Quick fiberglass question:
Are any special precautions necessary when drilling through
fiberglass? I have to drill a 3/8" hole through the brand new $300
seat for my Norton (hey, it's British!) and I've never done it before.
I'd hate to break the thing horribly by making a stupid mistake.
Not-so-quick starter question:
Ever since I have owned my '70 TR6 (over 6 years) it has made a
horrible grinding noise about 1 out of 20 times I turn the key to
start the car (normally when I have a passenger I would like to
impress). It doesn't turn the engine at all, just grinds. Releasing
the key and turning it again never failed to start the car (without
grinding), so I decided to leave it alone. Well, this time the second
turn of the key not only failed to start the car, but the starter
froze up.
I had hoped the problem would be with the starter, but the
intermittent nature of the problem made me think it was more likely
that I had a section of bad teeth on the flywheel. Sure enough, when
I pulled the starter I saw a couple inches of flywheel with wasted
teeth. I was a bit surprised, however, to see that the teeth are only
ruined on the front 1/8" or so, as if the starter gear was not
extending fully. Here's some lame ascii graphics in case that didn't
make sense:
flywheel
. starter
| . | gear
|=====| ----
|=====| |====|
|====x| |====|
|====x| |====| <--- engages this way
|====x| |====|
|====x| ----
| . |
.
The "x" spots are where the flywheel teeth are worn down. What would
make them wear only on that edge, instead of all the way across the
flywheel? The only thing I could figure is that the starter gear is
not extending all the way, but the solenoid is not supposed to power
the motor until full extension (if I read the manual right). Could it
have something to do with the clutch mechanism that is supposed to
retract the gear when the engine starts?
The reason I'm asking this is I'm still feebly hoping that fixing a
problem with the starter will let me keep driving without pulling the
trans to deal with the flywheel. Also, I'd really hate to repair or
replace the flywheel and have it eaten again by a bad starter.
I took the starter to the local generic auto parts place to have it
tested and they said it's fine. But then their test just makes sure
it extends and spins, without regard for how far it extends, how it
retracts, etc.
Other tidbit: according to the Bentley manual, Triumph changed the TR6
starter about 8000 cars after mine, but the one currently on my car is
the later model. I expect they are interchangable, but the manual
doesn't specifically state that. Does anyone know for sure?
Ideas?
-tim
aka timke@microsoft.com or uunet!microsoft!timke
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