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It hasn't failed its MOT, I just can't get it there.

I rebuilt a good heater out of 2 units complete with new s/s pipes and rubber seals that I'd bought some time ago. Removing and rebuilding the dash took longer than expected and the MOT lapsed late last year.

The night before the MOT I found brake fluid weeping from the the L/H rear drum. The brake cylinder had gone and the R/H item wasn't far behind it. MOT cancelled.

Lots of snow over the Christmas and New Year keeps the 7V8 in the garage, then a 4 month loft conversion with scaffolding in front of the garage kept it there.



The MOT is booked again but within 1/2 a mile from home the engine misfires like crazy and is almost undriveable. The MOT is cancelled and I limp it home. Although I couldn't find them at the roadside, some of the electronic ignition connections have furred up with green powder. Cleaning them restores power but I haven't got the time to test it for another fortnight.

Last week MOT no.3 was booked and the engine was strong and the brakes fine. I braked firmly a few times to clean up the pads and shoes as they'd not been used in anger for a while. The car started to weave about but then the R/H front wheel locked up. I couldn't move the car anywhere as the wheel was tucked against the wheelarch. The track control arm had come off the end of the ani-roll bar (sway bar) as the retaining nyloc nut had been stripped of all it's threads letting the TCA slide off under braking. The safety "R" clip left 2 deep grooves inside the nut as it was forced off the arb. The MOT was cancelled again.

The threads on the anti roll bar looked fine but I've renwewed it anyway to be on the safe side. After all, I was a mile away from turning on to the motorway when this happened..........[:0]. I'm not an engineer but it looks like most of the braking force is taken by these nuts on the end of the arb. Am I the only one this has happened to or was I just unlucky with a faulty nyloc[?]

Adam




TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, S/S Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes all round, Anti- Dive, Strut-Top Roller Bearings, Capri Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 5 Spokes and Cruise Lights, S/S Heater Pipes, Replacement Fuel Tank. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991

I'm sure, along with other british marques, that they do this on purpose. whether it's to save you from an incident or just to be a complete pain in the 'arris. If they do as they're told then you'll find you just bought an MX5............

I have a car which starts on the button and does exactly what it says on the tin. Autocar gives it 5 out of 5 stars. It bores the hell out of me. I love my 7. Well, not at the moment as she's being a complete sod but once she's running right, and the weather's good i'll forget what she's put me through. Good luck, i hope you manage to get the coveted MOT cert in the end!

Rob

I understand the need for safety and all and you don't want to be zipping around in a death trap, but over the years reading all these MOT stories, I don't know how you guys over there do it.[:0]

[IMG=left]http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t194/pupinabox/353.jpg[/IMG=left][IMG=right]http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t194/pupinabox/tr7005.jpg?t=1271517043[/IMG=right]

I can relate to the MX5 bit.

<b><font color="blue">Eunos Roadster.
Lexus LS400 on Gas.
Triumph Stag.
VW T4 2.5TDi Camper.
If you ain't got 8, you ain't got enough.</font id="blue"></b>


Who is the randy Reindeer?

Hi Adam,

I know a MOT tester with a liking for TR7's in Luton, ME [8D]

Cheers John

LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!
1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!

I have 2 nuts on mine if you'll pardon the expression [:D]

<b>Red 4.0 Litre V8 DHC Grinnall (with huuuuuge arches...!)</b>

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by busheytrader</i>

... the retaining nyloc nut had been stripped of all it's threads letting the TCA slide off under braking. The safety "R" clip left 2 deep grooves inside the nut as it was forced off the arb ... <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Never seen this before.
Could be the nyloc nuts were the wrong size/thread (they should be M12),
or they weren't tightened properly (should be 80 Nm) resulting in thread failure

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, now restored and back on the road)
1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)</font id="blue">
<b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="2"><font color="red">My Weblog</font id="red"></font id="size2"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

Hi,

Beans - The Nylocs were from a pukka (does that translate well?)TR7 supplier and the proper ones for the ARB. I use a torque wrench otherwise I'm terrible for overtightening things. The Nyloc was stripped smooth inside but I don't think it's down to the ARB polybushes as I had TriumphTune bushes before that. When they came off they were as flexible as lumps of bakelite......

Wayne - Doubling up on your nuts is a sound idea there - spread the load across twice the length of thread. It'll mean losing the R clip but it wasn't much of a safety feature as it got demolished.

John - Is that an offer there? Luton's not that far away. I've used the garage close to where Robsport used to be for the last couple of MOT's. My 7 grounds on the ramps at my local MOT garage and has to be reversed onto the rollers at another. Neither are Triumph sympathetic. I'd have thought Triumph's would be the last things to be seen at a BMW dealership, even if they do own the Triumph name.

My wife had a MX5 1.8iS but it was written off on the M1 when an overtaking car had a tyre blowout. A more sensible convertible must be hard to find. However, excessive engine heat came into the cabin in summer and most of the lacquer blistered on the alloy wheels - the factory only applied it to the outside of the wheels and they corroded from behind - Mazda replaced them within warranty. Doesn't that sound like BL to you?

Adam

My first guess is that the nylocs were of too low a grade but you would think that wouldn't be the case with a "pukka" supplier. (had to look that one up on line.[:)]


TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

I had something similar happened when I accidentally used nylocs with stainless bolts. Apparently the two don't mix.

Jim Clark
'80 TR8
'97 Maxima 5spd

I had an unexpected day off work last week and Drayton garage in Barley (close to where Robsport used to be) managed to squeeze me in for an MOT at short notice. After all the issues getting there this year, it passed as usual without advisories.

It's been so frustrating to see it in the garage but not be able to drive it. However, I work in the energy sector which is a 24hr business and involves working some anti-social hours. My schedule has clashed with almost every TR event including Ace Cafe, Harpenden, Billing and the Register weekend so I couldn't have made it to those anyway.

At MOT time the chap always calls out what looks new or worked on. Here's the items that I can remember changing between the last 2 MOT's.

Rear axle pinion seal, gasket and oil change - fixed the leak
Speedo cable - finally gave up after 29 years.
Orange speedo gear (thanks Howard) - to get the speedo reading correctly with the 3.08 axle, the red one under read.
Rev counter - the 3rd replacement in the car's life.
Gearbox rubber mount - to relace the jellified item.
Gearbox oil - I replaced the ATF fluid that had done about 1,000 miles with MTF (Thanks John). I'd always used the correct EP gearbox oil before but wanted to try ATF for a summer then flush it out. MTF gives an equally nice change as ATF into 2nd but less gear noise.
Polybush remote gear housing bushes- the housing was touching the propshaft since the original bushes had perished. 3 had fallen out altogether.
Propshaft - a new old stock SD1 item was shortened by specialists to replace the worn item.
Rear brake cylinders - 1 was leaking so I replaced both of them.
Handbrake cable - The original had stretched beyond adjustment.
Heater box - The original had been bypassed for many years after leaking steam in spectacular fashion. As my summer car it never really mattered but a drive to Cardiff and back one April was too cold for comfort. I rebuilt a replacement heater out of 1 "recon" item that hadn't been and 1 second hand item that was much better. New S/S pipes replaced the corroded mild steem items along with a pair of rubber seals I bought a couple of years ago (still not available I think) and a flushed out pressure tested matrix.
Stainless Steel Single Pipe Exhaust - After about 18 years the mild steel system eventually gave up. The new one was fabricated on the car by a firm in Cardiff, good value, they listened to what I wanted and it doesn't drive me nuts at motorway speeds any more.
Anti Roll Bar - A retaining nyloc nut had stripped off the end allowing the strut to come away under braking. The thread on the old bar looked Ok but I just didn't trust it anymore, so I fitted a good used one. I now use 2 nylocs on each end (Thanks Wayne).

Adam






TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, S/S Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes all round, Anti- Dive, Strut-Top Roller Bearings, Capri Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 5 Spokes and Cruise Lights, S/S Heater Pipes, Replacement Fuel Tank. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991

I've had the nyloc pull off the right side of the anti-swaybar. Talking to some old school mechanics they just laughed at my misfortune and told me that almost all nyloc's are grade 3 or 5 (can't remember which), and because of the design of the TR7/8 suspension where they hold everything in alignment, you need grade 8 nuts on the anti-sway bar. I've now got proper slotted, all metal, grade 8 lock nuts on the anti-swaybar and haven't had a problem since.

Martin