Category Archives: 1. bowtie6

Fixing a Leaking 9 Inch Ford Rear End

Note the grade-8 washers

I have recently noticed that the 9″ Ford rear end in bowtie6 has started leaking.  Nothing severe mind you, but just enough to make a mess of the garage floor.  So I jacked the car up and slid my new Race Ramps under the rear tires.  As it turned out, all ten nuts holding the third member in place, were loose.

But why?  Sure, wear and tear might cause things to loosen up.  Not wanting to leave this up to chance, I did a handful of Google searches and sure enough…  According to what I read on several websites this is a common issue on 9″ Ford rear ends.  The solution is to use copper washers on each stud.

In Search of Copper Washers

As you can see in today’s featured picture, we used grade-8 washers when we put the rear end together.  At the time, that is all we had available and after a short conversation with my cousin Jim, he told me he was not able to source the right copper washers.  Hmmm…

Two sets of Ford copper washers

So I searched eBay for some copper washers for a 9″ Ford and success!  I found a vendor offering “original” vintage Ford washers exactly for this application.  After reading the auction, I promptly clicked the “buy-it-now” button and ordered two sets for $6.00 per set of 10 washers.  Not bad.

Delivery was very quick:  the washers arrived in yesterday’s mail.  Cool!  Today, I lifted the car up again and crawled under to replace the grade-8 washers with the new copper replacements.  According to my research the washers are very soft.  As the Nylock nuts compress the copper washer they “seat” and this prevents the nuts from backing out.  Of course, this never happened with the hardened grade-8 washers.

Washers Replaced

So here is what the new washers look like.

The new copper washers are smaller than the earlier ones (see the featured photo for the “before” look).  The advantage is they have somewhat collapsed to take shape.  This is the same principle behind the soft aluminum washer on the oil drain plug on my Honda S2000.  Another problem solved!

Happy New Year

And so, I bid you all a Happy New Year.  I hope 2017 brings you great fortune and good health.  Cheers!

 

TR6 Front LED Bulbs

img_4070The missing Triumph TR6 front LED bulbs came in this week.  I say missing because the “kit” I bought included the wrong front LED bulbs:  for the 1972 TR6, the bulb must have two “filaments”.  In other words, these bulbs double as parking lights and turn signals.

Today’s featured image shows the bulbs installed and in their “park light” mode.  I left the lenses off to show off the amber color and just how bright hey are!

And one more picture, this time a closeup showing all the little light emitting diodes and why the coverage is so great.

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Multiple rows of LED’s providing full coverage

 

LED Lights for a Triumph TR6

img_4055Today, I installed a long overdue improvement on bowtie6: a set of LED lights for a Triumph TR6.  The “kit” consists of all new 360 degree replacement LED bulbs.  This means, the new bulbs have diodes on all sides and give a much brighter beam compared to the traditional bulbs.

The advantage is obvious:  a much brighter indicator with little or no heat dissipation.  I’ve seen the effects of traditional bulbs on the TR6 tail light clusters:  damage can occur and this replacements are expensive.  The downside is this improvement is a little on the pricey side.  I’ll explain shortly…

img_4057This picture shows on the right, a traditional front side-marker light bulb as fitted to a 1971 Triumph TR6.  The bulb on the left is the LED replacement, with amber light emitting diodes.  Yes, the replacement bulbs are available in different colors depending upon their intended use.  As you can see, there are four diodes around each side and one on the tip.  This provides the 360 degree coverage.

All bulbs in the kit came individually and carefully packaged in a box.  Shipping was not too bad, however the kit was $125.00.  Yes, rather pricey but worth it.

img_4053By now you are asking for proof.  Well, take a look at the following pictures.  The first picture shows the “stock” front-side marker light:

img_4058Followed by this picture, showing the replacement LED bulb in action:

img_4059The difference is noticeable and I must say, the picture does no justice.  In person, the LED replacements are much brighter.

Moving along to the back of the car, this picture shows the new LED bulbs on the left and the traditional bulbs on the right:

img_4064The picture shows the red “running” lights and the white back-up lights in the “on” setting.  Each LED replacement is much brighter with a richer light beam and full coverage.  The amber turn signals are not “on” unfortunately, but believe me they are very bright now!

Here is a close-up of the rear running lights with the LED bulb on the left and the traditional bulb on the right:

Finally, if you decide on getting one of these LED kits let me save you some aggravation.  The manufacturer’s website has a mistake on the bulbs required.  The front turn signal bulbs need two “filaments”.  The website has the replacements are only one “filament”.  As a result, I will need to order the a pair of two “filament” amber bulbs.

Also, don’t forget the resistance of LED’s is different from tradition bulbs.  Therefore you must change the flasher to one compatible with LED bulbs.  Otherwise, the “blinking” won’t happen properly.

Here is the corrected list of bulbs if you wish to know:

  • 1156-A18-T in Amber – required 2 for the rear turn signals
  • 1157-R27-T in Red – required 2 for the rear running/brake lights
  • 1156-CW18-T in Cool White – required 2 for the rear backup lights
  • BA9S-RHP5 in Red – required 2 for the rear side marker lights
  • BA9S-AHP5 in Amber – required 2 for the front side marker lights
  • 1157-A27-T in Amber – required 2 for the front running/turn signal lights

 

Sunset

IMG_3239Drove bowtie6 to work the other day and on the way out, I see this awesome sunset.  The picture above does it no justice – it was just a little too late and I caught it when it was too dark.

Nevertheless, I thought it made for a cool picture…  Peace.

Six or One Half Dozen of the Other

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bowtie6 in the sunshine, sporting Panasports and that oh-so-rare factory hard top.

Today’s post shows six or one half of the other grouping of Triumph TR6’s gathered over at my friend Al’s shop.  You see, Al just got his business license for his TR6 restoration garage.  While bowtie6 did not come from Al’s shop, it was invited to take part in this impromptu car show of sorts.

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