'74 Super Beetle - Tight Hood Release Cable

[Sluggo]

My hood release cable is really tight. I have to push down on the lever very hard to get it to pop. So hard my thumbs feel like they're gonna break! I haven't got my manual yet (only owned it 1 day). So I need to ask for some tips on pulling the cable, lubing it up and getting it to operate smoothly. It's very important because I open & close it several times a day.

[Amskeptic]

My hood release cable is really tight. I have to push down on the lever very hard to get it to pop. So hard my thumbs feel like they're gonna break! I haven't got my manual yet (only owned it 1 day). So I need to ask for some tips on pulling the cable, lubing it up and getting it to operate smoothly. It's very important because I open & close it several times a day.

This is a very important item to get straight, that is why I am responding so quickly. . .



You must lubricate the latch assembly with plenty of grease where the cable pulls the plate-that-snags-the-pin-on-the-trunk-lid. If you look, you can see that the pin on the trunk lid (surrounded by that spring and washer deal) is adjustable, it has a 13mm? locknut that allows you to adjust the depth. The longer the pin, the easier the latching. The shorter the pin, the tougher the latching. It needs to be long enough to allow your cable to pop the trunk but short enough to compress the gasket that keeps the rain out. Your trunk may have the rubber stops that the Type 3s have (see the little black dots on each side of the inside trunk lid? you can screw them in and out). Those stops are to precisely line up the trunk with the body and they also affect the effort required to pop the trunk. The cable itself is annoying in its plastic sleeve. You can't really lubricate it all inside along its entire length, but you can check to see if its route is free of kinks and sharp bends. In the glove box area, make sure it is not kinked at the lever. Good luck. My trunk is still a little crabby.
Colin

[covelo]

My trunk is still a little crabby.
Colin

You don't say! My thumbs are still healing. I was always terrified that the cable would break and I would never be able to ever open that trunk again.

[ruckman101]

Looks similar to the set-up on the engine lid of the ghia. Mine simply fell off. But I think I figured it out. It pops open now, before I had to wedge to pull pulled in order to get it open.


neal

[Amskeptic]

My trunk is still a little crabby.
Colin

You don't say! My thumbs are still healing. I was always terrified that the cable would break and I would never be able to ever open that trunk again.

It was primarily still crabby because of all the computer junk and tool bag and the main offender, the car wash container. Now that I have emptied that stuff out here in Austin, it is acceptable in its behavior now.
Colin

[Sluggo]

I forgot about this thread. I got it to improve quite a bit. Lubed the hell out of it and adjusted the trunk lid pin as far out as it can go. Better but not perfect.