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I'm so mad right now I could scream.

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On second thought, Alan, I think that you can get by with what you have. After reading the other posts, cam bearings would be nice but do you really need them. Cool down, I was getting teed of in sympathy for you! The scary thing is you talk about leaving the fold and jumping ship to the German cars. Man, don't do it. You will have to get a whole new set of friends, many of which you won't like nearly as much as you like us.


Bill /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif
 
Alan;First thing get an arbatrator a lawyer.Get all the papers together that you requested work to be done for evidence then follow your lawyers advice.You would have some recourse action if you put the job expense's on a credit card.If you don't do that it will go into subrogation.Also the shops should have insurance for just this thing.Good Luck....I also agree don't LET UP ON THE PRESSURE ON THEM.My total engine rebuild costs on my 1500 Spitfire,including new clutch came to $3317.00 & the job was put on a credit card...& with a 6 month warranty labor & parts,very satisfied.But yes try to sit down with them & let them know your serious about fixing it NOW.
 
Alan,

Get a hold of yourself man! Everyone of us have run across something like this from time to time. If I had a dollar for every two-bit part I've bought for my TR and had to replace it down the road I'd be semi-rich man.

I tend to agree with Bill, you might be OK. If your going to be racing the car all the time and/or running a big cam with lots of lift, then maybe you might need the bearings, but otherwise not. When I started my rebuild I did lots of research on the subject and the conclusion was for the type of driving that I do, which is similar to Bill's (cruising with the periodic flogging) the bearings are just not needed.

I personally would try to get a bit knocked off the price for your trouble and forget about it.

About BMW, one of my favorite cars in the whole world is the older M6. I almost bought one but my best friend talked me out of it because of a crazy maintenance costs. Trust me, there's not a BMW made that would get as many looks as your TR.
 
Amen to that! A friend of mine has a new Z-4 that is really nice. He had it parked next to my TR6 and I actually felt bad for all of the attention that I got and he didn't get. Well, for a minute or so I felt bad.

Besides, look at all of darn money I've wasted on trying to prove that the Gunst bearing was a good idea??? I'll be paying for the fourth (4th), yeah, 4th transmission R&R. And I was in the business for 25 years and darn well should have know better after the first one made noise.

I'm justifying it by saying that I'm having the new carpeting installed along with a new CD player.

Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
 
My time spent as an owner of a 633CSi makes my "investments" in LBCs seem quite reasonable. The BMW was a great car WHEN it was fully functional. However, the downtime was frequent, expensive, and a waste of my time. Somehow, the downtime with Triumphs doesn't seem as bad, since for me a big part of TR ownership is research, innovation and repair/modification to get/keep it running. With the 633, it was towing, waiting and spending (and spending and spending...)
 
Easy folks, easy. It is a little early to talk about lawyers, arbitration and so on. Talk to the guy that is fixing the car. If, so far the two of you have a good working relationship, let that work to your benefit. The key to resolving disputes like this is to stay calm, and communicate. The shop owner might have some ideas to solve the problem. There could be a short term solution(Use the engine as is for the remainder of the driving season,) and a long term solution ( remove the engine next winter and fix the shortfall). I would not want someone that I have forced to accept a situation to be doing hurry up work on MY engine. That is not the way to long term engine(or mental) health. Besides, if you put a few miles on it, and a pro tears it dowm again, you would have a chance to nip any problems in the bud. It is not the end of the world, unless you make it so. And surely not a reason to go back to german cars. Oh yeah, I have had a lot of air cooled VWs over the years. They can mark their spot as well as any brit car out there.
 
Lets remember folks. Just about anyone can buy and drive a BMW. But it takes a special class of people to buy, maintain and drive a Triumph. Down the road you will probably look back and say to yourself boy that was a waste of a few gray hairs. Hoping everything turns out alright for ya. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
I was talking about Porsches not BMWs. I never had problems with a 911.
You couldn't give me a BMW. Except maybe a 507.

Oh and the sig was edited just after I saw the bill...
 
Alan, I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse here, because this string is so long I've forgotten the first responses already. Did you actually pay for it and not get it or would it have cost you another $500 if they had done it. Having worked at a shop (albeit a long time ago) at which half of it's work was mostly Triumph competition, people always left decisions like that up to my boss (I can only ever so vaguely recall one line boring because of some problem with a main cap). I have to believe that those folks looked at it. (Did they have the cam?) One thing to keep in mind are you adding an alloy sump. While they strengthen and stiffen up the whole assembly you want to be darn sure the mating surfaces are both absolutely parallel, read lightly resurface both. Because if they are not one will slightly warp the other and there goes the perfect line bore. But there is also incompetence to deal with, this spring the 'best' shop around here replace the small end bushing in my best set of lightened polished connecting rods. So they chucked them up in a vise with steel facings leaving deep marks in the necks. They are ruined for competition. So they didn't charge me. I suppose I didn't pay my money, but took my chances and lost. Overall I think I vote with the drive it now for the remainder of the summer. Just don't think the oil pressure will be that much of a concern.
Tom Lains
TS8651
TS58107
ps: German cars are great if and only if someone else hasn't kicked the life out of them first, when they all become the 'ultimate driving you crazy machines'.
 
I asked for it to be done originally, as part of the list of upgrades. I didn't pay for it - it would have been another $750 on top if they had. In fact I still haven't paid for the work - the engine is being assembled on the dyno. At this juncture though that's irrelevant.

If I had paid for it then we'd be having a totally different conversation.

The engine shop did everything else I wanted - and I mean everything, the list ran to two solid pages. Probably the only thing you could think of to add that it doesn't have would be a billet crank.

I need to take a vacation I think. At the end of the day it's just a car, and I shouldn't be so annoyed. It's not like this was done maliciously. I just should have double checked what they were asked to do...
 
Good perspective Alan. It wasn't done maliciously and it is just a car, albeit your car.

Life is short, so make a decision one way or the other after sleeping on it for a few days and go with it. Like I said, once I realized I needed a new radio and new carpeting, all was well.
 
Alan:
If you mean the engine is being assembled on the dyno, then have them stop and disassemble the work and get the block line bored for the bearings. (I assume the head is not on.) I hope you get some satisfaction with all of this but I don't think you will ever be satisfied with out the cam bearings and there is NO better time to get them. Stop now and get it done.
 
Too late for that - its back together ready to run. When I say assembling, I mean that he's setting up the triple carbs to test it.
It was only going on the dyno so I could get #s to work out drivetrain losses and to run it in properly, otherwise it would be getting put back in my car by now.
 
Alan,

There are many more things I would be concerned about with the TR6 engine then the cam bearings. As you know, to line bore the cam bearings requires a complete disassembly of the engine. So no matter what deal you make, the effort will be as much if not more then the original rebuild and will cost you more $$ and more months of waiting. Check out the old cam. If there is no scouring or undue wear I wouldn't worry about it.
Right now the engine is on the dyno. Run it in as planned. If the valve timing stays and the oil pressure is normal. Put it in your car, drive it, and enjoy it. That's what it is all about. The $1,000 you save will pay for a nice stay in 4 star hotels as you tour about this summer.
 
I agree with just one or two posts here;And i see & read already things are calming down now.Just sounds like you were hyperventilating,Since you've got all these hugs you can see clearly now!DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY!....And over time i'll bet you a bottom dollar your be back in a Triumph They have a tendency to get ETCHED in your memory,Those Porches(sp ;-) are just more jelly bean cars on the road.
Ken&Whitelightning(alias Myspitfire)
 
alana, i see you live in new york how fortunate for you, my buddy was at my house today and had a similar engine rebuild problem, first thing he did was to find out if the shop was a "certfied" repair shop under n.y. state law then called the n.y. state d.m.v repair division, they sent an inspector to watch over the entire engine break down to see what work had really been completted and how much of it was fraud,it seams n.y. state is very aggressive in these matters.also you should have the price you paid adjusted for the work that was not done if you deside to use this engine, personally i would have it done properly the way i wanted it.id rather drive the car for one month nowing it was done right then drive it for 4 months waiting for somthing to happen, but thats just me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
You misunderstand - I have not been billed for the work that hasn't been done. There is no question of fraud. It was at worst an oversight or a miscommunication between the two shops. I'm pretty unhappy that it hasn't been done, but it's not a 1-800-Lawsuit situation though. Oh and the shops are both in CT not in NY.
 
"Arrgh...
I hate my car and want to get rid of it.
Must be at the halfway point. "

Alan, you know that I sympathize with you so hang in there. After all of the time and money that I spent on mine, to finally have it back and running good makes it all worth while. The past three nights have been beautiful and my wife and I went out for 30-50 mile cruises just to get ice cream. I felt like a kid again. It made the wait and expense all worth it.

As suggested, check the wear on the old cam. If the journals are evenly worn with no burned or blackened areas, the block bearings may be just fine and you may want to chance putting it back in.

After all I spent mine is far from perfect, but it's good enough for me to have fun with.

Now if I could just get that darn horn working properly..arrrrgghhhhh!!!!!!
 
I'm still unhappy, but not screaming at least...

So I was right, it's going to be a he says/she says between the engine shop and the workshop I gave the car to.

I've decided that the best thing I can do is get the car back running, then worry about the cam bearings when I do the rest of the work this winter. I'll probably pull the engine myself, strip it and send the block off to be machined (we'll have moved house by then I hope).

On a happier note I got to change my sig. Got #s from the engine dyno - better than expected too...
 
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