david ferry Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Hi everyone. Firstly, Happy New Year. Today I removed the body from the chassis on my TR4 racecar project in order to weld some strengthening fillets onto the chassis and also to start the suspension build I have a kit of parts from CTM to weld onto the chassis but I was wondering if anyone has photos of a chassis strengthened by CTM so that I can get on with thie welding as soon as possible. I have 'instructions' from Colin Matthews but they aren't terribly clear. I could do with pictures of the following: Rear shock mounts Gearbox rear mount Engine mount steelwork to suspension turrets and chassis Inside/behind the engine mount to the lower fulcrum pin If you need my email address to send these to me, please send me a pm and I'll send you my email address. I don't want to place it on here so as to avoid spam and other rubbish. Thanks David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 David, I have sent you photos of 4VC's chassis as fettled by Colin some 18 years ago, together with detailed description of the modifications. Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
david ferry Posted January 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Ian, Thank-you very much. Most helpful. Regards David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mark (tenpin) Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Hi Ian Have sent you a PM Could you give this a look Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 David did you get the pictures I sent you? Stuart Quote Link to post Share on other sites
david ferry Posted January 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Stuart, No, I've not got them. Would you mind resending them? Thanks Regards David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
david ferry Posted January 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Stuart, I have got them. My server at work had consigned them to the junk folder.....outrageous! Thanks for them, I'll have a good look at them later. Regards David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Mark(tenpin) has asked me for the same information, and I will send it to him as soon as he e-mails me direct. I am prepared to do the same for anyone else who e-mails me at: ifcornish@btinternet.com Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Badfrog Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) Ian, This will be my next job on Lady Ann, so I'd appreciate your pics about works chassis as well. Thanks. Badfrog PS: just noticed the above post, so I'm going for it. sorry for my distraction. Edited January 6, 2011 by Badfrog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Ian, This will be my next job on Lady Ann, so I'd appreciate your pics about works chassis as well. Thanks. Badfrog PS: just noticed the above post, so I'm going for it. sorry for my distraction. In addition to David Ferry, who started this topic, I have heard from another 10 (as at 24/01/11) members, of whom two live in France (one is that BadFrog chap!) and another in a country which has taken a beating at cricket from some Poms over the last few weeks! One fellow has a TR4A, which is a very different beast altogether, so I wrote thus to him: TR4A: The chassis is very different, and not just at the rear! At the front, the lower wishbones dangle on brackets bolted to the chassis, rather than on a damn great pin. Back in the 1970s, we had more and more reports of suspension collapse on TR4As, as the brackets pulled away from the chassis - I'm glad to say that all those reported to me (I was then the Technical Editor) occurred at low speed! I imagine that all TR4A/5/250/6 cars will have had the wishbone mountings strengthened by now. Similar nasties occurred with the chassis mounted differential unit and the semi-trailing arms of the independent rear suspension - again, there are fixes for these problems! The IRS chassis is also weaker in torsion because it is not as wide in the middle - adding a full roll cage helps enormously, of course. Despite this, Neil Revington has - in addition to 6VC - a powder blue TR5 rally car, as he considers this to be the optimum configuration for a "traditional" (i.e. separate chassis) TR for this job. Naturally, Neil's TR5 is considerably modified and has a roll cage. I will be interested to see how this car performs if and when it comes against Tony Sheach's Beast (BST) on a rally! Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hi everyone. Firstly, Happy New Year. Today I removed the body from the chassis on my TR4 racecar project in order to weld some strengthening fillets onto the chassis and also to start the suspension build I have a kit of parts from CTM to weld onto the chassis but I was wondering if anyone has photos of a chassis strengthened by CTM so that I can get on with thie welding as soon as possible. I have 'instructions' from Colin Matthews but they aren't terribly clear. I could do with pictures of the following: Rear shock mounts Gearbox rear mount Engine mount steelwork to suspension turrets and chassis Inside/behind the engine mount to the lower fulcrum pin If you need my email address to send these to me, please send me a pm and I'll send you my email address. I don't want to place it on here so as to avoid spam and other rubbish. Thanks David Is this a 4 or 4A, sounds like an A if on about rear shock mounts. I don't think I have strengthened mine in any way and it has been a race car for way over 20 years. If it is a Rally car then that is totally different. Only thing I can think of on mine is to change the rear gearbox mount to the TR6 setup, but this is just because I use a Later box and overdrive. I have had some reworking of the from rollbar mounts. But really you should not be worried about this (unless rallying). If racing what series are you intending doing? TSCC? CSCC? Just get as much weight out of the body as you can. Don't add weight! If it is a 4A then really beefing up the 4 pins that hold the diff in place is a must and use modern (blue) poly diff mounts. Mind you most TR4's even race ones will not put anywhere near the power of a full race TR6 (unless going all out and big bore). CTM rear damper mounts are WAY to short BTW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Whilst I agree that rally cars need a great deal of strengthening of the chassis, if I were racing a cart axle TR2/2/3A/4, there are 2 mountings which I would strengthen without any doubt: 1 - the mountings of the rear dampers, by running 4 vertical braces on the inside of the mounting, from the top of the mounting right to the very bottom of the chassis. The damper mountings are not very strong and can crack, although they did get better on the later cars. 2 - the mounting at the rear end of the leaf spring, by inserting a smaller tube inside the existing tube and welding it in position. It is not unknown for the mounting (tube) to break away from the chassis, and this upsets directional stability more than a little! If photos would help explain, I could provide them Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Whilst I agree that rally cars need a great deal of strengthening of the chassis, if I were racing a cart axle TR2/2/3A/4, there are 2 mountings which I would strengthen without any doubt: 1 - the mountings of the rear dampers, by running 4 vertical braces on the inside of the mounting, from the top of the mounting right to the very bottom of the chassis. The damper mountings are not very strong and can crack, although they did get better on the later cars. 2 - the mounting at the rear end of the leaf spring, by inserting a smaller tube inside the existing tube and welding it in position. It is not unknown for the mounting (tube) to break away from the chassis, and this upsets directional stability more than a little! If photos would help explain, I could provide them Ian Cornish Bit of a hi-jack.. My first TR2 had the spring shackle mount reinforced as it was so badly rusted. It had a broom handle pushed in. I ran the car happily for 7 years without MOT troubles. Peter W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Those were the days, Pete W! My brother's TR3 had several metres of bedstead angle holding the bodywork together, but his difficulty was finding enough steel to which these lengths of angle could be bolted! That's how things were in the 1960s and early 1970s. The TR Register was formed in the nick of time and Pete Buckles and Pete Cox ensured the preservation of the marque - without them, there would be far, far fewer early TRs on the road today. Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Lets just say my car has never had any issues with the strength of the chassis in 2+ years of hard racing. It is always kept garaged though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BrianC Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 ...the mounting at the rear end of the leaf spring, by inserting a smaller tube inside the existing tube and welding it in position. It is not unknown for the mounting (tube) to break away from the chassis, and this upsets directional stability more than a little! I guess I told you about the cause of demise of my first TR3A then! [incidentally, I recently sold the rear springs, one of which still had some remnants of chassis tube attached]. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jellison Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 David - what series are you aiming to race in? 4 or 4A? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TR 2100 Posted January 21, 2011 Report Share Posted January 21, 2011 My first TR2 had the spring shackle mount reinforced as it was so badly rusted. It had a broom handle pushed in. I ran the car happily for 7 years without MOT troubles. Peter W Yeah, but they don't make broom handles like they used to! AlanR Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Considering that an original TR4 chassis will be some 45 or more years of age and is very likely to have been rusting gradually for the first 20 years of its life (possibly the first 30) since Triumph didn't worry about rust protection on the inside of the chassis and scarcely bothered on the outside, I would not want to be racing without the reinforcement in that mounting at the rear end of the leaf spring! Brian cannot be the only person who suffered a failure there - and he is not a racer! And I have a feeling that an MOT tester might get suspicious if the reinforcement were a broom pole, however solid it might appear! The things we used to do to keep our TRs running in the 60s! Amazing that so many of us have survived! Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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