Hello Listers:
Here are some updates on my Tiger fun net postings, and further thanks
to all of you who made some great suggestions and offers of help.
My second Pertonix Ignitor II ignition and Flamethrower II coil have now
worked flawlessly for six weeks (the first Ignitor failed after a week)
so hopefully I'm home free. I keep another spare Ignitor, as well as my
old points setup, in the trunk, just for good measure, but the Tiger
runs very smoothly, gets better mileage (not why I bought the car
anyway) and seems to pull more smoothly all through the curve.
After installing the Pertronix, I kept getting mega electrocuted (big
shocks) whenever I put a hand anywhere near the distributor cap. This
has been completely solved by installing an aftermarket (MSD) "adapt a
cap", which is a large cap (much taller than stock, but still fits under
the hood) and much taller rotor designed for high output electronic
ignitions. I can put my hands all over the wires and right on the cap
with the car running now and not get shocked. Another suggestion I think
I got from the list.
Today I was able to fix an unhappy byproduct of my electronic ignition
install, a real jumpy tachometer. It would read up to 17-1800 RPM OK,
but anything above that would cause the needle to jump all over the
place. I decided to follow a tech tip/suggestion I think I read on this
list a while back (I apologise as I don't remember who to give credit
to) to try running a second loop of wire around the plug (with the wires
from the engine compartment) that fits into the back of the tach. I
added to the tip by taking an extra "plug" from an extra tach, and
modifying it with the double wire loop, and fixing "bullet" plugs to the
wires under the dash and on both the new and old "plugs", so I could
easily change back to stock if the tip didn't work. I won't have to,
though, as the double wire loop works and the tach reads very steadily
all the way up to 5000 RPM. (I'll try for 6,000 tommorow).
When I had installed my hyrbid 5 speed (Mustang trans. with a Chevy S-10
tail housing), I ended up with a weird, rythmic noise/vibration, but
only in 5th gear. The trans. shop that built it was sure it was internal
and so did a few other people who rode in the car. I came "That Close",
as Don Adams would say, to pulling the trans and getting it gone through
to get rid of that &**^%@ noise. Now, a new weird thing has happened:
The transmission has repaired itself! The noise is gone completely and
the trans. now only make nice sounds related to how fast I'm going. I
wonder if, instead of the noise having been internal to the trans.it was
in fact somehow related to exhaust harmonics and something has slightly
shifted (in my favor) eliminating the source of the noise.
Check your steering wheel tightness on occasion! I've been getting some
"klunks" from the steering column "cowling" for a while and decided to
investigate. Upon removing the horn ring and getting to the nut that
holds the wheel on, sure enough, it was no more than loosly finger
tight. Not good! I snugged it down tightly. I haven't been on the
highway yet today to see if the klunking is gone, but at least the
steering wheel won't be coming off in my hands anytime soon. Here's an
important tip if you try this at home, though. When you unscrew the
adjuster piece (after you have the horn ring off), the center threaded
piece that it holds onto can very easily slide right down into the black
hole of the steering column. This is not fun at all and has happened to
me a couple of times. I was barely able to get it back out with long
screwdrivers, and later figured out to use a magnet "pole" to fish it
out. To keep the piece from falling in there in the first place, as soon
as you unscrew the adjuster piece, wrap some tape around the very end of
the threaded piece, just enough to keep it from falling down there. Then
you can fit a socket over the steering wheel nut to tighten it and not
experience the panic I have a couple of times.
Finally, back to my transmission for a question for all of you. It's
getting too "notchy" during shifts. I've been running straight 30 weight
in it. I'm told I can also run ATF (automatic trans. fluid in it) and it
will shift easier with that. I'm going to try it this weekend but, can I
just drain out the oil and add in the ATF or will having some of the two
different fluids (oil and ATF) mixing have any adverse effects? Do I
need to "flush" the transmission somehow?
Well, I'll shut up for now.
Steve Sage
1967 MK1A 289
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