Body / Glass: Removing an Avanti trunk release cable.

[52-fan]

We got the hood open on the Avanti and the release cable was easy to free up, but the cable for the trunk is in bad shape. Luckily, the latch was open when the car came here. I read what the manual said about removing the cable, but do any of you have any words of wisdom about the job of getting the cable off the car?

[sweetolbob]

IIRC, you'll need to pull the rear seat and firewall as there is a clip under there. The replacement is pretty straight forward as you will see, but if you plan to keep the car or sell it to a friend, now would be the time to pull the fuel tank - clean it out - and replace the fuel hoses with EFI rated resistance. If you pull the tank you can drain it with the Tee in the fuel line under the drivers door and you need to remove the "L" fitting from the bottom so the tank will be free be lifted out. Also put a pipe plug where you removed the "L" or you'll get a gas shower as a small amount of fuel is still in the tank.

The most important hose is the short one on the bottom of the tank. If it fails, the contents of the tank hit the floor and nothing good will come of that. Use 3M 08578 strip caulk to reseal the firewall. Don't neglect this step.

Bob

[52-fan]

Good to know. Most of the time has been spent scrubbing the interior and doing preliminary cleaning under the hood. We weren't thinking about the fuel tank at this time.

[sweetolbob]

Upon further review "recollection", when you pull the cable out - have a fine wire or strong cord attached to help guide the new one back through the area you pulled the old one from.

Bob

[mbstude]

Upon further review "recollection", when you pull the cable out - have a fine wire or strong cord attached to help guide the new one back through the area you pulled the old one from.

Bob

That was going to be my suggestion. I had to replace the trunk cable on the ‘67 I owned and that was one trick I was able to figure out. I couldn’t see any way to install the new cable otherwise.

Another tip: make sure the latch is adjusted so it’ll open completely with the cable BEFORE you shut the trunk lid. I learned that one the hard way. I ended up having to reach through the little access panel in the package tray with a flathead screwdriver bit in 3 feet of socket extensions to pop the latch.

[52-fan]

Thanks again for the tips.

[Hawklover]

IIRC, you'll need to pull the rear seat and firewall as there is a clip under there. The replacement is pretty straight forward as you will see, but if you plan to keep the car or sell it to a friend, now would be the time to pull the fuel tank - clean it out - and replace the fuel hoses with EFI rated resistance. If you pull the tank you can drain it with the Tee in the fuel line under the drivers door and you need to remove the "L" fitting from the bottom so the tank will be free be lifted out. Also put a pipe plug where you removed the "L" or you'll get a gas shower as a small amount of fuel is still in the tank.

The most important hose is the short one on the bottom of the tank. If it fails, the contents of the tank hit the floor and nothing good will come of that. Use 3M 08578 strip caulk to reseal the firewall. Don't neglect this step.

Bob

Bob, that "T" is many cases is FROZEN..........to risk "Effing" with it could spell disaster! Two years ago I replaced all the fuel lines in the car with Cunifer, all rubber was replaced with high pressure FI hose...............overkill yes, but it will never have to be replaced again. I did not replace the "T".........if the tank needs to be drained, the car will be driven to a point that the tank is greatly diminished....then the hose on the bottom of the tank will be pulled to effectuate the final drain.