Sometimes things go a little off-course and you have to adapt
Every now and then, no matter how good you think you are at breakfast time, you fluff one. We had one recently where we probably could have used a bit more time to think things through. It was with the magazine’s 1970 Chevrolet C10 which spat a starter motor at an inopportune moment. Now because it was being used, we needed to get it back up and running pronto – otherwise we would have had Ed Guido hanging around making the place look untidy.
The C10 runs a small block 350 and, because the old starter was simply worn out, we ordered a replacement. No problem, yes? No. The catch is this one has extractors fitted, which unfortunately bring the pipes closer than ideal to the starter and, more importantly, the giant solenoid sitting on top of it. What happens then is, on a hot day, the solenoid (or relay) overheats and won’t play. So you have to sit, read a newspaper (remember them?) or your iPad until everything cools down and is ready to go again.
That’s probably good for catching up on your reading, but not ideal for the Ed.
Now what we would have done, given a bit more time to think about it, is fit a later and smaller starter unit that sits the relay further from the pipes. No matter, you can get heat shields for this very situation and the Ed ordered one from the USA. It looked okay online, wasn’t expensive and it didn’t quite fit. So I think that’s one fluff each on this one. Damn. It’s a little annoying, but hardly the end of the world.
What we did was dig around in our spares, namely the ‘best not throw that out, it might be useful one day’ department, and found Toyota Australia’s solution to a very similar problem. It’s a heat shield off a V6 Camry. The starter motor in that case was directly underneath the exhaust and used to cook the solenoid.
As luck would have it, the Toyota part was close to being a fit and just needed a few minor mods to get it in place. Easy.
(Maybe now I should apologise to the long-suffering spouses and children of Australia’s classic car owners, because I’ve just provided a really good example of why you should throw nothing away. Yep, I’ve just encouraged all you hoarders out there to keep right on going… Oops!)
Anyway, while we were in there, we did the other thing you should consider when you’ve gone to all the trouble of getting your toy on a hoist: that is, think about what else needs to be done. In this case we tightened up a loose front wheel bearing (see last issue) and gave the old Chev a fresh drink of oil and a new filter.
So now the truck’s happy, the Editor’s happy and we can all get some sleep!
Note: Mick runs Glest provided a really good example of why you should throw nothing away. Yep, I’ve just encouraged all you hoarders out there to keep right on going… Oops!)
Anyway, while we were in there, we did the other thing you should consider when you’ve gone to all the trouble of getting your toy on a hoist: that is, think about what else needs to be done. In this case we tightened up a loose front wheel bearing and gave the old Chev a fresh drink of oil and a new filter.
So now the truck’s happy, the Editor’s happy and we can all get some sleep!
Note: Mick runs Glenlyon Motors in Brunswick, Vic.
Tel (03) 9380 5082.
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