Noob to Rover/Oldie to British

[triumphtr7guy]

Good one! Tank will be screened. Hadn't thought of that one.

I'll have to drive it a little to arrive at a name, however, from what I have read slow-mo may be a descriptive name. Sort of why I choose it as my forum moniker.

draining of tank very good thing to do, when I did mine, found 2 rubber fishing worms,had weathered quite well, but still no idea how they got there. Nice 3 Slomo, wiring shouldnt be a big challenge, color coding the same, same principals, keep the smoke in the wires. What part of the country are you located in if not being too nosy

[slowmo]

I have gone fishing several times into fuel tanks, but never with rubber fishing worms as bait. I'll try that next time. I am usually trying to fish out something I dropped in there. It is especially easy to drop things into the the TR3 tank located horizontally just aft of the cockpit.

I do have my first strange issue, however. In draining the rear diffy, I found the drain plug to have odd pitting. Being the genius I am, I didn't really think about it, reinstalled it, and filled the diffy with new gear oil. When emptying the drain pan, I found the remains of a bolt (I think) beaten to smitherines. This THING has lived in the diffy for a while and I suppose that it actually at one point was attached to something. This same something may be wondering where the bolt is and be suffering for it's disappearance. Here is a pic which I will be attaching to our Christmas letter since I am spending more time with the Rover than my lovely wife as of late.



Can anyone identify the origin of this thing? Rats. Viewing the drawings, I tend to think it is a crown wheel to housing bolt (PN RNB507) as it seems to be the only bolt interior to the diffy.

Otherwise, I drained about 3/4 of a gallon of viscous dirt from various boxes and replaced it with 1.5 gals of gear oil. I still have the main gear box to attend to. After a couple of weeks of driving, I'll drain it all again in hopes of obtaining fairly reasonable lubrication.

Oh. I am located near Reno, NV.
David

[SafeAirOne]

Hmm...I'm trying to remember...I seem to recall reading on one of these forums, accounts of failures of rover diffs due to movement of the ring gear. I can't remember what the root cause of the movement was--replacement ring gears of incorrect thickness maybe?? I don't really remember, but this movement caused failures of the bolts due to the excessive shear loads put on them by the floppy ring gear during starts and during transitions from power loading to engine braking (deceleration during coasting).

Based on the evidence you've found, I would strongly recommend pulling the diff (if it's a rover-type diff) or removing the rear cover (Salisbury diff) and making sure all the bolts are present and correctly torqued (and locked) before you drive farther away from your house than your care to walk back.

[SafeAirOne]

The only other thing I could imagine it being is a broken third member stud that a PO had pounded out of its hole in the diff housing, but failed to retrieve before reinstalling the third member.

Having said that, the head doesn't really look like the head of the studs shown in the book--It's much thicker...

[lumpydog]

Slowmo - great looking rig! Nice patina - leave it like that!! Really nice.

Regarding that bolt that made its way out of the diff. It definitely merits opening the diff to check things out. One thing I've learned about these trucks is that they "talk" to you. You just have to know how to listen... Pay attention to subtle and not-so-subtle protests and signs (spitting out a chewed on bolt is not-so subtle). Ignore things like this and you will learn a harder lesson.

In the last three months I've also replaced the exhaust manifold, generator, fuel pump, starter, all hoses, flushed the radiator and replaced heater core, replaced the distributor entirely, new wires, plugs and a lot more. I've been setting aside the replaced parts as spares. My philosophy on consumable parts that wear: Check'm and fix'm before they break and you'll always know how to fix it in the future. Also - going down this path of swapping out old parts means I have working backup parts/spares. While I'm also new to all of this (purchased mine last summer), let me know if I can share any stories or advice based on my recent experiences.

It sounds like you're keeping the distributor itself and replacing its serviceable parts. Be sure to slip/lift it out and feel the bottom/shaft to make sure there is no wobble/play - being sure not to change the rotor position so you can drop the distributor back in at the same point of rotation.

If our host here cannot supply it, Ike Goss (pangolin4x4) is a great source for NOS and used parts.

Oh - also, post more pictures! Inside and out. Give us a chance to take a good look at her :-)

[slowmo]

I'm convinced. Off comes the rear cover.

[cedryck]

I will second the very aptly suggested opinion that a series rover will talk to you. It is telling you it has a problem. A problem that might need immediate attention, my last talk with my rover resulted in a locking rear wheel, and it was very obvious when the truck barely moves after releasing the clutch. I figured it out, no problem, but look and observe your series truck. Take the time to tighten bolts, my exhaust down pipe bolt (only one of them ) loves to loosen up. Eventually even nylock nuts on the prop shafts need a small twist, and of course pay attention to the leak or lack of leak under you diffs, and tranny. Post more pics and I agree leave that lovely faded red patina, cheers.

[slowmo]

I found the bolts for the ring gear at Moss Motors. The required 3/8" BSF x 1" are not in stock with our benevolent hosts or at those whose initials are AB.

British cars talk a lot more than many cars. One becomes quite adept at identifying which part had just fallen off by its' particular sound as it rolls into the brush. "Oh dang, that was the crank pulley." or "There goes that stupid carb again." or "Was that the passenger seat? Babe? BABE!"

I have been trying to create an album for my truck, but it is hung up on just one pic so I'll feed them in my posts until I figure out about the album snafu.





edit: And just now I received the Green Bible and I see the diffy doesn't have a rear cover. Oh well. A few more steps involved but better to find out what the heck is going on in there now.

[triumphtr7guy]

Nice rig Slomo!! good luck with the rear dif. Yeah, rubber fishing worms were a bit of a surprise. If you have been baptised with a TR3 you have the basics down. Hope to have both my rigs, 80 TR7 and the 73 Landy up and running next year.