Every year before spring, but after the garage can be warmed enough with the
wood stove, I have a list of basic maintenance.
speedo cable needed replacing. Always used a piece of fuel line, per Randall
in Archives, to protect the cable. Alas, wasn't long enough for a friction
point I missed. Fixed that.
drive train play. Turned out that's not where the clunk was coming from. For
that, I replaced the shock links, which had been original to the car. But when
I removed the Armstrong shocks to inspect and renew the fluif, I found that
almost all of it had leaked over the past dozen years from the side I'd been
hearing the clunk from. Taking a leap here, I'm assuming a connection.
pack wheel bearings. Did that, but buggered up the steel backing on the felt
seal. I'll do better next year. Full disclosure, I did the deed the day after
driving from San Francisco to New Hampshire. Four days bringing my older son
home. Took pictures of him in front of three different Nevada brothels in
daytime. Didn't go in. Wouldn't want to ruin the lives of hard workers who
would have to realize that the rest of their lives could only be second
best....
change tranny oil. Easy Peazy, at least using that wonderful socket tool the
big three sell. Just...I never can keep the socket on the oil drain plug while
I give it a couple of whacks with the heel of my hand. It's never come off,
but I'd feel better if I had better control.
change engine oil. WIX oil filters. This time, because I put new rings and
pistons in last spring, I went with dinosaur oil. Next spring it'll be back to
Mobile 1 syn.
check rear end fluid. It was down more than I'd like. I'll have to check it
mid season, I expect.
grease. Hmmm...embarrased here. Taking more time this year, I did an internet
image search and discovered I'd been missing the rear axle grease fittings for
years. And I'd also been forgetting to grease the two fittings on the clutch
operating shaft. The OD I'd bought had straight fittings instead of elbow.
Fixed that too.
check steering wheel play. Rebuilt the steering box last year, not just the
peg like I did originally a dozen years ago. Still, needed a tiny tightening.
fix trunk lid. Question. One of the trunk hinge studs had come out and I lost
it. I've fabricated a repair, but anyone have a solution they like that
tightens the thing down again?
fix OD switch. Have an old stock that I took apart a few years ago, cleaned
and put some dialectric to. Wasn't a problem, but sometimes had to wiggle the
switch to get it to engage. Cleaned and reinstalled. Tests 100 percent.
finish engine rebuild. This is a spare engine I've been putting together,
complete with a rebuilt carb set. My restoration is getting old enough now
that I should be back on the road again in a weekend if worse comes to worst.
fuse. One of the fuses gave me fits last year until I found the problem. It
was sliding out of the fuse holder. ISTR a dozen years ago someone on the List
suggested putting Locktite on it to keep it steady. Did that. We'll see.
brake rubber cover. Covered this in another List entry.
Question: what do people do to lubricate the throttle linkage, starting from
the gas pedal through the carb?
Terry Smith, '59 TR3A
New Hampshire
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