Hello!
Just a quick note to thank those who posted on the famous 'rope-trick' for
cylinder head removal.
Yesterday, I was blessed with a new problem...As I was driving down I-5, I
heard what sounded like a rock or bolt bouncing off the bottom of my 76
Spit. Well, the car kept running just fine but when I tried to restart her,
she was a little hesitant and wanted to kill. Got her home, lifted the
bonnet and noticed that my alternator was bouncing back and forth. The bolt
holding the alternator to the waterpump via the cylinder head was gone.
Ah ha! I thought, the bolt backed out and ended up part of I-5. So, having
sundry and diverse bolts on hand, I found one that would fit and tried to
fasten it down. Guess what? It would not thread. I stuck a small screw
driver into the hole and started pulling out sealent. As I cleaned the
area, I notice what looked like the marks of a self tapping screw on the
alternator bracket and about half an inch into the water pump.
I knew what was coming, but didn't want to admit it. That noise I heard on
the freeway was likely the selfthreading screw backing out and bouncing
away. Ok, so I pulled the water pump to see what was going on. Oh boy,
wouldn't you know it....the original bolt had been broken off inside the
cylinder head, about a quarter of an inch in. Crap.
Alright, I thought....I have the week off (educators to have good perks!),
I'll pull the head and have it helicoiled.
So all of this morning I've been out there pulling stuff off the motor. As
was expected, the head wasn't budging. So I resorted to something I learned
here on the Triumph mailing list....the rope trick. I'll be
darned...without hesitation, that nasty old head popped right up.
Thanks everyone....I would never have thought of such a clever trick.
Now, its off to the machine shop.
Will
"What's the point in livin' unless you're living wild?"
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