Hi everybody-
I took the car on it's first "long" drive: 20 miles each way. Overall it
did well. I yelled out to people while on I-95 and asked them their speed
while I was next to them; my speedometer read exactly what they said, so I
feel that the speedo is good.
I have to say that I feel a little silly that it took me so long to
comprehend that indicated speed and indicated RPMs are mechanically fixed
regardless of actual speed, the differential ratio or the tire size. So now
I'm inclined to think that maybe it IS the tachometer. At an indicated 80
MPH (on the speedo) the tachometer read 4650 RPM. Tomorrow I'll install my
spare tachometer and see what it reads. At 90 I was either into the orange
on just about.
New issues: #1. At over 85 MPH (in 4th gear) the motor didn't run perfectly
either. Good power and responsive up to 80 MPH but I felt something vague
that might have been an intermittent miss above that. I know its running
rich. I set it that way intentionally to start out with when I rebuilt the
carbs. Also I don't have the throttle linkage-mounted vacuum control valve
(a 1969 TR6 only fittment) in place and thus the retard unit is pulling
against the advance unit. That too could be a factor. I'll pull the retard
line off and plug it tomorrow and see if that changes anything. Or maybe
its because I haven't filed the contacts and they sat for 17 years. I check
that too tomorrow.
Issue number 2 is that the driver's side and rear of the motor was slathered
with oil. It seems to be below the head. Pools of oil on top of the little
protruding things on the block into which you bolt the coil. Definitely not
limited to there though. Seems strange; I can't figure out from where it
originates. I'm loosing a lot too. It almost appears as if it were leaking
out of the head gasket. I imagine that to be highly unlikely, as I just
installed a new head gasket and properly torqued the head. The oil filter
canister seems to be dryer than most of the rest of the side of the engine
(and it has a new gasket installed and was also torqued properly).
Logically it might be the valve cover gasket. Admittedly the valve cover
gasket is probably like 20 years old as I hate replacing them. But I've
never had this much oil from a valve cover gasket. So I'll put on a new
valve cover gasket tomorrow and see if that helps. And it doesn't seem to
be coming from the oil filter canister, as that would be a simple fix too
(it also has a new seal). I think I installed a new distributor o-ring too.
I should keep a journal. So what's left on that side that could leak? Is
there an oil galley plug on that side of the engine that could be leaking?
I worked on the car until 11:30 pm tonight by flashlight. What a beautiful
night. I've been going stainless steel crazy over the past half year. I
have spend countless hours researching, locating and buying stainless steel
hardware for my TR6. I don't just want stainless that will work, I want the
exact same bolt sizes adn shapes but in stainless. The rebuilt carbs have
95% all new stainless steel hardware in the ORIGINAL shapes! ! ! Some of it
was damn expensive too. Has anyone ever heard of a "cheesehead" bolt? I
now know far more than I ever wanted to about hardware. Nevertheless, the
steering wheel now has six tiny new stainless steel bolts, washers and
locknuts. This is important on a 1969, as the the horn push ring is notched
out in order to provide a view of them. First I ground the bolt heads to
get rid of the casting marks and numbers. Then I went to 220 wet-or-dry,
then 320 and then finally 400. Stainless is damn hard.
Then I installed new furflex fuzzy door seals. And lastly I found a stuck
pin on the brake shoe adjuster on the driver's side. I replaced it with a
waiting, cleaned and lubed spare. While I was in there I replaced the brake
shoes, retaining pins and clips, and one spring. I finished off with a new
frame mounted bumper cone and I called it a night. The frame mounted bumber
cone was nearly toast because the car was jacked up off the ground for many,
many years. With the tires off the ground the rear lever shocks crush the
frame mounted bumper cones.
I now have a beautified steering wheel, a big piece of cardboard under the
car, a stong emergency brake and doors that don't bang around.
Tomorrow I'll replace the valve cover gasket and install the spare
tachometer and report back on the two issues. If anyone has any thoughts
I'm always welcome to hear them.
Sincerely,
Dave Herbert
1969 TR6 and nothing else
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