Tech Tips Watch this page for maintenance tips and short articles that, while not requiring a full "Tech Topics" page, are definitely of interest to TC owners. (Scroll down to see all articles.)

NASTY GAS Looked inside your carbs lately? After many months of storage, this is what mine looked like. Black guck everywhere! Apparently, even with fuel stabilizer, gasoline doesn't remain viable forever. If you don't drive your TC regularly, or at least start it once a week and let it run for fifteen or twenty minutes, you are asking for trouble. If your car must be idle for long periods of time, it is a good idea to drain the gas out of the carbs, lines and yes, even the tank. Inconvenient? Sure. But unless boiling out your carbs once a year is your idea of fun, it is worth the trouble. JC.

FOLDING THE TC TOP ACCORDING TO JOE NAMNAM As told to Jim Crandall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

CHECK THAT STEERING! After reading Steve Simmons' article, "A First Drive," in the June '05 Midget Chassis, and after reliving a similar first drive of my own back in 1960, I couldn't help but remember a few other TC "drives" that didn't have such euphoric endings.       On the Grand Rally Around Britain in 1998, while touring the winding back roads of northern Wales, Frank Borgardt suddenly lost his steering and drifted safely onto a narrow verge cut out of the mountain. It could just as easily have been the hundred foot drop on the other side of the road. The cause was a broken sector shaft in the TC steering box, that "miracle" of English engineering that even in 1948 was seriously flawed.       On another occasion, during a tour of a downtown parking lot in Paso Robles, CA during a TCMG/ARR Conclave, Kay Einhorn lost her steering due to a broken tie rod ball in the steering linkage. Although less dramatic than Frank's, this incident also reminded me that of the many critical parts in a TC, a fatigued sector shaft or ball joint are the ones that can really ruin your day and could take your life.       After returning from the '98 GRAB my steering box went directlly to Harry Gravette for a rebuild which included the magnafluxing of the sector shaft to detect any invisible cracks, and after getting back from the Paso Robles Conclave, the balls (both tie rod and drag link ends) were immediately replaced with new ones from Moss Motors.       As Steve begins his restoration, I would urge him to look first at these and other stress-prone points in the TC's aging mechanicals. Anyone who loves to drive the car as much as he apparently does should be kept alive and well at all costs. Jim Crandall

COOLING YOUR TC From the April '05 Midget Classis New Guild member John Rode was reading over the TClinics he recently received and found an error. He wrote: "My quibble relates to the TClinic on coolant, and the advice regarding adding more coolant/antifreeze to the water if you want the victim to run cooler. My experience is directly contra, derived from a pair of Detroit Diesel 6-71 naturals in a former vessel I had for six years. Those magni·cent beasts were very prone to overheating as the weather and water temperatures rose above 60F. This drove me to a frenzy of heat-exchanger/intercooler boilings-out, belt replacement, tightening, loosening, impeller replacement & reinstallation, exhaust riser cleaning, and all the other fun (and expen$ive) things you can do in a hot engine room in June, July and August, to absolutely no avail. Then, in desperation, I measured the concentration of antifreeze: over 65%! Found a guru, who noted (a) in cold weather, never, never, never exceed a 50:50 mixture as that is the mixture which gives maximum protection from freezing; (b) water transfers heat MUCH better than antifreeze or other coolant preps; (c) for that reason, Detroit Diesels just overheat in the summer if the antifreeze is over 10-15%. He was absolutely right on all counts, so from that point onwards, I checked and adjusted the antifreeze concentration when the boat was returned to the water after winter storage. John can be contacted at <idle-hour@att.net>

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