twostrokekid
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Posts posted by twostrokekid
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On 1/20/2024 at 2:27 PM, Dady said:
Hi John, yes they are 72 spoke. Made by MWS. Tyres are Toyo 195/65R/15.
Thanks for the compliments
David
Thanks David.
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On 1/17/2024 at 3:07 PM, Dady said:
Maybe a silly question but…when my car was sold to me it was described as being Midnight Blue. I was new to the mark and had not done a great deal of homework. I bought it from a well known classic car dealer (not a TR specialist).
My curiosity has been raised as many TR members have corrected me when I’ve described the colour, telling me that Midnight Blue is not a Triumph colour and in fact the colour, I’m told is Royal Blue.
So which is it? Midnight or Royal?
it doesn’t bother me either way as I love the colour but it would be nice to know. Can anyone help?
For information, I have the Heritage certificate - it was white when built!
David
Love the car!
Question about the wheels and tyres (which look great). Are they 72 spoke, standard ie. not centre laced, and what size tyres? I'm currently looking to refit my 4A and yours look nicely proportioned.
Thanks, John
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10 minutes ago, trchris said:
Well 50psi compression is no good far to low the bores may have dried out or the engine was built dry no wonder there’s hardly any suck at the carburettors l would put oil down the bores and recheck compressions.
Chris
My compression test with a standard engine, plugs out and throttle fully open 185 - 190psi cranking on starter.
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1 hour ago, keith1948 said:
If the engine does start we will all be popping the champagne corks!
Keith
I'll be looking for a bright star in the east!
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7 hours ago, keith1948 said:
..."I'll leave others more familiar with SU's to advise further. If you connected your fuel supply via the mechanical fuel pump then you would eliminate gravity feed questions"
If the engine does start up you will give the empty fuel pump a hard time as the rubber diaphragm is not designed to run dry. It will cycle continual full deflections up and down rather than the usual damped micro deflections biased against spring pressure when the pump is full. You might be better off removing it and blanking the hole in the block off rather than risk tearing the diaphragm.
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I would say fuel starvation. The mechanical fuel pump would run at a pressure of at least 2.5psi (probably more) which in pressure head terms would need the suspended fuel tank to be at least 7.5 feet high, probably even more with the added pressure drop of the non standard in-line fuel filter. I recall from my test bed days that a yard of paraffin is 1 psi static head and petrol would be around the same value. I'd guess you're filling the float chambers before you attempt a start but then very rapidly dropping the fuel levels as you draw the first droplets into the inlet manifold as there is insufficient pressure to drive an adequate flow across the needle valves in the float chambers. I would direct the flow from the dummy fuel tank into the fuel pump inlet rather than straight into the carbs.
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I can't see where you've connected the choke cable. There doesn't appear to be a choke cable fitted in the usual position, the brass insert on the rear carburettor. The jets should pull downwards about a quarter of an inch on full choke and the idling throttle stop is slightly nudged open. You may have improvised a choke connection but I can't see it.
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Warping is the least of your problems. These heads don't take kindly to welding, even with pre-heating, and will crack very easily. The head will be written off. Ask me how I know??
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Tim, many thanks! You're lateral thinking saved me a whole heap of fiddling about with the risk of potential damage and, possibly yet again, a gearbox removal!
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On 6/24/2022 at 9:05 AM, tim hunt said:
Believe it or not John the attached simple and mechanically sympathetic procedure has worked successfully for me.
Tim
How to free a seized clutch simply.docx 9.56 kB · 42 downloads
My 4a clutch regularly seizes during periods of storage in a garage. I've developed a routine of once a month cranking the engine on the starter motor with the car in gear and the clutch pedal depressed. This simple routine spins the clutch plate to a new position where it then sits for another month. No need to run the engine.
However, last month the clutch was well and truly seized. I tried all the usual tricks of jacking the car up and starting it in gear, then jabbing the brakes with the clutch held down. All to no avail. Then I tried the technique described above; I ran the engine for 30 minutes to warm things through, removed the plugs, then wedged the clutch and brake pedals down with suitable lengths of timber wedged against the seat runners (a great wife substitute and it doesn'tcomplain!). By rocking the crankshaft pulley nut with a socket on a long socket wrench the clutch sprung free after about 20 good tugs. A very gentle way to free the clutch.
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The body isn't the stiffest of structures and on the rare occasions I've driven with this aluminium bridge removed I've noticed a lot of scuttle shake. I think you'll find it's a much smoother car with it fitted.
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On 5/15/2022 at 12:15 PM, lynchpin said:
Would make sense, I am sure someone will confirm it..
Phil..
Yes they are for the two clasps on the front of the 4A soft top. I unscrewed them when I fitted a Surrey top as they are superfluous.
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I don't know what the current thinking is on greasing the trunnions, but many years ago I was discouraged from using grease simply because it sits in the tortuous route from the steel vertical link to the brass trunnion and hardens off, a bit like ear wax in a blocked ear. Attempts to then add more grease then proves futile and the screw thread portion of the trunnion/vertical link subsequently runs dry and seizes up. Older members will recall seeing Morris Minors with their front wheel folded under the car as a direct result of this type of failure mechanism. I was told always to inject hypoid oil into the vertical link via the grease nipple. This is what I've done for many years, in fact I use a blend of hypoid oil and Molyslip.
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On 8/11/2020 at 1:43 PM, Willie said:
Hi everyone,
I hope this finds you all well.
I would greatly appreciate feedback on whether or not this fan motor looks compatible with a TR4. Smiths unit FHM4342/01. 06/86 possibly [long shot 06/66]. Does it look a good bet?
Best wishes Willie
You've probably replaced it by now but just in case, yes the fan motor looks pretty much identical to the one in your pics.
On 8/11/2020 at 1:43 PM, Willie said: -
Fully agree with the long screwed in bolts idea. You need a couple of 4" lengths of 5/16UNC threaded rod set at opposite sides of the engine block so the gearbox has a nice lead in for refitting. You can get threaded rods of all lengths off eBay.
Also some fat cushions to sit on while you are sitting/half lying on the floor panels, straddling the transmission tunnel while using both hands and feet to manoeuvre the beast back in. Oh, and try not to sit on the two handbrake uprights!
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I had the same problem Paul and when all the usual workarounds failed I had to remove the gearbox and drift the friction plate off the flywheel with a bolster chisel. I came off straight away with no visible damage and as it had only done 100 miles from new (but had been in long term storage) I refitted it, but did change the release bearing and taper pin.
If you decide to do the work yourself as I did, the best piece of advice I picked up off this forum when refitting the gearbox is to make up two 4" lengths of 5/16 UNC screwed rod and fit at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions on the engine block to guide the input shaft into the spigot bearing. It went in first time with just me doing the fitting.
Simple really. It runs a treat now.
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It's a classic vibration absorber; a mass attached via a rubber insert. The engineers would measure output flange vibration with an accelerometer and determine the (always) very narrow band of resonance and then attach a calculated spring mass to damp it out. Standard practice in heavy engineering but not so much in today's automotive industry.
I managed to remove the lump with the gearbox in situ to lighten the load when lifting out. Now, my genius idea is to turn the mounting prong through 180 degrees so it is pointing upwards and make some sort of temporary handle to help with the fiddly gearbox lift. It's difficult otherwise to hold the rear flange without it turning.
Always knew that feature would come in useful one day!
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I guess the thing to do is leave the lump off and only refit if I get a vibration. It looks a simple retrofit.
To be honest I'm as much concerned at minimising the weight when I finally pluck up enough strength to lift the box back in!!
Reading through my service history notes I've had the gearbox out 5 times; three times out through the floor and twice with the engine. I was just 23 years old when I first took it out, swapped the clutch and put it back single handed in a day and a half. Now, 45 years later the car is cruelly exposing the frailties of ageing, but I'm damned if I let it get the better of me.
......and just to add insult, the spellcheck auto correct changed lump to limp!!
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My TR4A has one of those Fred Flintstone weights bolted on the rear of the gearbox by the drive flange. It was there when I bought the car in 1975 but since then the gearbox has been rebuilt twice, the propshaft has been replaced, the engine has a different crankshaft, a lightened flywheel and the fan and pedestal have been removed and replaced with a thin belt harmonic damper. I just happen to have the gearbox out of the car at the moment and sitting on the garage floor, a job that I really didn’t want to do but the car has been in storage for the last 25 years and the clutch (which has 100 miles on it) was seized solid. I removed the friction plate from the flywheel with a lump hammer and bolster chisel after all the usual tricks failed!!
My question is, does anyone actually still drive around with this weight on the gearbox?
I know why the factory resorted to this modification but I don’t think all TR’s were fitted with it. Mine is a bit like Paddy’s shovel and bears no relationship to the car that left the Canley factory back in January 1967. I’m tempted to remove it.
Should I?
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On 6/6/2020 at 8:59 AM, Lebro said:
I presume it doesn't just fill up the sill
Bob.
When I did my first rebuild back in 1979 I found both sill closing panels (the vertical bit that forms part of the floor panel) had rotted away. I replaced the sills with new ones but simply cut the closing vertical bits off the floors and never reinstated them. I can get under the car and paint the insides of the sills with Hammerite and Waxoyl, they're out of sight and not structural. There is nothing to trap any road muck and they don't corrode any more. I added the scuttle drain extension by lengthening the drain hose down through the sill in the enclosed box section in front of the 'A' post.
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I've got a Stanpart original in the roof of the garage. I changed my original deck in 1977 but fitted a deck with some imperfections that I've lived with for too long. You're right, its the outer ends that rust but in my case its the centre section over the fuel filler that has some wavy dents that were there when I fitted it. I guess I'm just more choosy nowadays.
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Looks very tidy, I'd be more than happy with that result! Thanks for the pics Tim. I need to take the back end apart to change the H deck so I'll strip out the rear window of the Surrey frame for the paint job and trim it then. Thanks again.
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Tim that's really useful, much appreciated. If you could upload a pic of the backlight that would be great!
John
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Hi guys, I've got a 1967 TR4A that I've owned since 1975. I did a chassis off rebuild back in 1980 and used it for many years afterwards but one way or another the car has sat around in the garage for the last 25 years!. Long story! I was hoping my sons would get Car SOS along to sort it for me but they never bothered so it looks like I've got to do it. LOL
This thread has interested me because I bought a Surrey top (backlight, hard top and fabric Surrey section and frame) from a guy in Birmingham way back in 1979 for the princely sum of £20 for the lot off his scrap TR4 - the good old days eh?! The hard top panel and backlight frame are aluminium. For many years I assumed all Surrey tops were aluminium but I read recently on an American forum that only the first 500 TR4's had aluminium then they reverted to steel.
Questions to you experts:- is this true and are the later backlight frames made of steel as well?
As an aside, I think Triumph probably made a mistake in reverting to steel particularly in view of rusting. The aluminium panel doesn't rust, however it is easily dented when storing it. Mine fortunately has sat in the roof of the garage for a quarter of a century!! The lockdown has finally brought the whole TR project to the top of the job queue at last and I must say I'm having a great time delving into everything again. Fortunately, I always kept very detailed service records so I know exactly what I'm dealing with. I need to trim the hardtop panel as it never had any internal roof lining when I bought it. I've got the 3 trim rails that sit inside the roof panel but as per the request of the OP, if anyone has a pic of the completed trimmed roof panel and backlight panel then it would be appreciated.
Thanks,
John Hutchinson
Annoying Rattle
in TR4/4A Forum
Posted
I had that problem. I had to refit the screws just so I could tighten the plate and stop it vibrating.