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Fan belt almost destroyed marital bliss.


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I have not posted for a while but I thought I would share this one.

45 miles from home on my wedding anniversary the red ignition light came on and the temperature started to rise.

The tell tale sign the fan belt had gone.

On many cars changing a fan belt is a fast affair and can be done roadside but on a TR4A I have found the best way is to slacken off the engine mounting bolts and jack up the engine to create enough room for the belt to pass between the steering rack and the fan extension tube. So no chance of fixing it at the side of the road.

Fortunately, I had an ally racing radiator fitted and after stealing some water from English Heritage, driving for 20 miles and then topping up at a service station I made it home without much trouble and no overheat. It could have been a lot worse.

 

So now you know the back story I decided this would never happen again and I redesigned the fan extension tube so a fan belt can pass through freely.

 

I have added some pitcures here so if anyone wanted to do the same they would get the idea of what needs doing. It was machined and made symmetrical for balance.

The eagled eyed will spot the flats that have been added and this is to get a spanner on as opposed to the monkey wrench usually required to get the extension tube off.

 

So far so good and I'll report in if it doesn't work out for any reason

Now I can carry a spare fan belt and if it goes I know we'll be back on the road in 10 minutes.

Hope you are all well and safe.

 

Best wishes

 

Paul

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Edited by TR4A1965
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I remember that once you could buy a roadside quick fix.

It consisted in a sturdy tube with an alloy linking piece which you connected to make a circle from it and it could be easily fitted. Has anyone else know of or used that or women's tights, for that matter?

David

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23 hours ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said:

Here is a most excellent solution by Marco using cds tube from scratch.

Peter W

Yes, I made this and it works lovely,

but since I had to lower the engine for my MX-5 gearbox hhe gap is only 5 mm,

so now I have a "crotcheted" belt in my boot as a spare part

0OM_UKbEpeINxL_rVcOc18KiJEO6Ya0gbNViZQuh

(no problem with my Flennor 20X900 at all)

Edited by Z320
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35 minutes ago, Chris59 said:

Another solution image.thumb.png.e35c8bc3ad0cad81f232fb2b4e1285aa.pngYes, it work fine.

Yes indeed, as mentioned above

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Here is a picture of it fitted. What makes this really work is the flats as it means you can install it without the Monkey Wrench. I think Marco's stills needs the wrench.:-) All else fails there is always stockings but if you are driving with a lady that wears such things I don't think the fan belt will be on your mind at all.

 

IMG_4773.JPG

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Nylon stockings have many uses on a car.

As well as an emergency fan belt you can use stockings to quieten  down noisy tappets. You simply stuff the stockings into the oil filler hole in the rocker cover.

Or you can use them the coat big end shells with nylon to stop them knocking.

To repeat a story I told last year:

“In the 1970’s I poked a pair of new nylon stockings through the dipstick hole to try to solve big end rattle in a 3A.

I mention that the stockings were new, because I had a bit of a problem in the shop trying to get them.
It was near Monte Carlo, and all the shops were quite expensive. The stylish shop assistant asked me questions like “What size?”, “What colour? “, “Plain or patterned”?

I kept replying that I wasn’t really bothered.

In the end I told her that I just wanted to stick them in my engine.

I don’t think she really understood.

It’s a pity, because if she knew anything about engines she might have said :


“Oh. Don’t do that! All that will happen is that they will get sucked around the oil pump gauze, your oil pressure will go down to zero, and you will have to remove the sump to retrieve them”.


That, of course, is exactly what happened.”


I’ve since been told that you have to chop the stockings up into small pieces first.

But I won't be trying it again.

Charlie.

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sorry me,

in my opinion using Nylons as a fan belt is an male fantasy of how to get your female passenger naked...

I don't know iif it works (to get her naked) 

B)

Edited by Z320
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1 hour ago, Z320 said:

sorry me,

in my opinion using Nylons as a fan belt is an male fantasy of how to get your female passenger naked...

I don't know iif it works (to get her naked) 

B)

I bet you're right, I wouldn't try neither.

BUT, buying a pair of nylon "tights" (didn't know it's called like that in English) to the missus can be a good way to be forgiven. Or flowers, it's up to you :)

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Some ladies from the German TR IG Südwest did a test some years ago, 

different British classic cars, different colours, including a test drive and illustrated report at our club magazin.

On the photos they all have not been naked, so the test failed!

Edited by Z320
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20 hours ago, Z320 said:

Some ladies from the German TR IG Südwest did a test some years ago, 

different British classic cars, different colours, including a test drive and illustrated report at our club magazin.

On the photos they all have not been naked, so the test failed!

Nice try though :D

 

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I have a spare fan belt fastened with cable ties next to the pulley so I can change to the spare without jacking up the engine. I have a spare coil fastened in the engine bay as well. I picked up these tips after looking at a rally car modifications. I like the modified extension tube idea though. I am also looking at raising the front of the engine a bit on the mountings to see if that would work but I would have to raise the radiator by a similar amount to reduce stretching of the top hose. I have checked and I have some clearance to do this.

Obviously the Triumph engineers had an off day when they designed this mistake into the car.

Keith

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I did once try the nylon stocking fan belt. It did not work, the crank pulley just slipped and melted the nylon. I think you need silk stockings chaps.

Ralph

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The belt and pulley - construction transfers the power by the wedged flankes.

Even a too slim belt running on the ground of the pulleys does not work.

This is the reason for my absurde "expectations" about our ladies test:

much more likely is to see all of them nude at the club magazine than this desperate test works.

I hope you realised my irony....

Edited by Z320
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  • 3 weeks later...

Seriously, though, there was an emergency repair fan belt you could buy. It was a thick tube of plastic with a metal two-ended part. You threaded it round and push fitted one end into the other. I carried one round in the boot, just in case. But never had to fit it. Are they still available? 

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