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Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner?

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Mark_Gibson

Mark_Gibson

Jedi Trainee
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Hi all,

I know that this car has some special "items of interest" that I should be aware of when trying to bring this car back to life. Anything in particular I should look at? Positive ground electrical issues? It has 56K miles and hasn't been run in 21 years. No Overdrive, but wire wheels. I have read that the front brake drums/hub are an intergal part of the wire wheel, is this a problem? The car is exactly stock and nothing in the wiring harness or under the hood has been messed with, as far as I can tell.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

1970 TR-6, 1955 TR-2 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
Anything special? Are you kidding?

Quirky steering. Quirky handling. Oil leaks. Corrosion on every electrical connection... What a car!

Seriously, once it's set up properly and everything is maintained, it's very reliable. You'll find lots of similarities to your TR6.

Since it's been sitting up, I would imagine that all the suspension pieces have dried out. The good news is that they're just about all equipped with grease fittings. Check out the steering box - make sure it's filled with oil. And make sure you've got a proper ground strap between the engine block and the chassis - usually found on the driver's side engine mount (I think) - don't rely on grounding through the mount alone.

Lots of other things to check - someone else may add later.

Mickey
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

I'll add that to the list of things to check before I try and get her road worthy..thanks!

Mark
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

The rear axles are known to break. I believe the common fix is to fit TR3 axles, which are not tapered like the 2's.
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

[ QUOTE ]
The rear axles are known to break. I believe the common fix is to fit TR3 axles, which are not tapered like the 2's.

[/ QUOTE ]I'm not positive, but I believe the "fix" here is to swap in a complete rear axle from a mid- to later TR3 -- the one with Girling brakes. I'm not sure the axle shafts themselves are interchangeable (but I could be wrong).

Otherwise, worst case scenario with the possible wire wheel issue is that you'd do what just about everyone (including Triumph in later years) recommends, which is going to the bolt-on adapters still available. For those, though, you'd probably have to track down the appropriate hubs, etc., to bolt them to.
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

[ QUOTE ]
The car is exactly stock and nothing in the wiring harness or under the hood has been messed with, as far as I can tell.

[/ QUOTE ]This is strictly my personal opinion, but I think you'd be well advised to keep this car "exactly stock"! TR2s are pretty rare, and "original" or "stock" ones even more so. Ultimately, I think it would pay off in increased value.
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

For the amount of miles I'll be putting on this car, maybe 500 miles a year once I get it set back up, I'm probablly going to keep it exactly stock and deal with the quirks. My TR-6 is exactly stock, down to the points ignition, and I think that only adds to the value of the car down the road. Just my opinion......
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

Hi Mark What is the serial # of your TR2?
Brian /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/canpatriot.GIF
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

TS 7344L - it's on his other post.
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

I just noticed I'm dyslexic..the comm number is TS 7433L..ha!
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

Mark,
What a great find. I sort of agree with the others on the rear axle. Keep the original axle for eventual sale purposes, but get it off the car while it's still OK and switch to a late model axle as per other's recommendations even if you are only going to do 500 mi. per year. At 56k you're on borrowed time with those rear hub ball bearings. Remember to grease them if you haven't already. Have fun.
Tom Lains
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not positive, but I believe the "fix" here is to swap in a complete rear axle from a mid- to later TR3 -- the one with Girling brakes. I'm not sure the axle shafts themselves are interchangeable (but I could be wrong).


[/ QUOTE ]


According to Roger Williams in "How To Improve Triumph TR2-4A":

[ QUOTE ]
"The early Lockheed axles is a weak unit with very weak half shafts. There is nothing that can be done to improve these vulnerabilities so the only thing to do is fit Triumph's later and much stronger Girling axle. You'll also need to fit a different bottom plate under the axle because the outer tubes of the Girling axle are larger than those of the Lochkeed, no dobut to accommodate the beefier half shafts and bearings in the later axle. The replacement bottom plates and the larger U-bolts required, are available from Revington."


[/ QUOTE ]

Since he's not in the "colonies" and the book is geared to the UK market all the suggestions point to vendors over there. I'm not sure if anyone over here sells similar kits or not.

But really nobody but you would know if you switched them unless they got behind the brake drum and looked at the shape of the hub. I'd go for the uprated axles too. Good idea to keep the originals for the obsessive-types who might want them in the future.

William also states that if you want to keep the weaker original axles you should always "carry a spare halfshaft, related tools, and be fully aware of the halfshaft replacement procedure" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: Anything Special I Should Know as a TR-2 Owner

I'll look into the rear axle swap. The car is going to be a very well restored driver, so I'm not too concerned about a mechanical swap that nobody would notice anyways.

Thanks,
 
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