On Mon, 11 Mar 2002, Dwayne Cooper wrote:
> I've been putting together my '74 for about the last year. I'm just now
> sneaking out to road test it a little bit and hear the dreaded
> "rear-end-thunk" which by everything I've read points to cracked diff mounts.
> >From what I've read on the VTR site, this is pretty easy to diagnose -- I'll
> be putting the car up on jackstands over the weekend to inspect.
Well, with TR6's, you can never _assume_ broekn diff. mounts. Heck, you
could have axle "Slop", differential "sun gear slop". A bad u-joint can
cause clunks... but a lot of TR6's have this broken diff. mount thing at
one time or another.
> How does one go about getting something like this fixed. I'm guessing the
> differential has to be removed before new mounts can be welded in. Will a
> welding shop do this (remove the diff)? Or, do I need to drop it out and
> somehow transport the car to the shop. What will an operation like this cost?
> Any tips or advice would be most appreciated.
Well, if you determine that the frame is in fact cracked, you have two
choices.
You can get all setup in your garage for a welder with a portable "rig" or
you can bring the whole car to the welder (or competent repair shop) for
the work.
If you chose the former, you should arrange to have the person doing the
welding to look at your setup to make sure that it's both "safe" and
accessible for his/her equipment. Keep in mind that welding makes a lot of
smoke (and "slag") and that you need to do a lot of grinding in there to
get good welds.
But this is certainly doable.
If you do all the prep work and make it so the welder can get in there,
you might get away with one hour of the welder's time, but certainly not
more that two hours.
If you bring the car to the welder shop, you'll have to dish out an extra
hour or so's cost for having the shoppe remove the diff and exhaust etc.
so that the welding can be done. Depending on the rate the shoppe charges
for the work, this could add up.
But the job shouldn't cost more than $200 exclusive of "collateral
damage". But even if you get everything out and then decide that the frame
is okay afterall, it's probably a good "investment" to beef up the diff.
mounts. In fact it's a _lot_ easier to beef it up than it is to fix
things, especially if the right front differential mount has been ripped
out of the frame. Hi Rick! :-)
> Dwayne Cooper
> '74
regards,
rml
p.s. have MIG welder, will travel. I do and I do.
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