Triumph Repair: TR-7 Water pump, triumph tr 7, bench grinder

Question
I have a 1976 Triumph TR-7. 2 lt. I am rebuilding the water pump. I have replace most parts with no problems. I am having trouble driving in the water seal without breaking it. I have been very careful using a pvc pipe as a driver and rubber hammer. The bearing, oil seal and shaft are seated in the bottom of  the brass sleeve properly. The pvc driver only touches the outer part of the seal. It seems the water seal seat is to large. Im sure its the right seal(Ive broken 2 of them). Ive cleaned up the brass sleeve where the seal seats. I get it almost all the way in when it breaks. I am sure there is nothing stoping it underneath. Can you help? Thanks, Danny

Answer
Hi Danny,

I have had to chamfer the upper edge of the brass sleeve and polish it. I made an aluminum tube that fits on the outer lip of the seal.  I used aluminum because more of a strike from a hammer is transmitted. I tried different lubes like WD-40 and STP oil treatment.

I made a plate to go on top of my aluminum tube so that I could better strike the center rather then bump around the edges.

I did a lot of TR-7s that way and it worked well for me. I think the rounding of the sharp edge of the brass sleeve and polishing that rounded edge and lube it and the center strike on the aluminum tube with a ball peen hammer allowed me to get them in. I never tried to get them in with one hard strike but used several medium hits.

Be careful not to chamfer too much so as to have the seal try to work its way out. And if you have the sleeve in the block and the shaft too and don't want to pull them out to do this, you can stuff a piece of shop rag down in around the shaft and spread some axle grease on top to keep out filings. I have a three cornered file that I have ground the three flats with a bench grinder to make a "Deburing" tool. If you have a real deburing tool use that first and then hand polish it and round it a little with Emory paper so you have a small polished rounded edge. Don't cut to deep so the seal don't try to work it's way out.

I think the loss of strike shock through the PVC and rubber of the hammer may be causing part of your problems. And if you still have a sharp edge on the brass sleeve that adds to the problem. Don't forget the set up of the clearance between the left hand threaded bolt and the top cover. It is important and can easily be checked with kids modeling clay. I don't like the factory method of the feeler gauge around the edge due to different amount of compression of some gaskets supplied with the pumps. By using all the gaskets and a small dab of clay on the head of the bolt you can see the "actual" clearance with the gaskets compressed. I use from .010" to .020" clearance. Be careful torquing the left hand bolt. It can't take as much as the large head implies. (14 Ft lb max)

I was factory trained on the TR-7 and I learned to like the car. The car did get a bad reputation for several "Odd" things in it's design but when you learn how to cope with them you will find the car was far ahead in design in several ways.

If it overheated due to the water pump problem let me know as there is a strange thing about the head too.

Howard