• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

How Far Would Any of You Drive Your Triumph?

Share this page

Years ago, my wife and I drove the TR6 from Atlanta to Pigeon Forge (just north of Gatlinburg TN); it was a fun trip winding through the Smokey Mountains and with no car problems. Several trips from Atlanta to Jacksonville AL; never had any problems. In fact the car was reliable, never leaving me or my wife stranded except one time. My wife while driving home from school called me at work to say the car had just stop running and she has coasted into a gas station. I went through the normal questions like any smoke; noises; jerking; etc, etc. and all negative answers. Yes, I also asked if it was out of gas and that was negative. I told her to try starting it again and it did run long enough to get to the fuel pump where it was filled. I never teased her about running out of gas because pay back can be painful. I wanted to sell the thing many times and even tried to give it to my wife’s nephew but now it is still around and with tube shocks!
 
Bought my 79 tr-7 on ebay earlier this year. Flew to Florida and proceeded to drive it back to CT. Two days later and a stop at wall mart to get a fire extinguisher (gas smell)and we were home. 1,200 miles. 6 degrees as we hit the Mason Dixon line. Snowed like crazy the next day. Took it out for a short local trip couple weeks later, and it died. Amazing. Used a stick to plug a vac leak and off we went. Try that with a modern day car.
 
PHILMAN Neighbor! I'm thinking of driving to OKC this Summer too. Have you heard of the British Motor Club of Oregon (BMCO) lately? I use to be a member but droped out but with my "new" car I think I may join again if I can find them.
 
I bought my current '62 Herald 1200 saloon in late June 2002, after a comprehensive test drive consisting of once around a supermarket parking lot. ;-) A few weeks later, I had an uneventful 2550-mile round trip in it from NY to MN and back for the VTR convention, having done little to the car beyond checking fluid levels and engine tune...and installing a few bits that a previous owner had removed and/or otherwise lost.

From March to October 2003, it served as my ONLY transportation after my Ford Explorer died (and until I picked up an old Civic for a winter beater). Since then, it has been used as often as possible, for a total of over 20,000 miles I've put on the car in nearly three years of ownership. (Previous owner put on 700 miles in 13 years of ownership!)

Just like I used to do from the late 1960s on, I'll drive this car pretty much anywhere, any time, except for winter snow and salt.
 
Although we bought the Spitfire for a Friday night cruise car, it has been from Phoenix to the west coast three times, north to Flagstaff AZ five or six times and southeastern AZ five times. I think I would like to take it back to Ohio for the vintage races at MidOhio some time. Two thousand miles at sixty-two miles per hour seems like it would be an ordeal rather than a trip. T.T.
 
(off the subject a little) my wife was elected president of the british car club of oregon (bmco.org). see what happens when you show up to a meeting?!! see her first article in our newsletter on our website.
 
Philman,

Tried to send you a direct email concerning your posting, but an MSN address kicked back as undeliverable. My email on my profile is correct; can you send me your email address so I can re-send my note to you?

Thanks,

Jeff
 
I bought my TR6 last Summer (sight unseen) in Texas and drove it home to Maryland. I had a local car club member(in Texas) look at it. I also I spoke to a few other people that knew the car, and or the seller. So while I had'nt personally seen the car I felt comfortable with the whole deal.
Anyway, I bought the car, and the seller was nice enough to haul the car to a reputable repair shop in Austin Texas.
About $4,000 later the car was up to snuff and ready for the long drive to the East Coast. I believe the trip was about 1,800 miles (given that I took the scenic route) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif.
That was pretty cool, basically the trip was uneventful other than the speedo going out there were no problems.

Now as for driving the car today. I'd be hesitant to take a trip like that right now cuz the car has been in storage for almost 6 months. My new garage is finally useable(is that a word?), and I got the car out of storage last weekend. So for now it's gonna be limited to short trips for a while until I'm confident I've got all the bugs worked out. After that I'd take it anywhere in the continental U.S.
Gonna go to Carolina for the 6-Pack TRials in September, and from there I'm going even further South to Florida for a week or so.
So there's my elongated answer to your question /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Last Sunday the local Fresno Club met up with the Bakersfield club and we all had lunch together.

After ther problems I've had (ignition, carbs, overheating) in the last 2 months, I wasn't too sure of how we were going to do, but she handled the 200 mile round trip quite well. The only time she had problems was...

...sitting in traffic when we were almost home after highway cruising for the day.
 
I bought my '71 TR6 in Vancouver, B.C. in Aug. '02. Two days later I drove it all the way home to San Jose, CA without a hitch (okay, it threatened to overheat once, but after a rest at Wendy's we were back on the road and it never threatened again. Don't know why it overheated in cool weather and never had a problem in hot. Stuck thermostat?) Since then I've done multiple 300+ trips without problems. I'm hoping to take it for some long open-road trips this summer through the high desert or southwest canyon country provided I can feel assured of adequate cooling. Am I nuts? Should I count on adding an oil cooler and possibly electric fan before attempting such a journey?
 
I suggest you install the oil cooler. I also think the oil cooler should have a by pass for cold oil and only allow hot oil through the cooler. I got a cooler off of a junk yard Mazda and had it cleaned eventhough the oil flows through the filter AFTER the cooler. My car was equiped with an electric fan by the dealer when the A/C was installed and it was rigged by me to use as an aux fan. If you are subject to driving in heavy traffic get an aux fan because the car will over heat. I don't think the aux fan would be of any benefit at speed in the desert; no experience with that. I do understand that dry hot air has an adverse affect on the any engine. Even with an oil cooler, sustained 3000 or 4000 RPM's will test the valves and other related engine parts. I look fwd to read your account of the trip.
 
[ QUOTE ]
...I'm hoping to take it for some long open-road trips this summer through the high desert or southwest canyon country provided I can feel assured of adequate cooling. Am I nuts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't comment on your mental state but as for your TR's cooling -- if you're not getting overheating in hot weather locally then I wouldn't expect the drive you have in mind to be a problem. I often drive in very hot conditions included long grades up mountains. I do have an electric 'helper' fan but the only time that gets used is in slow traffic, long stop lights etc.

In addition, I suppose on a TR6 you have the option of turning on the heater as an auxilliary radiator -- something I can't do on the '3 (under bonnet valve) or '4 (no heater).

What is more likely that you will overheat before the engine does.
 
I have driven my TR6 across the country in November of 1990 and in June of 1994. No major repairs needed and met a bunch of great people doing it. If you bring a good tool kit, repair manual, Radiator fluid, and credit card, that should be able to handle anything. Both trips were worth the small hassles involved.
 
Back
Top