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Wall of Shame
- Thread starter vping
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You could view what was left of the con rod, oil pickup and crank through the space this piece vacated in the side of an MGB-GT block. Engine had been into before we bought the car, unbeknownst to us. It grenaded itself on the Mass Pike at West Springfield, 11:00 PM. First Wife at the helm. Long story.
OP
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So now I'm a DPO. I was going to post some pics of these really bad parts I had but can't find them. We cleaned out the garage recently and may have scrapped them!!
Anyway, one of my wall of shame items was a piston. '80LE was brought to me to install an Overdrive. When I started it to put it in the middle bay, it felt like it was "running rough" and sounded like it was on it's last leg but there was no mention of that when it was dropped off.
I'll typically start with the carb and work my way down. I started with the air cleaner. It was aftermarket Weber downdraft with one of those rectangular chrome covers. When I removed the cover, there were small bolts in the carb opening and were there so long, they actually wore out the metal. For the life of me I could not figure it out and then it dawned on me....The small bolts holding the air cleaner on were mismatched. WOW. someone let the bolts fall into the carb and didn't realize it.
Since it was running rough, and the engine was coming out anyway, I decided to pull the head. One of the pistons looks like it was attacked with an ice pick!! Some how a bolt got sucked into the piston chamber, bounced around and must have made it past a valve and into the exhaust. Never found it. I decided to reuse the bolt I found in the Carb to put the air cleaner back on when I was done with the project. Thought it was fitting to do so!
Anyway, one of my wall of shame items was a piston. '80LE was brought to me to install an Overdrive. When I started it to put it in the middle bay, it felt like it was "running rough" and sounded like it was on it's last leg but there was no mention of that when it was dropped off.
I'll typically start with the carb and work my way down. I started with the air cleaner. It was aftermarket Weber downdraft with one of those rectangular chrome covers. When I removed the cover, there were small bolts in the carb opening and were there so long, they actually wore out the metal. For the life of me I could not figure it out and then it dawned on me....The small bolts holding the air cleaner on were mismatched. WOW. someone let the bolts fall into the carb and didn't realize it.
Since it was running rough, and the engine was coming out anyway, I decided to pull the head. One of the pistons looks like it was attacked with an ice pick!! Some how a bolt got sucked into the piston chamber, bounced around and must have made it past a valve and into the exhaust. Never found it. I decided to reuse the bolt I found in the Carb to put the air cleaner back on when I was done with the project. Thought it was fitting to do so!
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That's a keeper (the piece that is )lol
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A couple of years ago I bought a second TR6. I got it running and heard a strange “pinging” sound from the engine. Using a piece of pipe like a stethoscope it sounded like it was coming from #3 piston. I pulled the head off and couldn’t believe what I saw. Laying on top of the piston was a 3/8” washer.
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Amazing the things that get sucked down through an intake. A couple pals and fellow Elan owners had worked on one of the cars, the Weber 40 DCOE's off and gone through. All assembled and off for a test run, they made it out of the driveway and to a stop sign a couple yards away, when they heard a horrible rattling from the engine. Chopped the iggy and pushed the Elan back to the garage. Quick exam indicated one of the 8mm nuts securing the airbox to the carb bodies was MIA. Head removal found it lodged in one chamber of the head and multiple, perfectly stamped images of the nut embossed in the piston top. Nylock nuts have been used for the task from that day forward, on every one of the Weber fitted engines we've worked on. That was back in 1977 or '78.
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The guy I bought the TR6 from never worked on the car; he entrusted all the work to his favorite mechanic. I’m sure his mechanic dropped it in the intake and just went and got another one and returned the car. Sheeesh
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Speakin' of TR-6's, my pal had a classmate in college with one. The car wouldn't turn over one morning, no amount of coaxing, from jumper cables to push-starting worked. My pal asked if I'd look at it. I was living at home at my parents' place with a garage full of tools and resources. Asked the Old Man if it'd be okay, he agreed. They towed the car there, we sat it in the drive and I pulled the plugs out, asked the owner to see if it'd spin up. When he turned the key we saw multiple JETS of water shoot out of the plug holes! Musta shot up fifteen feet into the air.
Head gasket R&R with some careful water removal (used Mom's turkey baster... better to beg forgiveness an' all that), an oil change and he was on his way.
Head gasket R&R with some careful water removal (used Mom's turkey baster... better to beg forgiveness an' all that), an oil change and he was on his way.
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At least the fuse contacts didn't corrode away.
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Wiring "sins" are one of the reasons I wrote the article about the disrespect our cars were treated with back-when. Twisting a couple wires together and taping it up was about the best they got. Some even had house wiring wire nuts holding the headlight circuits together. ScotchLocs were big things, too. Aluminum pegs connecting copper wires, exposed to atmosphere. What could go wrong!?
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Especially if you consider all the time trying to discover all th' bodged pieces in one fifty or more years old!It amazes me how inexpensive and entire cloth wrapped harness costs, and how little time is needed to install.
mikephillips
Yoda
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My Tiger when I bought it in the early 90s was rough. it have been hit in the front at some point and the front fenders removed over the tops of the tires. An new bit was brazed on, but rather than butted to the original sheet metal it had been lapped over and filled with plastic. Of course it was cracked and even the brazing was breaking down. When it had last run in the 70s I was told, the rear brakes had gone bad and the fix had been to screw a plumbing cap onto the flex hose as a "fix". Engine had a high rise intake and since it was too tall for an aircleaner they had just pushed the carb top against the hood, I suspect breathing was "interesting" for it. Now I knew it was going to be torn down to a bare shell and redone so none of this bothered me, but I was amazed at the 1970s just an old car fixes...
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Again I will direct attention to my opinion in the "Articles" section regarding prejudice and perception where our LBC's are concerned.