Car repair with bike parts!

[worms]

Bonnet (hood for those across the pond) release cable snapped when I went to top up the oil on my 13 year old Volvo at the weekend.  Web search suggested garage cost in the region of £150 for time to break into the mechanism and open the lid, then £40 for the new parts...  OR a DIY process to break in and replacing the cable core (but not sheath) with a bike gear cable.

Gear cable cost me £2.99 time was an hour or so to release the catch (took longer because I was doing this outside in the snow and ice). Cannibalised some old electrical items to make suitable cable stops and as a "belt and braces" added a back-up cable that can be accesses from below the grill so if the bike one breaks I can easily open the lid.

Bonus is that the gear cable is Teflon coated stainless steel, so actually a better cable than the original.  So £200 repair for £2.99 plus a little time.

[big_slacker]

I know what a bonnet is, we get Top Gear over here. ;)

I read the title to this thread and thought, "This is gonna be a disaster." Like replacing a timing chain with an old tube or something, haha. But nice work bypassing the overpriced cable!