Saturday's weather was near perfect. The sun was shining and the temp was not too bad. There were only 6 cars this year. In attendence we had '60 TR3, '64 Sunbeam Alpine, '72 MGBGT, '74 TR4, '96 XJS and 2 week old Lotus Exige. Like last year, the morning started with coffee and doughnuts in the shopping center parking lot. The group then went to 4 bridges before stopping at The Post restaurant in Nottingham, PA for a nice lunch in a private room. I only made one bridge after lunch as I had to go my son and daughter-in-laws aniversary party. I was dissapointed with the last bridge as it is my favorite and was under construction.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that during this outing, Nemo passed the 15000 mile mark since I put him back on the road Sept 13, 2006.

We have recently moved and I have been very neglectfull of my postings. In an effort to catch up, here are a couple of pictures of the engine out, going in and in...

More shots of the cleaning taking place getting ready for spring...

I have decided to replace the original 1280 TPM trans with a later model 1000 TPM overdrive trans. After reading all the good information on this site about the different ways to make the speedometer match the new trans TPM (gear reducers and having my speedometer adjusted to turn correctly) I decided to go another route and thought I would share the experience here. I went on eBay and found a good 1000 TPM speedometer with about 42000 miles showing. Since Nemo's miles are original and I want the odometer portion to show the correct miles, I decided I would "adjust" the odometer on the new speedometer to match the current mileage. Below are the steps needed to dismantel and re-assemble the odometer:
1. Remove the chrome trim ring.
2. Loosen the retaining srcews on the rear of the unit.
3. Remove the speedometer from the case.
4. Remove the small plastic c-clip holding the odometer gears in place.
5. Remove the metal spring clip, gear and shaft alignment wheel - Be sure to note the order in which they come off.
6. Remove the second plastic c-clip from behind the plate where the shaft passes through to the odometer digit wheels.
7. Carefully pull the odometer shaft out of the odometer wheels.
**Here is where I found a difference between the two odometers. One had a sleeve between the shaft and the wheels and the other did not. The sleeve made re-assembly much easier.
8. Carefully remove the digit wheels, washer, spring and metal retainer. Note the tabs that protude between each digit wheel and fits into the slot behind the wheels.
9. Separate the digit wheels but be sure to keep the small plastic spacer with the tab and the tiny yellow gear with each wheel. If these come apart they can still be put back together but it takes much more time and patience.
10a. For the sleeve type wheels (easiest) - Place the 10,000's digit wheel on the shaft. Rotate the wheel so that the tab is opposite the digit you want to be displayed. (I used a piece of cardboard as a work surface so that I could make a groove in the cardboard for the tabs.) Place the 1,000 digit wheel on the shaft. Line up the tabs and the digit to be displayed before connecting to the previous wheel. Once the two wheels are touching you may need to rotate the first wheel for the second one to 'snap' in place. If once the wheels are 'snapped' together if the digits do not correctly align you will need to adjust the small yellow gear. Using a very small screwdriver, gently pry the spacer from is associated wheel, rotate the wheel into the corect position and push them back together. I only had this problem on the wheels that came apart from the spacers. Continue this process until all the digits are on the sleeve. Place the metal retainer, spring and washer on the sleeve and carefully place the entire assembly in place between the mounting plates. Be sure all of the tabs go back into the slot. Slide the shaft through the mounting plates and sleeve. Be sure the two small notches are on the end where the gears mount.
10b. For the non-sleeve type wheels - Place the shaft through the mounting plate from the end that holds the gears. Be sure the two small notches are on the end where the gears mount. Place the washer, spring and metal retainer on the shaft. Place the 10,000's digit wheel on the shaft. Be sure the tab in the slot and rotate the wheel so that the desired digit is showing on the speedometer. Place the 1,000 digit wheel on the shaft. Line up the tabs and the digit to be displayed before connecting to the previous wheel. Once the two wheels are touching you may need to rotate the first wheel for the second one to 'snap' in place. If once the wheels are 'snapped' together if the digits do not correctly align you will need to adjust the small yellow gear. Using a very small screwdriver, gently pry the spacer from is associated wheel, rotate the wheel into the corect position and push them back together. I only had this problem on the wheels that came apart from the spacers. Continue this process until all the digits are on the shaft. The last wheel is very hard to squeeze in place and will take some work but it can be done.
11. Place the plastic c-clip on the shaft behind the mounting plate between the mounting plate and the metal washer (on the wheel side of the mounting plate). If this clip is not put back on, the shaft will be able to move and the assembly may come apart while in use. You may need to slide the shaft slightly until the c-clip snaps in place. Place the shaft alignment wheel on the shaft. Be sure the two tabs are toward the mounting plate and on either side of the top of the plate. Replace the gear, spring clip and plastic c-clip in the same order as originally installed.
12. Place the speedometer unit in the housing. Be sure the odometer reset pin lines up with the reset shaft in the rear of the case. Replace the mounting srews and faceplate.

At the start of winter I had great plans of all the things I was going to get done before next spring. Well 'next' spring is now around the corner (I hope) and I finally got around to the first thing on the list, rebuilding the carbs. OK I got one done and I still have to pull the engine, pull the head, get it sent out while I work on the lower end, replace the clutch install the OD trans, etc, etc, but it's OK, I have 8 weeks until the first event. Below are a few pics of the completed carb and the one yet to be done. If you think the outsides look different, you should see the insides!

Can you tell which is which?

I really had to argue with myself over adding cruise control to Nemo. I'm a purist at heart but I also take many long trips (6500 mi+ in the last 3 months) and cruise goes a long way to being able to drive comfortably and gets better mileage. So I found on eBay a somewhat period, aftermarket cruise control for a good price. The unit is CalCustom (Zemco) ZT-12 model. I used this same model on 2 other cars ('79 LeBaron SW & '81 Hyundai) in the 80's. Fortunately, I did not have to make any new holes anywhere. The control unit mounted in the passenger footwell using one of the mounting screws for the radio surround. The servo unit mounted in the engine compartment using a bolt that already went to a captive nut in the wheel well. This unit uses the tac connection on the coil to sense the vehicle speed so I didn't have to mount any kind of drive shaft sensor. The throttle cable attached to the existing throttle cable and connected up to the existing pin holding the throttle cable to the carb linkage. I did have to 'modify' (read 'cut the end off of') the turn signal switch to mount the driver controls. I could have mounted the driver controls to the top of the stalk but I really didn't like the look. I think what I got looks much better. If I decide to remove it later, I just have to replace the turn signal lever, no biggie.