ISOA logo 2003 ISOA Event Articles

Last updated February 3, 2003

Here's a Quick Index of articles on some of the things we've done in 2003...

ISOA's 2003 Big Bash

January 11, 2003

What a wonderful time we all had at this year's Big Bash! Over 60 Members and their significant others attended.

We had our own private banquet room, decorated by Gloria "Queenie" Capetto with balloons, table centerpieces and individually wrapped candy at each place setting. The room was filled with "the Sixties" music arranged by Dan and Kathy "Wrongway" Swanson, and at one corner was the LCD projector brought by Mike Sedlak showing Mr. Fuji's library of 2002 ISOA pictures on the screen. At the left was a life-size cardboard figure of the King, Elvis Presley brought by the Billimacks for attendees to have their picture with and of course a really big 2003 Big Bash banner hanging high off the front ceiling courtesy of the Stagmaster newsgroup.

After sampling the hors d'oeuvres, being served the soup of the day, the salad, and the main course desert was served. But first, we sang Happy Birthday to Kathy Pawlak and were served a piece of her custom-made Birthday Cake showing a picture of her on one of her Quarter horses inked on the icing of the cake along with a scoop of ice cream.

The program started with recognition to several members who assisted our editor, Joe Pawlak with monthly material submission. They were Jack Billimack, Tim Buja, Mike Blonder and Erik Quackenbush (in absentia) who received a 6 pack of their favorite beverage. Joe then announced the Members who helped with writing and submitting the most articles. Ed "Krakatoa" Krakowiak and Tim "Yacker" Smith were recognized and awarded a year's subscription to Triumph World magazine.

Jack Billimack presented a wall plaque to Mike "Hands" Blonder for being the President of ISOA for the past two years. The Stagmeister was recognized as well with a wall plaque for his superb work in being our ISOA Editor for the past five years.

Jack Billimack presented the 2002 Super Peter M. Roberts award to Phil "The Factor" Fox and the 2002 Super Boomer award to Tim "Yacker" Smith. Tim was awarded the very first Traveling Super Boomer Award, a small wire rim, which needs some assembly. Tim, we look forward to having you present this award to yourself at the 2004 Big Bash.

Once the tables were cleared, we started the Picture Game, spearheaded by Jack and Barb Billimack. Each table was given a sheet with pictures of ten people on it and an answer sheet. Each member of the table helped identify each picture within a 4-minute time period, and as time expired, this sheet was passed to the next table until all 8 tables had a chance to identify each sheet with first and last name.

The next game was spearheaded by Mike and Marilyn Blonder - charades. Auto part names were placed on small sheets of paper and placed in several bags marked Easy, Medium, and Risque. Most members selected from the Risque bag!!!

Around 11 PM, the meeting was called and a great time was had by all who attended. I wish to offer a Special "Thank You" to all the members that had a hand in providing another Successful Big Bash. What a way to start the New Year.

Phil "The Factor" Fox

Return to Quick Index

ISOA Electrical Clinic 101

January 25, 2003

  • 29 attendees
  • 8:30 - 6:30
  • 4 dz donuts
  • 4 dz sloppy joes
  • 3 dz cookies
  • 2 cases pop
  • 2 cases beer
  • 2 TR6 tailight sockets
  • Hands nearly going to Billy's for tranny clinic.
  • Wrongway getting a new fuse block.
     
  • And a whole lot of learning going on!

The agenda was full of material to cover. It's real hard to leave things out. All parts of the electrical systems are important. Instructors Tim "Toolman" Buja and Joe "Stagmeister" Pawlak, lectured and demonstrated on many critical areas about Triumph and automotive electrical systems.

The fear of the instructors was in delving too deep into the subject matter. This is the risk of having engineers as presenters. Ask how a battery works and you will get the blueprint of a 20 megawatt power station. The fear was unwarranted as we kept the information at a fairly understandable level.

Key points of the clinic were the meter familiarization, the turn signal demonstration tool (which allows you to examine each component of that circuit) and the initial reading of the Triumph wiring diagram and symbols.

Every question asked by the attendees showed the great interest everyone had concerning the electrical systems. Keep asking those questions as you will learn a little bit more each time.

The turnout and the feedback from the clinic was excellent. Thank you all for the very kind words and it was the pleasure of Tim, Bob and myself to present the clinic. It was a lot of fun. We will continue to build upon the material that was covered in future clinics. We will even repeat some of the more critical concepts to help reinforce these important electrical repair skills. The next clinic will be held in April and will specifically cover the ignition system of our Triumphs. You will again be asked to bring your meters as the more we use the tool, the more comfortable you will be with it. See ya then!

by Joe "Stagmeister" Pawlak

Return to Quick Index

TR4A Engine Teardown

February 1, 2003

On February 1st a group of ISOA members gathered at the garage of Steve Yott to help watch and learn as Steve disassembled the engine of my TR4A. I had decided when I did the frame off restoration in 2001 to leave the engine rebuild for later. This proved to be a big mistake. The car ran OK on my short drives and the previous owner said the motor had been rebuilt. It just leaked oil and need a front seal in his opinion. I cleaned and painted the motor, replaced seals and gaskets and put the motor back in the car.

As soon as I got the car back on the road, I discovered the real problems. The car leaked real bad. My new gaskets and seals did not help. At high revs the oil blew out the rear seal and on to the exhaust pipe and smoked real bad. I discovered the reason was it built pressure in the crank case and sent oil out of any weak seal. Other problems were poor compression and low oil pressure after the engine got warm. It looked like a rebuild was in order.

At the big British Car Union show last fall I meet Steve while I was admiring his freshly restored TR4A. As we talked he mentioned that It would be nice to rebuild a tractor motor as a club clinic. I told him I had been budgeting for a rebuild and would have a good candidate engine. A few months later I called Steve to see if he was really interested in taking on the project. After we talked Steve qualified me as having the ability to get the engine out and to his house and agreed to help me out and show others the process.

We found a open date in the busy ISOA calendar (between the electrical and transmission clinics what a club) and set a date. On Saturday, February 1st we loaded up the truck and headed to Gurnee. Jeff Lathrop rode shotgun and Jeff Rust followed along the low riding S-10 with the heavy tractor motor in the bed. Steve meet us with a smile and we got the engine unloaded. Mike Blonder and Phil Fox soon joined us and we got to work.

Our group was small but, we all got to have a great deal of hands on experience. Steve directed as we all joined in and took the motor apart. Steve showed us what to look for as he dug through the motor. It was obvious to all in attendance that Steve knew his stuff. As we broke down the engine we found some surprises.

The previous owner had indeed rebuilt the engine, but very poorly. Steve pointed out that things were not torqued to specs and assembly and machine work were crude. The big surprise was the #4 piston. The bell of the piston was cracked and the piston ring was broke. This seemed amazing because the car really did not run that bad. Oh the car had its problems but, it still ran strong. It just goes to show how tuff and reliable these engines really are.

With the engine apart Steve began to asses the damage and see what we needed. The block checked out to be good and flat. The head did not appear to have ever been shaved and checked out fine. We would need some valves and guides, one push rod was bent. We had decided on a new cam so we would need lifters and bearings of course. The big question was the crank.

The crank had already been turned .010 under and the bearing surfaces were badly scarred. There was a possibility that we would need to take it down another .020. That would be a total of .030 under. More than Steve would like. Even if we got by with only another .010, the center main bearing where the thrush washers go was worn too wide. Metal would have to be added to get it back to spec. In short, the crank could be used, but it would need a lot of work and was less than desirable. Later that night Jeff Lathrop and I pulled a better crank out of a frozen motor he had lying around and I was in business. Steve has been busy cleaning parts and making lists of needed goods and possible vendors. He really has gone way above the call of duty to help me and I owe him a great deal of thanks. At this time the block head and crank are off to the machine shop. I have a load of parts on order and we are anxious to get this thing back together. I think it is safe to say that all who attended the disassembly and assessment of the engine gained a great deal of knowledge and experience. I will keep you posted next month on our progress and let you know when we have a date set for a reassembly clinic.

By Mark Moore

Return to Quick Index

ISOA Transmission Clinic

February 15, 2003

A great February Triumph day in Illinois. Transmissions, hubs, differentials. Variety of items and models for our working pleasure to prepare for spring.

Hospitality
Sheri & Bill once again hosted a great event. Coffee & pastries in the morning. Delicious lunch of sloppy Joes, chips and fruit. Chance to relax in the Pyle lower level Hunt Club Lodge.

Lots of good TR stories, project plans, and hope for warmer weather. Great turnout with 20+ folks working, helping and watching. Sheri represented the Girlie Car Project Team and agreed to share her pink tools, if needed.

Mike Mueller stopped by to get into the Triumph mood. Then, once motivated, he rushed home to continue doing body repair work on his injured TR6.

Differentials
A new challenge for our clinics. Stagmeister demonstrated his case spreader - a very unusual and needed tool. If anyone is working on differentials, this is a must. Good lesson from Joe on the theory of shims and how they are used to eliminate rear end howl. Will help in several differential projects in the next few months. A new spreader specific for TR6's and Stag's will be constructed. The use of gauges and calipers are required for this type of work.

Steve Schultz's Spitfire differential project seemed to move forward. Started a year ago. It is completed and ready to be installed in the car.

Ed "Krakatoa" Krakowiak reassembled differential stub axles with new bearings and seals.

Andrzej brought the dirtiest Stag differential in the western hemisphere. After examination and some wrench turning, team recommended conversion into a new boat anchor. Many broken teeth on the pinion confirmed noisy diff problems he was having.

Transmissions
The Factor and team turned a sow's ear into a silk purse. Took an early TR trans that hadn't turned in years, cleaned it, replaced parts and reassembled it. Resulted in a smooth shifting unit that he can build the rest of his TR2 around. Great start.

Pat Lobdell made a couple of his special clutch shaft/fork modifications. Makes them bullet proof so forks never break loose from the shaft again. One less worry for the owners.

Joe Kaplon performed a test on his Spitfire O/D transmission that was rebuilt last year. Shifting and overdrive worked and is now ready to be installed in the car.

Hubs
The group finally met a hub it couldn't remove. Peter Schoppelry's TR4 hub couldn't be removed from the axle even with lubricant, heat and pressure. What's next?

Tim Buja completed hub rebuilds on a pair of Stag assemblies.

Future Reflections
We are considering splitting the hubs (pun intended) and differenial work from the transmission clinic for reasons of too much diverse activity. There is enough work to be done with the hubs and differentials as to make a separate clinic for that activity. What about doing those clinics every other year? Ideas? Share your thoughts with a board member.

Thoughts by Spuds & Stagmeister

Return to Quick Index

Copyright © 2003 Illinois Sports Owners Association