cables.  I did one at a time.  Guide
the heat exchanger end with your hand down through the rubber grommet in
the front of the floor, behind the kick panel.  I worried that I'd have a
hard time finding it "blind" but it was easy.  Now feed most of the cable
through, letting it pile up under the bus.  Go under the bus and start the
end of the cable in the long tube that runs to the rear.  Again, I had
visions of the cable getting hung up part way through, but didn't have any
problem with that, either.  Just shoved the cable in and it went just
fine.

Back at the heat exchanger, you slip the plastic ferule over the inner
part of the cable and then put the plastic cylinder over the end of the
metal tube and secure it to the bracket of the frame.  Now here's where I
believe things differ depending on the year of your bus.  Mine's a '71 and
I'm using new Dansk exchangers.  There's two places to connect the cable
to, an inboard and an outboard side.  My cables were positioned to the
outboard side.  Therefore, I didn't need some of the pieces in the kit,
most notably the big zig-zag lever.  All I used was a kind of U-shaped
clamp, a metal ferule and bolt, and a pin and clip.  Put the open end of
the U clamp over the hole in the lever on the heat exchanger, and pass
the pin through the clamp and lever, securing it with the clip.  Start the
bolt in the end of the ferule, put the ferule and bolt in the other end of
the U clamp, slide the end of the cable through the ferule and lightly
clamp it in place with the bolt.  Adjustment is similar to the accelerator
cable.  Position the heat lever on the dash all the way on (down) and then
raise it a half inch or so (to allow for cable stretch, "give" in the
components, etc.).  Now hold the flap on the heat exchanger all the way
open and tighten the bolt in the ferule while holding the ferule with
pliers.  Check to make sure the flap closes all the way when you raise the
lever and opens all the way when you lower the lever.  You might have to
make a minor adjustment.

That's it.  It wasn't that big a job and no hidden snags.  Hope this helps
some of you with non-working heater cables.  Again, this was for a '71
with a Type I engine and Dansk exchangers, though probably the routine is
pretty much the same for other years except maybe how the cable attachs to
the exchangers.  Decided to write this up for the list because like I
said, the manuals didn't go into it much and I figure there's others like
me that bought their busses without the cables hooked up and therefore
don't know exactly how they are supposed to go.  After I got the heater
cables and brakes hooked up, it was kind of fun driving around and playing
with turning the heat off and on and admiring the smooth (now power)
braking.  Couldn't resist honking the horn a couple of times on the
freeway, either, while I was at it!  (A past success story.  :-) )

Pat Walsh, '71 Westy, walshp@camry.nawc-ad-indy.navy.mil