[Lightened flywheel - how light for fast road use?]

I use a very nice Kenlowe which has a period adjustment for the thermostat and would have been available in 1958. It is mounted on two spider brackets on the front of my upgraded radiator. The brackets are riveted to a small flange which I had fixed to each side of the radiator and they in turn support thr aluminium ducting. It has all been working well for a few years. However long ago whem leaded petrol was much cheaper than now, I used my TR3a in London and only knew when the coolant was low when the heater stopped working. The needle never moved and there was a leak at the front of the block allowing slow wastage. It must be modern fuel causing all these problems.

 

Yours

 

Richard

[Over heating]

I fitted an uprated radiator to my £a and all problems went away. I also have an expansion bottle fitted with a4 lb cap and a plain blanking cap on the radiator. This means that the top of the radiator is alwats full. The expansion bottle is only half full and the radiator expands into it but it never overflows. I also have an expensive water pump from Racetorations which may help. I have heard of some "County" water pumps having an impeller which is not deep enough and spins on the shaft. I have one as a spare and had a stainless steel pin fixed through the spindle.

 

Yours

Richard

[Overdrive problem]

Removal is easy . Take out the tunnel and use a screwdriver to remove the solenoid. There are two available on the market and one is best. Enginuity can advise. After a simple refit run the car for a long way before bolting the tunnel back. As mine heated up the solenoid stopped working. The lever was too close to the protruding bolt. However low oil level cost me a new gearbox. Now I check every 1000 miles. Good luck

 

Yours

Richard.

[Temperature Gauge sender and Wire]

Hi Richard,

 

Thanks - the contact details of 'your man' would be very useful - you can Email me at graham.foote@clarks.com if you like?

 

Cheers

Graham

 

 

Keith Swindells

30 Warwick Avenue

NewtoN le Willows,

WA12 8PS

 

01925 224592

 

Yours Richard

[TR3 Rear brakes]

By the By .... the way to cure leaking oil seals is to slip a 'Speedi-sleeve' over the shaft so that the oil seal has a nice smooth surface to run on. These sleeves are stocked in all sizes & can generally be bought from your local friendly bearing supplier. They are only a few thou. thick & hence you can still use the standard size oil seal. I did the half shaft a few years ago ... about £20. The fitting tool that comes with it assumes a shaft about 3 inches long!!! So you have to find a length of pipe or whatever to tap the sleeve down towards the hub. Much cheaper & quicker than metal spraying & grinding!!

 

 

This does sound very interesting. I have checked all adjusters and have no handbrake connected. At the time of the original work thehub was changed and the handbrake lost any effective use. So the work done lost the handbrake. Before the garage got there I had a good handbrake. So I feel that this hub is the root of the matter ,so to speak. I think that I will try Speedisleeve and have the old half shaft replaced with the old hub still in place. Firstly I will swop over the shoes from one side to the other as a test.

 

Thank you for your interest.

Richard

 

By the By .... the way to cure leaking oil seals is to slip a 'Speedi-sleeve' over the shaft so that the oil seal has a nice smooth surface to run on. These sleeves are stocked in all sizes & can generally be bought from your local friendly bearing supplier. They are only a few thou. thick & hence you can still use the standard size oil seal. I did the half shaft a few years ago ... about £20. The fitting tool that comes with it assumes a shaft about 3 inches long!!! So you have to find a length of pipe or whatever to tap the sleeve down towards the hub. Much cheaper & quicker than metal spraying & grinding!!

 

 

I am very keen on the speedi sleeve and would be much happier with my original half shaft and hub. Please point me at a supplier, West London preferred.

 

Thank you Richard

[TR4A Dynamo]

Classic and Vintage Dynamos

Unit 7 Shirebrook Centre

Vernon Court

Vernon Street

Shurebrook

Notts NG20 8SP

 

He supplied me with a very good quality exchange unit. by return and for a very reasonable cost. I have no hesitation in recommending him. He is usually at the shows.

 

Yours Richard

[TR3 Rear brakes]

I am disappointed that no one has any subtle answers which I have missed. Don Elliot is usually the man for tricky problems. Where are you Don? I will swap the linings over as a diagnostic test and see how we go.

 

I am still concerned over the hub for which I did not request any work, and which was changed anyway. I am looking for an answer before buying any new drums,shoes etc.

 

Thank you so far. Richard

[TR3 Rear brakes]

The handbrake lever is fitted correctly and the whle wheel cylinder moves as it should. yours Richard

[Temperature Gauge sender and Wire]

I can not believe that I am reading all this. The guage is connected by a capillary. This is a small copper pipe filled with a special chemical and protected by a wire wrap which looks like a coiled spring but is only a protection and has nothing to do with temperature sending. Usually the bulb breaks off the capillary at the housing end and you have to send away the guage and bulb for a new capillary to be fitted. The address for my man is in my office and if you would like it Iwill look for it tomorrow. You must have the correct capillary for the look of it and the simplicity.

 

Yours Richard

[TR3 Rear brakes]

Does that wheel turn freely when the car is jacked up? Did you bleed the brakes?

Perhaps you should compare the brakes shoes thoroughly, also if the extremities are identical (square to the brake cylinder and adjusting mechanism.

Also the diameter of the 2 drums should be the same and the drum should be true, not oval : if a drum is turned out, the diameter is increased. An internally deteriorated rubber brake hose can also cause overheating.

Perhaps you can try and swap the left and right wheel brake shoes?

 

 

The wheel turns well and I will have to replace the linings on both sides. How do I check for linings square to the drum. The brake hoses are all stainless steel braided and fairly new. I think my problems began when I left the garage and had no hand brake. There is a mystery in the fitting, because the set up was fine when I took it in and hopeless when I collected the car. The oil seal seems to be holding up. So we are getting forward very slightly at some cost. Thank you for your interest. Richard.

[HT-Leads...]

There's nothing special about a real TR engine - any old half-decent leads should do the job, no problem.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

I bought Lucas yellow and black lead by the yard and it is supposed to be high quality. Noproblems over 6 years. Richard

[TR4A Dynamo]

That should be C40-L - a higher output version. Don't fit a C40 unless you adjust or replace the regulator.

BTW, refurbished dynamos are available from most car part shops, Halfords etc.

 

HTH

Ian.

 

 

I had my Dynamo rebuilt and all my problems were over. I had burnt out yet another duff regulator trying to hang on to an old battery. I have replaced all three parts and can recommend my Dynamo supplier very highly. I have his number in the office and will post it tomorrow. Yours Richard

[TR3 Rear brakes]

I would be grateful for some help with my very hot brakes.

 

After repeated failure of the rear nearside oil seal I arranged for a new half shaft and 4 new rear linings to be fitted to my 1958 Girling 10" drum rear axle.

 

After collection from the garage I travelled 125 miles before finding out that I had no handbrake. Why should a new half shaft affect the handbrake? I have been attempting repairs ever since.The adjuster is free and there is so little adjustment that the foot pedal has long travel and is not as safe as I would like. The wheel cylinder has a new seal and retaining springs. It moves freely. The return springs are new and the handbrake now has so much travel that it is no use at all.

 

After a four mile drive with no use of the brakes at all the rear drum is too hot to touch. The other side is warm but can be touched easily.

 

I notice that the garage also replaced my hub and that the new one does not have threaded holes for the two small locating screws. I have taken my old half shaft to an engineering shop who have offered to grind and metal spray my old shaft back to original condition. However they are making a fuss about removing the hub. Is this a problem?

 

While I have been working on the brakes I notice also that the two sides seem to have different linings. The hot side has a shorter lining which does not cover the whole shoe. While the good side seems to have a lining which covers the entire surface of the shoe.

 

If anyone can offer me some advice before I approach the garage I would be very grateful. I have spoken to them and they want me to bring it in. But it is a long drive and I want to know what is going on before we start again.

 

Could the fluid be inhibited from returning to the master cylinder by some internal block inside. This would affect the front brakes also.

 

Thank you

 

Richard

[TR3A Finished]

Dear don,

 

We have met once and there are not many people who have owned the same TR longer than myself. There can be very few secrets about these cars that you do not know. I bought mine in 1966 and bent the front left hand suspension in 1969. After 17 years we won the concours at Stafford in 1986 with a brand new ST chassis.

 

Your own efforts a rebuilding are a great encouragement to us all and the use your car gets is also very impressive.

 

Yours

 

Richard Poore

[Radiator re-core]

Les

Colchester Radiators offered to turn my recore round overnight and do express deliveries.

Check them out 01206-799559

Unc

Don't rush into this. The best cooling modificatio I have made in over 40 years is a new dariator core from Southern Radiators in Chichester. They offered an upgrade for £170 and nothing has caused any excess heat since this was fitted three years ago. A kenlowe blows from the front but never comes on nowadays.

They also delivered the new radiator.

Yours

Richard

[Electric Fans]

Unc: I admit to being an indefatigable bodger, and the electric fan I pulled off a scrap Japanese car in a Newcastle breaker's in '99 is still working - and cost £5. The idea is to get a very flat motor/housing to slot into the confined space in front of the engine, and mount it as close to the rad. (sucking) as you can. I made up 2 unsightly looking lugs and mounted the fan to the rad. stays, securing the bottom of the fan assembly by a third ugly lug clamped to the cross-tube with a jubilee clip.

My car is a 3 (with slightly better through-apron cooling than a 3A) but since the boiling-over in heavy traffic nr. Le Mans which prompted me to ditch the mechanical fan in the first place, I have had no overheating troubles since going jap-electric. I've also put extracting louvres into the bonnet which probably have no effect whatever - but look nice, to me!

The one thing which you are supposed to do is wire the whole thing through a relay, but my more primitive method of taking it straight from the live battery feed at the ignition has so far worked OK. Nevertheless my conscience says that I should go for the relay; has anyone any idiot-proof instructions for doing this (cheaply, of course)?

Tim.

 

 

I fitted a Kenlowe on two brackets supplied by the company , on the front of my radiator. It is hardly ever in use since I changed the radiator core for an up rated one from a radiator company in Chichester West Susex.

 

I feel that the Kenlowe is a part of the history of the Tr cars and is the only make to use. They are very helpful and have been in the same premises for many tears. They are old established interested company and have a top product

 

How did you find a louvre installer and please will you post his address or contact details

 

Yours Richard

[Wire Wheel and tyre sizes.]

As a novice user of the forum I posted the following question on the tr4 page and no response so far.......

 

"am considering replacing the current 4.5/15 60 spoke wires on my 65 TR4A with 5.5/15 72 spoke painted from moss fitted with vredestein 185/70 sprint classic tyres. Before I part with the cash I would be grateful if anyone has views/advice. Research so far suggests they fit without a problem and should look good."

 

Having seen the replies below to a very similar question it looks as though I am on the right track but possibly driving the wrong car!! Anyway I shall persevere.

My 3a has 165.15 on 60 spoke wheels and I have no problems. The 48 spokes were very weak and had a short life. Any bigger tyre looks too bulky and 165.15 is a readily available size in Michelin, Firestone and Dunlop. The modern wire wheels do not last long.

 

Richard

[Electrical Problems]

Thank you Marmul for the diagnosis which seems to be correct to me . The ammeter was not stuck and did move when I put the lights on. I did flick the points in the control box but exactly what is going on in there is not clear to me even after reading the workshop manual; more than once.

 

The dynamo has only covered a few thousand miles and was in perfect shape. Anyway it is spares day at Stoneleigh soon and I have something to buy now which I definitely need, rather than parts which may be useful one day.

 

Thank you Don for the suggestion about the points but I have a new control box in my store and I am a bit depressed to find out that although it is a Lucas product, it may be made under license in China and be of dubious quality. The one in the car is not very old and clearly was stuck open. I was hoping that it would settle down as I drove along. I never had all this trouble when I used it every day.

 

Thank you for the help so far

 

Richard TR3a TS28894

[Electrical Problems]

Thank you for the help. I also feel that it is the control box and my concern now is whether to change it for the new one I have in the garage or will I cause damage to the new one. I do have a genuine old stock Lucas one also with the wrong fittings for my loom. I am keen not to remove the dynamo unless really necessary. It is very cold where I keep the car.

 

Richard

[Electrical Problems]

 

My car has failed to start on 3 weekends. So lastweek end, I put the charger on the battery for 15 hours at 1.5 amps. Then a friend towed me out of the garage and up the hill for about 100 yards. The engine fired up and ran well. However the ammeter was showing a charging rate off the scale.

 

After a 12 mile run and a stop for 2 hours at a friends house I set off up the dual carriage way from Monmouth north to Ross on Wye. The ammeter still showed the same massive charge and half way home something serious went wrong and the ignition light came on fiercely and the lights were only running on the battery, which is 7 years old.

 

After tailing a fast saloon almost all the way home I pulled up at the house and left it until the morning. Surprisingly the engine turned over and the car started enough to be put away in store for another two weeks.

 

My question is has the overcharging hurt the dynamo. Why did the control box allow this level of charge, and is the battery at fault. Shall I take all three in to the local auto electrician for testing, or just give up and replace all three. If I replace one at a time, will I run the risk of damage to the new part?

 

The car was fine when I put it away before Christmas. I would be grateful for any help from someone who has a greater understanding than I have.

 

Yours Richard

[Uprated water pump]

I fitted an up rated water pump from Darryl at Racetorations which has cups instead of blades. It works really well and was expensive.In the days when you could go to the local Triumph agent for parts, the pump came with the pulley already attached. After spoiling the previous pump I would now always fit a new pulley at the same time. I have also gone the expansion bottle route which works well for me. Good luck.

[Help more problems - TR3A - getting hot!]

My 3a was hopeless and would run hotter the faster you drove. this was after an engine rebuild by an old fashiones firm in brighton. After two summers I took the engine to Darryl at Racetorations who discovered that the liners were not at the correct heights before the head went on. Once this was cured I carried on with the improvements. Now I have a Kenlowe in front . This was initially blowing the wrong way but by swapping the leadsover, it now blows back through the radiator. I have a cap on the radiator without the springand seal and the overflow take off is connected to an expansion bottle, next tomthe washer bottle. This allows you to fill up to the top of the radiator neck and expansion and contraction is available. There is a 4 lb cap on the expansion bottle. I also have the ducting fitted to channel air into the radiator. I had considered my radiator to be in good shape until a new up rated core was fitted and the needle now rarely passes the center point on the guage. Southern Radiators in Chichester 01243 778242 £176.25 in 2004

However in the late sixties I ran the car without ducting, without an electric fan and with some soldered waterways following damage. It never overheated is spite of London traffic and when the heater stopped working we knew that the water level had dropped. There was corrosion in the top face of the block. I suppose that the old 5 star petrol was different.  

[Hard Tops]

My wind deflectors are fixed to the windscreen and protrude sideways and backwards so that there is no air oressure against the sidescreen at all. They are like small wingsand work really well. Richard ::

[Hard Tops]

Rudi is absolutely correct. The car will be much improved. My wind deflectors take care of the leading edge and you may need to cut the sidescreens and then recover. My stanpart screens were a poor fit from the start. They will need recovering after welding, and this requires a special machine in the trim shop. There was someone advertising this service in TRaction and I lost the number. I asked for help in finding them in a letter to the magazine in 1996 but had no response.

The wind deflectors fit between the stanchion and the frame and you will need 3 slightly longer screws. Take care not to go too long and crack the glass.  

Yours Richard  ::

[Hard Tops]

The seal around the top and rear edges of the sidescreens will always leak unless you fit a factory metal hardtop and then adjust the sidescreen frames before recovering. I have fitted a small deflector between the windscreen and the stanchion which protrudes about 2" and the sidescreen tucks neatly into it. this makes a wind and rain free leading edge.

the metal hard top also makes the body much more rigid and I run with it in place for most of the year. The back window will pop out over 75 mph which I have cured by fitting some stainless clamps designed by an engineer friend. Good luck. Richard