403 boot release cable
 

My boot release cable is very stiff - almost seized up. I've stripped out the back of the car for restoration and was hoping at this point to remove the cable for repair or replacement. Just behind the operating knob, the inner cable passes through a short tube that is welded to the tubular frame that goes under the parcel shelf. I can't see any way of removing the cable without cutting the nipple off the boot lock end. Have I missed something? I can unscrew the operating knob but this still seems to leave too large a diameter to pull out the inner. Anyone been there before and can help?

403 boot release cable
 

I had the same problem with my 403 about a year after I first acquired the car in 1999. Much, much worse was the fact that the boot lid was also jammed shut! We were almost resigned to having to open the boot lid with a jemmy and thus destroy it. It makes me feel queasy to this day when I recall it. Fortunately, we somehow managed to open the boot ( I can't remember how it was done ) and the faulty cable was cut and removed. The whole mechanism was refurbished and fitted with a new cable, which was cut to length. A new nipple at the boot lock end was easily reinstated by, I think, brazing. Such was my paranoia at the thought of the boot lid jamming again that, at the same time, I constructed a secondary release mechanism by way of a second cable which runs directly from the boot catch. This cable passes through the dividing wall behind the rear seat backrest and is connected to a rod which acts as a handle. The handle sits neatly behind the backrest. If the primary release mechanism fails then, by unscrewing and removing the handles for the rear quarterlights, the backrest can be pivoted forwards to expose the emergency handle. I hope that this helps. Dave Dale.

Thanks for that. I will cut off the nipple and withdraw the cable inner. I don't have brazing equipment but there are several pending jobs that have now made up my mind to put that right.