John,
If your TF has left-hand drive, there should be nothing electrical in
the way of the clutch operating levers and pedals. All the starter
wiring, with the exception of the ground strap from gearbox to chassis,
is on the right side. The starter itself operates well with either pos
or neg earth.
The way these clutches are set up, there is a lot less drag on the
starter when the car is in neutral and clutch pedal released than when
clutch pedal is pressed down. I don't know for sure, but suspect that
the extra drag is a combination of the friction of the carbon-face
throw-out bearing and additional thrust load on the crankshaft. Whatever
the cause, best practice is to slip into neutral, release the clutch,
then pull starter control.
But the starter should be able to turn the engine quickly, regardless.
I wonder if there is a fault in the clutch that is adding more friction
to the situation. Have you turned the engine with the starting handle?
You might try that to get a feel for resistance, then have someone step
on clutch pedal and see how much resistance increases.
It's possible that the starter is weak. It's possible that there are
wiring faults that affect current to the starter (you did say battery had
been installed backwards)
Parking lights on the TF front fenders are two-filament bulbs, but I
don't know which you need. They are a standard bulb, though. Once you
get other problems sorted, you might consider halogen bulbs for the tail
& stop lights. They draw more current but their brightness is
impressive.
The instrument cables are similar to those in American cars of the
period. Speedo cable is a tight fit against the floorboard on off side,
so small pliars and removal of the metal cover are necessary.
Bob
On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 10:50:40 -0500 "Gunnell, John" <gunnellj@krause.com>
writes:
> STUCK in the '50s?
>
>
> I got stuck four times coming to work in my :new" '54 TF this
> morning. Found out the battery was in backwards, but changing it
> hasn't helped this problem:
>
> Car runs strong, but as soon as I put the clutch in at a stop
> sign it dies. Sounds like "needs a tune-up" but read on. If I try to
> re-start with the clutch in, it acts dead or near dead. Won't hardly
> crank or won't crank. If I let the clutch out it starts. Almost as
> if the clutch rod was shorting something out, but I called John
> Twist and he said he could not think of anything that would be
> shorted by the clutch or clutch rod. Tonight I will get under it to
> see what's what, but I'm wondering if anyone else ever ran into
> this?
>
> A few more more simple questions.
>
> 1) What # bulbs work best in the parking lights?
>
> 2) Anyone know of an off-the-shelf upper radiator hose swap that
> fits/looks good?
>
> 3) Any tricks to greasing the speedo cable or just like an old
> American car?
>
> 4) Any experience with Moss tach cables (original vs.
> replacement?) and any tricks to sliding one in. The car has no
> tach cable at all.
>
> John Gunnell
> Iola, WI
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/mg-t
|