A great birthday

[MadRiver]

Took the day off yesterday to play with my TR-250. The car clearly sensed that it was a special day, and was more cooperative than it has ever been before! My punch list included (i) removing the old starter and installing a rebuilt starter; (ii) replacing the fuel pump (which leaked badly); and (iii) installing a new hood release cable.

A couple of thoughts on these operations. Triumph certainly didn't leave much room to remove the nut and washer on the top bolt on the starter! I had just enough room to get a wrench between the firewall and the flange. The real challange was getting the nut and washer on the bolt once I had the new starter in place. I couldn't get my fingers in there, so I used crazy glue! I glued the nut to the washer, and then glued the nut to the wrench. This allowed me to lower the nut and washer into place using the wrench. I then slipped the bolt through the starter motor and the flange into the nut, tightened it a bit by hand, and then cranked it into place. Since crazy glue has very little sheer strenght, the action of tightening the nut and bolt broke the connection between the wrench and the nut, so when the operation was done, I simply lifted the wrench out of place! Phew!

One other note -- if you have an old hood release cable, consider replacing it. I bought a new one, took it out of the sheath, and added a liberal amount of white grease. Just for fun, I removed the old cable from the sheath, and while it wasn't frayed, there was 38 years of road dirt, a liberal amount of rust, and even when disconnected from the car, it took a great deal of force to move the cable through the seathing! With the new one installed, I give a little tug and the hood pops open!

So, had a great birthday, and I'm glad the car obliged. When the work was done, I took it for a spin for a 1/2 hour and enjoyed the beautiful day before my girlfriend came over and cooked me a great birthday dinner! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[jsneddon]

good work!

A trick I've used for years instead of super glue is the white glue sticks that kids use these days instead of good-old Elmers... - it's sticky enough to hold nuts or bolts if handled gently and it washes right off. It really shines on phillips screws in distant holes. Just jam the screwdriver in the end of the glue stick and then stick the screw to the end of the screw driver. Works best on nuts if you use a socket or a closed-end wrench but will work on open ended ones if you really glop it on and don't bounce it much.

 

[bobh]

For screws you can magnetize the screw driver so it will hold the screw.
How to magnetize? Take a piece of heavy gage insulated wire, make 3 or 4 wraps around the shaft of the screw driver. Hold one end of the wire to the + terminal on your car battery then touch the other end on the - terminal. After the big spark is gone your screw driver is magnetized.

 

[Banjo]

My personal flavor is a gob of dum-dum on the nut or screw. Usually 'cause it's what I got around.
I really like the super glue idea tough

 

[jayhawk]

I've had my starter in and out about 6 times now-- hopefully I wont't have to do that again because it is a chore. One of the ways to get the top washer/nut on is to use masking tape to tape them to your finger-- especially for the nut-- it will hold a while until you get it started. Another trick is to reverse the direction of that top bolt while the starter is out-- from the flywheel end first-- a whole lot easier to add a washer and nut from the starter end.

 

[mrv8q]

I'll second the masking tape idea... I put the nut in the box end of a stubby wrench, and taped the back of the box end, so it wouldn't fall out. The stubby (9/16?) just fit in back there; I just threaded the bolt through the holes, and tightened 'em up.
I've been lucky with my rebuilt starter; the first time was the charm!

Best, Kevin Browne
'59 TR3A #58370

 

[Guest]

This is ~whilst holding a burnt wire in hand, face blackened and hair smoking~ a joke, right?


Bill /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif