It seems like I've come to a place in this project where there is
nothing keeping me from firing this puppy up. Before doing that,
and maybe stalling a little, I decided to see to all of the fluids
first. I'd already done the engine oil so I could prime the oil
pump before the distributor went in, But the rest of the systems were
dry.
First up were the gear box and differential. I made sure to
install the drain plugs, because I've made that mistake before.
Allen drive plugs are for the drains, hex for the fill ports.
The factory specified the same relatively heavy gear lubricant for these two lumps. I
believe the original spec was 90 or 80W/90. I bought a good
synthetic 75W90. One caveat here is the service rating of the
oil. They apparently range from 1 to 6 (as in GL1 to GL6, where
"GL" stands for Gear Lubricant). Increasing numbers indicate
increasing protection against high pressure wear. However, this
increased protection is accomplished by including special "EP" (Extreme
Pressure) additives, and it's widely acknowledged that some of the
additives in GL5 (and GL6, presumably) can have adverse reactions with
some metals. The metals in question are so called "yellow metals",
which contain copper, namely brass and bronze.
Since both Triumph gearboxes and differentials of this era contain
yellow metal parts, using GL5 may not be advisable. I have seen
GL5 products that specifically claim "safe for yellow metals", but in my
opinion, GL4 products are far superior to the GL1 oils available when
these cars were new, and are more than adequate for our cars.
I busted out my medium syringe to squirt the oil in. This is not
all that difficult from under a car on jack stands, but a lift makes it
more pleasant.
The smallish orifice on the syringe and the viscosity of the oil means
it takes a while to fill and dispense the oil, but it's a tidy way to do
it, and it's easy to know when the sumps are getting close to full.
Brake and clutch fluids were next.
Front brakes can be bled easily without removing the wheels. For the rear, they really need to come off.
I installed these special bleed valves at each corner. They have a
spring loaded check valve inside that only lets fluid exit.
Though the speed bleeders allow one-man bleeding by pumping the brake
pedal, I actually use a vacuum device that sucks fluid from the
bleeder. This way, it's easier to see any bubbles coming
out. Vacuum bleeding can sometimes pull air past the bleeder's
threads, so these Speed Bleeders have a thread sealant to limit that.
The clutch is done in a similar way.
Then there was coolant. I briefly considered using one of the
waterless coolants, but decided against it. I just didn't see
enough advantage to justify the cost. They are just mixtures of
glycols, and there is no reason for them to cost what they do. I could
afford them, but I don't like feeling ripped off.
I poured in a conventional 50/50 glycol/distilled water mix.
Then, finally, a few gallons of fuel.
Of course there were a few leaks. There was a fuel leak in the
hard line near the tank that didn't respond to tightening. I
finally had to re-make the line. I think the first one was
distorted or scored near the fitting.
There was a small leak from the bottom radiator hose. A turn or two on the clamp screw fixed that right up.
There were hydraulic leaks at one brake master cylinder fitting and one
PDWA fitting. They were slow, and I didn't even see them for a day
or two. If this had been DOT3, 4, or 5.1, I'd have paint
damage. A little tweak on the nuts sealed them.
More serious, there is a leak from the differential pinion. It's
relatively slow--about three drops an hour, but I can't let it go that
way for long. I have a new seal, but I've decided to check it
again after a few dozen miles in case it decides to fix itself.
OK, no more stalling. Let's get to it.
Gapped and installed new plugs.
Set the point gap and set the static timing to 10ยบ BTDC using a simple light between battery and the points terminal.
Here is where I need to insert a disclaimer. I call this page
"First Start", but only symbolically so. I had started the car
before, but not without some trouble. On the first tries, the
engine would crank fine, and fire occasionally, but not enough to
actually start. I checked everything with no joy. This
lasted a couple of days. Finally, I checked the position of the
distributor drive gear, and found it to be one tooth clockwise from the
position indicated in the factory manual. I corrected this, and
after that, the car started.
I was overjoyed of course, but in thinking about it later, I can't see
how the mis-positioned gear could have caused the problem. The
position of the gear directly determines the orientation of the rotor at
TDC. One tooth off makes the rotor point about 26 degrees
clockwise from where it should be. However, just rotating the body
of the distributor clockwise by 26 degrees should fully compensate for
this.
To test my theory, I took the gear out again, and moved it to the former
"wrong" position. Installed the distributor, and clocked it to
get the static timing set. The car started and ran fine, though
the distributor was clearly cattywampus. With this experiment in
the bag, I returned the gear and distributor to their rightful
positions.
So, now I again don't know what was wrong in those two frustrating days.
So, now back to the "First Start":
This is fast idle, and I'm still working on getting a smooth normal idle. At idle, the RPM tends to wander a bit.
This
is of course a huge milestone. I still have a punch list as long
as my arm, but just having a car that can move under its own power is a
really big deal right now.
All the fluids weren't exactly cheap, but I think under $100.
