P38A Bonnet release

Has suddenly gone very stiff, so much so that I thought the plastic cabin lever might break. Its always been a bit stiff but always opened fine until today. Is it worth stripping it out and trying to lube the cables up? Or is it a faff and just buy a new one?
Britpart one OK?
Latches move freely btw.
I got it open eventually by working the lever in a motion not dissimilar to milking a cow but with a worried look on my face waiting for the 'snap' sound. Not got time to mess today so I'll remove the grill meantime as I need to drive it tonight so at least I can get at the Latches if the cables fail.

Don't know, but it's probably a metal cable in a plastic sheath. If water can get in then it can rust and get too big, thus too stiff.
Or the plastic breaks and traps it

kermit_rr said:

Don't know, but it's probably a metal cable in a plastic sheath. If water can get in then it can rust and get too big, thus too stiff.
Or the plastic breaks and traps it

Click to expand...

It's a bowden cable, stranded core inside a coiled metal sheath with a plastic covering. Lubrication will work if it's not too far gone. I have a pressure lubricator for cables from my motorcycling days.

I've had a look see and realised that I can remove the grill and slam panel and still drive the car if needed, so I did.
Cables both sides were surprisingly rust free but what was happening, I think, was that the outer sheath had snapped just where it enters the little hole in the body work on the rhs, the lhs was just starting to fret in the same place on the sharp steel edge of that little hole. That snapped outer sheath was catching on the edge and locking the cable. When I held it out of the way, the movement was much smoother and the catches released easily. I've temporarily put a 4" piece of 6mm id nylon tube, slit down its length, over the outer sheath, secured with tie wraps to stop it catching, which works well for now. I'll fit that tube over the new cables if I order them which I probably won't.
Another bonus is I found my long lost scriber under the slam panel sitting on top of the condensor

I replaced mine with the Britpart one last year.

It's fine.... but one side was a little too long so it wouldn't pull the latch all the way open even when you had the lever at maxumim. I used a cable tie at the ball end to make it a little shorter and i works.

Pay Britpart prices, get Britpart parts.