Too Many Problems to Count

Steve Semeraro (semeraro(at)erols.com)
Sat, 29 Aug 1998 10:50:32 -0400


Listers, This has not been a good car summer for me. Here are my current problems, any thoughts would be appreciated. On the Alpine, it just stop cranking when I tried to start it. Based on the usual tests, I determined that the selonoid was bad. I spoke with Tiger Tom, and on his advice bought a Ford Pinto replacement. Actually, he just said any Ford. I put it in and nothing?? I have no experience with these. But it seemed strange that when I lossened the bolts on the Pinto unit, they were free. That is they'd slip back into the unit. Is that supposed to happen? I guess I should just buy another one, but being such a novice, I always figure I'm doing something stupid. Any thoughts? Problem No. 2, the other LBC had been sitting for about a month with a dead battery. I replaced it yesterday. It started fine, but . . . won't shift into gear. The pedal feels fine. The clutch linkage and fluid seem fine. The slave appears to move properly and the transmission seems to shift from gear to gear just fine when the engine is off. But when I start it, it won't go into a forward gear. If I try to shift into reverse, it grinds. If I try to start it in gear with the clutch in, it jumps forward as if the clutch wasn't pressed. Am I screwed? Thanks in advance.

Steve Semeraro Series V Alpine 1968 Marcos GT