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cowl shake

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Rob DeScherer

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Is there anything that can be done about cowl shake in a TR6? It is not being caused by alignment, but every time I go over the slightest bump, the entire dash just shakes.
Any ideas?

Thanks
 
All convertables suffer from some degree of cowl shake. Excessive shake is not normal even for a Triumph. I would take a look at a couple of things.
Check the Body mounts. These bolts have a tendancy to loosen over time. The front mounts especially , down by the motor mounts. These in particular would add to cowl shake. Next check the windshield bolts on either side under the dash. The center dash console is an important brace between the dash & the floorpan.
All of the obvious has to be checked including the bolts holding the metal inner dash facia to the A post.
I'm pretty sure your going to find this to be the problem & you should notice a more solid car after this.

Mitch
 
Yes --

Don't drive it! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Honestly, though, there is nothing you can do. To get rid of cowl shake, you would need a clean-sheet redesign of the entire car. The TR6 frame is as flexible as a pre-teen ballerina.

Sure, you could -reduce- the cowl shake by going with much softer springs, but that doesn't really benefit the handling. You could also fix a hard top, but that won't help much.

Cowl shake is caused by a lack of torsional rigidity in the body/frame. Passenger car technology didn't really evolve enough until the 1990s to almost entirely get rid of cowl shake in convertibles. My '69 Corvette shakes, rattles and rolls. My TR7 sways like a belly dancer. My '86 Dodge wobbles like a hula girl. My '89 Corvette tremors like I'm driving on Mt. St.Helens.

My 2002 Corvette is the first convertible I've owned that doesn't have a bit of cowl shake. (A Motor Trend reporter complained of cowl shake in one, but I firmly believe he is mistaking the jarring bumps of the road for cowl shake.)
 
No chance that you're missing the center "Y" brace from the dash down over the tranny tunnel, is there? If that is missing or even loose the cowl will shake terrible.
 
Rob, I concur with Banjo. There will be some inherent shake in the cowl but not the amount you describe. Surely the cast aluminum tunnel brace is either not bolted down properly or the floorboard is rotted where the brace bolts down. Often these bolts will strip going into the floorboard and will have to be either repaired properly or juryrigged. That is really the only thing that would cause the cowl to rattle that much.

Bill
 
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