CLANK XX: The Clankster Strikes Again!
This weekend I finagled a bit of spare time away from home improvement
chores, and decided to retorque the head on the Clankster ( my TR2 ). No big
deal, should take about an hour or two, including re-adjusting the valves.
Hah!
There I was, torquing up stud #6. Suddenly, there was a *click*, and the
torque wrench turned freely. The !#$@ stud had broken off in the hole! Not
only that, it had broken at the BOTTOM END. And it was one of the Long Studs,
the ones that screw in way down deep inside the block. ARGH! Visions of
removing the head, and towing the car to a machine shop to have the broken stud
removed, went through my brain. I pulled the broken stud out and noted that it
had not broken "Flat", rather, the break was diagonal. It looked like I just
might be able to screw out the broken end by pushing down on it with the rest
of the stud. To facilitate matters, I welded a nut onto the top end of the
stud. Then stuck it down in the hole, and started turning. I used an "Impact
Driver". This is a small tool that has a socket drive at one end, and a flat
place on which to hammer on the other end.
The long, broken, stud with the nut welded on, went into the hole. The
tool went over the nut. Tap. Tap-ta-tap. Tappity-tappity-tap. Round and
round she went. And Way Down There, that busted piece of stud just turned
right out! Down to the auto parts store for one of those magnetic picker-upper
things. Stuck the magnet in the hole, and OUT CAME THE BUSTED END!!!!
Out to the storage shed to my spare engine block. Got a 35-year old stud
out of that block. Looked great. Torqued the head up, adjusted the valves,
and VROOM!
The thing that really bothers me about this broken stud, is that it was
BRAND NEW. Either from TRF or Moss, I don't remember which. In general, I
have had a good deal of trouble from the new head studs, nuts, and washers that
I put into the Clankster's engine. It seems that the old ones were better than
the new ones. The washers are definitely softer metal than the old ones; they
creep out from under the nuts like taffee. One of the nuts lost its threads:
they came right out, in one piece, looking like a little tiny slinky.
And I have paid enough to get good parts: $7 for the short studs, $11 for the
long studs, $1 .ea for the nuts. I thought I was doing a Good Thing by
replacing all this stuff; it seems I was wrong. From now on, I will carfully
inspect my old head studs, and replace ONLY those that are stretched or
damaged.
While I'm on the subject, maybe some people out there would be interested
in the FAST WAY TO ADJUST VALVES. Up till now, I'd done it the slow way, like
they say in the book. Here's the FAST way. It works for TR2-4. Might work on
other motors too, haven't tried them.
Remove the valve cover, and ALL FOUR SPARK PLUGS. Stick in the starter
handle, and turn the motor until one pair of valves are at the "point of rock".
This is the point where the piston for that particular cylinder is at TDC, and
both valves are open. Put a thin wooden stick in the sparkplug hole. Use it
to "feel" the piston, and rock the engine until the piston is precisely at TDC.
Now, the Triumph crankshaft is designed such that there are always TWO pistons
at TDC at the same time. Either the two inner pistons, or the two OUTER
pistons. In other words, if piston #1 is at TDC, then #4 is also. If piston
#2 is at TDC, then piston #3 is also.
Once you have set one piston at the point of valve rock, you can now
adjust the valves on the OTHER piston that's at TDC. Having done this, you
turn the engine exactly one revolution, and adjust the valves on the first
piston. Each time, check for TDC with the wooden stick in the sparkplug hole.
The advantage of this method is that you don't have to look at timing
marks, which are pretty hard to see on TR2-4. Also, you don't have to be going
back & forth between the engine and the shop manual, since there really isn't a
"sequence". A full valve adjustment should take 15-20 minutes.
- Jerry
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