choke knob purgatory

[NutmegCT]

So today I replaced every seal, spring, and washer in the carb jet assemblies (H6). Jets now move smoothly up and down with only light hand pressure on the levers.

Replaced the entire choke cable assembly with the Moss original equipment style. Also got the correct o/e choke knob - has small hole for the lock pin.

All in place - ready to add the knob.

Knob slides onto shaft, but the "lock" pin doesn't drop down. Remove the knob, check for free action in the pin and spring, replace knob. Same problem. I see the pin through the hole, but it doesn't "drop".

Removed knob again. Found that the internal spring wasn't pushing the pin down. Lightly increased the spring bend, replaced the knob ... and as I was pushing the knob back, the spring twanged out, broken at the bend.

Replaced the spring with the one from the old cable assembly. Same problem - knob goes fully back (with or without the o-ring) and stops solid, but the pin doesn't drop.

Pulled the knob back off, checked that the pin had enough room to move up and back, replaced the knob, and voila! The knob shaft split.

Tried the original knob (easy to remove from the old cable by pushing up on that original lock pin). Original knob doesn't quite travel back far enough to clear the pin - so pin won't drop even when pushing knob back with a *lot* of force as far as possible.

Is there some secret to this? All the other dash knobs easily pull off and on with the pin working fine. New cable assembly - and the knob (yes, the correct one) won't lock onto the shaft.

Trade secrets exchanged anyone? The thought of paying $10 for shipping another $5 knob isn't pleasing me right now. I shudder to think I may have a "crypt choke".

Tom

 

[Guest]

Hate to tell you but send it back to Moss and get a new one. Better yet, send it back to Moss for a refund and get one from TRF. I actually got some "fake" knobs from Moss a few years back that had a dimple where the hole should have been. Like it supposed to be jambed on and never removed. Yeah, like that works. I just changed the choke cable and knob on my 6 with parts from TRF and had no issues.

Not saying that Moss or any vendor intentionally sells bad parts, it is just that a lot of the manufacturers are now in the Taiwan and the quality just isn't there and that is all the vendors can get. Or are willing to get.

 

[Tinster]

Well, there you have it Tom!

Insulting Crypty and what do you get for it?
A mal-ware choke.

OF COURSE PDO Pedro had non-functional choke
cables in the "restored" TR6 he sold my wife.
I purchase parts from both Moss and TRF. My new
cables happened to come from TRF and even as
non-mechanical as I am, I installed them without
issue and they function very well with Jeff's
wonderful carbs.

Be grateful you don't have to deal with REAL Crypt
issues. Anything under $100 is a pocket change freebie
for the Crypt Car.

d /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wall.gif

 

[tomshobby]

Had similar experience to Bill. Agree with his course of action. It amazes that these parts are so hard to find in condition to be used on collector vehicles where they need to function and because of the visibility of their location need to look correct. I for one expect better.

 

[2wrench]

By your description, the problem seems to replay
itself when the knobs were being placed on your brand
new cable from Moss.

New cable's specs seem a bit suspect to me, but that's
just my two cents. Could it be that the ball and pin
are too big to drop into the knob's hole?

Just for kicks, maybe you could try carefully widening the
hole the pin would drop into with a drill bit. Maybe the
pin and detent ball are just a little too big and this
slight adjustment would help.

I'll be watching to see how it pans out. I have a new
set of knobs on back order from RF. Actually, maybe I'll
post experience with old cables and new knobs.

 

[Don Elliott]

Most of the new retro knobs I've seen have the words "CHOKE PULL". This is what we had to use on the TR3A we finished last year.

When I replaced my cable about 5 years ago, I re-used my original knob which only reads "CHOKE".

 

[Twosheds]

I gave my original knob, which had "CHOKE" on it, to John Warfield. He gave me a repro knob the had "CHOKE PULL" on it. It works.

 

[Aldwyn]

I think I had to drill out the holes on some of my knobs if I remember correctly... then the spring could drop.

 

[sp53]

Thanks for posting Don because I had that backwards. I thought the knob that just said “choke” was the aftermarket. I took mine off and put on a original “choke pull” that I bought on eBay, and now I do not know what I did with the original. It is somewhere I will find it. Anyways, I had a similar experience with an after market choke cable, the little twang broke. What I did was take the twang and put that in the knob to push the pin back so that it would lock and then added some silicone then just push the whole thing on and let it dry over night creating a one trick pony. Anyways in your case, I would send it all back. Moss is pretty good about stuff like that. In addition, I recently fixed an old broken choke with a guitar string. The story is kinda funny because I was driving around town looking for an makeshift inner cable and having no luck. Everything I tried was too big, too small or just wrong. I was at Home Depot and ran into a neighborhood kid who saw the old cable in my hand and he said, “Hey is that a guitar string?” I said, “Not yet.” Anyway, I removed the old cable one from the brass shaft and sliver soldiered in a guitar string.
Sp53

 

[delisaj]

I had replaced knobs recently and had a similiar problem. I bought aftermarket knons and the holes were a little too small. I had to use a drill on the knob just to make the hole a little bigger, and the knob fit fine.