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I see you have PW's remanufactured fixings! Excellent to see them assembled with aeros. Great! :D

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Yes, very neat, using the 4 bolts. I have those bolts on the scuttle, but also 4 holes where Mark Mason fitted the Brooklands screws before PW's engineering masterpiece. I have removed the fixings, purchased the new plinths, but not fitted as yet. Will I ever?

Edited by DavidBee
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:D:):D

The truth is that I have a priority (=big headache) to resolve first: the underperforming, unsynchronized, over-choked, over-jetted Webers :ph34r:

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Yes but I am in Ireland. Now, there is one rolling road guy about an hour away, but when we spoke on the phone he didn't sound as if he has a grasp of Webers. Maybe not surprising, since he does modern cars, fuel-injected.

I managed to reset the tickover, so it is not soo high, but didn't feel confident to try and adjust the mixture.

So I have contacted a reputable Classic car garage in Kerry, a bit further away, where they will re-establish the baseline, with suitable chokes, jets and so on.

At the moment, the set up takes away most of the fun of driving a TR.

David Brancaleone

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  • 1 month later...

The click was done during the visit of our « frogs » best enemies the « rosbifs », namely the departure of the rally of the TR register in the Pyrenees.

Well arranged, as at the parade, I was struck by the almost systematic presence of an anti-roll bar at the front of the cars ...:o

By chatting with a nice though English (:P) owner of a racing TR2, he listed me by the menu the modifications made on his machine ... The preparation was obviously not limited to inflate the power of the engine, he had Improved handling, if so that we could have ever been able to talk about "handling" on our TR!

Former owner of Lotus and Caterham, I know very well that out of horses is not an end in itself and that to go faster it is better, as a priority, improve the binding on the ground and above all, the one that holds the wheel. 

The friendly Briton then touched the merits of the bar and I deduced that it was about an improvement to consider… 

It is true that in almost thirty years of TR (I started very early!) I always loved the systematic oversteer of these kind roadsters but hated that they bend over as much on the first turn. :angry:

I therefore wanted the improvement I needed, who does not like anything as much as as soon as possible at the wheel of my antiquity!

The question of legitimacy arose since I do not know that the TR2s were endowed at the time of such an accessory but the Austin-Healey 100/4 were endowed, as early as 1953 and in series, a bar. Historical coherence is saved!

On "TRment VôTRe", GG, the prolix author, relates the installation on its rally rally of a bar of 22 mm and recommends to install one of this diameter ...

I put myself in search of a bar of 22 and found at Betaset what seemed perfect for a price, if not derisory, at the very least very good!

The only black point was that she was not! The bar and the lateral turntables that are the most visible elements appeared to be made of cadmied steel and therefore a rather golden hue ...

Beurk! Especially since cadmiled steel paints very badly… But too bad, a little black chassis regularly and that would do!

Two or three days later, the parcel was waiting for me at a traders specializing in accessories to make cakes (niche market if it is!). Should we see a cause-and-effect relationship with the color of the saleswoman? I do not know but unpacking the surprise was good!

With the exception of the hardware, everything was black lacquered! :)

On the other hand, with regard to documentation : nothing ! And on the Internet, not much either, but enough to determine the way forward…

I thought we naively could make the assembly myself but when the friend Jean-Louis suggested to come next afternoon, I will not hide having been delighted!

Thursday at 14:00, here I am at JL so that we were installing the bar. I will pass on the steps of the assembly, which in the whole went well, even if sometimes the parts manufacturers are desperate by selling parts in the holes of which their hardware does not fit!

Anyway, at the end of the afternoon, the assembly was completed and we left to make a try to validate this editing that I did not know if it would be so convincing ...

Test brief but conclusive! And rather twice a!

The bolide can not be seen on the outer side in the turns and turns well flat without additional stiffness, which is very appreciable.

The survival is still there when we are looking for it but surprisingly for an old driver of TR but quite logical, the car underlie a lot more and if we keep it worshiped its curve more than reason . It is necessary to disrupt less quickly and especially do not hesitate to provoke an oversteer, formerly natural and immediate and now much later and less natural ...

In short, TR2’s handling is clearly modified and its heavy behavior has disappeared. The car is now brighter, the supports are firm and his reactions much more sporty!

Alas, the return having done under a deluge, the definitive sports test is postponed…

F28D1C20-2275-4DAD-B3E1-E76EEC26FCAF.jpeg

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Reply to Teher:  A 1957 TR3, TS/20378-L, has arrived near Toulouse in Moulis, 09200. I have some questions about how to evaluate its history.   But first, let me explain why I bought it.  In 1969 a doctor in Stanford (San Francisco) offered to sell me his TR3 for $150 because he was sure that it needed a new engine.  I listened to the exhaust (pop pop pop POP, pop pop pop POP, pop pop pop POP), put on a rubber glove, found the dead spark plug and replaced it.  No surprise, he changed his mind about selling the car. AAARGH!!!

So after watching Ann-Margret hop into her TR3 in the Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas I decided to put right an old mistake and bought a TR3 that had been imported from California in 2019.  I was attracted to the advertisement on LaCentrale by a photo of the underneath seeming to show NO rust and NO repairs (attached).

The reason for the sale was that owner had entrusted the car to a Maserati dealership in Angouleme that had neither respect for it nor understanding of it.  They had supposedly rebuilt the carbureters and charged for the kits which they did not install.  They seemed not to notice that one of the jets was stuck and the choke was inoperable; they set the mixtures so that the car would JUST start cold with much struggle and then produced clouds of black smoke when hot.  They tried to repair the steering, which was much too heavy and had about 20cm of free play, by just replacing the cover of the box, which they then didn't bother to adjust.  ETCETERA.  So the owner, who normally drives a TR4A, decided that the TR3 was so much less usable than the TR4 that he sold it, in the apparent belief that its faullts were basic traits of the model.

NOW we have this TR3 and I've fixed the carbs (easy!) and with much help from my neighbour we're near to having the steering back in good shape, so I'm hoping that the car will be great to drive.   It seems to be completely UNrestored except for a ten year old re-paint but, oddly, comes with no history at all.  I find it hard to evaluate, a few traits seem to indicate that it has been hardly driven at all, while others indicate the reverse.   Advice would be welcome!  Maybe I need to join a US club and find some history.

Traits suggesting low mileage:

Zero free play on carb spindle, almost zero free play on brake and clutch pedals, other than the battery box, and seat attachment bolts, ZERO rust, no rust anywhere even in outriggers, with no sign of repair.  No noises from engine or diff, oil pressure steady at 50lb even at hot idle. Overdrive works fine.  Very little wear on brake disks but nuts attaching them seem not to have been disturbed

Traits indicating higher usage:

All panel fits are quite bad, some free play on door hinges  (could be bad repair of minor accident).  Occasionally drops out of gear, cylinder head bolts have been disturbed (though the marks seem to be from tightening them, not loosening them so could be original?)

Any suggesttions?

 

 

 

underneath-the-car.png.pdf

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1 hour ago, sickly said:

Reply to Teher:  A 1957 TR3, TS/20378-L, has arrived near Toulouse in Moulis, 09200. I have some questions about how to evaluate its history.   But first, let me explain why I bought it.  In 1969 a doctor in Stanford (San Francisco) offered to sell me his TR3 for $150 because he was sure that it needed a new engine.  I listened to the exhaust (pop pop pop POP, pop pop pop POP, pop pop pop POP), put on a rubber glove, found the dead spark plug and replaced it.  No surprise, he changed his mind about selling the car. AAARGH!!!

So after watching Ann-Margret hop into her TR3 in the Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas I decided to put right an old mistake and bought a TR3 that had been imported from California in 2019.  I was attracted to the advertisement on LaCentrale by a photo of the underneath seeming to show NO rust and NO repairs (attached).

The reason for the sale was that owner had entrusted the car to a Maserati dealership in Angouleme that had neither respect for it nor understanding of it.  They had supposedly rebuilt the carbureters and charged for the kits which they did not install.  They seemed not to notice that one of the jets was stuck and the choke was inoperable; they set the mixtures so that the car would JUST start cold with much struggle and then produced clouds of black smoke when hot.  They tried to repair the steering, which was much too heavy and had about 20cm of free play, by just replacing the cover of the box, which they then didn't bother to adjust.  ETCETERA.  So the owner, who normally drives a TR4A, decided that the TR3 was so much less usable than the TR4 that he sold it, in the apparent belief that its faullts were basic traits of the model.

NOW we have this TR3 and I've fixed the carbs (easy!) and with much help from my neighbour we're near to having the steering back in good shape, so I'm hoping that the car will be great to drive.   It seems to be completely UNrestored except for a ten year old re-paint but, oddly, comes with no history at all.  I find it hard to evaluate, a few traits seem to indicate that it has been hardly driven at all, while others indicate the reverse.   Advice would be welcome!  Maybe I need to join a US club and find some history.

Traits suggesting low mileage:

Zero free play on carb spindle, almost zero free play on brake and clutch pedals, other than the battery box, and seat attachment bolts, ZERO rust, no rust anywhere even in outriggers, with no sign of repair.  No noises from engine or diff, oil pressure steady at 50lb even at hot idle. Overdrive works fine.  Very little wear on brake disks but nuts attaching them seem not to have been disturbed

Traits indicating higher usage:

All panel fits are quite bad, some free play on door hinges  (could be bad repair of minor accident).  Occasionally drops out of gear, cylinder head bolts have been disturbed (though the marks seem to be from tightening them, not loosening them so could be original?)

Any suggesttions?

 

 

 

underneath-the-car.png.pdf 2.25 MB · 8 downloads

It definitely does look as if its either very original or it was restored many years ago, FWIW I would move the speedo cable (I take it thats what it is) that passes under the exhaust.

Good luck with getting it sorted and by the sound of that Maserati garage I wouldnt go near them with one of their type of cars either!

Its virtually impossible to trace any history in the US as they dont keep records in the same way we do and plates belong  to individual States and are surrendered when a vehicle moves States.

Stuart.

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To Stuart

Thanks for the advice!  Here's a photo under the front wings that also helped convince me to go and look at the car and that made me suspect it was pretty original.  We are not too far from you as well as from Toulouse, my spouse and I taught at Plymouth Uni till recently and just sold our house in Heybrook Bay in June.  Sad to leave south Devon but the Pyrenees provide happy compensation.  I was familiar with the worm and peg steering since I drove a 1956 Standard 8 from 1962-67.  I wrote to my uncle in New York to say that I had bought it and the reply came back "Great to hear that you have an 8 cylinder car, Mike!" To which, of course I replied;  "8 cylinders??!!  No, 8 HORSEPOWER."

under-the-front.pdf

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3 minutes ago, sickly said:

To Stuart

Thanks for the advice!  Here's a photo under the front wings that also helped convince me to go and look at the car and that made me suspect it was pretty original.  We are not too far from you as well as from Toulouse, my spouse and I taught at Plymouth Uni till recently and just sold our house in Heybrook Bay in June.  Sad to leave south Devon but the Pyrenees provide happy compensation.  I was familiar with the worm and peg steering since I drove a 1956 Standard 8 from 1962-67.  I wrote to my uncle in New York to say that I had bought it and the reply came back "Great to hear that you have an 8 cylinder car, Mike!" To which, of course I replied;  "8 cylinders??!!  No, 8 HORSEPOWER."

under-the-front.pdf 191.3 kB · 2 downloads

I would still be inclined to say its been restored a while ago, note its missing its front disc water shields and the small bracket between the front panel and the chassis, looks like high torque starter as well. Either way looks like a cracking car, enjoy!

Stuart.

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Thanks again Stuart.  Indeed, the front bracket is missing and the chassis slightly dented at the front, the car has suffered a hopefully-minor shunt.  Someone has fitted a high-torque starter, electronic ignition and screw-on oil filter but the old distributor and oil filter came with the car and I had harboured some hope that the body was unrestored.  In any case, i bought the car to drive it, not show or race it, so I'll be happy if it performs that task well. 

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Hi ! We are a group of happy TR2 and 3 drivers. If you feel like joining one of our outings, we will be happy to welcome you. :)
Otherwise, in the absence of documents, I have no idea how to trace the history of a vehicle, especially in the USA ...:(

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On 10/26/2021 at 8:36 AM, Teher said:

Hi ! We are a group of happy TR2 and 3 drivers. If you feel like joining one of our outings, we will be happy to welcome you. :)
Otherwise, in the absence of documents, I have no idea how to trace the history of a vehicle, especially in the USA ...:(

MERCI TEHER! SVP alertez-moi la prochaine fois que vous circulez au sud ou au sud-ouest de Toulouse: Avec mon épouse, nous sommes réfugiés de la Maudite Brexiterre et du TrumpLand; nous travaillons chez la station CNRS a Moulis 09200.

Edited by sickly
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11 hours ago, Ian Vincent said:

Hi Sickly (Michael), I suggest you remove your email address from your post. 

Rgds Ian

Done, thanks for the god advice.  I'm a climate scientist so I'm semi-accustomed to getting death threats even though I don't use social media (other than this one)

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Just now, sickly said:

Done, thanks for the god advice.  I'm a climate scientist so I'm semi-accustomed to getting death threats even though I don't use social media (other than this one)

I mean GOOD advice, I'm not Swedish. In fact used to work close by you, at Bristol Uni's Long Ashton Research station, closed down long ago, soon after I left it for Texas.

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On 10/25/2021 at 1:34 PM, sickly said:

To DavidBee:  I can advice about setting mixture if you still need it.

Thank you very much indeed! Very kind. I managed to improve the tickover. I read up on the theory, got my head around how Webers work, but in the end decided to let the experts overhaul the Webers and retune with smaller chokes/venturis jets etc.

So I am waiting eagerly to get my TR3 back. I teach at Limerick LIT, and the first semester is always crazy. Front-loaded courses and scheduling. But now things are easing off, and I shall be driving all winter, that's for sure.

Ciao, and thanks again, Michael!

David

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