My ring gear had come in from TRF, and I took the flywheel with the
new gear to a local machine shop. The guy looked at the old ring gear
and said, "Someone had put this thing on backwards! The feathered
edge of the cogs should face the starter, not the clutch side." I
looked and sure enough he was right. I asked he wait before he put on
the new gear so I could ensure that this wasn't the "correct" installation.
A call to the TRF tech line exposed the mystery.
<ring>
TRF: Hello?
ME: I'm calling to ask about the correct installation of a TR6 ring gear.
TRF: Put the new ring gear the OPPOSITE way the old one comes off.
ME: Huh?
TRF: Is the feathered edge of the ring gear facing the clutch side?
ME: Yes.
TRF: OK, here's the story... The early TR's had a starter which
engaged from the clutch side of the flywheel. Later they put
in a heavy duty starter, which engaged from the backside of the
flywheel. The factory had many flywheels which already had the
ring gears setup for the old starter. There are thousands of
of TR6's with backwards ring gears out there. Let me guess,
the starter pushed the old ring gear off the flywheel.
ME: Yup.
TRF: Yeah, that happens when they are put on backwards.
ME: Well, it lasted 20 years, I guess that's not too bad. Anyway,
thanks for the story..
<click>
Amazing eh? I wonder how many other backwards parts are on my car!
(I mean from the factory.... :-) Anyway, the installation will happen
tonight or tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it fairs. BTW, the
new ring gear was a real bugger to install, says the machine shop.
They said it took them over an hour to get it on. My 12.50 was well
spent I guess, and the sucker seems to be on there for the life of the
car... I don't think I'll mess with the Locktite stuff...
I'll let ya'll know when the TR has fire under the bonnet... :-)
Cheers,
-Scotty
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