TR4 Rebuild

[stuart]

I know its a bit late now but you should have bought it with you when you were down here last weekend. I have a mate that works for Mobile windscreens Even £75 is a bit steep for what is a very quick job. Mind you its still cheap compared to a friend of mine who has just had a new one put in his Aston. £3500!

Stuart.

[RogerH]

So, the game continues!. Popping around to my GP I just happen to pass a windscreen fitting van.

On the way back there was a bloke hanging out of a 2nd floor window - I think he was testing the packaging of an engine block!!! - for some inexplicable reason my mouth opened and the words 'is that your van' came out. Honestly, I could have slapped myself for being so upfront and forthright - not my style.

 

Anyway it was him. He was unable to fit a screen to such an old car (bloody cheek) but his govenor probably would (cash job, nod, nod, wink, wink).

So with phone number in pocket I trotted off.

I hope tomorrow brings good news.

 

Roger

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

life is turning to sh*t at present. Last week I had the adventure of turning new windscreens into scrap in very quick time.

Today it got a lot worse.

I decided to clean the gauges on the dash. Dismantling the temp I took great care not to drop or break anything.

When cleaning the glass I was aware how thin the glass is, more care. Put it aside and start on the body of the gauge.

Clean off the small amount of rust on the rim. Spray the body silver. I made a little wooden stand to hold the body on its central attachment screw.

Clean the plastic window. Clean out the solid seal in the bezel.

The hole in the wooden base was a goodish fit so required the base to be rotated to remove it from the gauge body. Upon reaching the end of the thread the base slipped out of my hand, caught the edge of the glass which was tossed into the air and then hit the ground. I happen to have concrete ground in my garage.

The glass is now in 3 pieces.

Has anybody got a glass or working/non-working gauge they want to pass on.

 

 

Roger

Edited October 22, 2011 by RogerH

[pfenlon]

Roger call Craig at TR Bits 01925 756000 he will sort you a glass, is it flat or concave? I have a couple of flat ones you can have one gratis, let me know.

 

I fitted my old lounge carpet in my garage about 6 years ago, its warm and helps when you do drop stuff, but when welding and grinding it does smoke a fair bit!

 

Also you can fit a windscreen yerself with a lot of fairy liquid, rubber around the screen the twine in the rubber groove and a pal to help, or maybe I just got lucky.

[RogerH]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for your offer and tips. I understand that Moss do the glass (will find out tomorrow) I've had a couple of offers of help.

 

Regarding the windscreen. I fitted it quite easily, I used petroleum jelly as the lubricant. It was the adjustment afterwards that was my downfall.

 

Roger

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

well we are on a roll. I picked up the windscreen the other day and it looks fine. I need to put the fancy beading, probably Monday.

Today I bought a domed glass for the temp gauge from Moss.

As usual it didn't fit but you knew I was going to say that. Thankfully it only took a small amount of grinding of the edge to make it fit well.

All together now and it looks good. Next week I'll sort the remaining gauges.

 

I still need to get the engine started which I seem to be putting off for some subconscience reason. I'll get this done before the winter sets upon us, maybe.

 

Roger

[RogerH]

_{Hi Folks,}

_{things are going slow at present. After the other weeks escapade with the windscreen I had a rest to try and exorcise the gremlins that have taken possession of me.}

_{Anyway back to reality. Today I decided to fit the fancy silver beading into the screen rubber seal.}

_{The seal looked a good fit but the groove for the beading was very well squeezed up.}

_{I coated the groove with petroleum jelly and pressed the bead foot into the groove.}

_{The first inch was dead easy - I'm on a roll here I thought - Actually I wasn't onto a roll. It all became rather hard work.}

_{The groove was so tight I couldn't use the usual bead insert tool. I had to resort to a small screw driver to gently prise the groove apart in front of the bead foot.}

_{It took about an hour to insert the full length and my hand was not happy. Hopefully it will stay in place.}

_{I cut the beading to length then remembered Neils warning about leave it for a while - oops!!}

_{Anyway, I all looks good.}

 

_{Next challenge will be the gauges in the new instrument panel.}

 

_Roger

Edited November 23, 2011 by RogerH

[RogerH]

Ok Folks,

the rebuild is underway in earnest. Today the engine came out. I know I put it in only 4 months ago but these things need to move around.

After I installed the engine I realised that I hadn't wire locked the taper pin on the clutch cross shaft. I had planned to attack this from underneath with a hole in the bell housing.

Anyway as the last couple of months went by I started to become paranoid (actually I started to become paranoid long ago but this was a new bout) about certain things -

did I torque the main bearings, did I grease the cam lobes etc. An area of concern was the timing chain cover oil seal. I wasn't convinced that the new sleeve on the shaft aligned with the seal lip.

Any way out it came. The main/big-end bolts were nice and tight and the cam nice and oily (bugger). The cam went back in with graphite grease slapped everywhere.

The tapper pin got the wire locking treatment.

The timing chain case oil seal looked iffy. So, I took it back to the machine shop and they convinced me it was OK (I'm a sucker for the soft talk). However the sleeve is easy enough to sort if it does leak.

 

So, taking the engine out was probably a bit of overkill but it is much easier to work on an engine sans body.

 

Tomorrow engine and gearbox will be teased together and then the whole lot simply plopped into the car.

 

Hopefully this will get me back on track after the hip op. The leg and hip are performing very well so I haven't got an excuse in that department.

 

Roger

[Alec Pringle]

"these things need to move around."

 

You may very well think so . . . .

 

I should go easy on the squirrel nuts Roger, they might be inducing paranoia . . . .

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

[RogerH]

'Paranoia' is one thing, but just how bad is full blown certified 'Noia'

 

When I was aged seven I wanted to be a brain surgeon. But I found out that they don't allow seven year olds to perform brain surgery so I became a boy scout.

 

Roger

[Alec Pringle]

Look at it this way Roger . . . . creme de noyaux is a delicious French liqueur, flavour of nut kernels with fruit kernels, stones or pips if you prefer, thrown in. Noia, noyau, you get my drift ? Napoleon XIV and all that ?

 

I don't think creme de noyaux includes squirrel nuts though. You're out on a limb there.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

deep joy, the engine is back where it belongs (in the car).

I'm happy now I've looked at all the bits I was concerned with. Nothing, other than the taper pin wire locking, was out of place. Anyway it's all back together.

I just need to get all the bits attached to it.

 

Tomorrow I'm off to Williams. Apparently they need a few tips.

 

Roger

[Tony Millward]

Hi Rodger, there's nothing wrong with paranoia, I believe it's normal practice to do most jobs twice during a restoration (except painting panels...at least 4 times with that)...

 

You are not alone.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[RogerH]

Greetings,

well, the visit to WilliamsF1 racing was pretty good. I have a number of Ideas for the TR4 - how to get the other 900bhp out of the engine.

Williams haven't won the drivers trophy for 14 years (1997-2011) - my car has been on the road for 13 years so if I win the F1 drivers championship next year I'll be ahead of them.

 

One of the impressive bits of kit on display was a clutch mechanism. Apprx 5" diameter, with 3 or 4 plates. Why can't I have one in the 4.

 

Tomorrow I cobble all the bits back onto the 4. One day I get the engine started.

 

Roger

[littlejim]

One of the impressive bits of kit on display was a clutch mechanism. Apprx 5" diameter, with 3 or 4 plates. Why can't I have one in the 4.

 

 

Roger

 

??get a Triumph motorbike??

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

Tuesday became a millstone milestone in the rebirth of the 4.

One of the first things I took off when starting this tinkering was the windscreen, mainly in order to keep it in one piece (that failed miserably).

For the past year it has not looked like a TR - too flat. On Tuesday I refitted the screen. Now it is not too flat, it has a sticky up bit in the middle.

It is amazing how it looks, so much more like a TR with the screen fitted.

 

The next week will, hopefully, see the dash all sorted (instruments in place etc) and then I can start on the wiring with the new loom.

The only problem I can see with the new loom is an extra brown wire at the alternator end. The car came with an alternator so I had the loom sorted for this,

It is thinner than the main alternator brown wire - I wonder where it goes.

 

Roger

[pfenlon]

Are you going to keep the singloe speed wiper motor or go for a 2 speed one, there is an article in the latest traction.

 

But is the single and double speed motor the same number? is it DR3A.

 

Only asking so I can crib a bit.

[stuart]

It goes on to the alternator output same as the large brown as some have two connectors, one large one small.It can be tied off out of the way if your alternator only has the one large spade at the feed side

Stuart

Edited December 1, 2011 by stuart

[RogerH]

Hi Stuart,

when stated 'one large one, one small one' I thought you were going to burst into song 'and one with a bit of.........'

Thanks for the info.

 

Hi Pete,

not sure about the wiper speeds just yet. The slow speed of the two speed motor is not used a great deal on the 4A as I either need a quick wipe or kept on for heavy rain. If it is a single speed motor then I may fit an intermittent wipe thingy in it.

 

Roger

Edited December 1, 2011 by RogerH

[TR 2100]

The difference in speed is not that great, although it all helps.

I would describe the speeds as slow and not quite so slow!

 

AlanR

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

I thought I would put a bit of effort into the TR4 before the year dwindled away.

 

Out of interest I decided to have a look at the wiring loom that came out of the car - just for a laugh - I have a new loom that is almost installed.

The Brown/Blue wire from the dash board area had an interesting nature about it. Slightly fried with the copper wires on the overt side.

Thankfully all the other wires and the loom wrapping were OK. It doesn;t really matter as it was always going to be replaced.

 

The purple wires for the horn on the off side had me mystified as on first sight they were brown, very brown.

Having stripped the loom wrapping back they were indeed purple. The exposed part of the cable had turned brown due to heat/oil/light etc

 

The new year will spur me on the greater things. I want to get the car up and running for the Spring.

 

Happy New Year to you all.

 

Roger

[Mark1965TR4aBRG]

I want to get the car up and running for the Spring.

 

Happy New Year to you all.

 

Roger

 

 

Good luck Roger and a Happy New Year to you!

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

well the new year flew in but did't bring any extra enthisiasm.

I've been struggling since my hip op to get back into gear. I've done little things but the big things just stare at me.

The other week I bought two new door windows.

I tried to knock the bottom rail off the old glass but it wouldn't shift. I soaked the rubber in WD40 for quite some time but still no go.

Today I had been sorting out a new fuse and relay box on the 4A and came to a temporary halt so I had another go at the side glass bottom rail.

I bashed, I bonked and bashed again but no Joy. So I did what a good engineer would do and got a bigger hammer.

I bashed, I bonked and bashed again but still no joy. I had a feeling that perhaps the rubber was glued in position.

So I bit the bullet.

THis did no good so I decided on another plan.

I put the glass into a plastic bag and using a centre pop I hit the glass - nothing

I used a 1ib ball pein hammer and gave it a wallop - nothing.

I used a 2lb ball pein hammer and gave it a wallop - nothing. I hit it harder - nothing. I hit it even harder - still nothing.

It was amazing how hard I was hitting this window glass with nothing happening.

In the end I took a mighty swing (you can't beat brute force and ignorance) and something happened. It felt as though the bag was filled with mush.

Upon inspection the mush was indeed full of shattered crystals of glass.

How can a piece of glass be so resistant to bashing and bonking and bashing again.

 

Prior to this burst of activity I was playing with an idea on the 4A. The original fuse box on the TR's is a bit skimpy. So a couple of years ago I made my version of what TRiumph wanted to do (but didn't). This used 3 x 8 way fuse boxes. The overall electrical effect was very good. Everything had a fuse (whether it wanted iy or not).

However these lovely fuse boxes were tainted by the coloured spaghetti leading towards them.

Another plan was needed.

I've ended up with some neater 8 way fuse boxes and 6 off relays to control the lights, horns, rad fan etc)

The base for these things is simple mild steel with suitable holes to accomdate the fuse boxes.

The lid was another problem. I wanted to see the fuses and relays - having spent money on these little bu99ers I was going to watch them.

Perspex was/is the obvious answer but I didn't want square sections glued together. I wanted curves to reflect the Michelotti style.

Having googled perspex It appeared quite easy to form it. So armed with a hot air blower (no, not Sue) and a suitable curved surface to bend over I set to.

I wanted curves on the sides, front and rear but this leaves a messy corner joint. So I opted for curved top/side joint and a square infill at the front and rear.

This came up quite well.

Tomorrow I may even attempt to wire it in.

 

That's all folks

 

Roger

[Kiwifrog]

Roger you can form perspex quite well in an oven over a last made of wood, just make sure Sue does not catch you

 

Alan

[pfenlon]

Hi Folks,

well the new year flew in but did't bring any extra enthisiasm.

I've been struggling since my hip op to get back into gear. I've done little things but the big things just stare at me.

The other week I bought two new door windows.

I tried to knock the bottom rail off the old glass but it wouldn't shift. I soaked the rubber in WD40 for quite some time but still no go.

Today I had been sorting out a new fuse and relay box on the 4A and came to a temporary halt so I had another go at the side glass bottom rail.

I bashed, I bonked and bashed again but no Joy. So I did what a good engineer would do and got a bigger hammer.

I bashed, I bonked and bashed again but still no joy. I had a feeling that perhaps the rubber was glued in position.

So I bit the bullet.

THis did no good so I decided on another plan.

I put the glass into a plastic bag and using a centre pop I hit the glass - nothing

I used a 1ib ball pein hammer and gave it a wallop - nothing.

I used a 2lb ball pein hammer and gave it a wallop - nothing. I hit it harder - nothing. I hit it even harder - still nothing.

It was amazing how hard I was hitting this window glass with nothing happening.

In the end I took a mighty swing (you can't beat brute force and ignorance) and something happened. It felt as though the bag was filled with mush.

Upon inspection the mush was indeed full of shattered crystals of glass.

How can a piece of glass be so resistant to bashing and bonking and bashing again.

 

Prior to this burst of activity I was playing with an idea on the 4A. The original fuse box on the TR's is a bit skimpy. So a couple of years ago I made my version of what TRiumph wanted to do (but didn't). This used 3 x 8 way fuse boxes. The overall electrical effect was very good. Everything had a fuse (whether it wanted iy or not).

However these lovely fuse boxes were tainted by the coloured spaghetti leading towards them.

Another plan was needed.

I've ended up with some neater 8 way fuse boxes and 6 off relays to control the lights, horns, rad fan etc)

The base for these things is simple mild steel with suitable holes to accomdate the fuse boxes.

The lid was another problem. I wanted to see the fuses and relays - having spent money on these little bu99ers I was going to watch them.

Perspex was/is the obvious answer but I didn't want square sections glued together. I wanted curves to reflect the Michelotti style.

Having googled perspex It appeared quite easy to form it. So armed with a hot air blower (no, not Sue) and a suitable curved surface to bend over I set to.

I wanted curves on the sides, front and rear but this leaves a messy corner joint. So I opted for curved top/side joint and a square infill at the front and rear.

This came up quite well.

Tomorrow I may even attempt to wire it in.

 

That's all folks

 

Roger

 

Roger put some pictures on please of your fuse system.