tr7triumph.com

Had an idea for a thread just now while pulling the engine in my work truck.......

Tr- blunders. Funny instances while working on the wedge. I have MANY, but here's one I found funny. Well, not untill <i>after</i> I figured out the problem.....

My second TR8. I jacked the car up, placed on jack-stands & pulled the engine to detail, install all new gaskets- new intake etc. Upgrades on engine were all done and was lowering the engine back in car on fresh motor-mounts. I finished tightning up motor mount bolts and noticed.....the engine appeared crooked in the engine bay! Looked it over and over again, but everything appeared right. I unbolted it again and tried to level the engine to no avail. Jacked up the engine again, and swapped the motor mount from left to right. Still crooked. Jacked it up again and swapped the mounts right to left. Lowered it back, placed a level on the intake, still crooked. [:(!]
I went on like this for more than an hour. Started second guessing myself..."was it crooked before I pulled it out??" Went back over pic's I had taken during process, looked fine. Checked with the level again, still off. Went and got another level, same reading! Now Im getting ReAlLy frustrated. Checked and rechecked everything I could think of over and over again. Then I finally realized.......one jack-stand was a notch or two lower than the other, the WHOLE car, not just the motor...was tilted! I...really felt like a dunce that night I tell ya!

I have many more from over the years, wondering what funny experiences youve had too.[:)]


Johnny

Truly a "...forest for the trees" thing, that!

Thanks for sharing. I know I've had many a faux pas, but have long since forgotten them. If I can dredge one up, I'll be sure to post it.

I did a stupid one puting the 8 back together this spring. I was down to making the lights work. No go on the reverse lights. Convinced myself the switch must have gone bad from sitting. So I pulled out the console I just got done reinstalling. Checked the switch out and it appeared to be working. Ended up a wierd coincidence of burned out bulbs and me pluging the sockets in the wrong holes in the tail lamps. As Mickey said, should have been obvious. DUH!!!

72 MGB BRG
80 TR8 Persian Aqua
If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

Here's one over the top. A TR7 friend is building up a 7 he recently purchased and convinced himself his daily driver was on it's last legs as it wouldn't run due to a faulty fuel pump and looking outragously grimy. We tried to start his car to drive it in the garage so we could steal his fuel tank. It would only barely run when we sprayed gas into the carbs. After lots of frustration, we pushed the car in and began removing parts we wanted to reuse such as 5speed rear, trans, clutch and such. The fuel tank was next and he swore that it would be a tough one as he parked it with a full tank. We couldn't verify due to a faulty sender and nothing to dip in the tank to check. Well of course it ended up to be an empty tank! I still think his daily driver would be on the road if it only had some gas and an engine clean although I would never tell (he doesn't visit this site).

Hahahaha empty gas tank my buddy just went through that with his 2002 GMC truck, called me in a panic because it just died on the highway... of course his gas gauge hadn't worked in months[:D]

My story is taking out my dead engine and putting in a known good one. But once the engine was bolted in the damn thing wouldn't turn over. I checked the battery the starter all the electrical etc..... Turns out the engine was seized???????? I had it running the week before so now I was choked. Needless to say I can swap a TR7 engine in no time. So I pulled the seized engine out seperated it from the transmission and hey it turns over*^*&^(*&^ [:(!]
So maybe it's the transmission, but no it turns freely so what the heck...... did you guys know that the 4 speed tranny plate and the 5 speed tranny plate are different[:D] Yea took me three days to figure that one out, I'm so embarrassed [:I]

Can't save them all but I am trying!!!

Not a wedge, & not me, but pretty funny, I think.

I sailed into Rabhal, New Island, Papua New Guinea, in 76, to sit
out the cyclone season. This is not far from the Solomon Islands, &
Honiria, near where JFK [US president] had his PT boat ripped out
from under him, during WW11.

Most vilages combined owned a little Daihatsu, or Toyota 1500cc
diesel table top, used as busses, to get villagers to work in the
town. The diahatsu agent got me to set up an overhaul line, for the
engines for these things, then asked me to mind the spare parts
department, while the manager went on his long home leave, 2 months
every 2 years.

I'd been around the area for over a year, & was starting to get an
idea of how things worked.
One day a boy, [name for male local, in those gloriously non PC
days] from the workshop came in with an order for a battery for one
of these trucks.
I gave him one, but 10 minutes later he was back for a starter
motor.

10 minutes later the forman came in, & asked me to go & have a look
at this truck. The service manager was away, & this new chum, [only
been there 3 weeks] was a bit at sea. He told me a boy had come in &
said "dis pella truck, belong me, he no git up" [My truck won't
start]. The thing was dead, so he'd had the battery, & then the
starter fitted, Still nothing.

The truck, a 9 month old Diahatsu, was in the parking area, in front
of the workshop. I looked underneath, then reached in, & felt the
starter, it near burnt my hand.
I pulled the dip stick, dry.
Opened the tap, under the radiator, brown dust. A mechanic could not
turn the engine, with a breaker bar, on a socket on the front pully
nut.

I asked the boy, "how dis pella truck, him stop [a]long here"? [How
did it get here] The answer, "me drive him".

Next question, "Dis pella motor belong you, him RRRRRRRRRRR"? [Did the motor run?]
Sad shake of the head, "Him no RRRRRRRRR".

They had towed the thing into town, from a village, but it never occured to them to tell the mechanic, or that he might need to know.

It transpired that no one had told them you had to put water, or oil in the thing, or get it serviced. The only thing that had been done to it, in its 15,000 miles was add diesel.

This was typical of the islands, & explains why that spare parts dept had never sold a wheel bearing, or a set of brake linings for those trucks, but averaged 3 crank shafts a month. The forman had started to learn that you have to ask different questions up there. Also, the fact that no vehical in your parking lot, had necessarily got there under its own steam.

Hasbeen

Hi,
When i got my 4.6 running last year, between xmas and new year, i had just started it for the first time. I had all the windows and doors shut in my garage as freezing outside, wanting to run the cam in so didnt want to let the engine idle for 15mins so had this HUGE V8 running at 2000 rpm with no ventilation. After 10 mins or so suddenly felt very light headed and then it quickly dawned on me I WAS GASSING MYSELF [xx(] [xx(] Got outside to say the least quickly!! Went in the house and my eldest daughter and girl friend at the time said you are really red in the face [xx(] sure sign of CO poison [xx(] Can remenber from my college days as an apprentice that CO poisoning you just fall asleep, that was it stayed up till about 4 am dare not go to sleep!!! Let that be a warning working in a unventalted garage is not big and for sure not clever!!!
Cheers John

LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!
1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!
Read My Blog http://www.waringstowntr7s.co.uk/blogs/ ... hp/John215

Too many to count really, but one of my better ones involved an engine swap (seems like a common starting point for these stories, looking at the previous posts). I'd basically finished the job, everything bolted & connected up. It's all good, I thought - until I spotted this yellow shiny thing in a corner. Oh yes, forgot to fit the spigot bush...

Sondar

Another "WOOPs" I did one time....

On my "Car & Driver magazine" Triton Green TR8, needed to replace the clutch as it was tired and aged from sitting. Got new clutch assly from Woody (Wedge Shop), dropped the tranny and removed the old clutch.

With the new clutch bolted up, I reinstalled the trans, driveshaft and exhaust. Done! NOT!!

I look on the floor and see a little square metal thingie with a hole in the center. I think to myself 'where did this go?? It does look familiar!' Turns out it was one of the slipper-pads that fit on the peg of the clutch lever and ride in the slot of the carrier sleeve!!! DOH!! Off comes the exhaust, driveshaft and 5-speed again so I can fit this little thing back. Pull it all apart and sure enough...one was still in place & the other fell out! All that work and time. And I was tryin to get her ready for a show in Pensicola FLA in a few days. LOL

Johnny

My biggest TR7 blunder was when I was cleaning the wiper rack in the parts washer the parking switch actuator got caught in the grill and cracked it (it's made of copper). I soldered it and it made it through one rain storm but the next year in the middle of a downpour it broke resulting in constant wiper action unless I turned the car off or disconnected the wiring under the dash (which I did as the rain was dimishing.) I resoldered it using copper reinforcing strips after 5 tries as you tried to juggle three pieces in three planes till the solder solidified. That fixed it so far so good. I've got a spare wiper rack just in case. Next time I'll put the actuator in a plastic baggie to protect it from catching anything and braking when it's out.

TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

Time to fess up to a few D'oh moments with the old sprint...

1. After replacing the spark plug tubes I was cleaning rocker cover gasket remnants off the head with a Stanley blade and managed to drop the blade into the timing chain well.

2. Checked the oil one night and the dip stick came up dry. I kept tipping more oil in and checking with the same result until nearly 5.0L of oil was poured into an engine of 4.5L capacity. Finally, I realised that the dip stick hose had dis-attached itself from the block.

3. Rust had broken out all along the sills so I had the grinder out and discovered there was f/all metal left there at all. I had only recently bought the car and it had been looking pretty in a fresh coat of paint. I was so disgusted that I threw the grinder (still running) at the car. It bounced off the back of the roof, landed on the sunroof, tore its way through and ripped into a seat.

There, now you know I am a dope...

Having just finished my first TR7 restoration in 1990 I took it out for a road test. The car was superb & I was very pleased with my work. (It went on to win several concourse prizes in the TRDC). However after only 4 miles or so the engine started making tapping noises, by the time i got home the engine had destroyed itself!! [:(]That was about 7 miles in total. I stripped the engine, the oil looked like black hammerite, the the crankshaft bearings had worn so much I could wobble the shaft about, & the tappet buckets had ground themselves into the head. Couldn't find any reason for this dramatic wear, so I ended up buying a complete new engine.
Once fitted of we go for the second time, 8 miles down the road, tap tap tap!! Back home 14 miles later - engine destroyed!! Now this was a brand new full engine so the problem must lie with something I've reused. Checked everything sump, oil pump, pick up pipe, all fine. I'm at a total loss, ask local machanics & motor engineers to no avail.
The block is useable so I get it rebuilt and buy new cylinder head number 3. I rebuild the engine with new oil pump etc to be on the safe side. Thinking i've checked or replaced everything possible I'm off for test drive 3, much better, 25miles!!! tap tap tap, BO***CKS, back home, engine out, get depressed.
After a few weeks when I'd mellowed out a bit I was racking my brains when I finally realised what had gone wrong. I'd had the rocker cover bead blasted & stove enamalled. The blaster didn't mask of the flame trap in the rear of the cover, this had filled itself with blasting grit which was mixing in the oil & grinding away at the insides of my engines.
The 4th engine was a great success[:)]. I wish I'd realised sooner coz that was a very expensive few months! Oh well, we live & learn.[:D]

Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8

Ouch!

Mine was nowhere near as expensive, but way more stupid.

I bought an old Spitfire when I was 19. I thought I would give it a "good service". After a day or two it started running very badly. I replaced the condenser, coil, leads, dizzy cap etc etc and could not figure it out. I called one of my friends the following day to have a look at it (he was a mechanic).

The first thing he checked was the points. I told him they were fine as I had just replaced them....

After that episode, I always check the points haven`t closed before doing anything else....[:I]


1980 persian aqua DHC

Wow REPLIC8....that one is truly sad yet a bit funny at the same time. Me, with my short temper....I would of been IRATE! Things wouldve been broken around my garage for sure!!

You can only imagine the words coming out of my mouth when I had to pull the trans again in my Green-8 because one little part fell out upon assembly. If i went thru three engines, the car woulda been dented up for sure by the second one! LOL (well ok, maybe not. But I woulda broke something in frustration!)


Johnny

Johnny
Having just finished the restoration I learnt very quickly to walk away from the car when I got stressed up. I must admit tho lots of tools etc where thrown down the drive in temper! Hopefully things will go smoother when I rebuild the 8. [:D]

Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8