I know this won't be big news to you other "old guy" TR fans out there, but it shocked the heck out of my son.
My '62 TR3B had the clutch go out and got parked in my garage waiting for me to put in a replacement clutch over the winter - the winter of 1992 that is.
That was the winter the wife, after 23 years, decided to "find herself " and trundled off leaving me with three kids and a house to take care of. Fixing the TR was kind of low on the priority list as you might imagine. Over the years stuff piled up on the old beastie, (as it does on any horizontal surface in a garage).
Fast forward to Summer 2004. Last weekend, for no special reason, I started the archaelogical dig and lo and behold I discovered a TR-3 buried under layers of sediment in the garage.
After digging it out and replacing the battery (thanks for all the advice guys) I put in some fresh fuel, drizzled a couple of quarts of good fresh oil on the rocker arms and tried to clean out most of the spiders under the bonnet.
I also pulled the plugs sprayed some Liquid Wrench in each cylinder and hand cranked it a few times to make sure nothing serious was stuck or broken. I hooked up the new battery and pumped a couple of quarts of very ugly gas from the bottom of the fuel tank. Of course I also checked the points to make sure they were clear and not stuck.
Yesterday (Sunday) my son stopped over just as I was ready to give it a try. He was really laughing it up at the idea of the car ever running again. (Oh ye of little faith!).
A little fresh gas in each of the newly cleaned float bowls to prime the pump so to speak and one small shot of starter fluid in each SU and she started on the second or third turn.
Mucho smoke and spiders spraying out the exhaust system. My son was amazed beyond belief. (Darn, I should have bet him I could have started it with the hand crank and picked up some easy money).
Now he's impressed at the durability factor and is all excited at working on the '66 Midget he has (Yes, indeed a lesser car, but still more noble than a mini van).
We're going to the British Car Fest here in Chicago at Moraine Valley College in two weeks and I think it's time I started looking for a hard top.
Good to be back in the game again. I'm looking forward to next Spring on the road with a rebuilt engine, new clutch and maybe even a re-spray.
Don P.
My '62 TR3B had the clutch go out and got parked in my garage waiting for me to put in a replacement clutch over the winter - the winter of 1992 that is.
That was the winter the wife, after 23 years, decided to "find herself " and trundled off leaving me with three kids and a house to take care of. Fixing the TR was kind of low on the priority list as you might imagine. Over the years stuff piled up on the old beastie, (as it does on any horizontal surface in a garage).
Fast forward to Summer 2004. Last weekend, for no special reason, I started the archaelogical dig and lo and behold I discovered a TR-3 buried under layers of sediment in the garage.
After digging it out and replacing the battery (thanks for all the advice guys) I put in some fresh fuel, drizzled a couple of quarts of good fresh oil on the rocker arms and tried to clean out most of the spiders under the bonnet.
I also pulled the plugs sprayed some Liquid Wrench in each cylinder and hand cranked it a few times to make sure nothing serious was stuck or broken. I hooked up the new battery and pumped a couple of quarts of very ugly gas from the bottom of the fuel tank. Of course I also checked the points to make sure they were clear and not stuck.
Yesterday (Sunday) my son stopped over just as I was ready to give it a try. He was really laughing it up at the idea of the car ever running again. (Oh ye of little faith!).
A little fresh gas in each of the newly cleaned float bowls to prime the pump so to speak and one small shot of starter fluid in each SU and she started on the second or third turn.
Mucho smoke and spiders spraying out the exhaust system. My son was amazed beyond belief. (Darn, I should have bet him I could have started it with the hand crank and picked up some easy money).
Now he's impressed at the durability factor and is all excited at working on the '66 Midget he has (Yes, indeed a lesser car, but still more noble than a mini van).
We're going to the British Car Fest here in Chicago at Moraine Valley College in two weeks and I think it's time I started looking for a hard top.
Good to be back in the game again. I'm looking forward to next Spring on the road with a rebuilt engine, new clutch and maybe even a re-spray.
Don P.