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MG MGA - Heater Door

I am trying to attach the demist cable to the heater door. The problem is that there is only one bracket on the door to anchor the cable stop. The cable stop slips right through the hole in the bracket. I don't see how the cable will properly control the heater door if the cable stop is not anchored. What am I missing?
JRS Smith

The anchor for the cable outer is not on the door. It is on the body of the heater box. There should be a bracket, an angled grip, and a screw, to grip the cable.
Let me know if you need a photo of the set up.
Peter.
P. Tilbury

Dear Peter:

Thank you for your quick reply. I think you are referring to the anchoring of the outer cable. What I don't understand is how I anchor the inner cable so that the door will open and close. I have a cable stop but there is only one bracket on the door and I expect to find 2 fairly close together so that the cable stop will anchor between them. Clear as mud?

John
JRS Smith

Here is a picture of my heater door connections.

John


JRS Smith

You are missing moss part number 473-070
Fred H

Dear Fred:

I have that part - not shown in my picture. What I am trying to figure out is how does that part (cable stop) anchors to the heater door? My part slips right through the bracket showing in my picture so that can't be the solution. As I said previously, it seems like I should have 2 closely spaced brackets in order for the cable stop to work - similar to the arrangement on the engine compartment side of the heater heater that controls the air flow and the water valve.

John
JRS Smith

I bought a part from a local motor cycle parts dealer to connect the cable to the door. I have heard them called either swivels or collets in the past. I used to use them on the end of carb throttle cables in my kart racing days.

Its a small cylindrical brass threaded tube with a hole drilled through it for the cable to pass through.
You push the cable through the hole and a small screw through one end of the cylinder fixes it in position.

I have looked on line and so far I have only found them on gokartsupply.com

Look under throttle cables and hardware at
Part No 04-219. They call it a Universal round wire stop and it looks the same as the one I bought.

On the ones that I have, the hole was slightly too small for the cable and I just drilled it out a little.
It is only for the heater flap and so I wasnt worried if the drilling weakened it a little.

If you cant get hold of any let me know and I will see if they have any more of them to send to you.

Colyn
Colyn Firth

JRS is asking the right question, but no one is hitting on the answer. Yes, there should be two closely spaced tabs on the moving door. See picture here:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/heater/pics/heater1.jpg
Barney Gaylord

Dear Colyn;

I found the part:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/243325263/Go_Kart_Universal_Round_Wire_Stop/showimage.html

This looks a lot like the part that I got from Scarborough Faire. I still do not understand how the cable stop is anchored in the bracket on the heater door. There is nothing to hold it in place. I don't know if I need to add a washer on the screw end of the the cable stop to keep it from falling out of the bracket - which, from what I can tell, a washer is not shown in any of the exploded diangrams of the heater. It would also seem that the fit would be a bit sloppy.

Does anyone have a picture that they can post of this area on the heater? I'm missing something.

John
John Smith 3

Barney:

Thanks - I'm not crazy after all.

I wonder why mine only has one bracket? I'll have to see if I can get it apart and add the missing bracket.

John
John Smith 3

Im glad I was on the right track with the cable swivel, the one you found is exactly like the one I have fitted.

You should be easily be able to fabricate the missing side of the bracket now you have Barneys picture.
It may be best to fabricate both sides so you can match the holes in them to fit the swivel. You could probably pop-revit them in to place.

The cable on my heater flap keeps the swivel located in the bracket once it is fitted.

Colyn
Colyn Firth

I'm thinking I can drill a hole in a bolt, feed the bolt through the bracket and clamp the cable between 2 washers and a nut. From what I have seen so far it does not look like my car ever had the required two brackets for a cable stop.

John
John Smith 3

John, it may not work too well if you bolt the cable up solidly to the bracket.
The swivel pin in the brackets needs to rotate freely to allow the flap to open fully.
It may open enough though to get some air through to the footwell.

Colyn
Colyn Firth

Take another look at my picture. My cable stop ha s hex flange on one end next to the wire locking screw. Illustration in the Service Parts List shows the cable stop with the flange. That might actually work on a door with only one tab, although the cable stop would be w*nking around and wearing out the hole.
Barney Gaylord

I have noticed that, since I bought this car in 1968, the footwell has gotten much more confined -- things seem farther away and are harder to reach. If I didn't know better I would swear the entire area has shrunk - can metal shrink this much? Has anyone else noticed this phenomena?

John
JRS Smith

Hey all, this thread has renewed my determination to get the heater & control panel working. I am missing the small bracket and clamp that attaches to the heater door. There are 2 small holes where the rivets were. Can someone point me to the bracket size and perhaps an image? Thanks, Tom



Thomas McNamara

Dear Thomas:

The best picture that I have seen is the one that Barney posted:

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/heater/pics/heater1.jpg

The hole in the brackets should be the diameter of the cable stop. The cable stop is the same as the cable stops on the heater valve and the fresh air flap on the heater. I got the clamp and cable stop from Scarborough Faire.

John
JRS Smith

Thomas:

Here is an Ebay listing for the part giving another nice picture of the assembly.

251143616875

John
JRS Smith

Hey JRS Smith, thanks but.......I only need the bracket and clamp. The rest is fine. Regards, Tom
Thomas McNamara

I doubt you'll find anyone selling that bracket, but it doesn't look like it would be too difficult to make, even with very rudimentary tools. Give it a go, you won't be out much if it doesn't work.

If you post a sketch with dimensions, you might even get a mention on Barney's web site!
Larry Wheeler

Larry:

That's what I did - I made a bracket. On closer inspection, it was obvious that my heater door, originally must have had a second bracket. Now all I have to do is pop rivet it in place and move on to the next project.

John
JRS Smith

Hey all, yep! I made a bracket out of sheet metal scraps. I fit it up tonight if I am lucky. Tom
Thomas McNamara

This thread was discussed between 06/09/2012 and 13/09/2012

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