Car Headed to Atlanta

We put the car on Craigslist to see if we could sell it prior to doing any major bodywork, ie let the new owner deal with the paint issues.  We have gotten everything else into very good condition.

Got quite a few inquiries about the car.  We priced it at $5500.  After two weeks on Craigslist we ended up selling the car to Santiago from Atlanta.  Today Santiago and his friend Oliver drove to Boonville and picked up the TR6.  They were very happy with the car.  See their smiles?

They plan to finish up the bodywork.  Ray and I spent almost two hours with them explaining all we knew about the car.  Santiago and Oliver are new to British cars, but not to classics in general.  Also, Santiago is a Mechanical Engineer, so I'm sure he will be able to figure out the weird things that British cars do sometimes.  Good luck, Santiago, and we look forward to pictures of the car when you are done with it!

Head Scratcher - Turn Signals

The turn signals would not cancel, ie they would continue to blink after you had completed a turn.  Little internet research showed there's a bump on the steering column that is supposed to line up with the turn signal switch that flips the switch off after a corner.  The position of the bump should be at 3:00 as viewed from the driver's seat, instead it was at 12:00.  After some thought, turns out this also explains why Ray had such a large difference in exposed threads on the two ends of the steering rack when he installed the new steering rack boots.  I positioned the column with the bump at 3:00, then adjusted steering rack arms until the wheels were going straight in this position.  Used alignment gauge to fine tune to 1/8 inch toe in and then re-positioned steering wheel on column to be straight up when car is going straight.  Now turn signals cancel.  Botched alignment job drove lack of turn signal cancelling - who would have thought!

Progress slows, but going again now

Ray and I took time out for travels plus completing an MGB in support of the local Shriner's for a raffle.  But recently we got back to it.

Ray worked on the carpet kit install and refinished the wood steering wheel.  Vince rebuilt the seats, finished the carpet kit install, and installed a new water pump.

Here's some picture of the seats.  The frames and mechanism for reclining the seats were VERY rusty, took a lot of time and PB Blaster to get the mechanisms to work again but finally had success.  Mice had enjoyed eating the foam material at the sides of the two seat backs, they basically left all other foam alone.

This picture compares the seat after rework on the right with the sides at least partially inflated with internal foam while the one on the left is dead flat on the sides at back.  Also the wooden pieces at the bottom ends of the seat back at the sides have been replaced with new wood, old wood was completed rotted:

I also glued a patch of vinyl behind every tear or rip in the seats, plus sewed back together a tear in the driver's seat bottom.  The seats are not like new, but they are very serviceable.  Considering that new seat covers and foam costs just under $1000 plus installation, seems like our expense of under $10 for a can of spray adhesive is a good compromise.

I have now taken the car home and am driving it a lot.  I love the power and smooth acceleration of the 2.5 liter straight six.  Numerous small issues surface, which are being fixed.  Speedometer needle oscillated around a lot, lubed the internal cable and seems much better.  Drivers side mirror was floppy, dismantled and found corroded loose screw attaching mirror head to body, now fixed.

Here's a nice picture of the interior:

Not only runs, but runs well!

Finally resolved the terrible hesitation on acceleration.  New diaphragms in carb and adjusting carb mixture did not make it better, although turning mixture more lean did make it worse.  Installed all new plug wires and distributor cap, no change.  Installed new points, condenser, and rotor and runs great!  Looking at old points they were not in very good shape, so we suspect this is the root cause.  More fine tuning to be done, but it's very driveable now.

Found it interesting that the in line spark tester showed intermittent spark on #1 cylinder with old points.  Continued same with new plug wires and cap.  But now has a nice even spark cadence with new points.  Also had difficulty getting timing light to fire with old points, but now fires fine with new points.  Interesting observations to keep in mind for diagnosis challenges.

Pretty Dash

We fixed the last remaining under dash electrical issue - no turn signals.  As suspected, the broken hazard warning switch did not allow voltage to continue on to the turn signal circuit.  We elected not to replace the hazard switch (costs $100) and instead jumper around it to make turn signals work.  After the jumper was installed the turn signals worked fine.   Did not seem worth $100 for the extremely rare occasions when you need hazard flashers.

The wooden dash that we ordered from a guy in Michigan who makes them was then installed.  This went pretty well but is time consuming - every gauge and switch in the dash must be removed and reinstalled.  And access to those gauges and the under dash wiring becomes more difficult after this point.  We think it turned out pretty well:

All gauges and their lights for night driving work.  To keep costs down we also elected not to replace the missing rheostat for dimming the interior lights (another expensive item) - none of us have ever dimmed these lights because they are too bright at night.  Instead we just let them burn at full voltage.  This is the knob in the middle of the gauges mid dash, it's there but is not functional.

Becoming Drivable

Got the manifolds reinstalled but still have a slight exhaust leak at the exhaust pipe/manifold connection (we can get this resolved).  With engine operable again we confirmed the charging system was not working.  Took alternator and external voltage regulator to local Woods Battery - turns out it's a Delco alternator and regulator, and the regulator was bad but alternator was fine, putting out 60 amps.  Was really cheap to replace the regulator.  Charging system works fine now, over 13 volts on the dash gauge.  Also removed the oil pressure light from the wiring and installed it as the ignition light, much more important since we also have an oil pressure gauge.

Here's some video of Ray driving the car:

It's got a significant hesitation on acceleration, probably carb related.  We've checked dwell and ignition timing, both on spec.  Will order new diaphragms for carbs, typical failure for Stromberg carburetors.  Cooling system works fine, stays cool, had a few small leaks on heater hoses that were resolved by adjusting hose clamps.  Oil pressure continues to look good.

Took time to clean up remaining wiring in engine compartment now that we've got the charging system working.  Also completed installation of demister/heater hoses.  Ray did a nice job of cleaning up and painting the valve cover and air cleaner:

Good Work Day

Resolved some more electrical issues.  Prior owner had separate wiring direct from battery to fusebox, then supplying all exterior and dash lights.  We found reason for this (bad internal connection in fuse box for dash lights), and were able to go back to original wiring.  Really cleaned up the engine area:

Also cleaned up some wiring associated with alternator.  We are now sure the original alternator (internal regulator) was swapped out for one with an external regulator.  We also see evidence the signal going to the alternator light on the dash (ie. ignition light) has been damaged from excessive current.  In british terms this is also called letting the smoke out of the wires.  :)

The bulb and it's socket for the ignition light are gone.  The car can function just fine without it, esp since it's got a voltage gauge, if alternator quits then voltage drops.  But we may be able to get an ignition light to work once we better understand the current alternator setup.

Completed more radiator hose installs:

Also installed small heater hoses and air flow hoses under passenger side of dash:

Leaving glove box out for now until we refinish air ducts on top of dash, much easier to reinstall without glove box in the way.

Ray has valve cover and air cleaner housing off and in process of being painted a nice aluminum finish, like from the factory.  We'll check valve clearances before putting valve cover back on.

Two steps forward, one step back

As is typical, fixing one thing leads to more dismantling then we had planned.  Knew we had an exhaust leak on manifold/pipe junction - puckity noise plus could feel the exhaust coming out by the top of the pipe.  Got gasket, tried to install.  Broke 2 out of 4 studs on manifold today trying to install new gasket.  Could not remove broken studs in place, so ended up removing both manifolds.

Over half of the studs holding the manifolds in place unthreaded from the head, and three of them I could not get the nut off the stud at all due to corrosion.  So now we need a new manifold gasket and three new studs in order to put this back together.  Also could not get the two broken studs out of the exhaust manifold, so now the exhaust manifold is at a local machine shop having the two broken studs removed and replaced.

Meantime we have made lots of other progress.  The radiator was flushed out and pressure checked by Dave at Brown's radiator.  There was some damage from a prior incident with the fan blade, but these prior repairs appear to be working just fine.

Got the heater valve installed (prior owner had the valve removed and blocked off)

The metal fuel line had been bypassed by prior owner, we found some mysterious material blocking it that fell out, so cleaned up the line and reconnected it, looks much better than a long piece of rubber spanning across the front of the engine.

The hood latch was broken with the safety catch missing.  Got replacement part installed and adjusted, now the hood latches nicely and releases with the cable.

Starting to run out of things to do again until we get more parts.  Too bad every part order takes about a week or so to get here!

This thing actually runs!

We both got to work together yesterday on the car.  Got the ignition switch back together, the new keys work great.  Were able to get oil pressure while spinning on the starter motor - read over 40 pounds on dash gauge and on external gauge Vince had - so between the new oil pump and priming the pump with vaseline the oil pressure issue has gone away.  Then did compression check - got about 120 on five cylinders but about 100 on cylinder #2.  This is not bad, and the figures may get closer after running the engine.  Very likely the lower compression on cylinder #2 is some type of junk around the valve seats that will get worn away quickly when engine runs.

Then tried to start the engine, no luck.  The ignition switch won't energize the starter for some reason, so continued to hot wire direct to starter solenoid.  But no firing on the cylinders, despite having voltage to the ignition coil.  Given good oil pressure and compression, we are sure we can get the thing to run, probably some type of electrical gremlins.

Meantime, also bled the rear brakes - all four brakes work now and pedal feels solid.

Today Ray went by shop and on a whim turned the ignition key - now it decides it will energize the starter.  Not only that, the engine started right up!  After Vince heard this, he drove on up to the shop and we took the car out for a ride.  Very low tire pressures and non existent rear shocks made the ride kinda weird, but the important thing is the engine ran well, clutch works well, and all four gears were engaged with no issues.  To prove it, watch this video:

So looks like our gamble on the basics of the car (engine, transmission, and clutch) is turning out OK. The video shows 50 psi oil pressure, this was when the engine was full hot, so excellent oil pressure.   Lots more work to do, but this is a major milestone for sure.

Here's some more pics of items completed on the car.  Steering boots installed:

Still a little puzzled over why one side has almost an inch of threads showing by tie rod while the other side has no threads showing at all.

Adjustable clutch push rod installed and adjusted:

And a pic of the new oil pump in place prior to installation of the oil pan:

Initial Focus - Get it Running

Lots of progress the last few weeks.  Did not find key, so got ignition switch removed and dismantled, took tumbler to local lock shop and had two keys made, ready to reassemble.  Tried to get oil pressure while spinning motor on starter, were not successful in getting oil pump to pick up oil.  Removed pan and oil pump, determined pump was marginal with tip clearance of 0.008" (spec is 0.001" to 0.004").  So ordered new oil pump and pan gasket.  Will use vaseline inside oil pump to help it get primed while spinning with the relatively slow starter motor.  Prefer to ensure oil pressure prior to actually starting engine or even checking compression, ie before putting any load on bearings.

Front brakes bled fine but rear did not, no pressure reaching rear wheel cylinders, so will order two flexible brake lines at rear (notorious for plugging).  Ordered new boots for steering rack, another common failure.  Ordered new clutch push rod with adjustment feature, current rod has been "adjusted" by welding extra nuts on end of rod to increase it's length.

Vince went out of town for a few weeks before parts showed up.  Meantime, Ray has been busy.  Here's pictures of the new rear brake lines in place:

Ray also used fiberglass to reinforce the small area of corrosion on the driver's side floor panel.  He then coated both floors with POR15, great rust inhibitor.  Those floors should not present any problem at all!  Nice pictures:

Vince and Ray will both be able to work on the car this coming week, obviously very curious whether the oil pump resolves the oil pump priming issue and then confirm integrity of engine, transmission, and clutch.

First Project for RayVin Enterprises

Ray and Vince decided to partner for a project car and found a good candidate in a 1974 Triumph TR6.  For fun we are calling ourselves RayVin Enterprises - obviously a play on our names but also the Raven bird is known for eating dead animals - we bring dead little british cars back to life!

Today we brought this project car from Henderson KY to Ray's shop in Boonville on a trailer.

Above pic is car loaded on trailer at seller's place.  Those front wheels so far are permanently pointed into a hard left turn due to lack of an ignition key and a locking steering column.  Was a challenge getting the car on the trailer and getting it off, see pic below of removal from trailer.

Had to do the old "tie it off to something solid and pull the trailer out from under" combined with creative usage of a floor jack to get car off trailer.  

Not sure how all this stuff got in the engine compartment, think maybe the ignition key is buried in their somewhere?