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[TR] Finger Breaking Choke Pull, TR3

Subject: [TR] Finger Breaking Choke Pull, TR3
From: tr3 at roadrunner.com (Hans de Ferrante)
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:59:55 -0800

I've  tried everything:
        polished the jet tubes to a gloss,
        replaced the cork jet seal washers with the neoprene ones,
        changed the linkage arrangement from clevises straddling (TR2) the  
levers to not straddling them (TR3 &4,
        new choke cable.
But nothing allowed me to pull the jets (not the choke knob) to about  
1/16" without just about  breaking my fingers.
With the jet return springs disconnected and pulling it out all the  
way was a piece of cake.
I heard that there is such a thing as age-hardening or stiffening  
(something I could relate to at my age), especially with certain types  
of hardened spring steel.
So I tested the (probably original and nearly 1/2 century old) springs  
with a spring scale and found that it took 5 - 6 lbs. each to pull  
them out 1/4'' beyond the in-place pretension  point.
It only took less than 1.5  lbs to return the jets all the way back  
up, so I replaced the old springs with 1 3/8" x 7/16" x .041 springs  
from the local hardware store that I shortened slightly to get  
sufficient pre-tension, which took about 2.5 lbs for the  same  
extension.
Result: I can pull the choke AND JETS all  the way out without  
breaking my fingers or the knob! And what a difference, not only when  
I started it up when the temp was in  the 40 ths (sorry, it is the  
best I can do here in So. Cal.), but also how nicely it ran before  
warm up.
The jets always returned completely to the seats with the choke pushed  
back in. No gas leaks.
Does anybody know or have specs. as to what those spring tensions  
should  be?
Does anybody have any idea why the factory went from that straddled to  
the non-straddled lever-clevis choke linkage with the TR3? It seems  
illogical.
Hans
1962 TR#A

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