FOT,
I found out just how small a part can be to cause mayhem in my TR4. Shortly
after arriving at the track this past Friday for our June CVAR event, I set
about checking the car over and replaced the points and condenser just
because... After I reset the timing, the car didn't want to idle. Further
examination showed the BFE harmonic balancer bouncing a bit under the light.
Putting hands on it found it to be loose rotationally, resulting in an
incorrect timing location. Knowing that the crank and key are steel, and the
pulley aluminum, I was certain that the key had wiggled and worn out the
pulley. Thinking I had a new one at home, for the next engine, I packed up for
the 2 hour drive to make the repair. It didn't go as planned, the pulley bolt
put up an heroic fight (new dent in radiator tube), and the result was
unfortunate. The aluminum pulley is intact, the key is 100% and the keyway in
the crank is wallowed out. I expect that I can get a new and bigger groove cut
and use a bigger key, but I missed the weekend. The good news is that I got to
watch my daughter in her basketball tournament after all.
Bob Kramer
rgk@flash.net
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