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When will the pain end?

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billspit

Jedi Knight
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I got home from work yesterday and found the last small box of parts from Spitbits in the driveway. Finally!!! I can finish assembling my Spitfire engine. I needed the cam locking plate to finish. Double checked the cam timing to feel safe about that and slowly put everything together. Got the lifters in and ready to put head on. I had also been waiting on some Crane cam lube to arrive. Came up one washer short for the head! Looked around for a hour and found what looked like a washer for the head so and I'm using that. Funny thing is the washers from two engines look like regular washers. But, I cannot find the darn engine lifting eye to go on top of the head anywhere. I have three disassembled engines and have not one eye anywhere. I stopped short of torquing down the head and quit for the night. I woke up this morning and first thing I remembered was I did not torgue the cam gear and bend the locking tab!!! So tonight I get to take the front cover back off. Then I need a new front cover gasket. yada yada yada. When will it end??
 
You don't get it, it NEVER ends. As soon as your project is done, another comes along, then another........ that's why we love / hate these cars so much.
 
billspit said:
.... I woke up this morning and first thing I remembered was I did not torgue the cam gear and bend the locking tab....
Click to expand...
A psychiatrist would tell you this kind of first-thought is a bad sign.....

Some people wake up thinking of their kids, some worried about the job, some just think about breakfast. We wake up with "jeez, did I forget to install that o-ring in the carb bowl?".

Face it, Bill. It never ends. This IS your life.
 
Working on cars is like laundry....it never ends!! :laugh:
 
1/2 the Triumph experience is car breaking down

the other half is diagnostics and making repairs!

d
 
Not quite right, Bill.

Breakdown, diagnostic, repair = 50%

Paying for above = 60%

Total Triumph Experience = 110%

Who says LBC owners are under achievers????
 
Brosky said:
Not quite right, Bill.

Breakdown, diagnostic, repair = 50%

Paying for above = 60%

Total Triumph Experience = 110%

Who says LBC owners are under achievers????
Click to expand...


<span style="color: #990000">YUP!! :yesnod: </span>
 
Has the pain subsided yet?

If so, don't be concerned. It will return.........
 
I would suggest that anyone who restores these cars do these things first. 1. Employ a "team" of psychiatrists, first to find out why you bought the car, and then, why you are restoring it. 2. Get a team of investment bankers on board, you will need them before it is over with, unlimited funding would be the only option. 3. Hire a good divorce lawyer, mite as well get it over with before you start, then you won't be distracted, and lose parts. However, without a wife, you won't have anyone to blame all the things that go wrong on, and, I wouldn't stoop so low as the blame the dog. Hope this helps.
 
I am by no means a grat mechanic, and have had to take things apart many times to redo them, one thing I am sure of is that my memory for little details isn't what it once was, so make up for it with method, before I put anything back on I go over all the work I did, both visually and also take a spanner or socket and give it one last turn to make sure it is tight--that is pretty much the last step before buttoning things up.


Once you get it right the feeling of accomplishement and money spent make the pain go away, at least until next time.
 
The pain can be mitigated by selling the car. But then you'll experience angst over THAT and go out and voluntarily throw yourself back in th' pit by buying another one. Face it: you're trapped. Live withit. :smirk:
 
The pain continues.

Friday night I snapped one of the cylinder head studs when I was doing the final torquing. Later, I stripped three of the studs that hold down the rocker assembly (not all on the same attempt. The cyl head studs were new from TRF. The torque wrench I was using was calibrated and I used the factory manual for the torque settings. Lastly, when I tried to tighten the cam gear, It clicked fine at 10 ft/lbs, but did no seem to want to click at 20, just kept turning like the head blots before it snapped. So I stopped and bent down the locking tab.

Now I get to wait another several days for another timing cover gasket to arrive.
 
I can certainly understand the pain, been there, done that, got the T shirt.

That said, I would strongly urge you to pull the cam bolt out and see what you have. It sounds either stripped or broken and unfortunatly no amount of lock washer tab bending will fix it.

Lots o luck.

Tinkerman
 
I'm guessing my pain will end when one of two things happens:

1. She see the light and realizes the answer is always "Miata" (not likely) or "E30" (remotely possible).

2. We win the lottery and can afford to pay someone else to fix the thing <span style="font-style: italic">and</span> buy a second LBC so one is available to drive while the other is getting fixed (not likely either, but probably more so than #1).
 
Sometimes the pain never ends.
Some cars are beyond restoration to reliability;

d
 
Tinkerman said:
That said, I would strongly urge you to pull the cam bolt out and see what you have. It sounds either stripped or broken and unfortunatly no amount of lock washer tab bending will fix it.

Lots o luck.

Tinkerman
Click to expand...

I was afraid somebody would say that. I will probably order another locking tab when I order the gasket.
 
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