[TR] TR6 Idle Stumble

[Bill]

Well folks I can confirm that a leaking manifold gasket will indeed 
cause a idle "stumble".  I have just finished replacing the TR6s 
intake/exhaust manifold with one of the Moss "competition" gaskets.
Yes, it took me a while, but in the process I learned several things, 
first ... and probably most important early intake manifolds had 
casting problems and may not be level ... mine was not ...
A local machine shop milled the ports, I was impressed that he had a 
cutter head big enough to cover the port area in one pass ... well 
worth the $60 it cost.  I then spent a lot of time removing the carb 
gaskets that had been welded to the manifold ... well not actually 
welded but it took a couple of hours, a can of Goof Off, razor knife, 
wire brush, and finally a sanding block to get the ports all smooth.

I found five of the mounting studs loose, two came out when I removed 
the manifold. Used a "permanent" thread locker, double nutted the 
studs and tightened them ... "good". Bought Grade 8 nuts and split 
washers for the manifold and for the carbs, probably did not need 
that but they look pretty.

Remounting the manifold was easy, and I carefully torqued all the 
nuts, replaced the carbs using all new gaskets and insulators (BTW 
the insulator was duralin? ). Then came the process of re-installing 
the carbs ... no human had ever been able to put those nuts on 
without some serious cursing ...  I was/am Lucky have AnnaBelle with 
her small, deleterious fingers to get the really tough ones at least 
started.
Every thing all back together ... I could only work a couple hours at 
a time ... (Old Age is NOT for Sissies)  Sat down to start the engine 
and check for any kind of leaks ... CLICK !!!  CRAP !!!

So first I removed the wires from the starter and noticed that the 
positive terminal on the starter was a tad loose.  (the nut is 12mm, 
the terminal is 14mm, future reference) tightened that replaced the 
wires ... and VAROOM ... 3000 rpm at Start!!!  Shut it down fast. 
Now What ???

Checked the carb linkage and found that my moving them around to get 
every thing else fixed had caused one of the link clamps to come 
loose and the front carb idle bracket was moving. Tightened all those 
little clamps good ... so good that I broke one of them ... that was 
it for that day ...  Finally found a screw the right size the replace 
the broken one and put that in.  Back to starting the engine, I did, 
it did ... and the idle purr was just plain music to my ears. Got 
some cleaning to do this morning, and she will be ready to ride (the 
TR6 not AnnaBelle)

Thanks for listening ...
-- 
"Thinking is the hardest work there is. That's why so few people 
undertake it." - Henry Ford
Bill Pugh
1957 TR3
"Casper"
TS16765L
Wallace, CA