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TR2/3/3A I ACTUALLY WORKED ON MY TR2 LAST NIGHT!!!

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YankeeTR

YankeeTR

Luke Skywalker
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<span style='font-size: 14pt'> </span> After sitting on my lift without so much as wrench put to her for the last two months, I actually did a very small amount of work to old TS1203LO.

I took it off of the lift since I will need it to do some brake work on my F-150 tonite.

Then I cleaned the rust and scale from the engine's water jackets where the sleeves are removed. I also found out that the radiator harbors much of the brown stuff, too. I will probably flush that out before I reassemble the engine.

My night was shortened by some heavy weather that came through our town last night. I rolled the TR back into my shop...I had hoped to get my truck on the lift last night and store the TR under it.

Tonite is another night...brake pads and machined rotors will be the order of the day for tonite on the truck. then it's back to work on the TR.

One thing that's sooooo nice about this car is all of the nuts, bolts and fittings come apart with virtually no problem...it's West Coast heritage is evident.
 
YankeeTR said:
I actually did a very small amount of work to old TS1203LO.
Click to expand...
Cool !
YankeeTR said:
I also found out that the radiator harbors much of the brown stuff, too. I will probably flush that out before I reassemble the engine.
Click to expand...
Might I suggest taking it to your local radiator shop instead ? For a very nominal charge, they should remove the tanks, rod out the tubes (removing crud that flushing cannot hope to remove), reassemble, test for leaks and paint. I just had my Stag radiator done at Mac's Radiator, and the total bill with tax was under $60.

Worth it just for the peace of mine, IMO. And given what a chore it is to pull the radiator on a TR2-3, cheap insurance.

You might also ask them if they can test it for thermal efficiency. My TR3A overheating problems turned out to be that the tubes were not in good thermal contact with the fins. Looked fine (to me), didn't leak, was clean inside ... just didn't cool the engine.
 
TR3driver said:
Might I suggest taking it to your local radiator shop instead ? For a very nominal charge, they should remove the tanks, rod out the tubes (removing crud that flushing cannot hope to remove), reassemble, test for leaks and paint. I just had my Stag radiator done at Mac's Radiator, and the total bill with tax was under $60.
Click to expand...

+1.

And they'll also give it a nice, new coat of black radiator paint. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
 
Oddly enough, I've begged them to let me paint it myself, but somehow it still came back painted. I guess the acid bath they use to clean them leaves the surface looking pretty horrible, and they don't want the customer to see it.
 
I gotta find a rad shop... there used to be one around here, but it closed up... I'm in the radiator barrens.
 
YankeeTR said:
<span style='font-size: 14pt'> </span> One thing that's sooooo nice about this car is all of the nuts, bolts and fittings come apart with virtually no problem...it's West Coast heritage is evident.
Click to expand...

Where on the west coast did your new baby come from?
 
Tomster said:
I will 2nd TR3 on going to the rad shop.
Again, I will harp about doing the heater core as well
Click to expand...

The 3 rad shops I took my heater core to wouldn't touch it.... they
were concerned about adding leaks, and since it wasn't.....

Each suggested a back-flush, which is what I wound up doing; it blows
(relatively) hot, and it doesn't leak.

Like Randall, my rad guy charged me $60 as well, and he was adamant
about how good a radiator it is. Hopefully, it'll serve me well this weekend,
when it's supposed to be 100Âş....
 
Mine will flush and pressure test a TR3 heater core, but that's all. Basically, there are no tanks to remove, so they have no way to access the tubes (and wouldn't be able to rod out the curved tubes anyway).

The last 2 or 3 I've taken them have flunked the pressure test, so no charge. The one before that, they got a lot of crud out of it, but it was still significantly blocked. Think they only charged me about $10, but that was a long time ago.

Don't much need a heater out here anyway, so I don't worry about it.
 
<span style='font-size: 14pt'> I'm going to flush the radiator in situ (I've always wanted to use that word!) for no ther reason than I'm a cheap old bastard. I'll give it a good dose of phosphoric acid when I get the engine running again. I've had really good luck with that over the years.

When, and IF, I restore this car I'll do a proper radiator restoration. But, for now, I'll take the home-brewed approach.

I have a couple extra radiators in stock and I might get one re-done as a spare.

Regarding the heater core...it doesn't have a heater. This may prove to make late October and early November rides a bit chilly but if you are familiar with TR heaters in general they are pretty useless anyway...for a variety of reasons.

I want to do the British Car Reliabilty Run in October here in Wisconsin with this car. I'd better get going...</span>
 
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