Rekindled Project Focus

Time in Garage Friday: 6 hours

I am recently back from a January vacation to the Palm Desert in Southern California, somewhat recharged and refocused and ready to get back to work on my car. Christmas break was a bit challenging health wise as I contracted a fairly serious cold/flu that put Christmas celebrating and working on the Triumph on the back burner. I had to lay low and take it easy...

Yesterday I did the following:

Removed the fan extension from the front engine pulley..interestingly I didn't realize there was a large bolt that had to be removed. After a bit of frustration trying to break the extension free I referenced my manual and read through the instructions...I chuckled to myself around the 15 minutes I wasted that could have been avoided had I read the manual first!!! Arghhh..

While referencing the manual I recorded all the relevant torgue readings on a piece of paper that I put into a clip board...easier to read and doesn't mess up the manual with greasy fingers

I removed the thermostat housing and waterpump housing for clean up and reinstallation with new gaskets..

Removed the distributor and found a large deposit of gunk that needed cleaning out...it has been a while since the distributor has been removed. It will require clean up and a bushing check...

I did another clean of the block in prep for painting. I removed the spark plugs to clean up the head surface and noticed one was broken. Not sure how that happened but it will need to be replaced.

The block is now about 80 percent prepared for paint...yesterday was a great day to work on the car as I could keep the garage door open...record temperatures in our area...felt more like spring than mid winter...also good light and ventilation for parts cleaning...

On Thursday I traded out the remaining after market slotted wheel for the proper rim that I had recently powder coated...now the chassis has all the right rims installed. Cost to do this: $42 for the rim recoat and $22 for tire swap and balancing and a new valve stem...the slotted rim was put into storage...