John McCormack
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Posts posted by John McCormack
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16 minutes ago, Ralph Whitaker said:
Hi Cliff,
the channel is to allow oil to pass up the bolt hole to the oil pressure pipe which should be attached to that stud with a banjo and 2 copper washers, secured in place with a special cap nut.
Where is your oil pressure pipe attached if not to that stud ?.
Ralph
Beat me to it. It is very important to have the right washers in that fitting.
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Not a very smart example of what I expected to be a very sound restoration. I must admit to being disappointed in the quality of the restoration on an epic TR2.
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A TR2 owning mate and I drove down to Goulburn yesterday (very chilly drive down in the morning) and met with John Sendall to reunite him with the TR2 he owned from 1955 until 1962.
The TR is running beautifully, and I had given it a wipe over and washed the wheels properly.
John was absolutely delighted, thrilled at being with the car he had cherished as a young bloke. We had morning tea with he and his family, took photos of the car, talked cars and John and I took the TR for a very spirited drive on country roads near his place. He just loved it.
John has been a car nut since he owned the TR2. He was Clerk of the Course for historic racing at Wakefield Park circuit for many years, marshalled at many courses. He currently has a 3.4Mk2 Jag (bought new by his dad, never left the family, never restored, beautifully maintained), a Alfa 159 and Peugeot 504.
A thoroughly enjoyable day.
The TR2 did the trip including some hard driving at 32.84mpg.
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1 hour ago, ken foster said:
Hi, could the speedo readings be affected by a non standard gear box?
Just a thought
Ken
yYes. Different gearboxes have different gearing for the speedo drive.
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Assuming the clutch isn't slipping because that would be obvious in this situation.
Check your tacho. You have a 3.7 diff so in 4th you should do very close to 20mph per 1,000rpm. It can depend a bit on your tyre profile but only by up to 1mph per thousand.
3,000rpm doing 48mph the engine would have been howling.
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I'd suspect a gauge problem. See if your local garage can put a calibrated gauge in the side of the block to see what it reads.
The relief valve won't cause this problem as it is closed except to relieve high pressure.
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5 hours ago, Mike Pace said:
John, I just installed the RATCO conversion kit on my TR3B. It replaces the old lever socks with up to date tube shocks. I was getting a lot of "jumping" in the rear when I went around a corner or exited off the interstate. This has corrected that problem and made the handling much better.
Their website is www.rat-co.com and there is also a good write up with pictures from a friend of mine, Paul McBride, who also installed the kit.
Mike
I just had a look at their website. That looks like a neat mod, similar to the ones on my TR6.
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This morning I rang the only person with the surname in the book who lives in the area where the car was sold new. A man answered the phone and I told him that I owned an old British sportscar and before I said anything else he said "a green Triumph TR2 with the hole in the front".
I have found the 1st owner of my TR2. We chatted for a while and I will drive down this week and reunite him with the car he owned from 1955 until the early 60s when he traded it on a Peugeot 403. He didn't race it on the track but used it in hill climbs, rallies and gymkhanas.
Pretty chuffed at how this has gone.Yes Ralph, the TRs were fully imported here except for 100 or so TR3s that were assembled in Melbourne from CKD kits.
However, the original owner said the car was very well made and when he sold it it was still in excellent condition with original interior etc. By the time I got it in 1976 the red leather interior and fawn weather equipment had been replaced with black vinyl and it had been resprayed the original BRG. I believe it was raced in the 60s.
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4 hours ago, Ralph Whitaker said:
New rear wheel bearings at only 3,600 miles ?. Must have been put together with no grease.
And a reminder that a de-coke and valve grind was a common occurrence at 10,000 miles in the 1950s, unlike today when often cars will do 200,000 without having the head off.
Ralph
They weren't well made to be honest. The survivors are generally far far better now than when they were built.
The only of the service items still relevant is the overdrive. I have done near 200,000 miles in 46 1/2 years and the overdrive has not been touched, the mods they did seem to have worked. The car still has the overdrive on 3rd although it seems it never got to 2nd.
The head has been changed a few times in my ownership and before and the rear axle was replaced with a Girling one before I bought the car.
I have a couple of leads to chase up next week. I'm hoping there is a family member who recalls their dad, uncle or brother owning a green sportscar. I have found a couple of references to the gentlemen showing he finished high school in 1951. He would be 88/89 if he is still with us, a possibility. How wonderful if he is.
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2 hours ago, Hamish said:
Great record of your car
win win
did the seller know you had the car ?
They were acquired by a TSOA club member who sold them to me. I picked the documents up in the car so he could take photos and is now drafting an article for his club magazine. I've explained it better in my original post.
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11 minutes ago, John Morrison said:
Thats quite a coincidence, must be fate.
John.
Meant to be.
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This isn't really technical but I expect many will find it of interest.
A noted Australian Triumph man here in Sydney emailed me last week to see if the TR Register Australia (I'm the current President) would be interested in buying some paperwork for a sidescreen TR that he had been notified about. Included was an original purchase record and TSOA handbook for the car. He attached a few photos but I said yes before I opened the links. He then acquired the documents.
A bit later that night I opened the links and beyond belief, the documents were for my daily driver BRG TR2. What are the odds?
I bought the documents from my mate the Triumph man and picked them up in the car so he could take photos for an article he is writing for his club magazine.
I will now try to trace the original buyer or his family of my TR2 which I've owned for nearly 47 years.
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On 6/14/2022 at 7:32 PM, roger murray-evans said:
Yes John, both chassis from around Oct/Nov/Dec 1953.The Z24 would seem to have covered the bulk of TR2 production once most of the immediate shortcomings had been adressed! But not I assume, the rear shock absorber brackets.
Roger M-E
The rear shock brackets were strengthened I think with the Z28 chassis.
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17 hours ago, roger murray-evans said:
Sorry, should have added this.
Roger M-E
Z12, a very early chassis. Both my TR2s have the piece in question. Z24 chassis numbers from memory.
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4 hours ago, R9mey said:
Just finished repairs to chassis and whilst I was painting I noticed that there where two plates welded in just behind the body mount tubes, see arrows on picture,
Comparing with the parts book it would seem these plates have been added.
Any idea what the purpose may have been?
As a bit of background the car has been through a body off repair in the past with much of the underside of body being coated with fibreglass together with fibreglass floors laid under the rotten steel ones. !!
The body is nearly completely repaired now with all fibreglass removed, many panels and much welding.
Just a part of the standard TR chassis.
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On 5/30/2022 at 10:54 PM, BlueTR3A-5EKT said:
I'm with Stuart on the use of ultrasonic cleaner baths here are some additives:-
https://www.dkultrasonic.co.uk/carburettor--engine-cleaner-ultrasonic-fluid-1-litre-104-p.asp
https://www.bestultrasonic.co.uk/carburettor-cleaner-39-c.asp
Moss USA used to rave about Berryman product:-
These people do to https://www.carbibles.com/carburetor-cleaner/
Failing that I have great results with the aerosol stuff
https://yourcar.co.uk/best-carburettor-cleaner/
PS Wear safety goggles when using. I ended up in hospital after splashing the stuff in my eyes. An hour of having my eyes washed out with some neutralising solution.
Unfortunately, these businesses don't deliver to Australia, and I can't find a distributor down here.
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I used detergent concentrate in warm water. The cleaner had an 8 minute timer limit but after five or so cycles the carbies were clean, not shiny.
As they had been in a shed for over 50 years and covered in layers of grime I'm pretty happy with it.
I'll buy one of the carbie concentrates and do them again.
I now need new shafts and a carbie kit.
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There are some very experienced sidescreen drivers who reckon 1 degree toe out improves the steering markedly.
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Late last year I rebuilt a 2500 box with J type overdrive which is intended for my TR6.
I bought it on ebay with a knackered layshaft and associated gear damage.
I dismantled it, assessed what needed replacing with some help from experts, acquired the bits and assembled it using the Buckeye guides.
I had trouble getting the mainshaft into the centre bearing, it was a very tight fit, but with the help of another Register member finished the assembly.
We tested it on a test bed and it seems to be fine. It doesn't leak any oil which is a good sign. One day I'll fit it into a car.
It wasn't that difficult and I'm sure that you will have knowledgeable helpers near you. I'm quite proud of myself for tackling it and now know a great deal more about what makes a gearbox work, and break.
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9 hours ago, peter clarke said:
What oil do you have in the box. straight 30 engine oil will thin when it heats up and you may have pressure loss at the pump/piston seals due to a bit of wear, if not using a 75/90 gl4 gear oil try it and see if it makes a difference before anything else.
My gearbox packed up in the mid 1990s. The people who overhauled it said a contributing factor was that it had been filled with hypoid EP90 diff oil. I'd had the car serviced for a few years by a local garage when I was based on a Navy base with nowhere to work on the car myself.
I'm not too knowledgeable on oils and their qualities but, on the recommendation of those who do know, I now use a GL4 oil (Castrol VMX80) and previously a Castrol 25-50 engine oil. No problems with the box or overdrive since that overhaul way back in 1995, and well over 100,000 miles.
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Thank you all. I'm going to buy an ultrasonic cleaner, I expect with two TR2s and a TR6 (plus another car if I can find the right Mk1Sprite) there will be more of this type of cleaning in the future.
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I have a pair of 1 1/2" SUs which I am dismantling to rebuild as spares. The shafts have almost no play so it is a matter of cleaning and putting a new kit in them.
What is best to clean them? Something I can leave them in overnight or for a few days would be preferable if available.
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8 hours ago, Mr Blue Sky said:
John,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but please see attached photos of my heater core. I need to remove the fan motor but hopefully it gives you enough to go on. Let me know whether you want to proceed, no worries if its not up to muster for your immaculate car.
Cant compete with your 27y, only did 14y myself. I have a good oppo who was RAN, served on the Vampire's last commission. Hopefully, get to have run ashore again now that he can travel. last
Best wishes, Laurence
Hi Laurence, I've sent you a private message. Cheers John
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7 hours ago, c.hydes said:
HI all, I'm trying to fix my non-engagement of overdrive when it gets hot. Forum suggestions suggest new o rings in solenoid as well as cleaning the internal filter behind the overdrive sump plate. I Dont mind buying the spanner for removing the solenoid but the two pronged filter cover tool (L354A), is quite expensive.
So, does anyone have the exact dimensions for the diameter and spacing for the two pins, or perhaps could measure if they have the tool, so I can manufacture something suitable?
Cheers, Colin.
I think I used a pair of circlip pliers. They shouldn't be too tight.
where to start
in TR6 Forum
Posted
My 1970 CP PI didn't like traffic and I live near central Sydney, so it is a daily driving hazard. I eventually solved it by fitting a new electronic ignition system (the old one had poor wiring) and increased the timing to 15 deg BTDC at 700rpm idle. I can now idle all day and my fuel consumption improved for about 20mpg to 27mpg on a mainly country drive.