Well, normally owning a TR-8 is an uneventful kind of deal. Hardly anything
really goes wrong (compared to the TR-7 I used to own :-) Still, the
car is British so every once in a while, Lucas and all his minions gang
up and "take out" another "reliable" British car just to show everyone
who's boss...
This morning I left the house early. I was excited. I had just purchased
new Michelins for the 8 (205-60R13's) and I was eager to get them mounted
so I could bring them home, put them on the car, and drive it again (I
just repainted the wheels). I brought in my rims and they set about mounting
them right off. No wait! All was fine until they started to balance them.
They put the tires on that spin thingie and proceeded to do what they
usually do. All went fine until the third wheel. Zing, Crash, bounce,
and some cursing could be heard over the din of the shop. Seems the
wheel had escaped its mounting on the machine and was going in search
of the car :-) They looked at me sheepishly, I kinda scowled back, and
they continued. Mind you, this is a GOOD shop. Highly recommended by all.
However, against Lucas and his minions, anything can happen. They finished,
breathed a sigh of relief, and I took the tires home to meet the rest
of the car.
As I was adjusting the tire pressure from the shop 50 psi to something
a little more reasonable, I noticed "Made in UK" stamped on the side
of the tires. Ah hah! See? There WERE Lucas gremlins in that tire shop.
Well, I successfully mounted the tires. I was especially careful this time
since I knew trouble was lurking about. I triple checked all the jack stands
and was a completely thorough little doobie. I got the car keys, jumped
in the car (it started!) and vroom, out I went. Well, I hadn't driven 100 m
when TING! Hmm, I thought. Wonder what that was? After driving
around a little more I heard another CLUNK. This time I caught a glimpse
(in my rear view mirror) of a silver shiny thing bouncing behind me. I went
back and discovered a balance weight. Blast. I drove the car back to
the shop. I lost another weight along the way.
I got to the shop, showed them the weight I had picked up, and they
promptly told me to drive my car in and they'd take car of it right away.
The shop boss-man scowled at the kid who had so carefully mounted the
tires the first time and decided to do this one himself. Well, they
used different weights this time. On the third tire though, guess what?
Yup. The tire launched itself off their machine. The shop boss guy
grumbled and the kid smiled. The rest of the operation went on without
a hitch. I had four happy tires sitting proudly on the TR8 mothership.
I started the car up and headed home.
I was pleased. The tires felt great and I was only 2 hours late for
work. I was thinking how nice it was going to be taking the 8 out
tomorrow on our club's trip. I'd even be able to use the A/C
(recently fixed) if it got REALLY hot. Whoa, you say, have you forgotten
about the gremlins afoot? Well, I confess, I had. I was waiting for a stop
light when this girl in a pickup pulls next to me. She was clearly
admiring the car and even asked "What kind of car is THAT?" I told
her a Triumph TR8. She shrugged -- clearly she'd never heard of it.
Still she proclaimed: "I really like convertibles. Nice car!"
I smiled. I think one of the lurking gremlins saw me smile;
just seconds after that smile it happened: BANG WOOOOHOOOSH!
My car became a steam locomotive. EVERYONE around me jumped and then stared;
my car was spewing forth the most amazing amounts of high pressure white
steamy oily stuff you could imagine. Truly an amazing sight.
Fearing for my engine, I quickly pulled over into a local Thai restaurant's
parking lot. I carefully opened the hood to see what had happened. YUK!
My lovely, spotlessly clean engine had oil everywhere! What a mess.
So, what was it? Well, on a TR8, the air conditioning compressor is
a standard GM R4 style (like in Chevy Citations). The inlet and outlet
hoses to the compressor are held in with a plate and a long bolt. Well,
the compressor somehow had built up so much pressure inside that the
hoses had literally blown the bolt out. It was completely stripped.
This may not be so totally weird until you hear me say "THE AIR
CONDITIONING WASN'T EVEN ON. I HADN'T USED IT ALL MORNING." Did you
get a cold chill down your back just now? Do you hear Joe Lucas
chuckling? Maybe it has something to do with the recent lunar eclipse?
Here's a puzzle for all of you. WHY did the compressor blow its hoses
out? The clutch/AC wasn't running at all.
Possible clue: On a TR-8, when the car gets a little
hot, the electric fans in front of the condenser will
kick in to aid in engine cooling. Could the extra air flow and
an overcharged system cause the system to do that?
Jim (I took the Taurus to work) TenCate
jtc@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
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