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© 1999 Brian F. Schreurs
Even we have a disclaimer.

The Paradise Garage 1970 Dodge Charger needs a throttle cable to operate properly, and clearly the original equipment cable (which we have documented previously) is not up to the task. Desperate for a hardcore alternative, we entered the world of the street rodder. Though it was a dark and perilous journey, we returned with our prize: a custom stainless steel throttle cable by Lokar (part #TC-1000HT) and a stainless steel carburetor bracket and dual spring kit (Lokar #SRK-4000) specifically designed with our Edelbrock Performer carburetor in mind.

If this cable breaks, we're buying a beaver trap.

The new stainless steel throttle cable wraps around the old stock piece.

Remove the old cable. It is held in place by the peg in the accelerator pedal; by the clamp just under the kickdown lever; and by a small nut on the carburetor linkage. With those three points removed it pops right out.

Tighten the clamp down to get it out of the way. The new cable won't use it.

Install the new throttle cable bracket. It bolts under the left-rear carburetor bolt, which is 1/2". Position it so that the largest hole is at the top.

Remove the cable from the cable housing. This is done by removing the carburetor fitting, which is loosened using a provided hex key (3/32") to "unlock" the fitting. With the carburetor fitting off, the cable pulls straight out from the opposite end. The cable housing adjuster will drop into your hand (or on the floor).

Install the cable housing adjuster onto the bracket. The threaded end goes through the large hole at the top of the bracket. It is clamped in place with the two adjusting nuts.

Poke the cable housing through the firewall. It's a pretty easy fit once you get the angle right. Then crawl under the dashboard and thread on the nut to hold the cable in place.

Route the cable housing to the housing adjuster, being sure to leave some slack in the line. Use some masking tape to mask off the area where the housing passes by the housing adjuster. Then use a pen to mark the exact point where the housing passes.

Remove the cable housing from the car.

This is how the final arrangement looks.

Take the housing to your workbench. Measure two inches from the mark you made on the masking tape, and tape off that area, again with masking tape. Then, on the freshly masked area, mark exactly two inches from the first mark. This is where you are going to cut -- the amount you know you need plus two inches.

Cut thet thar cable. We tried to use a Dremel for this but found it only made the frayed steel sproing out like a stainless steel 'fro, even with the tape. Instead, cut diagonally across with a good set of snips.

Remove the masking tape and carefully clip any errant strands of steel. Be careful to keep the hose end pinched as this makes it easier to install the ferrule.

Take the ferrule off the throwaway end of the housing and insert it over the new end. Be very careful with this! It's harder than it looks. Approach from the pointy end of the cut (assuming you cut diagonally; you DID cut diagonally, right??) and don't be afraid to mash any wires at the other end. It's all hidden under the ferrule anyway.

With the housing cut to the proper length, trot it back out to the car and install it the way it was before. Insert the ferrule into the end of the housing adjuster.

Run the cable through the housing, starting from the pedal end. Attach the pedal fitting to the accelerator. On our Mopar, this is actually kind of tricky. The only way it will fit directly to the pedal is to hook it on sideways. We tried this, and it does not work. Don't do it.

Instead, go to Home Depot Racer's Supply. In the hardware section you'll find a Custom Throttle Cable Installation Kit -- Mopar. Pick out a custom bolt capable of fitting through the big hole in the pedal. Then get two custom washers, as large in diamater as possible, which will not slip over the head of the custom bolt. Finish it off with a custom nut with a nylon-lock insert.

Put one of the washers on the bolt, then slide the bolt through the eye of the throttle cable end. Then put the bolt through the large hole on the pedal, sandwich it in with the second washer, and clamp it down with the lock-nut. Tighten that hardware sandwich as much as possible because it's not something you'll want to have moving around.

This doesn't work. Don't do it this way.

When measuring the cable, you'll be measuring for zero throttle travel. Therefore the pedal must be in the full upright position. The cable doesn't have enough tension to do this by itself, so use a bungee cord from the pedal to the steering wheel. This'll hold the throttle closed while you make your measurements.

Now for some fun. The new carburetor fitting has to fit in the current rat's nest somehow. It took us a while to figure out a viable plan but here's what we did: We ran the carburetor fitting between the throttle linkage and kickdown linkage. We had to move the kickdown lever to the outboard side of the linkage and used a smaller bolt to hold it in place. But it fits. Barely. No wonder Lokar also sells a kickdown cable.

Attach the fitting to the linkage. The new throttle cable fitting uses a 3/8" nut on a 5/16" bolt.

Pull the throttle cable tight and measure it up to the side of the carburetor fitting. Add an inch and snip with wire snips.

Insert the throttle cable into the carburetor fitting and pull it tight. Clamp it down with the hex key. Install the throttle return springs from the bottom hole of the carburetor bracket to the bolt on the linkage used by the kickdown return spring.

Remove the bungee cord and run the carburetor through its range of motion and check for binding or snagging. Nothing gets your attention like a V8 stuck wide open. If everything looks okay, take it for a test drive and adjust as necessary. You're rolling again!

So far, this is the only way we've found to install the cable safely.

The new throttle cable looks really impressive. We admit it, we're suckers for steel braid. But how will it hold up? Only time will tell. We've needed to make some minor adjustments but this is probably due in part to the odd arrangement we have at the pedal. The main thing is, we have our Charger back! Oh how we loathe downtime with this car. Gotta keep 'er rolling. Lokar's customer service is very good too; they were happy to make suggestions mid-assembly when I needed it. These guys are on our permanent list; their catalog belongs in any garage.

Update: Well, we were wrong. That cool way we told you to hook up the throttle cable doesn't work. The cable wears on its end thingy and frays -- not good. There's only one safe way to mount this cable, and that's to remove the throttle end thingy, use a punch and a hammer to widen the hole in the throttle lever, and thread the cable through the pedal lever in the exact way that the original worked. The problem with this is that it will now be very difficult to return the car to a stock cable. But, since those are nigh-impossible to acquire anyway, we don't care. We just want to be able to drive the thing. So far so good with this setup.