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TR2/3/3A Back on the Road

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RedTR3

RedTR3

Jedi Trainee
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Finally got the TR3 back after several months in the shop for engine rebuild due to a broken crankshaft. Runs like a new car...and no oil leaks...totally un-LBC.
 

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Very nice Red.

Now drive it like you stole it till some oil does leak!!

Happy Motoring,

Russ
 
Red- Still too early to quantify that result.
 
Hey RedTR3

Did my brother just text me a photo of your car parked in front of the Concord Clayton Safeway? It's gotta be the same one!

Pat
 
Hi Pat...Yes, that was probably me, I was there this afternoon. You and I spoke spoke a while back...I live in "The Crossings", close to where your brother lives. We are frequently at that Safeway. Maybe we can meet up sometime when you are down this way.

Tim
 
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I agree, drive the heck out of it - great looking car.
 
I am new to the forum so congrats on the rebuild. I too broke the crank in my 59 3A in October. Do you have any idea why your crank broke? No indications on mine but the rebuild is going well and I am optimistic that I will have no leaks too.

Frank D..... In Canada
 
Others who have more experience here may want to answer....for me I have heard that the TR3 crank can be a weak point in the engine and prone to failure. When mine broke I was only driving about 35 mph.
 
It's my understanding that the TR3 cranks will break if you are running motor at low rpm in 4th gear. Something about a harmonic vibration when lugging the motor like that will cause a break between the 3rd and fourth journal. So keep the revs up and stay in the appropriate gear.
 
This is a photo of the broken crank. Luckily it did not do any other damage. Actually the engine was still running, at first I thought it was just a problem with the flywheel or clutch.
 

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When you look at the broken faces, do they show the beach marks from fatigue? If so, they will radiate outward from the location of the initial crack. They point to the original flaw that caused the break.
 
Well, I don't have the crank anymore. I left it with the machinist for the scrap bin a couple months ago.
 
Did you have it magnafluxed when you did the original rebuild (assuming it was rebuilt before it broke)?

Scott
 
Hi Scott, No the crank that broke was the original crankshaft...the lower part of the engine was never rebuilt before now.
 
RedTR3 said:
Others who have more experience here may want to answer....for me I have heard that the TR3 crank can be a weak point in the engine and prone to failure. When mine broke I was only driving about 35 mph.
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I'm curious, has your engine always had the stock fan and rubber bushings? Also, were the journals turned undersize?

The racers occasionally break cranks, but yours is the first story I've heard of breaking one on a street-only motor. I've covered over 300,000 miles in a series of TR3s, and never broken one.
 
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