Project TR7 part 12: The devil is in the details

By now, you've likely picked up on one of my many personality flaws. One of the biggest: I can't stand sloppy car repairs. So I spent the better part of a broiling Sunday afternoon fixing a few things on Project: TR7 that would annoy me if I let them be.

The thick layer of grimy, petrified oil on Project: TR7 -- on the engine, on the subframe and on the frame rails -- tells me the car had some incontinence issues. First order of business: Remove the transmission and flywheel. Working by myself under the car, that exercise took about 90 minutes, despite the tight quarters.

While the flywheel was at the machine shop being resurfaced, I examined the rear main seal and found the area clean and dry as a bone. The old seal was still fairly supple after four decades, but I replaced it anyway. With the car that far apart, it is silly not to replace an $8 part that could come back and haunt me a few miles down the road.

The other places oil could leak from -- the front engine seal, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and the O-rings in the external oil pump and oil transfer housing -- were given new parts. The inside of the transmission bellhousing was covered in thick, hard, greasy oil.

With two cans of Gunk and steel wool, I cleaned the transmission. Then I replaced the front and rear seals, which were no longer pliant. Hopefully, the TR7 engine and transmission will now retain their bodily fluids.

Then I replaced the eight tired rubber bushings between the shifter housing and the transmission. A good two sweaty hours were consumed by YKC957 - that's the bracket that holds the middle part of the exhaust system in place. Someone at a muffler shop cut the old one in half and used a generic rubber hanger.

That kind of thing annoys me. Because the emergency brake cable runs through YKC957, I replaced the two rubber grommets on the compensator lever and greased the whole works. Now, the e-brake works as good as new. And the exhaust system hangs exactly where it did when the car was new.

One of the tricks I use to find NOS parts is to simply type in the original factory part number into Google and on eBay. That's how I found YKC957, a fairly obscure part that usually lasts the life of the car. There were two on eBay; I bought the least expensive one. Cost: $18. Over the winter, I snagged an NOS clutch and pressure plate on eBay for less than $100. Googling original factory part numbers can turn up all sorts of treasures, and I recommend this strategy for anyone who works on their old cars.

With the resurfaced flywheel and new clutch installed, it was time to deal with the refreshed gearbox. I slid the transmission under the car and lifted it onto my floor jack. The plan was to get the transmission in position, then summon Autoweek digital editor Andrew Stoy to help me mate it to the engine.

I know from experience that it's far easier to remove a transmission than it is to install one. But, just for the heck of it, I jacked up the transmission until it was level with the back of the engine. Then I lined up the transmission input shaft to the clutch disc and rolled the gearbox forward. It took a little wiggling and jiggling, but the gearbox slid right into place. I raised the rear of the transmission and bolted the crossmember to the frame and then I installed the bell housing bolts. The whole job took about 90 minutes. This is one reason why I really like working on the TR7. Most jobs you can do by yourself.

From there, it was off to the races. In the span of a few nights in the garage after work, the driveshaft, starter, alternator and shift lever, and the shifter console inside the car, were reinstalled with little or no hassle.

Though I bought a new water pump, I wasn't planning on using it since the old one wasn't leaking. But Autoweek reader Mike Smith, himself a TR7 owner, changed my mind with a comment he left a few weeks back: "I have said this before, but before you close everything up, do yourself a favor and replace the water pump. The one on my TR7 took less than an hour… It will be worth the minor hassle, and then refill with good quality multi coolant to lubricate and manage the mixed metallic materials in the engine."

The old pump, which is gear-driven off a jack shaft, is another Triumph weirdness. But this time, it's Saab's fault. The first versions of Triumph's slant four engine powered late '60s and early '70s versions of the Saab 99. Because Saab agreed to buy 50,000 slant-four engines a year from Triumph, the Swedish company was able to dictate one design change that greatly complicated and seriously weakened the engine: the location of the water pump moved from its traditional place in front of the engine to top of the block with the impeller facing up.

That's because in the 99, Saab installed the engine backwards, with the flywheel facing forward and the nose of the engine inches away from the firewall. With the water pump in the normal position, it would be an engine-out job to replace it. And that's how the water pump changed locations from chief engineer Lewis Dawtrey's original 1963 design. The impeller sits about level with the top radiator hose. If the coolant level drops below that, overheating, a blown head gasket and a warped head soon follow. Project: TR7, a later production model, came with a low-coolant warning sensor designed to help prevent maladies.

After the water pump came the exhaust system. On a Triumph club forum early this spring, I found for sale a new old stock set of Pacesetter brand headers from the 1980s in a never-opened box.

Cost: $200. Those fit beautifully and should work well with the high compression pistons and mild cam. The exhaust note will hopefully be a bit raspy, but quiet.

That last thing I want is for a flatulent sounding Project: TR7 to attract the unwanted attention of drivers of modified Subarus, Hondas and cars of that ilk. Despite my efforts to boost the TR's performance, the car is very likely not going to keep pace with most modern machinery.

The cost for this part of the mechanical renovations total $694 and break down like this:

All that's left to do now is rebuild the SU carburetors and make two key modifications aimed at sending more of the engine's power to the wheels. The mechanical engine cooling fan is being replaced with an electric one. And the mechanical fuel pump will give way to an electric pump. Finally, I can say we're getting close to the finish line.

Project: TR7, Part 15 -- Loose ends tied, this car is complete

Project: TR7, part 14 -- Applying craftsmanship

Project TR7 part 13: Paging Joe Lucas

Project TR7 part 11: Shifting priorities

Project: TR7 part 10 -- The big bill comes due

Project TR7 part 9: The Head Honcho solves one problem but leaves behind another

Project TR7 part 8: A Detroit treasure helps save our British barn find

Project TR7 part 7: A complete brake job

Project TR7 part 6: Off with its head! (just not today)

Project TR7 part 5: Suspension surgery begins

Project TR7 part 4: It's alive!

Project TR7 part 3: Setting the baseline