dr bob

The alternator console is heavy on the outboard end, so you end up wrestling the weight at one end while trying to guide a few bolts in at the inner end. So I have found that supporting the whole thing with the floor jack is the way to go. Support shoe goes under the alternator, and you can "adjust" the height with the right foot on the jack handle while leaning over the front and moving the lighter end around to get the bolts lined up. This method makes the whole thing a one- or two-minute job, with none of those $#**&&^! words that used tom be necessary.

HTH!

Rob Edwards

Well, I got it all back together (the alternator's a piece of cake when you get the central 17 mm bolt going first!) and fired her up- I was literally shaking from nerves. Anyway, she fired right up and settled down to her regular too-fast (1200 rpm cold) idle. There was a pretty significant clicking noise coming from the valve train that settled down in 2 minutes or so- is it possible to collapse a hydraulic lifter by rotating the cams a few times while the crank is locked at 45o BTDC? Obviously no oil is going to the lifters if the oil pump isn't turning.....

Went for a brief slow cruise around the neighborhood, the coolant light came on after about 5 minutes, so I came back and refilled the reservoir, thinking that I'd gotten up to temp, the t-stat opened, and it needed more volume in the motor. I then drove down to the gas station, maybe a mile and a quarter. While filling up I noticed that there was a line of drips behind the car. Uh oh. No drips while the motor is off, but a steady drip (2-3 per second) under the passenger side firewall at idle, dripping off the rear pan. At first I hoped that I'd just overfilled the expansion tank and it was burping out the overflow, but after I got home the expansion tank was MAYBE 1/4 full. The front of the motor looks dry, but the fender well just behind the strut tower is wet (and coolant was running into the wheelwell thru the holes that the brake line passes through) , so either I've split the expansion tank, or I generated a new leak underneath in that 3" hose at the Y? - I don't see how that 's possible, but who knows? I did replace the small hose that runs from the expansion tank to the small nipple on the coolant crossover, but nothing else. How painful is it to R/R the expansion tank?

Anyway, after more or less three full days, the TB/WP is almost done- now all I gotta do is buy more parts and do more troubleshooting!

Jim R.

Check the small hose and heater valve under the air cleaner assembly. The hose is a good source for the leak. The heater core hoses also run back there and under the wiper cover-when I replaced mine they appeared to be the originals.

Good luck,

Jim

dr bob

Rob--

There are a few PITA hoses under the reservoir that deserve replacement every 10 years or so. There are two small (8mm or 5/16") vent hoses. You replaced the one to the radiator. There's another that vents the water bridge by the thermostat. There's a hose from that same area by the thermostat to a steel pipe along the pass shock tower. The rear of that pipe connects to the reservoir with another hose section. There's a hose from the heater core that connects to the bottom of the reservoir. One more hose connects to another steel pipe going forward. There's a hose from the radiator cap vent that runs down that corner of the firewall. There's a short stub of hose between the cylinder head and the heater valve. Marc Thomas (Devek) once described that hose as a 'safety feature', since it seems to do a better job of relieving pressure than the radiator cap does. Heat from the head I guess. From the heater valve, there's a a hose that runs across to the heater core. Any one of them could be leaking...

The hoses are not cheap to buy. But... I compare the cost of the hoses and the joy of putting them in, with the almost mystical magical experience of being stranded someplace along the side of the road where it's really hot, and there's this bleeping from the rev limiter even though the engine isn't running. Or worse: Same scenario, plus the car has overheated and done a bit of engine damage. The WP/TB project seems to be a good time for hose renewal, since all the coolant is out and several of the hoses are removed anyway. For me, it's every other TB renewal it seems. The big hoses to the radiator get renewed every cycle.

I hate being stranded by "stupid stuff" I guess. Take a look at the PET pages on hoses and you'll see a pretty good blowup diagram showing them all. Installation is a bit cosier than the drawing might lead you to believe, of course.

Rob Edwards

7 years later, a little closure on this thread: the new owner came and picked up the GT yesterday, and drove her away. She is going to a good home and I am hoping that he will join us here on RL soon.