Moseso
Jedi Knight
Offline
I have put about 5000 mi. on the TR3 since waking it from it's winter nap. I had done a quick tune back in March -- check the point gap, timing, mixture -- it ran fine. I felt it was getting a little harder to start, lately, and that a mid-summer tune-up wouldn't hurt anything.
So -- last Sunday:
I pulled the plugs: They look fine, Not too light, not too dark -- actually fine.
I adjusted the valves -- the usual. A couple a hair tight, a couple a hair loose. Nothing to see here folks, just go on about your business.
The points didn't look good -- too pitted to reuse. Check the condensor -- doesn't look good. Not shorted -- not not very much capacitance, either. Might explain the nasty looking points.
So, out they go, and new stuff in. Gap 'em. Set the timing. Fire it up. All sounds good.
Time to take it out on the road, listen for pinging and warm it up for a mixture check.
I head up the freeway to the next freeway interchange cloverleaf, about 6 miles. I'm tearing around the cloverleaf to go back down the way I came, about 4500 RPM in second, and as I'm under the freeway, it' starts to miss like crazy! Pulling up on the other side, I'm losing beaucoup power -- there's a lovely place to pull off, so I take it and the motor shuts itself down. Won't even idle.
At this point I should point out that it's nearly 100 degrees out here, and 90-some% humid.
Up goes the hood. I look in the gas tank first. That's not it. I pop a fuel line off the rear carb: spurt. That's not it. All the high voltage leads look fine, so I pop the distributor cap. It looks like the points have moved away from the cam. The gap between the rubbing block and the cam looks absurdly huge.
Enter the State Trooper. He pulls off behind me and spends at least a minute and a half radioing-in his position while I stand there, hands in sight, waiting for him to come say "hi." He says he saw me on the shoulder, thought he'd stop... I tell him that I think I have just found the cause of that. Of course, he walks in front of the car, looks at it and says, "What is this thing?" We discuss this-and-that (how old, how long I've had it, when and how long I restored it, etc.) He comments on the non-collector plates, and I tell him that I built it to drive it and didn't want any restrictions on that. He nods his approval.
I repeat that I think I've just found my problem and that, if I'm right, I have everything I need to get myself home with a few minutes work: my Leatherman and the cute little Lucas screwdriver/gap gauge in the glove box. As I'm working he offers that I could have picked a cooler day to do this. He got THAT right! He helps my rock the car until the points are on the high-point of the cam. I regap and re(?)tighten the points, get in the car and it fires right up. I say, "That'll get me home." He asks where that is and I tell him -- I think he might have offered to follow me if it were further away.
So, I get home and go inside to cool off for a while before going back out to the (probably 115 degree) garage. Once back outside, I reset the points and timing... Make sure to adequately tighten the points! One more test drive. This one goes smoother than its predecessor.
Been running fine, ever since!
So -- last Sunday:
I pulled the plugs: They look fine, Not too light, not too dark -- actually fine.
I adjusted the valves -- the usual. A couple a hair tight, a couple a hair loose. Nothing to see here folks, just go on about your business.
The points didn't look good -- too pitted to reuse. Check the condensor -- doesn't look good. Not shorted -- not not very much capacitance, either. Might explain the nasty looking points.
So, out they go, and new stuff in. Gap 'em. Set the timing. Fire it up. All sounds good.
Time to take it out on the road, listen for pinging and warm it up for a mixture check.
I head up the freeway to the next freeway interchange cloverleaf, about 6 miles. I'm tearing around the cloverleaf to go back down the way I came, about 4500 RPM in second, and as I'm under the freeway, it' starts to miss like crazy! Pulling up on the other side, I'm losing beaucoup power -- there's a lovely place to pull off, so I take it and the motor shuts itself down. Won't even idle.
At this point I should point out that it's nearly 100 degrees out here, and 90-some% humid.
Up goes the hood. I look in the gas tank first. That's not it. I pop a fuel line off the rear carb: spurt. That's not it. All the high voltage leads look fine, so I pop the distributor cap. It looks like the points have moved away from the cam. The gap between the rubbing block and the cam looks absurdly huge.
Enter the State Trooper. He pulls off behind me and spends at least a minute and a half radioing-in his position while I stand there, hands in sight, waiting for him to come say "hi." He says he saw me on the shoulder, thought he'd stop... I tell him that I think I have just found the cause of that. Of course, he walks in front of the car, looks at it and says, "What is this thing?" We discuss this-and-that (how old, how long I've had it, when and how long I restored it, etc.) He comments on the non-collector plates, and I tell him that I built it to drive it and didn't want any restrictions on that. He nods his approval.
I repeat that I think I've just found my problem and that, if I'm right, I have everything I need to get myself home with a few minutes work: my Leatherman and the cute little Lucas screwdriver/gap gauge in the glove box. As I'm working he offers that I could have picked a cooler day to do this. He got THAT right! He helps my rock the car until the points are on the high-point of the cam. I regap and re(?)tighten the points, get in the car and it fires right up. I say, "That'll get me home." He asks where that is and I tell him -- I think he might have offered to follow me if it were further away.
So, I get home and go inside to cool off for a while before going back out to the (probably 115 degree) garage. Once back outside, I reset the points and timing... Make sure to adequately tighten the points! One more test drive. This one goes smoother than its predecessor.
Been running fine, ever since!