Paul Gilders writes:
> I think the best part of the show for me was the drive down - 4 TR6's
> in a row along the highway is kind of fun, especially before the
> crowds get on the roads. Static displays are ok, but driving these
> cars really is great and as Scott says, why don't we see all these
> cars on the roads?
Bowie
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Yeah, the ride down was fantastic! Sometimes the exhaust notes would
even harmonize. It was a great drive. But, yeah! Why don't we see
more of them TRs, MGBs, Jags, AHs, and etc, on the roads? Shoot man,
the cars were made to drive right? They got wheels don't they? :-)
Anyway, Bowie was a blast. It was great to meet fellow SOL down
there. Gotta have a national SOL event someday...
Frame rot
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I took the day off yesterday to take care of a bit of TR6 frame rot.
Inparticular the place where the rear trailing arms mount. This is a
common getcha in the TR6. Most all the trailing arms on TR6's I have
seen, (including show cars) are rust moosh. If they aren't rush
moosh, then they have either been repaired, or came of Arizona. The
cause of the rust moosh is due to the lack of drain holes back there.
It's kinda a like leaving cereal soak in the milk too long. Moosh.
If you have good trailing arms, you may consider putting a drain hole
in your frame. If you don't, you have a drain hole sooner or later
anyway. :-)
One day, I met this fellow who has a welder and a garage out in the
mountains. He typically charges $15 an hour to weld, so I figured
this would be a good thing to take care of before I move out west. He
used to teach welding, so I figure he can probably handle some frame
work. We began. After cutting into the frame a bit, we found....
Alot. Alot of rust. It was much weaker back there than I would care
to think about. Anyway, it took over 15 hours of welding, cutting,
shaping, thinking (read: beer break!), etc, to get the sucker strong.
I now own the worlds strongest TR6 rear trailing arm frame pieces, and
they look pretty stock as well. Well, as long as you don't look *too*
close... If I could just do that to the rest of the car!
I mention this because, I found my problem my just tapping the bottom
of the frame with a hammer. It was very soft. The frame was rusting
from the inside out! This could have been a bad thing in just a
couple of years. But now, I think if I left the car to the elements,
the last thing left on the ground would be these two trailing arm
frame pieces. BTW, I will drill new drain holes in my mondo frame
pieces.
Bushings
--------
I also learned a really neato trick on how to remove and replace
bushings. Basically, you need a large socket that the bushing will
fit into, (I used a 1 7/16" socket) and a long bolt. Long enough to
go through the bushing and the bushing housing. (6 inches I think we
used, but multiple lengths will help)
To remove the old bushing, place the socket on the outside of the
bushing housing. Run the bolt through the socket (you may need to use
a washer to prevent the bolt from sliding through the socket end).
Continue feeding the bolt through the bushing. Put a washer and a nut
on the end of the bolt and start cranking on the nut. This will pull
the bushing out of the housing and into the socket. A good bit of
silicon spray will ease the pull. I cut away the swollen rubber to
remove even more resistance.
Installation is similar. Place the socket on the outside of the
housing, place the new bushing on the opposite side of the housing,
run the bolt through the socket, then the housing, then the bushing.
(you need a long bolt for this) Slap on a washer and a nut and crank
away. The new bushing will slide into the housing like iced tea down
your throat on a hot summer's day. Again, silicon spray will make the
iced tea go down even smoother.
TTFN,
-Scotty
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