So it was a long work day for us but we got the motor swapped in the Spitwad! The old motor served us well and ran strong for 5 LeMons races and 1 Chump Car race, but began to develop a wicked bad blow by. It had got to the point where oil was spewing out of the dipstick hole at our last race. Side note.. thought I was really smart and wrapped my camera in a plastic bag so I could use it with greasy hands but failed to notice the autofocus was off.. so yeah the pictures are blurry.
We had our new team member come over and help us out. Good guy, easy going, and can turn a wrench. Also a fellow Triumph fan who owns a TR6. Glad to have him on the team.
The old motor came out.. with only one snag.. Kinda forgot to unhook the exhaust mount from the trans. After that though, we got it out pretty easy. Hopefully some day I will finally rebuild one of the 1500 motors. With three of them now needing a rebuild, I should get at least one done.
We got the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and trans mounted to the new (old) motor and got it in the car. With a few small things to change, it took us a bit longer to swap.
But... she did finally start up and ran nice! Really gotta thank my dad for freshening up this old motor. I am excited and a bit relieved that it is done.
We still have a few things to get done before the race: put on a muffler, finish reworking the brakes, putting the old stiffer & shorter rear shocks back on, some bushings in the rear to tighten things back up... but I am going on vacation so they will have to wait....
Great day!
