> The dang milk bottle lenses with the chrome rings. I
> could not for
> the life of me get them to sit back on the rubber retainer deal.
There should be a lip in the rubber, that fits over the lip on the lens, and
it's normally quite secure. In almost 30 years of TR ownership I've never
had one fall out (unless the rubber or the lens was broken first).
I use a small flat-blade screwdriver that has rounded sides on the blade.
Hold the lens at an angle, and slip part of the lens lip under the rubber
lip, then use the screwdriver to lift the rest of the rubber lip over the
lens, while pushing the lens towards the rubber. Takes a bit of practice to
learn, but it's really quick and easy once you know how.
The same process works for the chrome ring, except it can't be tilted enough
to start, so you use the screwdriver blade to lift the first piece of rubber
over the chrome. Once that's done, you can just run the blade around the
edge of the chrome, lifting the rubber and letting it fall back on top of
the chrome.
However, if the rubber lip is missing, torn, or cracked at all, you'll have
to replace it.
> Another thing I wanted to ask about is if any of the TR2/3 folks
> out there had
> tried the spring loaded steering plate pin upgrade that I understand is
> available from a fellow for the reasonable sounding sum of $65
> plus shipping.
I am familiar with it, IMO it's a poor solution to a non-problem. A
properly adjusted steering box has no play for the spring to remove, but the
spring introduces the possibility of excess play (enough to be dangerous).
It also causes a lot of extra friction. Friend of mine put one on his
freshly rebuilt box, and the car steered like a truck. Replaced it with a
standard top cover, and it steered like a new car.
> I don't have any particular gripes about my steering but I am
> about to remove
> the apron and figured that as long as I was in there I might as
> well get as
> much done as I could.
In that vein, my suggestion would be to disassemble the box, and replace
both bushings, seal, and hardened pin (even though you have no gripes about
the steering). Then make the adjustments on the bench, using a dial
indicator to set the end float of the shaft, and your fingers to judge the
top plate adjustment. Set the end float first, with the top adjustment
backed off. Then for the top adjustment, you should be able to just barely
detect a tight spot as you turn the shaft with your fingers. If everything
is healthy, the tight spot will be on-center, but for my rather badly worn
worm, there were two tight spots either side of center. Before I rebuilt
mine, I always thought TR3's just steered like that. Now, I wouldn't have a
R&P conversion if you gave it to me !
Randall
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