I am ready to replace my throttle/accelerator cable on my carbureted 302, and the job looks easy enough. Except how does that nylon bushing come out of the "fork" on the accelerator pedal? Does it just pull off from the top? Mine original one is 26 years old with 200,000 miles on it, so it is on there pretty tight.

 

IIRC, when you disconnect the cable from the carb, you'll have slack then to just lift the cable end out of the pedal. The cable end lifts out of the little "cup", and then the wire will pull through the slot to clear the pedal. Install in reverse.

 

X2 on that - the plastic bushing (blue?) on the accelerator pedal comes out the top of the pedal in mine, it is just sitting in the hole and held in by tension of the cable.

 

I see. So I would need to first unhook the throttle cable from the carburetor. Then the cable will have enough slack in it for the nylon bushing to just slide out over the fork on the accelerator pedal?

Is there anything to watch out for when I install the new one?

 

The nylon bushing will slip out of the hole in the pedal, towards the end of the cable. The cable then slips thru the small "slot" at the top of the pedal rod. The cable then slides out of the firewall towards the engine compartment. There may be "fingers" on the cable that need to be released to remove it from the firewall. Been too long, I cannot recall for sure about that last part. If they are present, they release from inside, I believe.
Installation is pretty simple, only item to really watch out for is making sure the carb end is pointing the right direction as you slip the pedal end thru the firewall.

 

Make sure you get the correct cable, because...there's more than one!

1980/89 Ford Light Truck Parts Catalog / Text, Section 96, Pages 46 & 47.

Have fun reading thru all the applications to try and figure out which is correct, because it's a hodge-podge mish-mash of listings that are all mixed up.

 

That's correct. There is a plastic piece that has two little bolts on the engine side of the firewall that needs to be removed. It's part of the cable housing. Short end of the cable goes through the firewall to the pedal.

I did mine a couple of months ago, and the only thing I had to work with was the ball size on the carb end. Seems that they come in different sizes, so check your new cable before you leave the parts store and make sure the cable will snap on the ball on your throttle plate.

 

I just replaced my throttle cable, and the job was much easier than I thought. Following the advice given on this post, the whole job only took about 15 minutes. The newer throttle cable (Motorcraft) has a better metal end that connects to the carburetor ball stud as opposed to my stock one that had a plastic end.

Thank you gentlemen!