Well, another multi-hour marathon with Creig in advance of oncoming storms and once again, he applied his superior TR/tech skills while I attended (and learned). End result: the new starter is in, hooked up…and the HSD still won’t start. It would appear the old starter wasn’t the problem but, if nothing else, a new gear reduction starter is in place…and there’s one mystery wire that’s hanging loose, but we suspect it may provide the answer.

Phone call for tech support is in to The Wedge Shop. And seeing as we had to drop the right catalytic converter to get to the starter (how ’bout that, according to the shop manual, you actually have to drop the catalytic converter), the next step might be to get the car to a muffler shop, remove the other one and get a better exhaust system on the car.

Next big SLTOA event is the annual picnic at the Blumenhof Winery on Sunday 7 June. Will I make the run in the TR8? It’s a toss-up, but hopefully we can get it running again before the next C&C and BSCC autocross.

The adventure continues (and BTW, Corvairs were a lot easier to work on!).