New Member Just Saying Hello and Looking For Some Advice.

[skeet2low8]

I have a 1959 TR3A which I purchased for $2,200., to go to college, in 1964 with 6000+ miles on it. I drove it for 3 years and it now had 26,000 miles on the odometer. But, it was now 1967 and all my friends had muscle cars. So, I parked the TR3 in my folks garage, bought a 67 Camaro Super Sport and a succession of SS396's, Boss 302's and numerous Corvettes and there the Triumph sat for 25 years. My dad retired, sold his house and so I moved it to my garage where it sat for another 10 years. One day I saw a TR3 drive by and my wife said "Look at that cool car". I said I have one of those and she asked where? I said in the garage! She said that pile of junk is one of those? So, I became motivated to restore the car. I took the whole car apart, cleaned, sandblasted and repainted most of the little bits and pieces. Had the frame dipped, under coated and started to put all the suspension back on and ended up with a rolling chassis. Then I started looking at the hundreds of other parts and I soon realized I was never going to get this thing back together again, there was just a giant pile of parts. I had an old school friend who owned a Ferrari repair shop, I knew he only worked on Ferrari's but asked him if he knew somebody who could put it back together for me. To make a long story short, he said he would do it. He did restore classic Ferrari's and had great body people. The original estimate of Approx. $8,000. went out the window quickly when one of the sills had to be remanufactured, then a new floor, then a new battery box, the bottoms of all four fenders, new upholstery, carpets, new chrome wire wheels, soft top, windshield re-chroming, etc, etc, etc. Anyway $21,000. later, I got the car back, it looked better than when I bought it! His suggestion that I never take it out on the road because it was a "Death Trap" (single braking system, leather seals in the hydraulics, etc.) was ignored and I drove it a total of 17 miles. It has sat in my garage ever since, 9+ years. Well, I have decided to sell my last Corvette and get the Triumph back in action. I am now old enough that an old care may suit me better.
Now for a couple of questions; aside from the 9 YO gas in the tank, if memory served me, there were a couple of small issues I remember with the car. First the fuel pump seemed to fail, in that the carb's would frequently run out of gas. So, I removed it to rebuild it (never did). First question, should I rebuild the original, buy an aftermarket one from Moss/somebody or go with an electric one which one person suggested.
Second, I did notice when I got the car back, that, from the back, the drivers side is slightly lower than the passengers side. Looking at the clearance from the fender to the tires in the rear, there seems to be about 5/8-3/4" difference from the left side to the right side, with nobody sitting in it. Is this a tired spring, a shock issue or something else? From reading your forum, it seems adding a spacer will lower and not raise the level of the sagging side of the car?? And, there seemed to be mixed feelings about the replacement springs available on the market today. Any realistic suggestions would sure be appreciated.
Third and last question, I always had to start the car with ether as the choke did not seem to allow it to start. If it ran for 10 min., it would re-start very easily. but, if it sat overnight, the choke would not start it. What kind of adjustment might I be looking at here?
Whatever suggestions anyone might have would be greatly appreciated. There is a British car place in southern New Hampshire, Rye I think, which might be my best bet to square everything away, but I will soon have the most expensive TR3A in existence if I keep having other people do all the work.
Best regards to you all, Charlie G.
PS: please feel free to reply to >skeet2low8@verizon.net<

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Hi, Charlie, and welcome to the BCF!

First off, be sure to post your questions over on the TR side, as you'll get more TR-specific exposure there.

Secondly, these cars are very simple to repair and maintain, and with the help of the folks here on the forum, you can sort most issues out yourself.


Mickey

 

[TR3driver]

First the fuel pump seemed to fail, in that the carb's would frequently run out of gas. So, I removed it to rebuild it (never did). First question, should I rebuild the original, buy an aftermarket one from Moss/somebody or go with an electric one which one person suggested.

I would (did) rebuild the original, but be sure to get a diaphragm that will stand up to ethanol & MTBE. I got my kit from TRF. Even though they charge quite a bit more than other sources, I feel that the extra quality was worth the price. They include the oil seal that is missing from most other kits; a brass screen (instead of plastic) and a Buna-N seal for the sediment bowl that works much better (IMO) than the original cork.

Second, I did notice when I got the car back, that, from the back, the drivers side is slightly lower than the passengers side. Looking at the clearance from the fender to the tires in the rear, there seems to be about 5/8-3/4" difference from the left side to the right side, with nobody sitting in it. Is this a tired spring, a shock issue or something else?

My guess would be a broken spring leaf.

From reading your forum, it seems adding a spacer will lower and not raise the level of the sagging side of the car??

Right. Since the spring runs under the axle, the only practical way to raise one side is to reshape the spring (or lower the other side instead).

And, there seemed to be mixed feelings about the replacement springs available on the market today. Any realistic suggestions would sure be appreciated.

I originally (after finding the break above) assembled a pair of springs from 4 of them. But the driver's side seems to have sagged again, so this time I'm going to try new ones. The pair of springs I got from TRF look good and match the dimensions in the manual. They (TRF) actually expressed some concern over ride height to me, but it looks to be right on the money.

What I haven't decided yet is whether I will put UHMW between the leaves again or not. Probably I will though, as it made a significant improvement in the ride. Still very firm of course (and limited travel), but most of the bone-jarring harshness is gone.

Third and last question, I always had to start the car with ether as the choke did not seem to allow it to start. If it ran for 10 min., it would re-start very easily. but, if it sat overnight, the choke would not start it. What kind of adjustment might I be looking at here?

First thing to look at would be whether the choke knob is, in fact, lowering both jets by at least 1/4" and roughly the same amount. Not uncommon for the linkage between carbs to work loose and quit actuating the rear carb at all.

There is a British car place in southern New Hampshire, Rye I think, which might be my best bet to square everything away, but I will soon have the most expensive TR3A in existence if I keep having other people do all the work.

These cars are really very simple and easy to work on; plus personally I find it very satisfying. For reasons I can't quite explain, it doesn't bother me nearly as much when I make a mistake, as when I pay someone else to make a mistake. There are a few operations that need to be farmed out, but for the most part you can service it yourself.

Obviously, after a 9 year hiatus, you want to replace all of the fluids with fresh. I would also plan on replacing all of the hydraulic system seals and, if they are still originals, all of the soft lines too. Might as well do the float bowl mounts and carb jet seals too, as otherwise they will be leaking soon.

Probably a good idea to take the radiator to a shop for "rodding-out". Based on recent experience, I would insist that they do the rodding even if it doesn't appear to need it. The 10 year old radiator from my wrecked TR3A was eventually found to have a layer of "mud" coating the inside of the tubes that seriously impeded heat transfer even though the tubes were not blocked.

Also, just a suggestion, it seems to work out better if you ask each question in a separate thread (in the TR forum as Mickey said). Easier for folks to answer, and also easier for others to find later on when they have the same question.

Good luck!

 

[toysrrus]

Hi Charlie,

"Welcome" to "THEE" best LBC Forum anywhere.

As everyone suggests; Introduce Yourself & Your TR to the "Triumph Forum" and fire away with the questions.

Have Fun,

Russ