No, I haven't died, nor have I buried the Triumph -- yet....
Weather has been cold and wet, and today was the first day I was able to make
some progress -- I guess you could call it that.
With the engine back in, I started to re-install other parts. First was the
clutch slave cylinder. I had to re-thread one of the bolts a while back, and
of course today the other bolt decided it didn't want to hold onto anything
anymore, so the morning passed by as I rethreaded the hole.
Next I went after the alternator which for some reason the pulley would not
line up with the other pulleys. After comparing it with another alternator I
have, I realized that the fan was much farther away from the case than usual.
I took it apart and discovered it had a different type of washer/shim behind
the fan than the other alternator which was also off a TR7. In a few moments
I had swapped washer/shim, re-installed, and now the pulley lines up almost
dead on. Looks like someone must have scavenged some wrong parts when
repairing the alternator in the past.
Now the crummy news. The #3 spark plug has always been hard to put in.
Today I hand tightened it, down to about 1/4" away from seating, and it just
plain stopped turning. Gently using the socket wrench I could get it to turn
a little bit more, but it definitely wasn't going to seat.
I can't imagine that I cross-threaded it by hand, nor can I imagine that it
has never seated correctly since I have owned the car -- but I guess both are
possible.
I used my hand dental mirror to take a look at the threads, and they are a
mess.
So, what's everyone's advice on how to proceed? Get a tap and try to clean
out the threads? I think I've seen something about sleeves that you can use.
And what about little bits of aluminum getting into the cylinder? Am I
going to need to sneak the vacuum outside again?.....
Inquiring minds await your comments.
As always, thanks...
Bruce
1980 Inca Yellow TR7 5-speed convertible
Chapel Hill, NC
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