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So am I the only one who thinks, servicing the TR is part of its  character,

'Doing the plugs and points' dropping the oil, changing the filter, greasing the front end, adjusting the handbrake,

topping up, gearbox and back axle, for me it all adds to having my TR,

maybe I'm in a minority?

Discuss,

John.

Posted reply in Tr4.4A section, titled why electronic Ignition, and here for a wider discussion.

John,

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I seem to do more tinkering than driving. 

That either the nature of classic cars or motorsport

or perhaps both. 

I enjoy the spanner work. 

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I agree John. It's what I grew up with and expect to have to do, and to me it's all part of the mystique of running a classic. My modern car is fine to drive and is a great computer-on-wheels which I can just climb in and go, but I cannot service it to any degree and hence I don't 'know' it anything like as well as I know the TR.  

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I enjoy the routine maintenance part of classic ownership.

It's essential to keeping the cars running well and is an opportunity to spot a developing fault before it gets too serious.

Nigel

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Agreed. Trouble is it gets harder with age. I can still get down under the car, it's getting up again that's the problem!

I've thought about blowing some of the pension lump sum on getting one of the specialists to tidy up some of the bits that I could have done better, but then it wouldn't be 'my TR' any more.

Pete

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I guess one answer is the same as when an enthusiastic dog owner was asked why the mutt was licking his nether regions replied, "I suppose it's because he can"

On a more practical note for us mere mortals is not to be put off Servicing our modern Euroboxes. There are exceptions but many new cars are as easy to Service as the old TR.

For example my A3 has an easily accessible spin on oil filter and sump plug. For nearly £200 all my main dealer would do is change the oil and filter and run through a check list.

Any additional needs would show up on the dashboard display like brake fluid change and after 40,000 miles new plugs. Easy money for just over an hour's work.

Chris

Edited by ChrisR-4A
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I hate servicing cars, the appeal of crawling about on my back, in a cold damp garage,  under a car trying to get my head in the right place so my glasses will focus on some obscure grease nipple is not for me.

I dream of the day when I will have a nice warm, well lit garage with a lift.

So until that time I'll have to stump up the cash at JY Classics for servicing my cars.

Having said that crawling about in my cold damp, poorly lit garage  to fix, modify or rebuild something is a different matter. 

But each to his/her own I guess .:D

 

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Mrs. M,s euro box was in for a major, 60,000 service, just this week, £360 odd quid, par for the course.

Get the usual phone call mid morning, "Your rear pads are needing changed,shall we do this whilst we have the car, it will be, £148"

"No thanks" £148, while the car is on a ramp with the wheels off?

New set pads £26, will fit tomorrow, you go figure.

John.

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Wish I was ready to do regular maintenance on my TR.

Still fighting body panels, for me the last not-so-nice job of the restoration. Looking fwd to doing interior and fittings work, and then.....regular maintenance:)

Waldi

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Like the other Cumbrian John I do most of my own basic servicing on the TR (and Escort and MG) but have not yet altered or checked the timing on the TR.Electronic ignition and running well just now so will leave it alone.

Only last night I had a check on the mixtures with the aid of an air flow meter and spark tester (Gunson colourtune, was going to say other types are available but not sure if there is an alternative?).Having previously adjusted everything by hand and ear I was pleased to see that the air flows from each carb were very close and that the sparks burned blue under fast revs, although mostly yellow on tickover.

A note of caution for the hamfisted....the colourtune plug is quite small and it is not easy to thread it and its copper ring which quite loose.I took the plug out with a suitable socket but as it didnt have a rubber liner the bloody thing fell out as I removed the socket. Of course it plummeted earthwards clattering various metallic protrusions on its way down, eventually coming to rest behind the oil filter.I managed to extract it with a magnetic extension rod (thanks Aldi...other supermarkets are available etc).As expected it had suffered damage in the form of the outer ceramic insulator had broken but the glass window remained intact.

I was not hopeful but tried it on another cylinder to test the second H6 setup and it worked! This time I laid some blue paper roll under the spark plug hole to catch it when it was removed, this worked a treat but then discovered that it was very hot, rapid juggling did not result in further damage.

John S

PS If you dont have a posh mechanics foam mat I can recommend a big sheet of cardboard for laying on and contemplating your handywork....it will also provide a softish landing for errent Colourtune plugs.

 

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Another note of caution John - The colourtune is only useful to set the correct mixture at around idle. Revving the engine off-load is not the same condition as running on the road ( you haven't got the throttle open as far off-load ) so the flame colour you see is not indicative of mixture conditions whilst driving at the same revs. To measure that you need a gas-analyser or do it on a rolling-road.

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2 hours ago, Andy Moltu said:

It's part of classic ownership.

I find it really difficult to hand over doing any jobs to someone else.

If I do it I know it will be done right and if it's not I know who to blame.

Bang on Andy, I’m exactly the same....

 

Must admit that the ‘5 mins jobs’ take increasingly longer than the allotted half hour nowerdays but, that generally also OK

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I'm trying to tell myself that struggling to roll around under and alongside the TR is beneficial excercise. As for building water injection , that's defo off the menu. Age and shaky hand is winning over TRing. But after 40 years its difficult to make the decision to let go. 

Peter

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Peter,

See: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mds.25796

It's a spoon for people with essential tremor: 

Could be adapted to hold a screwdriver, etc?

JOhn

Edited by john.r.davies
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Peter, stay positive and push on.

my daughter has convinced/ shamed/ cajoled  me to do The Three Peaks in 24 hrs challenge to raise funds for Parkinson's Research next year. I’m not fit now, but I will do it in memory of my father and to benefit all with PD.

Stay positive and do the stuff you promised yourself you would do, it might take longer, but do it!

All the best

Iain

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At 80, I'm still doing all the servicing on the TR, but it's easier to do the oil change & greasing before the (unheated) garage gets really cold.

With electronic ignition, all that's required is removal of the dizzy cap so that the carbon dust can be wiped away, and a check that sufficient of the carbon brush remains (if not, obtain replacement from Martin Jay/Distributor Doctor).

I'm certain that the wheels, with 195 tyres, get heavier every year, but by choosing a suitable piece of timber (plenty to hand here!) on which to stand the wheel, I can align the wheel with the studs without much difficulty.

With SWMBO in the driving seat, bleeding of brakes is not difficult, although getting her in and out with the car off the ground is not so easy!

Before I get too old, I need to show my son how to do these jobs, but he has a very busy life as a GP with 2 small children, so almost no free time.

Ian Cornish

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I agree that servicing the TRs is part and parcel of the enjoyment of the cars.

At my advancing years I've grown tired of crawling under them with them up on axle stands to change the oil and filter, grease drive shaft, prop shaft, remove and replace diff. etc. 

Earlier this year I invested in a 2 post lift by Twin Busch, a German company that I saw at last Novembers' NEC show. Together with a hydraulic transmission jack it has made some of those jobs so easy.

Dave McD 

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19 hours ago, john.r.davies said:

Peter,

See: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mds.25796

It's a spoon for people with essential tremor: 

Could be adapted to hold a screwdriver, etc?

JOhn

Tks John, I had hoped it was  essential tremor but the expert diagnosis is idiopathic Parkinson's. My DIY cocktail seems to have reduced the tremor over the past couple of years, but progression is known ot be highly variable. Loss of fidelity - numbness - of right hand also a problem for working on the TR. But I keep adding agents to the cocktail, based upon the science. The TR will have to wait. Peter

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18 hours ago, RogerH said:

Peter C,

don't let go.  You will only fall over and roll down the mountain side.

Do something each day - no matter how small.

 

Roger

Hi Roger, I had contemplated replacing the TR with a small 360 excavator. So rolling down the hillside is an apt warning !  Yes excerciise is very importnat, But my cocktail blocks a biochemical pathway in order to protect the brain, but that same pathway promotes muscle strength. So  exercising weak mjuscles demands unusal enthusiasm. Peter

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I love driving the TR's but I enjoy restoring and maintaining them just as much. Our driving season here is rapidly winding down and I always have a long list of things that need doing over the winter. You would think that with a winter that lasts 4-5 months there would be plenty of time but there is always a scramble in March to get ready for the start of the driving season at the end of April.

This winters projects are to take off the TR6 Webers and install a better bell crank and perhaps block off the manifold balance tube as an experiment. I also need to replace some radiator hoses as I see signs than I'm losing coolant. I'm still pondering if I should pull the head and do an inspection since it is over 10 years since the major engine rebuild.

Stan

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