Hi listers, Dave Terrick here in Winterpeg (it's dropped below freezing for
the first time in a bout 2 weeks).
I have owned a set of Metrinch sockets for a bout 10 years now. They, like
anything else, are a specialty tol with "best" uses. I agree to the statements
that flank drive works excellent for worn/rusted/stripped bolt and nut heads.
i have not failed yet where they have been apropriately sized.
However, one of the "drawbacks" of their universality is the face that each
socket fits both metric and imperial. Thus, one or the other of the two will
be sloppy. I have noticed, for example, the 1/2 /13mm socket is sloppy on
almost every bolt that TR put on our cars since 13mm is the larger design size.
Not good, especially if lost motion is a worry. That is, in a confined
space, slop means very little twist of the nut or bolt. The 3/8 size is
excellent as are some others. One way or the other, a small box with ratchet
and extension is easily thrown in my road kit and will do 95 percent of what I
(hope I don't) need it to do!
Accusumps saved my Kent block GT4 Ford Fiesta at least once. They are
excellent at maintaining high oil pressure in long sweeping corners, great for
all transverse engined cars. They also boost your oil capacity by over a litre
which may help keep the oil cool. Mine helped because I blew an o ring to the
oil cooler and without the extra capacity the bottom end would have been shot.
Mine is a simple device with a valve under the hood. For a TR guy i would
suggest the electric solenoid version wired to the ignition. This would be a
bit pricey but after rebuilding your 6 cyl motor (or even the 4's), consider
this money well spent. Len Richenberger recommends bearing changes every 30-50
k mi or so, an accusump will almost eliminate this need. Looks cool too. Get
the 1 quart size or larger, that oil filter cannister takes a lot of oil.
Smog testing. An interesting but Orwellian story. Here, in the middle of
nowhere, we thought we were immune from the "environmenmtal nazis" in
California telling us how our old cars would need to pass new car smog
legislation. Apparently not. Last fall our provinve did a "voluntary" smog
check for anyone einterested and the Manitoba Association of Antique and
Classic (MAAC) cars sent a bunch of various cars through. Not a single one
passed. Not only that, but apparently those @#$#$%$% ' s kept the VIN's of all
the cars. Guess what that is likely to mean in a few years. Voluntary
manditoryism?
Not that I wish to unduly pollute anything, but the thought of detuning my GT
is horrifying. Maybe I'll be forced to put a "modern" motor inthe car?
(nooooooooooooooooo). And on that note, years ago in Britids CAr, there was
a chap who built an electric Spitfire 1500 with about a dozen diehard
batteries and an elevator electric motor coupled to the stock tranny. Cruising
range was down to about 150, but it had zero emissions and actually had better
accleleration numbers than a calif 1500 of the time.
Hmmmmmmm. (no, that's the car).
Dave Terrick
Winterpeg
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