A Tale of a Sunday Tune-up

[Moseso]

I have put about 5000 mi. on the TR3 since waking it from it's winter nap. I had done a quick tune back in March -- check the point gap, timing, mixture -- it ran fine. I felt it was getting a little harder to start, lately, and that a mid-summer tune-up wouldn't hurt anything.

So -- last Sunday:
I pulled the plugs: They look fine, Not too light, not too dark -- actually fine.
I adjusted the valves -- the usual. A couple a hair tight, a couple a hair loose. Nothing to see here folks, just go on about your business.
The points didn't look good -- too pitted to reuse. Check the condensor -- doesn't look good. Not shorted -- not not very much capacitance, either. Might explain the nasty looking points.
So, out they go, and new stuff in. Gap 'em. Set the timing. Fire it up. All sounds good.
Time to take it out on the road, listen for pinging and warm it up for a mixture check.

I head up the freeway to the next freeway interchange cloverleaf, about 6 miles. I'm tearing around the cloverleaf to go back down the way I came, about 4500 RPM in second, and as I'm under the freeway, it' starts to miss like crazy! Pulling up on the other side, I'm losing beaucoup power -- there's a lovely place to pull off, so I take it and the motor shuts itself down. Won't even idle.

At this point I should point out that it's nearly 100 degrees out here, and 90-some% humid.

Up goes the hood. I look in the gas tank first. That's not it. I pop a fuel line off the rear carb: spurt. That's not it. All the high voltage leads look fine, so I pop the distributor cap. It looks like the points have moved away from the cam. The gap between the rubbing block and the cam looks absurdly huge.

Enter the State Trooper. He pulls off behind me and spends at least a minute and a half radioing-in his position while I stand there, hands in sight, waiting for him to come say "hi." He says he saw me on the shoulder, thought he'd stop... I tell him that I think I have just found the cause of that. Of course, he walks in front of the car, looks at it and says, "What is this thing?" We discuss this-and-that (how old, how long I've had it, when and how long I restored it, etc.) He comments on the non-collector plates, and I tell him that I built it to drive it and didn't want any restrictions on that. He nods his approval.

I repeat that I think I've just found my problem and that, if I'm right, I have everything I need to get myself home with a few minutes work: my Leatherman and the cute little Lucas screwdriver/gap gauge in the glove box. As I'm working he offers that I could have picked a cooler day to do this. He got THAT right! He helps my rock the car until the points are on the high-point of the cam. I regap and re(?)tighten the points, get in the car and it fires right up. I say, "That'll get me home." He asks where that is and I tell him -- I think he might have offered to follow me if it were further away.

So, I get home and go inside to cool off for a while before going back out to the (probably 115 degree) garage. Once back outside, I reset the points and timing... Make sure to adequately tighten the points! One more test drive. This one goes smoother than its predecessor.

Been running fine, ever since!

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Yeah, try THAT with a modern car! :smirk:

Good story.

"As I'm working he offers that I could have picked a cooler day to do this." Helpful Hannah, he was!

 

[angelfj1]

he walks in front of the car, looks at it and says, "What is this thing?"

At least he didn't say, "Nice MG you've got there!"

 

[martx-5]

The first TR I owned was a '63 TR4, and I had a similar problem when driving from New York back to Ft. Gordon in Georgia when I was in the army back in '67. Only this time, the car started running lousy because the points were closing. Finally, at one of the toll booths the engine died. Had to push the car off to the side while I re-adjusted the points. All was fine after that.

Today when your modern car dies, you better have a code reader handy so you might be able to at least know where to begin...not like years ago when all you needed was some fuel and ignition.

 

[Geo Hahn]

I too had a brief breakdown that caught the interest of a passing officer. On the Zuni Reservation in NM, we chatted quite awhile.

Later I wished I'd had the presence of mind to pose with my hands behind my back and my head down -- he looks so serious it would have been an even better pic.

PS: For me it was the pesky white/black coil wire.

 

[Moseso]

I see your tonneau covering the passenger seat. Who took this picture on that roadside?

 

[Moseso]

At least he didn't say, "Nice MG you've got there!"

I love the people who stand looking at the front of the car, where the "TRIUMPH" lettering stretches across 18" of the apron, with the "TR3" badge directly above that, and then ask, "What is this thing?"

 

[DrEntropy]

Glad it was somethin' simple to deal with! Good tale, Len.


Was asked yesterday if the Spider was: "Your MGB parked out there?" :shocked:

 

[Geo Hahn]

I see your tonneau covering the passenger seat. Who took this picture on that roadside?

My wife. No I don't make her scoot down under the tonneau (though that would be way cool) she was driving the VW Campmobile as we were on an extended 2-vehicle camping adventure that included NM & CO.

 

[Don Elliott]

While at VTR in 2007, I was staying at a campground just north of Downingtown PA. That was the time I was having all these problems with the gas I bought in the USA. It was about 11 AM on a hot sunny day and my 1958 TR3A just died as I was aproaching Downingtown from the east. Within two minutes a state trooper stopped behind me and noticed I was leaning into the engine compartment. I told him how this had happened several times since I had left Canada and that I thought it was the ethanol you have in the gas down there. He left his car parked about 50 feet behind me with his red/blue lights flashing for about 10 minutes on the shoulder. Then he asked me all about the car, how long I had it etc. I replied that I bought it brand new 50 years ago. That's when he asked me for all my papers. I gave him my Quebec drivers licence etc. He studied them and wrote it all down on a small scrap of paper he had and then he said I can't believe it.

About 10 minutes later I got it started again, thanked him and off I went. Later I was thinking about what it was he couldn't believe. I take that he couldn't believe my age which he read off my licence papers.

BTW, since then, I have changed the rubber hose to the banjo fittings that feed the gas to my float bowls and I add 4 oz. of Marvel Mystery Oil each time I fill up the tank. The problem has never come back whether I buy my gas in Canada or in the USA.

 

[poolboy]

" Later I was thinking about what it was he couldn't believe. I take that he couldn't believe my age which he read off my licence papers."

I bet it wasn't. I bet it was the fact that you bought and actually kept a car for 50 years.
(aside) There's 3 or 4 cars that I've owned that I sold 40 years too soon.

 

[Twosheds]

Oops, I put this in the wrong thread first.

Well, I reckon I have to trot out the old Waiting for the Ignition to Dry story. Sorry.

A longer version of this got me a gift certificate from Moss when they published it in Moss Motoring with the photo I sent along. Used it towards the Brooklands screens for the racecar. I can't find the photo now, but you can imagine a TR3 on the grass next to a two-lane road that curves off up a hill. Trees on both sides. Steam coming off the asphalt.

I was on a solo nine day round-trip tour of the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway in my TR3. These roads are actually part of the National Park system. They wind along the scenic Blue Ridge mountain range for 575 miles through Virginia and North Carolina. There are no towns, stop signs, red lights, or trucks; wilderness, challenging curves, and scenic beauty abound. The trip is perfect for a sports car.

Somewhere on the Parkway, as I drove merrily up a long hill with a graceful curve miles from nowhere, a torrential downpour killed the engine. I didn't want to stay in the road because the visibility was so bad, but there was no place close by to pull off. The only thing for it was to coast backwards down the hill (it seemed like a mile) until I could get off the road. Soon the rain stopped. I knew that if I waited long enough, the heat from the engine would evaporate the water from wherever it had done its dirty work and I could go on my way. (Note to self: order all new ignition parts upon return.) So I took a photograph and patiently waited.

Yes, my car was immobile in a wilderness miles from a telephone or civilization for that matter, but I was not annoyed. There are worse things that can happen to a person. Here I was, in a neat car, on a great tour in beautiful scenery. I had no schedule to meet, so why get upset about an unplanned stop?

After a while, a park ranger stopped his Blazer and beckoned to me to come over. Now here might be a reason for concern. Maybe I had broken some rule about pulling off the Parkway in an undesignated spot or something. I walked up to the window and he spoke.

"Well," he said slowly, "I've got a Midget." When he spoke these five words, I knew that he understood my plight, that I would not get in trouble, and for that moment we shared that feeling that is hard to explain but one that is known to owners of old British sports cars who have found themselves broken down by the side of the road. There may be some mild irritation at being inconvenienced, yet the edge is softened by a feeling of adventure. When driving an old British sports car, breaking down is, after all, to be tolerated, if not expected. Besides, these adventures are great material for car club meeting story swapping, newsletter articles, etc. There is a bond among fellow owners that comes from mutual shared experience.

After an offer of help, none required, the park ranger left me on my own once again. The ignition dried out and I was soon on my way.

 

[HerronScott]

I was on a solo nine day round-trip tour of the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway in my TR3. These roads are actually part of the National Park system. They wind along the scenic Blue Ridge mountain range for 575 miles through Virginia and North Carolina. There are no towns, stop signs, red lights, or trucks; wilderness, challenging curves, and scenic beauty abound. The trip is perfect for a sports car.

Hey, you're talking my part of the country! I drive over Afton Mountain where the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway meet every day on my way back and forth to work.

My wife and I used to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway a lot in our youth in the Triumphs enjoying both the road and the views. Definitely recommend it to anyone especially in the fall.

Scott

 

[deadair]

This story reminds me to keep an eye on the Electronic Ignition Option.