I've been thinking for some time now that the rear hubs in my car were coming apart or at least seriously worn out. This is something that happens with TR6's and definitely with 40year old TR6's, of which they all are... The car had been wobbling in the back end when I'd go over any crown in the road. As I mentioned, the back end was wobbling.
The bad news is that I replaced the hubs approximately ten thousand miles ago. They should not be bad by now.
So, the other day, the car began to clunk when going over bumps. I knew the sound was the sound of loose mounting bolts holding the lever shock in place on the right trailing arm.
I pulled the wheel off to tighten up the mounting bolt, but found that the wheel was wobbling terribly. A very serious flopping...
So after tightening up the lever shock, I grabbed the drum and wiggled it. However when I did, the backplate wiggled with it..... Yikes. I decided to pop the drum off and put a wrench on the nuts/studs that hold the hub in the trailing arm - and as the drum came off, something fell out of it. Definitely an ugly sign.
I checked and quickly found the hole the stud came out of. I tried to insert the stud, and there was nothing to bite on - Uglier yet.
The good however was/is that the rest were just loose. I tightened up each of the remaining studs and the hub was then completely tightened up. Not perfect, but still significantly tighter than before and perfectly usable.
So now, its time to get my hands on some helicoils and fix the trailing arm. I thought I had done them all years ago, but apparently not all of them.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Cool It!!!!!!
When I rebuilt my '73 back in 1990, we went back original with pretty much everything. We even went back with the fiberboard radiator shroud that the car had when new.
Unfortunately, just like the original, water damage from daily driving destroyed, warped, wore the fiberboard construction of the replacement shroud we put back in. It lasted probably 6 years and then I removed it. No radiator shroud since.
After seeing all the good looking shrouds in forum posters' cars, I really wanted to put one back in there. I looked all over for fiberboard and other appropriate materials, and then while drooling over Francois' shroud that he used to manufacture, I thought I saw that it was made from corrugated/fluted plastic sheet, with his gorgeous stainless shield on top. (still not sure I saw that right).
The common name in the US for that product is Coroplast. Its what you usually see in realty and election signs. Most are done in white, but it comes in a full range of colors. I know its tough too - many of my flying friends used to make radio controlled combat aircraft out of it and 'destroy' the competition with their planes.
I figured I oughtta give some a try, and by chance the plant I run shares a roof with the local Coroplast distributor. Ended up that I was able to get an 8x4 sheet of the stuff for $12.50. That sheet will make about 6 shrouds by the look of it.
With a ruler and a vague memory of what the original shroud looked like, I set to work. I first measured the 'top' of the area where the shroud would go. After cutting the top, I was able to cut a piece for each side, and after 5 mins of trial and error, I had a workable part.
For this first one, and since I have so much extra, I decided to give it a try with some tape to hold it together and to see if I have the fluting going the best direction. I may try another with the top fluted in a different direction.
I also need to come up with a way to join the top and sides, so will likely use some thin L bend aluminum and rivets/washers to hold it together. Polish the aluminum and it should look really good.
Like I said, this is just the first effort. The next one should look much better. When I get my final version done, I plan to use some of the graphics from the site Bobby D put up the link to and have my local sign guy knock something out in chrome for the top.
On another note, I've done a ton of work on the car in the past few days, but it has only involved about $10 worth of parts!!!
What on earth could result in that much work from such a small dollar amount? Grommets and Bulbs.
Grommets are generally cheap, but they make a huge difference in the appearance of the car. Even bigger yet, they keep the interior fume free! With the goal of eliminating the fumes in the car, I've replaced almost all the grommets in the firewall, and now the grommets in the kick plate/parcel shelf as well. Hopefully that will help with the smell.
As for the bulbs, my instruments were a bit dim, just a bit hard to see when the sun went down, so I decided to replace as many as I could while I had a few things out of the way to give access. Its not dark yet, but so far, they do look a bit brighter. Should be a big improvement!
Unfortunately, just like the original, water damage from daily driving destroyed, warped, wore the fiberboard construction of the replacement shroud we put back in. It lasted probably 6 years and then I removed it. No radiator shroud since.
After seeing all the good looking shrouds in forum posters' cars, I really wanted to put one back in there. I looked all over for fiberboard and other appropriate materials, and then while drooling over Francois' shroud that he used to manufacture, I thought I saw that it was made from corrugated/fluted plastic sheet, with his gorgeous stainless shield on top. (still not sure I saw that right).
The common name in the US for that product is Coroplast. Its what you usually see in realty and election signs. Most are done in white, but it comes in a full range of colors. I know its tough too - many of my flying friends used to make radio controlled combat aircraft out of it and 'destroy' the competition with their planes.
I figured I oughtta give some a try, and by chance the plant I run shares a roof with the local Coroplast distributor. Ended up that I was able to get an 8x4 sheet of the stuff for $12.50. That sheet will make about 6 shrouds by the look of it.
With a ruler and a vague memory of what the original shroud looked like, I set to work. I first measured the 'top' of the area where the shroud would go. After cutting the top, I was able to cut a piece for each side, and after 5 mins of trial and error, I had a workable part.
For this first one, and since I have so much extra, I decided to give it a try with some tape to hold it together and to see if I have the fluting going the best direction. I may try another with the top fluted in a different direction.
I also need to come up with a way to join the top and sides, so will likely use some thin L bend aluminum and rivets/washers to hold it together. Polish the aluminum and it should look really good.
Like I said, this is just the first effort. The next one should look much better. When I get my final version done, I plan to use some of the graphics from the site Bobby D put up the link to and have my local sign guy knock something out in chrome for the top.
On another note, I've done a ton of work on the car in the past few days, but it has only involved about $10 worth of parts!!!
What on earth could result in that much work from such a small dollar amount? Grommets and Bulbs.
Grommets are generally cheap, but they make a huge difference in the appearance of the car. Even bigger yet, they keep the interior fume free! With the goal of eliminating the fumes in the car, I've replaced almost all the grommets in the firewall, and now the grommets in the kick plate/parcel shelf as well. Hopefully that will help with the smell.
As for the bulbs, my instruments were a bit dim, just a bit hard to see when the sun went down, so I decided to replace as many as I could while I had a few things out of the way to give access. Its not dark yet, but so far, they do look a bit brighter. Should be a big improvement!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Devil Is In The Details
As the title, the Devil is in the details! Its the little things that make all the difference.
A little shiny paint is a big attractor. It makes your car look good, but if you paint all the wiring grommets and the wiring harness, it begins to look like crap. Small parts that are dirty and chipped look terrible. And a large group of small chipped parts looks like a large chipped, rusty mess.
So for a couple months now, I've been pulling off at least two parts a week and reworking the. Strip them, prime them and repaint them. Get them all right, and over time, the engine bay begins to look great. Same for the rest of the car.
Here are some of the parts I painted up this weekend.
The parts are starting to add up, and as a result the engine bay is really starting to look good!
A little shiny paint is a big attractor. It makes your car look good, but if you paint all the wiring grommets and the wiring harness, it begins to look like crap. Small parts that are dirty and chipped look terrible. And a large group of small chipped parts looks like a large chipped, rusty mess.
So for a couple months now, I've been pulling off at least two parts a week and reworking the. Strip them, prime them and repaint them. Get them all right, and over time, the engine bay begins to look great. Same for the rest of the car.
Here are some of the parts I painted up this weekend.
The parts are starting to add up, and as a result the engine bay is really starting to look good!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
University Motors - John Twist
Great video from University Motors - John Twist. John takes on a testy TR6 and brings it back up to tune.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Chasing Gremlins
Old cars were not perfect when they were designed. Even the Jaguar XKE had its issues. Now these same cars are much older and with time comes age related flaws......
Inattention also breeds issues. Unused seals wither and crack, hoses get old and vinyl begins to look like the floor of the Mojave desert.
Finally, when you're away from something for so long, you forget how it should operate, how it should sound and the way it really should perform.
Inattention over the years really wore down my '73. All the things above happened and in many bad ways. The good news however is that I like fixing things. A couple posts previous, I listed a huge list of things that I've set right on the car - and had fun doing it.
All through that work, as I drove the car, it seemed to run well, but it was somewhat down on performance. Idle kept climbing, power seemed good but not great. Finally, it backfired and popped at odd times.
Then I read on the 6Pack forum about a different way to set the timing on a car. Instead of using a timing light like in days of old, the thing to do is to use a vacuum guage.
So the process is simple. Get the car warm and at an idle of 900rpms. Then take a gauge reading from the vacuum gauge with it attached to the intake manifold. Simple!!!! With the cam I have installed, the initial goal vacuum measure was/is 13HG. Stock Sixes start usually at around 18HG!
Not so fast..... The car warmed up easily enough. 900 rpm idle was the issue. As I mentioned above, the idle has been climbing over time, to the point that the car was now idling at about 1200 rpms. Not a lot of fun. And not very good for getting good readings. So first order of business was/is getting the idle right.
I decided to give it a whirl first and get my reading. First reading was 6HG!!!!!!! Yowza! Severely retarded my ignition was. I started advancing the ignition (twisting the disty) and got to 10HG, but that was with an Idle of 1400RPMS. The test drive however told me I was on to something. The car was definitely not tuned correctly before - and I did not know it because it had been so long since I had driven it. With the ignition advanced, the thing had loads of power. Stump pulling power, the power of a modified TR6!
With help from the 6Pack forum members, I began chasing down the cause of the high idle. It eventually took all weekend, but I found that most of the cause of the high idle was an improperly rebuilt bypass valve on the Zenith Strombergs.
With the right gasket in the valve, the right seal in the adjuster (in the background in this pic), I finally got the car to idle at approximately 950 rpms and 12HG. A pretty cool number. So better performance is on the way!
Inattention also breeds issues. Unused seals wither and crack, hoses get old and vinyl begins to look like the floor of the Mojave desert.
Finally, when you're away from something for so long, you forget how it should operate, how it should sound and the way it really should perform.
Inattention over the years really wore down my '73. All the things above happened and in many bad ways. The good news however is that I like fixing things. A couple posts previous, I listed a huge list of things that I've set right on the car - and had fun doing it.
All through that work, as I drove the car, it seemed to run well, but it was somewhat down on performance. Idle kept climbing, power seemed good but not great. Finally, it backfired and popped at odd times.
Then I read on the 6Pack forum about a different way to set the timing on a car. Instead of using a timing light like in days of old, the thing to do is to use a vacuum guage.
So the process is simple. Get the car warm and at an idle of 900rpms. Then take a gauge reading from the vacuum gauge with it attached to the intake manifold. Simple!!!! With the cam I have installed, the initial goal vacuum measure was/is 13HG. Stock Sixes start usually at around 18HG!
Not so fast..... The car warmed up easily enough. 900 rpm idle was the issue. As I mentioned above, the idle has been climbing over time, to the point that the car was now idling at about 1200 rpms. Not a lot of fun. And not very good for getting good readings. So first order of business was/is getting the idle right.
I decided to give it a whirl first and get my reading. First reading was 6HG!!!!!!! Yowza! Severely retarded my ignition was. I started advancing the ignition (twisting the disty) and got to 10HG, but that was with an Idle of 1400RPMS. The test drive however told me I was on to something. The car was definitely not tuned correctly before - and I did not know it because it had been so long since I had driven it. With the ignition advanced, the thing had loads of power. Stump pulling power, the power of a modified TR6!
With help from the 6Pack forum members, I began chasing down the cause of the high idle. It eventually took all weekend, but I found that most of the cause of the high idle was an improperly rebuilt bypass valve on the Zenith Strombergs.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Winter Work Summary....
So winter seems to be most 'car guys' time of the year for some heavy duty work.... I live in the South though. We don't have 'winter' like a lot of guys do. That did not mean I did not get a lot done on the car this winter though....
Here is the list of what I've done since December:
New Windshield, Seal and Trim (Insurance claim)
New Clutch
New Throw Out Bearing (Koyo)
New Clutch Master Cylinder
Rebuilt Clutch Slave Cylinder
Stripped and Clearcoated Clutch hydraulic line
Rebuilt Both Carburetors
Buffed Carburetor Dashpots
New Fuel Lines from Gas Tank to Carbs
New Gas Tank
New Gas Tank Gauge Sender
In-Line Fuel Cutoff
Stripped Floorboards and Fiberglassed Holes
Derusted and Repainted Charcoal Canister Bracket
Derusted and Repainted Anti-Runon Valve
Reinstalled Emission System (canisters and ARV)
Stripped and Repainted Thermostat Housing
Stripped and Repainted Valve Cover
Installed New Valve Cover Gasket
Stripped and Repainted Air Cleaner
Installed New Air Cleaner Elements
Stripped and Repainted Oil Filter Canister
Installed Spin-on Oil Filter Adapter
Stripped and Repainted Grill Braces
Stripped and Repainted Radiator Braces
Stripped and Repainted Cowl Vent
Buffed and ReOiled Dash
Buffed All Exterior Paint
Buffed All Exterior Chrome
Added Wheel Rack to Bicycle Rack
Installed New Battery To Starter Cable
Rewired Fog Lights
Rewired Radio
Stripped and Repainted Wiper Arms
Stripped and Repainted Wiper Motor and Bracket
Bled Brakes All Around
Installed New Oil Pressure Switch
Removed Supplementary Oil Feed Line
Soldered Tail Light Bulb Sockets
Installed New Turn Signal Lenses Front
Here is the list of what I've done since December:
New Windshield, Seal and Trim (Insurance claim)
New Clutch
New Throw Out Bearing (Koyo)
New Clutch Master Cylinder
Rebuilt Clutch Slave Cylinder
Stripped and Clearcoated Clutch hydraulic line
Rebuilt Both Carburetors
Buffed Carburetor Dashpots
New Fuel Lines from Gas Tank to Carbs
New Gas Tank
New Gas Tank Gauge Sender
In-Line Fuel Cutoff
Stripped Floorboards and Fiberglassed Holes
Derusted and Repainted Charcoal Canister Bracket
Derusted and Repainted Anti-Runon Valve
Reinstalled Emission System (canisters and ARV)
Stripped and Repainted Thermostat Housing
Stripped and Repainted Valve Cover
Installed New Valve Cover Gasket
Stripped and Repainted Air Cleaner
Installed New Air Cleaner Elements
Stripped and Repainted Oil Filter Canister
Installed Spin-on Oil Filter Adapter
Stripped and Repainted Grill Braces
Stripped and Repainted Radiator Braces
Stripped and Repainted Cowl Vent
Buffed and ReOiled Dash
Buffed All Exterior Paint
Buffed All Exterior Chrome
Added Wheel Rack to Bicycle Rack
Installed New Battery To Starter Cable
Rewired Fog Lights
Rewired Radio
Stripped and Repainted Wiper Arms
Stripped and Repainted Wiper Motor and Bracket
Bled Brakes All Around
Installed New Oil Pressure Switch
Removed Supplementary Oil Feed Line
Soldered Tail Light Bulb Sockets
Installed New Turn Signal Lenses Front
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)