Well, I came up with a plan after a visit to the hardware store. I spotted the JB Weld "KwikWeld" and thought I'd give that a try.
To address the set screw and how that design is a cause for the failure, I agree that overtightening that screw would cause this boss to fail. What I don't understand is why it would be over tightened. I've found if I tighten it too much, the cable inside the sheath won't move, which is counter productive. I think it just needs to be snug enough to keep the cable from moving around. The tension from the cable, when it's tensioned properly, should keep the sheath in place. So I figured JB Weld will work as well as anything else.
The materials:
- JB Weld KwikWeld
- masking tape (not painter's tape)
- a spare piece of cable sheath or an acrylic rod of the same diameter
- mold release
- the broken latch
The first thing I did was to drill some small holes into the boss in the areas where it sheared. This is so the JB Weld will have some places to key into the piece, hopefully ensuring it doesn't just pop off the boss.
Then I sprayed the spare cable sheath with mold release. I used Pol-Ease 2300 by Polytek, but any will do...even cooking spreay if you don't have mold release.
Then I used the masking tape to build a "box" around the broken area of the boss. I wanted to make sure this sealed well, so I didn't use painter's tape since it would probably have failed. Then I stuck the cable sheath in where it needs to go. This ensured I didn't fill the void completely, which would have been bad.
Next, I mixed up the JB Weld and started filling the void with it. This stuff sets up in about 5-6 minutes, so once I got my JB Weld in there, I just patiently sat there, holding the cable sheath in place. After 5 minutes, I was able to gently twist the cable sheath and pull it out, leaving a nice void where the actual cable will fit in. I set that aside for 4 hours so it would fully cure. Then I removed the tape and this is what I had...
The boss that I built up was now too long. No worries...I just took a flat file and filed that part down so that it was level with the original boss. It's not really pretty, but it doesn't have to be.
Note the cable has a nice spot to slide in...
Then, using a set screw from my stash of machine screws, I tested it out by putting in my spare cable sheath and gently tightening down the screw. I can lift the handle up from the cable, so it's tight enough to hold it in place, but not too tight to cause undue stress on the repair. This should do. I will go install this part back in the car this evening.
tJ