I wasn't going to write this up, but someone else (not TR person)
wanted to hear about it, so what the heck. Here it is, a rare story
for the tr list, where everything actually went ok! :^)
The '75 TR6, *had* a nasty rattling in the right front wheel, so I
decided to do something about it. Rocking the wheel back and forth by
pushing/pulling on the top of the tire revealed loose wheel bearings.
Sooo, I pulled the sucker apart Thursday afternoon as we had that day
off due to snow/power outages here in Boulder, CO. Having the front
hub/rotor assembly off, I decided to get the rotors turned. I mean,
why the heck not? The brakes did shake on heavy braking, and it's
only $4 per rotor!
I took the thing to the local parts house and they said that they
couldn't turn them with the hub assembly attached to the rotor. They
removed it for FREE! Yup, took a really cool electric impact wrench
and buzzed the sucker off the rotor, right there at the parts counter.
The hub is attached to the rotor with four 9/16in bolts, but they were
a bit rusted and pretty much a part of both pieces. I would have
spent hours removing them in my garage, I'm sure! They said they
would have the rotors turned for me by the next day as it was fairly
late.
Upon examining the inner bearing while at the parts store, I noticed
that it wouldn't turn! It was frozen! What luck that I had found
this problem before it ruined my spindle. As it turned out, it wasn't
really frozen, but had a dimple and had stopped at that point where I
couldn't turn it, which explains why my spindle was still ok. I
decided to replace both inner bearings (9.50 per bearing) and seals
($5 per) and just repack the outers. The outers felt very smooth and
would have added an additional $30 to my project. Besides the $30
saved could go to a case of fine British ale. :-)
I went to pick up the rotors Friday, and they didn't have them turned
yet! I talked to the guy who runs the machine, and he said that he
didn't have specs for a TR6 so he couldn't turn them. I figured I had
the specs at home, but none of my books contained the right info.
Doh! I convinced him to turn them anyway, and promised to find out
the specs and buy new rotors if they were below the stated minimum.
After all, driving on under spec brakes would be a BAD idea,
especially in a mountain state. Rotor #1 turned out to .444, Rotor#2
at .448. He was sure that we were close to the minimum spec. I vowed
to be careful until I knew otherwise. Phil Barnes (thanks Phil) found
from his Autopress manual that TR6 rotors can be turned down to .440!
I'm in the clear - Hurray!
I also bought a wheel bearing grease packer for $6.00! It was in an
open package so they sold it to me for 50% off. How good can it get?
The bearing packer works by sandwiching the bearing between two metal
cones which you then pump grease into via a grease gun. It's fricken
awesome. Basically the grease goes into the center of the bearing and
is forced through the rollers as that's its only escape.
Got it all back together last night, and the car drives GREAT! That's
one less rattle in the car. Total cost of this project was $45 which
includes parts, lube, machining, and new tools! All I need to do now
it just get the tires balanced, align the steering, and, and...
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-Scotty '70 TR6, '75 TR6
"Well-weathered leather, Hot metal and oil, The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome, The blur of the landscape, Every nerve aware."
-- Neil Peart from RUSH.
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