Did Healey use a leather pinion seal like Triumph? I found those pretty much weep oil when new and drain it when older.
I've been putting off replacing the badly scored front brake disk on my TR6 because it doesn't cause a pull and I'd rather drive it while the weather is nice.
In reply to a_florida_man :
So true about the leaking although the pinion is more than being a charming part of its character.
In reply to JoeTR6 (Forum Supporter) :
I have to be honest and say that I don't know but the replacement parts appear to be rubber. This is nearing the point of a drain, however.
Yep, same page about driving.
In reply to AxeHealey :
Yes there is a fine line between British undercoating and a truly failed seal. ;)
In reply to a_florida_man :
If only they could have directed all that undercoating to the sills...
The previous owner of Elmore is definitely a talented guy in many ways. That cap he built was unbelievably stout and cleverly designed. The engine he built is a super strong runner (*knocks intensely on wood*) even 30-ish years on. Where do his talents end? Wiring. The truck is an absolute mess of wiring and check out the ground I found last night while digging into the 7-pin.
Either way, I now have the 7-pin wired up correctly, just need to run a fresh ground. Wouldn't it be something if I had a legal towing setup for the autocross this weekend?!
EDIT: The block in the background is also the previous owner's work, I'm using the wires he ran.
Yeah, wiring seems to be the place where people freak out and start hacking. Lots of ugliness in my car too.
Legit.
(Collective groaning from the neighbors)
In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :
Believe it or not, I've gotten nothing but compliments on the shed and our (slowly coming together) fence.
The shed is sweet.
Yesterday was NEOhio Solo points event #5...I'm pretty sure. As I'm the points leader in DP (the only one, been to one event) I figured I need to show up.
Elmore sat outside Friday night so I could move the Healey into the main garage and have space to look over the E21. It's amazing how big the garage looks with the Healey in it instead of the truck.
Elmore performed flawlessly and I'm just going to assume the turn signals and brake lights on the trailer were helpful to those behind me.
The autocross went well. I realized after last month that I had been running with about 22 psi in three tires and like 19 in the fourth. I pumped them all up to 28. Other than smoking a little bit in the first couple runs, the E21 performed flawlessly.
FTD was a highly modded BRZ/FRS that ran a 28 something-or-other. The fastest ND Miata of the day (which is also driven by a good driver) was running 30s consistently and then finally broke into the 29.9s on his last run. My fastest time of the day was 31.5 and I was still dropping big chunks. I think I could have managed it into the mid 30s if I had more time. That 911 on grid next to me had a fastest time of 31.7.
Today I drove the Healey over to my sister's house to take care of some squatters in the side-view mirror of her Beetle. She's not one for bugs and my brother-in-law is allergic.
I also got the front hitch drilled out and mounted up to the crossmember on Elmore. I'm not sure what the tongue weight is of the trailer but I'm about 155lbs and when I stood on the ball, it twisted the crossmember down slightly. Looks like I'll need to weld those gussets in.
The quest for sub-2k lbs for the E21 continues. Pulled the glovebox and some other doodads Thursday(?) night. I pulled more yesterday afternoon but didn't take any pictures. That glovebox is much heavier than I would have guessed.
I spent a couple hours yesterday on the front hitch receiver on Elmore. I was less than successful. I very nicely used my template to cut out the gusset. I cleaned up the crossmember, tried to weld it and...just...gross. So I broke off that weld, sanded and cleaned more and started in again, got a few stiches in and then promptly ran out of gas. It looks terrible but the gusset is in there so I figured I see if it helped. Not one bit. Awesome. The entire crossmember is twisting, it's not just the face flexing. My next attempt will be to weld some supports on to the receiver itself that will then bolt above to the bumper. We'll see.
Today I cleaned my wife's car and then drove the Healey to dinner at her parents'. On the way home, I stopped at the house of my childhood best friend/brother parents to show them the Healey. The last time they saw it, we were in high school ripping around the neighborhood looking like Fred Flintstone and using the parking brake to slow down.
When I turned on my street I could hear the fuel pump going wild. Got into the garage, not a whiff of gasoline in the tank. Yeah, fuel gauge isn't working.
I went out at lunch and got some 80/20 but didn't quite get there tonight. One of the two brackets is done. I guess I didn't take a picture of it mocked up.
I had to score the bend since I don't have a brake.
I ended up having to slot the hole as it wasn't quite in the right place and there's a ton of cleanup left to do but I'm happy with the progress. The pointy side will weld to the receiver and it'll bolt to the bumper through the hole.
By the way, it's amazing working on cars at home.
Both brackets done. I guess I have a habit of taking pictures before I'm done but both are cleaned up and paint is stripped off the receiver for welding.
Well I'm quite unhappy with my welding but it's done. I've never welded to anything as thick as the receiver and completely misread the issues I was running into. For whatever reason, I kept thinking I needed more and more wire speed. Eventually it occurred to me to maybe try turning it way down but at that point my feet and boogers had pretty much finished the job. Oh well, it's a tool that will be used a handful of times a year and it works.
Those globs you're looking at? That's the better side...
No movement at all when the weight of the trailer came down.
Hmm...
I've always been told how easy it is to move a trailer this way but I'd never done it before. 10/10 would recommend. Next time the trailer comes out, I want to clear out it's parking space a bit better and eventually I think I'll fill it with similar gravel to what the shed is sitting on to slow down the weed/tree/bush growth.
Slightly related - whenever it was that I took the BMW to Pittrace, I didn't give myself enough run-up for that steep hill in the driveway and I could feel the trans slipping while the truck was fighting up the hill. I figured, well, it's a super steep hill and the truck was fully packed for a race weekend, pulling the car on a pretty heavy trailer, I'll give it a pass. Yesterday moving the unloaded trailer around, it really seemed to be slipping a lot, mostly in reverse when I had to reposition once in the yard. I've also recently noticed some trans fluid in the drip pan that lives under this leaky thing in the garage. It could just be low on fluid due to the leak but I think I need to get serious about trans options. I see three broad options.
Any strong thoughts one way or another?
Just a thought and I have zero experience with this stuff but is a stand alone over drive something that you could get from a U-pull yard? I know our local ones always seem to have a row of the smaller buses and things like that lined up for harvesting.
adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:Just a thought and I have zero experience with this stuff but is a stand alone over drive something that you could get from a U-pull yard? I know our local ones always seem to have a row of the smaller buses and things like that lined up for harvesting.
Well that's a damn good idea that hadn't occurred to me. I also don't have any experience there but I'd wager that some of those Ford-based vans (EDIT: and like shuttles) even have the C6 in them. I'll look into that, thanks!
Yesterday I got the Healey up on stands in the main garage and did a full nut and bolt. Good thing too as the links that attach the shocks to the rear axle were quite loose. I then put the rear bumper on. Here's a surprise, it was a pain in the butt! I had to use a burr to waller out two of the mounting holes to make it fit. I guess the holes in the shroud must have gotten smaller with the repairs? I also had to turn the main battery switch bracket around. It's on though. Not the long-term solution but I do like it better than no rear bumper.
I'm also going to be good to myself and order the specific license plate bracket made for the car rather than making my own. The tonneau cover will be in that order as well.
My wife was supposed to help me do another bleed on the brakes and clutch while our daughter is napping this afternoon but she's teaching virtually this trimester and wants to run to school and grab something for this week. Hopefully we'll be able to knock it out after the kiddo is out for the night. I'm really thinking the noise in the back is the shoes retracting more than they should since there isn't enough residual pressure in the system when the brakes aren't applied. They are almost triple-pumpers at the moment... I am going to pull the drum off the rear left to look for witness marks sometime this morning though.
In reply to AxeHealey :
If you have the adjustment right the shoes should hardly retract at all. Adjust them tighter until they lock, than back off one click. Drums should then spin. The residual pressure only keeps the wheel cylinder pistons in contact with the shoes, and has no bearing on the shoe relaxed position.
Good morning. On this episode of Andrew is a dope, he teaches you how NOT to assemble Healey drum brakes.
The problem was that the springs on Healey drum brakes go BEHIND the shoes, not in front. The springs being in the front was pulling the shoes out, making them contact the drums. These are now lightened shoes and drums, made for racing.
In my defense, the brakes never worked in my lifetime and I've never really messed with them. Is this a reasonable defense? No. But I'm sticking to it. So that was one problem solved, no more terrible scraping noise from the brakes.
My wife then helped me bleed the brakes...again. I'm really not happy with the pedal feel but from just the drive from the main garage into the "tiny garage" as my daughter calls it, they seem much better. We pushed a lot of fluid through the lines and I only got one bit of air on out of the back right WC. We also bled the clutch which feels awesome.
Then, my good Healey wizard buddy helped me troubleshoot the OD issue from FL. Turns out, I wired the OD relay correctly as it relates to the wiring diagram I was using but I wasn't using the right diagram. I assume it must be for a later car as another diagram I found in a different book for the "early" cars is what I ended up doing. It hasn't been tested while driving but key on, trans in 4th, partial throttle and it clicks on. I didn't test it in 3rd but I'm going to assume if the switch works for 4th, it works for 3rd.
Much success this weekend. I got many of the Healey issues ironed out, it didn't rain while the truck was sitting in the driveway, all's good. If only this torrential downpour would stop so I could drive the Healey today.
I mean, every other drum brake i've done the spring goes outside and holds the shoe to the backing plate, so i'll give you a pass.
In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :
I appreciate that, thanks.
OD works! The switch is backwards. I took it apart to see if it was broken and must have reassembled incorrectly. Clutch is great. Brakes are...better. Last night was the first real night time test and while the lights that matter work, the gauges don't light up. I know the ignition light works and found that the high beam light works as well. Gotta look into that.
I meant to take some good pictures of it last night but got a call from a good friend right as I was leaving and spent most of the ride catching up with him.
Add another thing to the list - headlight switch is a little finicky (see: parking lights not on).
EDIT: At least this time I remembered to stop and take a picture. Maybe next time I'll bring my actual camera.
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