ianc
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Posts posted by ianc
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If you are always grabbing the wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock, and the amount of movement depends solely upon the position to which the road wheel has been rotated in between tests, it is certain that something is awry with the bearing(s). It could be that one (or more) of the rollers is breaking up - sometimes a chunk of metal comes off a roller. You need to dismantle a.s.a.p., as degradation can be VERY rapid once such damage has occurred - don't forget that there's a bit of hard steel where it ought not to be and it is being mashed up in there! Not nice!
Make sure you thoroughly flush all grease plus swarf from inside the hub before putting in the new bearings. Not rocket science, just plain common sense!
Best of luck,
Ian
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If it tightens and loosens as you rotate the road wheel, it suggests to me that your bearing(s) is/are in bad condition! Are you certain that the bearing outers were driven evenly and fully home into the housing (i.e. the hub)? This must be done without causing damage to the carriers. To achieve this, I place a washer against the face of the carrier, place a suitably-sized socket on top, and then knock it home with a copper-faced mallet.
Ian
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Oh - and one nut really IS quite sufficient to keep the hub (and therefore the front wheel) connected to the car! There's over 100 years of motoring experience to prove that the system works.
Ian
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The point is that the nut is no longer imposing a pre-load on the bearing once you back off and insert the split pin to hold it in position. The bearings MUST be able to spin, but must not be loose. If you were to maintain that torque (pre-load) on the taper roller bearings, they would very rapidly heat up in use to a temperature which would cause damage and failure - yes, I have seen it happen, with smoke pouring from the bearing (the grease was cooking) and the bearings - when removed - were discoloured and useless! If you follow the Workshop Manual, you cannot go wrong.
Ian Cornish
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Some 40 years ago, I had a persistent misfire on my TR2. After a very long search, I noticed that the bracket which loops over the body of the condenser had cracked its solder joint, so was relying solely on downward pressure to maintain the circuit. Once re-soldered (don't heat it too much!), the misfire disappeared.
I have also suffered a crack of the solder joint in the low tension connection from coil to the distributor. It occurred at the ring connector at the distributor end, and was not obvious because the wire remained "coonected", but when I pulled it, it came away!
The lesson: solder joints can work harden and crack over time.
Ian Cornish
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Mike, the anti-run on valve which I fitted back in 1998 is one of a family of such valves, each of which has a slightly different mounting plate and connection, so you would need to choose the right one for your car (if you decide it is worthwhile). Mine is mounted to a small bracket which is bolted onto the 4th (counting from the front) right head stud, and plumbed into the take-off in the bridge part of the inlet manifold (i.e. the tube linking the front and rear pairs of the manifold). The power is from the ignition circuit, so that the valve opens as soon as the ignition is switched "off".
It is true that when my original (1962 SAH) exhaust manifold started to fall apart at the brazed joints, I had a lot of problems with running-on, but once I replaced it with a new manifold of the same pattern (SAH design, obtainable from Moss/Triumphtune), there was a vast improvement. The new manifold did not fit (centres for the front and rear studs were nearly 0.25" adrift) and it had to be adjusted in a hydraulic ram - that left the faces no longer aligned correctly, and it took me about 12 hours (and a lot of grinding wheels!) to get everything re-aligned. I was informed by my supplier that none of these manifolds fit correctly! Why did I fit it and not another type? Solely, because I wanted to retain the original SAH pattern on 4VC.
I have noted the details of "my" valve, which is made by Tecalemit and has the following codes on the label attached to its body: TDA 684, 103/449, and it is 12V operation, of course.
Ian Cornish
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Once you have replaced the metal, it is worth sitting the battery in a plastic "potty" so that there's no possibility of acid spillage reaching the metalwork. I imagine most TR suppliers will have something suitable - mine came from Revington.
Ian Cornish
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If you have nylon bushes, they can make the most awful noise when dry. However, Revington stocks a special lubricant which I discovered back in 1996. It's called MasterLube, comes in a small spray canister (with a short tube), and contains PTFE. Each time I grease the front suspension, I very carefully lift (with a small screwdriver) each of the rubber rings which sit over the ends of the bushes, and squirt some of this lubricant into the bearing. I haven't suffered with the creaks and groans from the suspension since I commenced using this stuff. I have no connection with the manufacturer, it was pure luck that one of its salesmen heard the noise and gave me some free samples in '96, and I mentioned it to Neil. I don't know whether poly-bushes suffer from the problem, but the juice should not harm either type (or even rubber, if you still use that type).
Ian Cornish
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If your fuel tank is shedding rust from its inside, it will make its way to the glass bowl alongside the pump. When ticking over, there is no problem, but when motoring swiftly, the small particles of rust will be forced upwards by the petrol flow against the gauze filter and can cut-off the supply of fuel to the extent that all power is lost and the engine may stop. Once the engine stops, the rust will descend to the bottom of the bowl and the car can be started and will run at tickover.
If this is your problem, see my article in TRaction 144/Technicalities CD about treating your tank with "Slosh Tank Sealant" (available from Moss), or get your tank to Northern Radiators in Leeds (see website radiatorsonline.co.uk).
Ian Cornish
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You should e-mail Mike Ellis, the Registrar for the TR2/3, as well. Between Bill and Mike, you should get any history.
Ian Cornish
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When I had a V8 with Holley and electric pump, I could not get it to start easily until I was told to kick the throttle to the floor twice, and only then to turn the key to energise the starter. Started instantly every time with a glorious roar!
Ian Cornish
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It sounds as if the fuel is draining back overnight - hand priming will confirm that. The mechanical fuel pump has two very simple valves, one on the "suck" side, the other on the "blow" side. The repair kit, obtainable from Moss, contains replacement valves, and they are easy to fit (see Workshop Manual). It is likely that replacement of these (and the diaphragm, whilst you have the pump apart) will solve your problem. It certainly did for me!
Ian Cornish
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The unit which has a screw-type isolator and a fused link to maintain a feed for such things as clock (on a TR!) is called Dis-Car-Nect. I typed it into Google and picked the first company listed: Faster On Line. Their price is £10.99 including delivery. I have used this device on a Citroen and a Polo, but have a completely different beast on the TR, as I have it mounted on the bottom of the instrument panel, where I can get at it from the driver's seat, and I don't need (or want) any feed to a clock!
Ian Cornish
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On 4VC (a TR4, of course), I have a Y-piece, a pipe which goes to the hanger at the gearbox mounting, a further pipe to just beyond the rear axle (where there's a support to a chassis-mounted bracket), and then a single silencer on the left-hand side, with a hanger at the rear cross-tube. All these pipes are in stainlees steel. The manifold is in steel tubing (not stainless) and is the usual 4 into 2 arrangement. I had to remove the chassis lower lip for the pipe running back from the Y-piece, as there was interference - I believe this is a fairly common mdification, as it was Neil Revington who supplied the S/S parts and told me to do it!
Although the engine is modified, the low down torque is remarkably good for a car producing 115 hp at the wheels - it will pull from below 1700 rpm, although not as quickly as an unmodified car at those revs. However, it really gets a move on when one gets past 2000. With a single, rather small (length & outside diameter) silencer, it is not quiet!
Ian Cornish
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I concur with the advice about the use of an internal, screw-type compressor - even if "home-made". There is an enormous amount of force bottled-up in a TR front spring, and a pair of external compressors are almost impossible to fit and to retain in place, so could be lethal should one slip off.
A home-made screw-type compressor is fine as long as the thing is beefy enough and the thread long enough to release ALL the compression in the spring. My brother (a Chartered Mechanical Engineer) made one for me in the 1960s, but I managed to acquire the proper Churchill tool later on - both work well.
You will need to borrow or hire a ball joint splitter - just walloping the thing does not work!
Follow the manual, be careful, , and all will be well.
Ian Cornish
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There's an opportunity here to increase the capacity of your engine by increasing the bore from 83 (1991) to 86 (2138), 87, 88 (2238) or even 89 (some say that is a liitle too large for road cars). It would increase torque (nice for road use) and at the same time would increase the compression ratio - unless you use a thicker head gasket. You would need the correct head gasket for the bore size and, if it is solid copper, you may need to remove a little of the copper to make it fit the chosen bore (if you don't, the copper protruding into the combustion space may cause pre-ignition or pinking).
Worth considering, as it will hardly cost you more than replacing what you have already.
Ian Cornish
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TR3s with 10" rear drums tend to be over-braked at the rear, and once the rear wheels lock, control is lost. Even a reduction from 0.75" to 0.7" wheel cylinders is unlikely to cure this. I would recommend that you stay with 9" rear drums.
Ian Cornish
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What happens to the prop shaft and rear axle when the V8's torque is applied? I know you can obtain uprated prop shafts (I have one in 4VC), but a 40-year old crown wheel & pinion may not take too happily to so much grunt! Since 4VC went back on the road in '93, it has consumed two pinions (stripped teeth, and that damages the crown wheel, too) - and I NEVER do drop-clutch racing starts! I put it down to old age (the cw&p, as well as the driver!). That said, the racing boys must be shoving out a lot more than the standard TR4's 130 lbf.ft - but they are used to replacing the bits that break, whereas one wants reliability in a road car. With all the extra torque, you could fit a 3.45 cw&p set - that would give even more mph/1000 rpm.
In the very early days of the Register, there was a TR2 (possibly TR3) fitted with a V8 from a Daimler SP250 - it was owned by John Hannah, who lived in Studham (near Dunstable), but I have not seen John or the car for at least 25 years.
I'm sure it will fit and that the finished project would be great fun - best of luck!
Ian Cornish
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You can have the Revington version with a pair of mountings for spotlamps, and the cable from each spot feeds into the underside of the bar and exits inside the front valance. This means that the cables are hidden from view for most of their run, which is very neat. By arrangement with Neil, I had a pair of additional vertical brackets fitted on my bar, so that I could mount the number plate with its top edge level with the top of the bar, thereby avoiding any obstruction to the airflow to the radiator - this was done prior to the bar being powder-coated. There's a photo on page 45 of TRaction 218.
I have seen other badge/lamp bars, on competition TRs, but - in my (obviously biased!) opinion - Neil's looks the nicest and it is of the same form as was used by the Works TR4s for the Alpine, Liège and RAC Rallies in 1963, and the Shell 4000 in 1964.
Ian Cornish
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You can do a test fitting with the kit off the car. I have such a manifold/pipe arrangement, and just offset the two clamps fore & aft by the thickness of the C-shaped rod (threaded at both ends). The C-shaped parts I have mounted like an inverted U, with the threads facing downwards. The closing pieces are then mounted horizontally, and the nuts are easily accessible from below. Although slightly vulnerable if one runs over something large, it makes life easier!
I would suggest that if the Y-piece has its arms too close together, it isn't a very good design!
Ian Cornish
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If you can't get a secondhand cross tube, contact Colin at CTM (see advert in TRaction) - he can provide one, I am sure.
Please don't drive the car without the cross tube in place, you could damage the car and have an accident.
If the spring turrets have already moved inwards, you may need to push them back with a hydraulic jack - problem then is knowing whether each pillar has gone back to its original position. May need to get a specialist to check (e.g. Colin) - possibly do the job for you. Tracking will need to be checked afterwards.
One wonders how the car ever passed an MOT without this tube, which is an essential part of the chassis (even though dismountable).
Ian Cornish
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As Alec is exceedingly busy (classic understatement!), I'll let all interested parties know that, with Alan's agreement and encouragement, the Spares Development Fund is being given the opportunity to acquire items which MUST be preserved for posterity in order that it may be possible to reproduce such items in the future. To this end, a couple of very knowledgeable fellows will be working with Alec to identify such items and set them aside. What then remains will be transported by Alec to the International for sale as he dictates (i.e. he is acting as Alan's agent in such sales, and he can decide whether or not he thinks your pet project worthy of a particular item).
I am sure all reasonable people will see the sense of this arrangement, which is very much in pursuit of the Register's policy of preserving the marque.
I must express, on behalf of the SDF, gratitude to Alec, Alan, Diane Pringle & Mike Ellis (who undertook the cataloguing) and a number of other worthies for their efforts in making this possible.
I look forward to seeing a great many of you in a week's time. It might be wise to make a wax model of an MG-B and stick pins in it, or set light to it, to appease the gods and ensure fine weather for our festival!
Ian Cornish
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If you make it to Malvern - and all of us certainly want you to - I am sure that Steve Redway (Mr Talk-a-Lot) MUST get you and Kim (with her Spitfire) into the ring so that we can see the cars and applaud your efforts.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you! With deepest admiration and very best wishes,
Ian Cornish
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Corroless and suppliers can be found via Google.
It is unlike the old bitumen-based underseal, which, once punctured, provided the ideal conditions for rusting beneath the black coating, especially when the moisture was well-laced with salt from the winter roads. Technology has advanced a lot since the 1950s - thank goodness!
I'm sure Corroless is not the only good product around these days, but I am very happy that it coats 4VC's chassis. And, you don't have to have it in white!
Ian
Mystery misfire frustration
in TR2/3/3A/3B Forum
Posted
If in doubt about Rotor Arms, contact Martin Jay (a.k.a. Distributor Doctor - see TRaction) and he will put you right. He is selling proper Rotor Arms (not the crappy Lucas repros, which just drop dead - I know, it has happened to me twice!).
Ian Cornish