[DeTomaso] mangusta hatch cables

[Damaadams]

Success!! After much trial and error I was able to pick the latches on the Mangusta hatch this morning. I used a short length of radio antenna, bent and sharpened per the suggestion of a resourceful f-car friend. Sighting through the hatch windows it took two of us to maneuver the wire into place and pull the latches. We did?the forward latch first, then wedged the front portion of the hatch up wilth a wine cork. (We utilized the contents of the wine bottle in preparing our strategy last night.) Then we popped the rear latch.?I was very lucky that it was the driver's side hatch. Had it been the passenger side hatch,?the forward latch would have been hidden from view by the fuel tank. The important point here is that all you Mangusta owners should pay attention to those cables. It is critical to adjust the cable to eliminate slack. If your cable has slop in it you will have to pull the lever farther up?to release the latches. As the lever arcs up the stress on the cable goes from pure tension to tension plus bending. That bending component is what fatigues and ultimately breaks the cable. When I replace mine I intend to attach fail-safe cables at each latch point (the aft going through the wheel well, the forward going through the firewall) so as to have some redundancy in case this happens again. I'll also be doing a similar back-up cable on the boot lid latches. If THAT baby snaps you are really and truly screwed.
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Daryl Adams
8MA888