why are parts so hard to find?! (clutch cable)

[Dragon Man]

so i took the clutch cable off my BX, pain in the ass to get into dread to think how you do it with the engine still in the car!

its somehow got some pretty bad kinks in it, they look old as its worn the plastic down on the main internal wire..
i want to replace it as theres no way i am going to do it with the engine in, but the issue is.. i cant find a right hand drive clutch cable!
and for some stupid reason the citroen with ABS has a different clutch cable than the one without. you could not write this!
i have bought 3 clutch cables, all cheap enough but none with pictures. they all claim to fit the car, none did however.
so looking all over the internet i find loads of the one that i dont need, and a left hand drive one of the one i do need.

this project is becoming quite the nightmare. after 3 new clutches bought and none fitting and now 3 clutch cables.. just how many different styles of parts were made for the one car with this one engine?! i have honestly never had this issue with any of my Fiats

this is what i need, only right hand drive.. i really dont want to go second hand on this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-B-S-Clutch- ... Sw9IpXyvMj

[Kitch]

First thing that came up when I punched BX TD clutch cable in was.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-BX-1- ... SwsTxXi2jp

To my knowledge, whether ABS is fitted or not makes no difference at all. The only difference is whether it's a BE1 or BE3 gearbox. You should have a BE3.

TD and 16v cables are the same, FWIW. I think BXs are pretty good for old spares, considering most people don't give two shits about them!

[Kitch]

By the way, A.B.S. looks like it stands for 'All Brake Systems'......the company selling the cables on eBay

[Dragon Man]

thanks, i didnt go for that cable as it does not have the metal weight in the middle of the 2... things.

i dono about parts.. the car was pretty common in the day.. more of em than the old panda on the road, and less now so you would have thought there would be loads about.

heh ABS.. the only reason why i said that was because the only LHD ones i could find like the one i need all said "for cars with ABS" in the description the ones without all had the other cable :/

[Kitch]

The cable on my 16v doesn't have a weight on. Never seen a 16v with the weight, in honesty.

The was pretty common back in the day but relatively rare now, and that's why (IMO) spares aren't too hard to find.

[rutter123]

I got a good t/d clutch cable here if you need is s/h but ok, GSF got mine for me (£18) should be readily available they are still on shelves, never understood the idea of the counterweight on the end but guess it's there for a reason. Also try these
Eurocarparts
Neat Auto's 01895907050
AEP direct Glasgow
Chevronics
Bourne Citroen (Barry)

[Defender110]

why are parts so hard to find?!

Are they, I've never had any issues.

[KevR]

Whatever part you want, the best way to start looking for the right bit is to sign up to Citroen Service and track down the original part number. Once you have that you can either search for an original part or there are plenty of cross-reference resources out there.

It's a bit fiddly to do the clutch cable with the engine in (worse on a TD, but then so is everything else...). Not a complete nightmare though.