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One of those days.....

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J

jayhawk

Jedi Warrior
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I know I'm driving a 46 year old car and things happen... but @%*!!. I'd like at least a little break to just enjoy for a while! I was on my way to the shop where I supposedly had the starter "rebuilt" and then subsequently "reworked". It was going to be the 4th time that I'd taken the starter or starter and car to this shop. I rounded up friends and neighbors to get me pushed down the street and going-- As I waited for my wife to get her car out of the garage, I noticed that the car was a little balkly getting into first gear-- a little crunch. To make a long story short, As I headed for the 10 mile trip, I had more and more difficulty getting it to shift and eventually had to stop 1/3 of the way in the middle of 4 lanes with no clutch action and no starter. I ended up with a tow to the garage and a waste of 3 hours of waiting, being towed and "discussing" the fact that I was never consulted on the original decision to buy new or repair the old to begin with. Now he thinks the slip mechanism in the starter should be welded-- I don't like it and think he owes me a starter. I would have gone else where but think he should straigten out the starter and not at my time and expense!
Whew-- just had to blow a little, I feel some better.
 
SHEESH! Sorry for the bad day.

I put a gear-reduction starter in the 3 that I had - one of the better improvements I made on it. You can always hold on to the original as a spare, or if you're that serious about originality. But those little starters are hard to beat!

Mickey
 
Hi jayhwk and welcome to why do we even drive these cars anyway program. I chose to take the Jungian approach and consider the car as part of my soul. As I repair the vehicle, I am actually repairing the original sin of humankind by creating an arch of association between my spiritual imperfection and the corrupted material world. It sounds like you ran out of brake fluid most likely at the slave cylinder. I usually keep the vehicle original, so I would suggest that you fix the old starter. The rubber coupling is suppose to flex and perhaps should not be welded or it could tear into your new ring gear.

Sp53
 
I like your brand of philosophy Sp53.
My Triumph's anima visited me in a dream and told me to recover her seats in leather.
Jayhawk: You need a crank handle for those little emergencies. Restarting the car by hand is actually pretty easy and will impress the heck out of the natives. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif
 
Careful when you order one of those new little starters. They will be OK for a later TR3A or TR3B or a TR4. On the earlier sidescreen cars with the "bullet-nose" starter they work the other way and those new little starters don't work the other way.

I ordered a new rubber drive for my starter the day before the 9/11 World Trade Center event and it took about 3 weeks for me to get it by air. In the meantime, I MIG welded the old one solid and used it with no problems till the end of that summer. I now carry it with me in my toolbox as a spare - just in case. And yes, I always have my hand crank with me.
 
[ QUOTE ]

As I repair the vehicle, I am actually repairing the original sin of humankind by creating an arch of association between my spiritual imperfection and the corrupted material world. It sounds like you ran out of brake fluid most likely at the slave cylinder.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sp53, those are the two most wonderfully disparate sentences I've read this year! Shades of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Just fantastic!

Best, Kevin Browne
'59 TR3A #58370
 
Yeah, Sp53 that was great.. that added some levity and surely some wisdom in there somewhere. I actually like fixing things my self even if the first 17 times don't work-- but regular work is getting in my way of my abilty to purge my innermost demons!
 
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