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Air Conditioning?

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Good luck Webb, as many have said, enjoy it.

As I guy who bought a MUCH worse car than you are getting at 15, the key difference on these cars is that they will never be jump in and go with no maintenence. That is the advantage of the Miata. If you don't mind spending time knowing your car, learning to maintain rather than wait to repair, there is NO reason it can't be a daily driver!

Also, being rasied in the heat of Mississippi, I saw many TR6's that had A/C installed. In the heat of the summer, stoplights can be awful. Vintage air was mentioned, and they are a good choice to start asking.

Patton
 
One of the biggest reasons I want a Triumph is because I get to repair it. Now you're thinking I'm an idiot and should be taken away to an institution, but I definitly don't mind the occasional repairs because I'll learn from them.
 
It better be a big institution because alot of us will have to be commited also!
jv
 
[ QUOTE ]
One of the biggest reasons I want a Triumph is because I get to repair it. Now you're thinking I'm an idiot and should be taken away to an institution, but I definitly don't mind the occasional repairs because I'll learn from them.

[/ QUOTE ]

I totally get it, I enjoy tinkering! The promblem in this house is the time to do it has evaporated between demands of family and work.

I sold my MGB because with the amount of time that car needed to be where I wanted it to be, and the abount of time I could spend on it, I would be finished somewhere in 2025. I bought the Healey as it is a signifcantlly better condition car that I can enjoy now.

Patton
 
OK I have to ask this. All you Miata lovers( and please , I am NOT bashing Miatas or their drivers, just a question)
I have never even looked under the hood of the Lotus take off but could you actually work on one? Most new cars are so computerized you're lucky if you can change the oil and adjust the air in the tires. And if you can't get your hands dirty, isn't that half the fun? Basil you have one,
can you get the old spanners out and maintain? Brian /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/canpatriot.GIF
 
Honestly, I never have to work on my Miata ('00 M2 model). I'm positive that I have not lifted the hood in the last 2 or 3 months. But there's plenty of room under the hood if need be...it's really not any harder than my Sprite. Now a Porsche Boxter....*that's* a different story!
I've occasionally read about folks who complain about the oil filter location on a Miata. Anyone who complains about *that* is a big baby in my opinion (and has never dealt with some of the Brit canister filters).
My younger daughter has an '00 V6 5-speed Maxima. The clearance under the hood of that thing would make a grown man cry.
 
My '91 Miata is pretty easy to work on underneath the hood. Things I've done so far are oil/air filter changes, repainted the cam cover, swapped spark plugs, play with adv/retard of the timing, etc. While not as open as a spitfire, etc. engine bay, the engine was designed to be as easy and vintage looking as possible in a modern car world.
 
Back to the original point of this thread--again. I am nearly 60 and my wife is a little younger. I purposely bought a TR8 a month ago to have a two-seat, long-distance touring car with air conditioning so my wife would be willing to go more than a mile or two from home on a summer day in an LBC.

That is something she won't do in my '56 MGA roadster, which puts out enough heat to burn bare feet through the carpet. It is not just the sun beating down that can create heat-stroke in an old British roadster (and I live 6,000 feet closer to the sun than many of you), it is also the engine/exhaust system heat through an uninsulated firewall and floor.

So, my humble advice (take it for what it's worth--it's free, isn't it?) is buy whatever makes you happy--and comfortable. Maybe Brits don't need AC in their sports cars, but maybe that's because there is no "Deep South" in England. Summer is the time to enjoy your LBC to its fullest--with or without AC. So enjoy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I purposely bought a TR8 a month ago to have a two-seat, long-distance touring car with air conditioning.

[/ QUOTE ]

How's the car working out?
Byron told me they had trouble with getting it to pass emissions inspection, so installed some carbs off a Jag.
 
Weren't all these cars daily drivers at one time? My first car was a 1961 ALFA and I was only 17 (actually 16 when I got it). A year later I had a brand new 1965 MGB. Daily driver.

I don't see where the age of the driver has much to do with a particular car. If I were 16 or 70 I would get what I want, to my betterment or to my mistake. It is still my decision.

Best of luck Webb.
 
Webb, your thinking clearly on this one. Buy your TR6 and enjoy all that you will experience! Wish I had access to a British car shop when I was younger. Can remember many days and nights under my TR3 doing things the hard way (3 tries to get it right). . . Now I have a restored TR6 that is very reliable and my son and I drive it to shows on the east coast. These cars were built to be driven so get your 6 and start building the memories.

John
 
There is at least 5 different disscussions going in this posting alone. What were we talking about to start with? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif
 
Wow! Good article, thanks. I imagine Vintage air could make me one if I really wanted it, but with many things to sort out on the 6 and winter approaching, I really have no need to dive into that project right now.
 
[ QUOTE ]
How's the car working out? Byron told me they had trouble with getting it to pass emissions inspection, so installed some carbs off a Jag.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mark,

I tried to call you when I picked up the TR8, but you are unlisted. Have also tried to send E-mails through this forum. Could you send your current E-mail address to me off-line?

To answer your question, they tried the non-Triumph carbs and got nowhere, then rebuilt the original carbs--again--and got them to work. They passed the Texas emissions inspection, but I failed the Colorado test the first time. I did some minor, no-cost work and adjustments and it passed emissions the second time with flying colors. The car has been great fun, with very cold air conditioning. My wife has even driven it to work to show her co-workers.

Thanks for all your help and please contact me ASAP.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Too many posts of garbage to see if this is repeat information, but I will add my own $0.02.

Okay now that I have just completed over 4700 round trip miles in my Stag from Colorado to Virginia with several local trips then to Pennsylvania and several local trips and back to Colorado, I will say that no one considering AC in a convertable is off their rocker. Going out to Virginia in July, Kansas was 110 degrees F, and on the return through Nebraska is was 95 degrees F, both were at least 95% humidity and the sun was blasting enough to cook an egg on most of your bald heads.
Very true, MOST driving in the USA for you that drive within a few hundred miles of your safe home garage for 6 months out of the year the weather is perfect for drop head driving. While in Richmond and Pennsylvania, the top was down most all the time, as it is when I go out here in Colorado.
Some of us actually do cross country driving and use our Triumphs for year round regular drivers, and there are days that AC works well for those extreme days, and also in the winter and cool spring and fall mornings the help defrost the inside of the windscreen.
Many Stags and TR6's were supplied with AC from the Factory, which in the TR6 was special order and was an under dash ducting unit similar to what Vintage Air supplies but was a Ranco unit; and in the Stag was a Factory design and install incorporated into the heater box and dash vents. Compressors were huge BHP robbing Borg Warner York piston compressors using R12 freon, a RANCO dryer and cut out switch.
I really like the link to converting the TR6 to AC, but that approach looks a bit drastic for the evaporator mounting. You should attend a few shows and look for TR6's with factory AC to see how it was done. Parts used were also unsed in other cars of all makes. The other information using a rotary compressor, R134a, and other bits is a great idea too.
 
Now that I have gone back and read the other posts, I must also say that I have driven /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif Triumphs since age 15 1/2 in ALL weather conditions as regular transportation growing up in Pennsylavnia. My 1963 Herald 1200 Sport Convertable had been driven every day for an 80 mile round trip by my father (who drove a Standard 10 daily before that) and then by myself after learning how to rebuild the engine, then a 1967 Herald Salon, followed by a TR250, all daily drivers in all weather rain, snow, blizzards and sun.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gifSo this notion that 90% of North America does not have weather suitable for year round driving of "these cars" is a lot of /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif hooey coming from someone who has never lived the experience.
 
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