Do your homework before doing mods
 

I was doing some pre-sleep reading through Waynes 101 projects and I happened to flip past the article on the turbo tie rod update and found myself looking at the comparisson of the stock tie rods versus the turbo tie rods.... all the while thinking "Hmmm... I don't remember my old tie rods looking like that one".

It started to bug me so I put on my slippers and got into the storage closet and pulled out one of the old tie rods.

...yup... you guessed it... the car evidentally already had turbo tie rods installed. :(

I guess it wasn't a total loss since the ball joints were a bit worn feeling... but it might explain why I really didn't notice any improvement in the steering. :rolleyes:

I just had to laugh at this one.
... just goes to show you not to go out and buy a slew of parts for your car while your 7000 miles away. :D

Doh!

Leland - that's a great story! I just told my family and they had a giggle too. Thanks for fessing up. Oh and definitely take your point - check first....research research research.

Cheers
Mark

I almost made a similar error with front shocks. I was replacing the fronts and looked up front and they were yellow (or green, I forget) so I knew they were Bilsteins. So when they asked "for a car with Bilsteins or Boges" I said Bilsteins. A little more research after the fact made me begin to wonder if the car came with these or if they were Bilsteins on a Boge strut housing. So I looked again (knowing what I was looking for; a green lower housing). Yep, factory Boge! Oh crap, gotta call the shop! Luckily, they hadn't shipped them yet. But I learned my lesson; know what I'm ordering before I order it!

Colby

Ok, so how do you know whether your clutch was already replaced, without dropping the engine and tranny? I think mine is original and it has 80k miles on it. But it feels fine. I'd like to know BEFORE I drop the engine to replace some oil seals, whether I need a clutch kit on hand too. I can't keep my car apart long enough to start ordering and waiting for parts, once I find out the hard way.

I did the same thing, before learning about all the lights, I was in Maine and bought a new lense that I needed, I described it and the guy said "probably H4s, H1s are hard to come by" so I bought the lens, got home and I have H1s so no I had to reorder and get another H1 and now I have an H4 "spare"

Shawn

You can't tell. The only way you can tell there's a new clutch in there is if you see a pressure plate that looks new (not rusty) when you look inside the inspection cover or the opening in the bottom of the trans. Even then, the previous owner could have cleaned up the pressure plate instead of replacing it. Not likely, but possible. Only way to know if you need a disc (besides slippage) is to split the motor and trans. You then must remove the p-plate to get a look at the disc. Look at the thickness and if you wipe off some of the dust on the inner hub, you should find a date stamp-painted somewhere on there (on a Sachs/Porsche disc, I don't know about other brands).

This is one of the situations when it's nice to have service records. I rolled the dice and got lucky. No records with my car. When I got to the clutch, there was still a lot of life in the disc and it had a 12/86 date on it. Still replaced it anyway with all new stuff.

Oh for goodness' sake. To see if your clutch is bad or good, you drive the car. If it starts slipping going up hills, especially in fourth or fifth gear, then it needs to be replaced. If your clutch were getting weak, you'll probably sense it before it quits pushing you uphill. If you're really curious, tap the clutch pedal while going uphill in fifth gear and watch the tach. If the rpms take a while to return to cruising rate, then your disk is tired.

I'd go ahead and order the new clutch stuff anyways, if you suspect 80K miles. Worse case scenario, your clutch still looks great, and you just return the parts. But chances seem good that you will want to replace those parts while you are there. The parts are not that expensive, at least compared to the labor it takes to get to them to replace.

Rick didn't ask how to tell if his clutch is bad. Asked how to tell if it's been replaced! There's a difference.

:P

Hey Lee, what ELSE did you have to do, in your spare time, while 7,000 miles away? Play pool? ;) Hell man, doing all that planning long distance? By computer? Don't feel a bit bad about those tie rods.

Let's see, it's 10:30PM on the East coast and I just got my Turbo Tie Rod kit today, guess I should go out and look under the car to make sure I don't already have one......

Leland,

Do I sense a possible posting in the parts forum for a good condition set of Turbo Tie Rods? ;)

As the owner of an 83 looking for such an upgrade, I might be interested...

When I was doing my apprenticeship at a Ford dealership about 20 years ago, a Cortina was sent to the local g/box specialist to have its autobox repaired. Virtually everything from clutches, seals and valves was replaced, but the workshop manager had sent a same colour car which was in for a regular service!!!!

I still have the old turbo tie rods if anyone is interested.

Just send me an email to leland.pate@mountainhome.af.mil
or lelandeod@yahoo.com

turbo tie rods
 

Leland I sent you an email about this

Shawn

Sorry Shawn, but my post expressing interest in these beat yours by almost 2 weeks. Plus, I am a fellow member of the SCWDP! :D