Re: stupidity

["stephen hood" <hoodmeister@domain.elided>]

Will-
Boy, that one hit home.  My first Alfa, a 67 Duetto is also the only one I 
have left.  When I got it, I had to do something, so I opened up the owners 
manual and saw the cam chain tensioning instructions.  I don't have them in 
front of me but the Italian must have been translated incorrectly as it says 
something like:
1. slacken tensioner bolt
2. run engine
3. tighten bolt
So I slackened, and then got in the car and turned the key.  A very quick 
click and no engine rotation.  Must be a jammed starter pinion I thought.  
Put car in gear and rock back and forth.  No change.  Whack starter with 
hammer.  No change.  Lots of swearing, tinkering and eventually pulling of 
cam cover to see spring cups deformed.  I removed the head and brought it to 
the local Alfa guru (who shall remain nameless) and after he got through 
laughing, told me his story.  Same thing except his Alfa got dragged around 
a parking lot with an El Camino trying to get the engine to spin freely.  
What an expensive lesson!
thanks for the laugh.
Steve
67 Duetto

>
>Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 18:22:14 -0800 (PST)
>From: Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>
>Subject: Stupidity
>
>My worst brain-fade episode? I may have told this
>before - I'm sure I have, since my wife tells me I've
>told everyone all my stories at least three times -
>but anyway: the timing chain was rattling a bit in my
>'74 Berlina, or at least I thought it was. I'd just
>gotten a brand-new Autobooks manual, you see, and was
>itching to do Something With Tools, and there was that
>really clever and accessible timing chain
>tensioner...so I went through the procedure, following
>the book step by step, until I got to the part where
>you're supposed to lock the thing back down before you
>start the engine again... a caution which somehow
>escaped my attention.
>
>Well, after my mechanic stopped laughing and got up
>off the floor, he congratulated me on having bent only
>the intake valves, as they (at that time) were $7
>apiece, whereas the exhaust valves were almost three
>times that much. He said he'd have the car ready in a
>week. When I called him a week later, he made some
>mumbled excuse. Another week went by, and I dropped in
>to see how things were going, only to find the Alfa's
>head still on the bench. "What gives?" I asked. He
>went bright red all over, and seemed to have lost his
>voice...then he finally admitted that he'd done the
>same bonehead thing I'd done, and was now waiting for
>the four *exhaust* valves he'd had to order.
>
>Will Owen
>Pasadena, CA
>Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
>http://sports.yahoo.com
>


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