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TR6 '71 TR6 has arrived

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
Offline
After a long wait, the TR6 finally arrived, so I am quite excited. There were a few surprises, the most pleasant being that the top is in fact in fine condition and not "shot" as claimed by the PO.
1486381712_5bcc2c234a.jpg


This car was made in Belgium, and first delivered to a German address in 1971. It has been in California since 1994, or maybe earlier.

Another pleasant surprise is that the trunk was not locked after all. What I don't like inside the trunk is this rather amateurish fuel pump setup:
1485526617_ede10a569f.jpg


Inside the trunk was the missing "TRIUMPH" badge from the rear valence, and, curiously, an accompanying "OVERDRIVE" badge - yet the car does not appear to have overdrive, not does the Commission number support the idea.
1485529413_d8666154e6.jpg


The car has been repainted this blue at some point - does it look like a standard colour?

The engine and transmission have been completely rebuilt, and the clutch and slave cylinder are new.

Also inside the trunk were these objects ... are they engine mounts?
1485527365_00dd2c4a6f.jpg


There is some rust in the footwells. There may be rust elsewhere, but I haven't investigated very far yet. The frame looks good.

The first major problem I need to fix is that the car will not run for more than a few seconds. I looked at the distributor and found a loose connection, and I also found that the lead from the coil to the distributor was not properly attached in the coil: it just seemed to be a loose bare wire in there. This is not how I remember the connection on other cars I've had.

Sorry for the long and rambling post /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
Looks really nice, Julian. If indeed the engine and tranny are already rebuilt, then you are way ahead of the game. Looks like you may have a driver that you can enjoy right away.
 
jjbunn said:
After a long wait, the TR6 finally arrived,
Congratulations !!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] - yet the car does not appear to have overdrive, [/QUOTE]Perhaps the PO was considering adding it and just picked up the badge? Might be worth a quick double-check to see if there is an HVDA 5-speed conversion in there.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Also inside the trunk were these objects ... are they engine mounts?[/QUOTE]I don't recognize them ... perhaps the PO was going to try to use them for fuel pump mounts? Those little Facets can make enough racket to be annoying, if they are bolted directly to sheet metal.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]This is not how I remember the connection on other cars I've had.[/QUOTE] So you've already found your first DPO-ism /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hammer.gif

Let's hope that (and the fuel pump) are the worst of them !
 
Thanks for the nice comments from everyone /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

The other overdrive-related discovery was in the glove compartment: a pair of escutcheons for the indicator and light switches, one of which is the double hole version for the overdrive stalk ... and it looks old and original.

How would I check if it has an HVDA conversion?

You're right about the facet pump: makes a racket. I installed one of those on the MGB, and it was noisy, too (well, until the engine started).
 
My recommendation for mounting blocks for the Facet pumps is to head for a store that sells MB stuff. Get some of the earlier rubber spacers for air cleaners and fuel pumps. Also might wanna put the pump under the floorpan on a frame rail or something.
 
jjbunn said:
How would I check if it has an HVDA conversion?

The HVDA conversion is the installation of a Toyota 5-speed gearbox. If you can find 5th (to the right and up) then it has a 5-speed - probably the HVDA conversion (HVDA stands for Herman van den Akker who makes the adapter pieces).

Bryan
 
jjbunn said:
one of which is the double hole version for the overdrive stalk ... and it looks old and original.
Which again could either be evidence that the car either had OD at one time, or the PO was accumulating parts for a conversion.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]How would I check if it has an HVDA conversion?[/QUOTE]At this point, I would probably get it in the air and have a look to see what's under there. Sounds like there is at least some chance there's a (not yet connected) OD hiding. But the easiest check for a HVDA 5 speed is probably just to feel out the shift gates and look for 5th gear. If you can find 6 different positions (5 forward plus 1 reverse), then it's a 5-speed.

TRF also sells sound isolators that are useful for electric fuel pumps. P/N UKC2451 is a small rubber puck with 1/4-28 studs on each side. Might be able to put them through the holes on the Facet, but I opted to make a bracket instead since someday I plan to go back to the original SU pump (on my Stag).
 
Looks great Julian! Congratulations!

Please keep us up to date as you work on getting it roadworthy.

Good luck.

Matt
 
I think you had a lot of us thinking it was a borderline basket case. That is a very nice condition car to start.

Congratulations!
 
That car looks great for a starter. You are probably way ahead of the game.
 
Looks pretty good, look inside the drivers rear wheelwell as it goes up into the trunk. It looks to me as if some one has put 3 bolts in there for some reason.
 
BOXoROCKS said:
Looks pretty good, look inside the drivers rear wheelwell as it goes up into the trunk. It looks to me as if some one has put 3 bolts in there for some reason.

Yes ... I see what you mean. I will investigate.

I'm going to try getting it running as my first task. The engine was starting with full choke, and then running for a while, and cutting out. I looked at the distributer and found something loose, fixed that, then checked all the leads. The lead to the coil was loose and just a bare wire inside.

Now, what I don't understand is what the connector should look like. The HV socket on the Lucas coil is threaded. There is black plastic piece that screws into the socket and through which the HV lead from the distributor passes. But the lead connectors on the wires I have are too small in diameter: they don't clip in and mate to the socket at all: they are loose. The leads on the car are essentially brand new, so I'm surprised that they do not appear to be the correct types.

I'm not sure I've explained that very well, maybe a photo would help.
 
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif Photos are good.
 
jjbunn said:
Now, what I don't understand is what the connector should look like. The HV socket on the Lucas coil is threaded.
I'm pretty sure that makes it the wrong coil. The TR2-4 used that kind of coil (with the nut), but I believe even the TR250 had the 'modern' push-in connector.

For the coils with the nut, the nut is supposed to be slid over the (stripped-back) wire, then the protruding copper end goes through a washer and gets soldered to the washer. Then when installed into the coil, the nut clamps the washer against the terminal inside the coil tower. Trying to use a push-in coil wire with this coil is a Bad Thing, as there is simply no metal inside the coil tower for the clip to mate with. You wind up with the spark having to jump the gap between the end of the clip and the coil terminal, which will eventually erode the clip and cause strange ignition problems.

Sorry I don't have a photo handy, but here's a drawing from the Moss catalog.

PS, my advice is to sell the coil to some TRactor motor originality freak and buy one with the push-in connector. But be warned that there is an early and late TR6 coil, and you most likely want the early one unless there have been other modifications like electronic ignition or a ballast resistor added.

Randall
 
Julian, yup he is correct. Go get a standard 12 v coil from auto zone. We will all help you on this TR6, but ya gotta let us borrow it some weekends for gymkannas.
 
Nice catch Julian!!

I hope you get the car in the street without
much difficulty or expense.

My 1969 TR6 has a TR250 engine and my coil has a
push in connector.

Have fun and post many photos.

dale
 
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