Z320

Hi, I'm very pleased with my "Trotec TTK40E " (www.eBay.de) since about 5 years in my cellar and workshop because the walls have contact to soil / ground. It puts me out about 3-4 liters of water every day, with the windows closed, at 20°C (summer) in the room. Are you shure you need one at your garage? I don't, although we have our citrus trees and other winter sensitive plants with the cars in there during the winter. Simple rule: don't let water in: roof sealed, do not put your every day car in there when it is very wet from rain or covered with snow. Don't heat it with a gas infrared radiator when you are working there, the exhaust gas is very damp, best you don't heat it at all. To the dehumidifier: they condense the water out on a cold "radiator", this is about 15 Kelvin colder than the surrounding temperature. With less than 15°C in the room / garage you get ice on the radiator and the unit has to defrost itself from time to time. On the low cost dehumidifiers this works very simple: by keeping the fan running and switch off the compressor. That works lovely and amazing fast on my simple "Trotec" down to 1-2°C, with colder air you can not melt the ice. Therefore you need an expensive unit that can run reverse for a short time, valves guide the hot coolant in the unit the other way round to melt the ice on the radiator. This cost more energy and you have to drain the water before it freezes again, but you should not need something like this when you keep water out of the garage. Because the air carries only a minimum of water below 5°, the effort to get it out is immense. As mentioned my "Trotec" takes out about 3-4 liter of water max a day at 20°C in the room, that drops to 0,1 - 0,5 liter in the garage at 2-5°C. If you anyway see a need for a dehumidifier at your garage you could switch it off with a thermostat when temperature drops below 2-5°C. Hope that helps. Marco

Hi Mark, what about you?

Hi Stuart and Johannes, after only some minutes with Google (edit: for part number and piston size) I probably be with you. Perhaps anyway someone could be so kind and email me a scan of the article? Ciao. Marco

Hi Stuart, thank you very much for watching an telling me, I did not realize, you are right! The brake pads I realized already, the will not last a long time anymore. I need both and I did nothing on the calipers since I own the car. A "triple reason" the think about a change? Ciao, Marco

Back from my garage, the TR disc is only 10 mm! There would be space for a ventilated disc!

Hi Steve, thanks for that confirmation. Google tell to Toyota pistons are 45 mm, the Triumph piston is 54 mm. What disc do you use? The Toyota calipers are good for 22 mm thickness (google). Ciao, Marco

Hi, anyone out there who wants to support me with the article? please email to z320@arcor.de

My first one, still in use but not pretty, was brass from a 3/4" heating ball valve from the scrap.

Hi, this is my experience: When you lift the car the threaded bar goes NOT through the steel plate (coil spring pan) in 90° angle - but clearly inclined. This is why the drill in the steel plate must be bigger than the diameter of the threaded bar, and much more bigger with a more massiv steel plate. Anyway you can not avoid the bar going sidewards and rasps on the steel plate? I only guess, I never did that! In 2013 by accident (really, one of my front axle brackets ripped off) I was able to see a mechanic working with the original "Churchill Tool". This has no steel plate but a "huge" steel ball, this slides in the spring pan while the spring pan moves upwards and to about a 90° angle. The threaded bar never rasps on the steel ball. I've been very impressed! I did not want to pay 169 GBP for one of them, so I made this: a steel plate, drilled diam. 20 mm and deep countersunk from both sides. On the countersunk surface slides a stainless steel ball, drilled to the M12 bar. This works like on the original tool. Very smooth, the steel bar never touches the steel plate, steel plate is fixed by the damper bolts, very safe and it lasts for ever. I also did that for the Jag Mk2, some kind of different. To compress it comes with a standard hex nut 19 mm x 10 mm long (suits 3/4" spanner) and a extra long hex nut 17 mm x 40 mm (suits 5/8" spanners). From time to time I make a small number of them, sell them at eBay but will finish with that (have other projects). But feel free to make your own the same way. I have no money interest, from the money I ask I have to go out with my wife to please here for the hours I spend in my workshop. Ciao, Marco

All modern cars have a PCV, seems to be not so bad... And with a look in the inlet manifold it looks not dirty or oily.

Let the PCV valve where it is, it is a vacuum reduction valve, oil separator and flame trap. It guides the separated oil back to the engine if it is installed correctly, and always keeps a low vacuum on the engine to get a "positiv (active) crankcase ventilation". I'm convinced about its sence and benefits for the engine - guess I'm the only one.

Also all BMW Boxers do that, with a spring loaded (no return) valve on top they blow out when both pistons are "down", from there on there is low pressure in the crankcase, good to loose less oil through gaps, until they are both "down" again.

Hi, that's how all 4 look now, ready to paint (no powder, please!) Next photo expains the need for the offset of the construction and the soldered washers. That was the plan, but pretty much more effort than I expected. Ciao, Marco

+1

The torque to lock a M12 bolt or nut with 8.8 quality is about 84 Nm. With 84 Nm or less you never do a damage on the bolt/nut. To compress the spring with a M12 bar/nut the torpue is much below 84 Nm. So you use the M12 8.8 nut / bar much below their limit, never as much as "tight". But if you feel better use M16 high tensile 10.9 ( max. 290 Nm) or 12.9 ( max. 354 Nm).