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New Overdrive adventure begins tomorrow

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Brosky

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
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Tomorrow my wife will follow me from Providence, RI to Monroe, CT to Quantum Mechanics, where I'll leave my 74 TR-6 to have the 4-speed transmission replaced with a "J" type rebuilt overdrive unit. John Esposito, the owner, recommends a new "Saab" style clutch and I'll finally get the flywheel machined to get rid of the chatter that's been driving me crazy for the last 8 years.

I'll get a new pilot bearing, linkage, rear main and probably pinion seal while it's there. That should take care of the remaining oil leaks as well as solve the high rpm's on the highway, now that we've started to use the car again.

Wish me luck!

Paul
 
Best of luck to you, hope it all turns out well. Nice to see someone from the old stomping grounds (I'm from Scituate, RI originally) keeping the road-salt-induced rust at bay!

-Drew
 
Do you get the dash switch included in the conversion? I all ways thought those were neat (I guess marketing really suckered me in) and would rather have it than most any other option. If you are comfortable with discussing cost for the conversion, I would have big ears.
LOL
 
It was really hot on 95 South today. Temp reached about 96F according to my wife who was happily following in her new Montego with A/C blasting. TR ran very well, never getting past 3/4 hot even in long traffic jams in New Haven. Looking forward to getting O/D even more now.

I met John Esposito, who's a very nice and knowledgeable man. Most people would look at his shop and all of the parts inside and see junk. To a car enthusiast it was a little slice of heaven. He had his original Mini in the shop and tons of carbs, manifolds, transmissions and you name it sitting around in various stages of repair. Somewhere, someone is looking for what's in his shop!

I saw my unit all ready to go, with a very pretty grit blasted outer case that looked as though it just came off the line. BTW, warranty is for one year.

I don't know about the dash switch as I'm getting the factory column mounted switch and escutcheon as well as relays all wired in like OEM.

The prices are as follows:
Exchange fully rebuilt Type J O/D & Electronics $2175.00
Labor to R&R $500.00 (done off site by another local friend of John's)
New Clutch set-up (Borg & Beck Saab design) $250.00
Resurface flywheel $40.00
New Master & Slave cylinders $150.00
Replacing rear main, pilot bearing and any other leaks seen for additional cost to be quoted upon inspection.

Should be ready at the end of the week. Can't wait!

Almost forgot Johns' website - hope this is legal - https://www.quantumechanics.com/

Paul
 
Thanks! That's what everyone said at the Triumph Day in Brookline. It's where I got his name from several satisfied TR-6 owners.

I'm also looking forward to having a "dry" garage floor.

Paul
 
[ QUOTE ]


I'm also looking forward to having a "dry" garage floor.



[/ QUOTE ]

I would miss the lell tale sign of my Triumphs. When I first got my TR4 finished I was happy that it did not leak. But at least the TR3 still marks its spot. Mind you I think I spill more stuff on the garage floor then the cars could ever drip onto it!
 
[ QUOTE ]

I'm also looking forward to having a "dry" garage floor.


[/ QUOTE ]

Don't count on it.

Bill
 
Bill:

I am a realist. I know that it will only be a short while, but at least once I'll be able to say "I remember when...."

Paul
 
I have John's overdrive conversion in my TR6 and am very satisfied with the results (J-Type). I, however, went about it the hard way, by necessity. Living in Louisiana, delivering the car to Connecticut was not an option. So, I pulled the tranny myself (by myself - not easy for an arthritic 57-year-old-at-the-time) and built a wooden coffin for the UPS guy to pick up. Waited anxiously for him to return to my office with my prize, reinstalled it (this time with a neighbor, who vowed to never help me again) and it worked - once. John was at wit's end as to why it refused to work and very apologetic. Did every thing in the world to make it work and it simply refused. I even offered to fly John down to help me. That offer was politely refused. Went to our annual British car show (won first!) with a dead overdrive. You guessed it, I pulled it again (alone, again, naturally), rebuilt my coffin (UPS destroyed the other one) and shipped it back. (Hey, we are talking complete tranny shipped here) John could not find anything wrong with the unit! I insisted on another one and had him reinstall a different J-type on my tranny, which was a recent TRF rebuild. UPS showed up again, cursing me for such a heavy box, trying everything in the world to destroy this one so maybe I wouldn't ship again with them. Re-installed, drives flawlessly. The whole process was a royal PITA but I now enjoy cruising 70mph at 2500 rpm. Lovely. Oh, and by the way, the column shift that everyone sells, including Quantum, is made in Taiwan and works backwards, on is down, off is up. Read carefully in any original owner's manual and the opposite is true. Your choice is reverse the wiring (I suppose) or file the little housing to flip, which I did. The first one fell apart after one week. If you can find an original from a used TR parts dealer, you would be better off.
For the life of me, I still cannot figure out why the overdrive works in 3rd. I know, I know, it's been explained but it still makes no sense. Even less sense, the A-Type also works in 2nd. Whatever.



Bill
 
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and by the way, the column shift that everyone sells, including Quantum, is made in Taiwan and works backwards, on is down, off is up. Read carefully in any original owner's manual and the opposite is true.

[/ QUOTE ]

Could this be because they are made for RHD cars and the switch was designed to go on the other side of the wheel. That would be the same as flipping the switch over. This reminds me of when I rented a car in New Zealand and every time I went to turn right the wipers would turn on (with the RHD car there the turn signals and wiper switch were on the oposite side then I was use to).

[ QUOTE ]
I still cannot figure out why the overdrive works in 3rd. I know, I know, it's been explained but it still makes no sense. Even less sense, the A-Type also works in 2nd. Whatever.

[/ QUOTE ]

The way I was told it was that it is like have a 2nd and a half gear, a 3rd and a half gear and a 5th gear. But they way I use it in my TR3 is that there are times when I am driving in conditions that I would be shifting between 3rd and 4th all the time, so I just leave the car in 3rd and use the switch to go between 3rd and "4th". The same thing for the other two gears it works in.

If only I could get the overdrive into my TR4 now. But that is an other post (A type overdrive part missing) for those that are interested.
 
I can appreciate the situation being in LA and having problems with an installation, which is why I drove the nearly 3 hours to John's and paid to have it done there. When I pick it up, I'll expect it to be working and if not, I'm not going anywhere until we agree on what the problem is and how it will be repaired. Having been in the car business (service tech and management) for 25 years, I am aware of everything that can go wrong with a rebuild even in the best of cases. I'm also not looking for a back that gets even more sore as I get older. I'll tackle the easy wrench turning, but the major heavy work gets put on the credit card.

John is honest, has a great reputation and even Columbus took a chance once.

So about the switches; is there a dash switch and if so where is it shown in any parts catalog or repair manual?

Paul
 
As an aside, in my rantings and ravings, the last thing that I would want to do would be to cast any kind of shadow on John Esposito and his shop, Quantum Mechanics. I don't think that anyone interpreted my remarks this way. What happened to me and my overdrive adventure was just plain ole bad luck. John worked with me very hard and was just as exasperated as I was. To his credit, he offers a full 12 month warranty on his work and is a pleasure to work with on the phone. I would recommend him highly.
Adding overdrive to a stock transmission is a pricey and difficult undertaking. There are other shops out there but none that I have had experience with. Now, if you want to know a British car repair shop in New Orleans NOT to do
business with, I can give you an ear-full....I guess we won't go there. I have been screwed by a few shops in the past and it leaves a really bad taste. Probably 10 percent of the total cost of my resto has been do-overs by incompetent mechanics that charge an arm and a leg and do inferior work. The worst are the ones that cover up the screw-ups, only to leave you to find it later. I guess I am on a tear. Again, John is a good man.

Bill Karam
1973 TR6 Resto-Mod
Franklin, Louisiana
 
Bill:

I took nothing negative out of your message. I felt that you were very satisfied with the end result and with John. I just know what can happen from first hand experience when someone is just down the street, let alone 1,000 miles away.

I'm sure that he will do a great job and that's why I sought him out.

I really do like his shop though. It kind of reminds me of a shop that a kindly old man had when I was a kid growing up in western PA. He was off a side street and had a little bicycle on his sign. All of the kids took their bikes to him to be fixed for free, but he would take the time to explain how to fix things as he did it. I guess that's what really got me interested in cars. The fact that he had a channeled 33 Ford 3 window coupe with a 57 Olds J-2 Tri-Power in it didn't hurt either. I used to stare at that car and dream of driving it every time I went near the shop.

Then I got to ride my bike past a guys house who was in college at the time and saw his beautiful white TR-3 sitting there every day. One day he took me for a ride with the top down and I was hooked.

Sigh...........the good old days really were good when you were a kid growing up in the 50's and 60's.

Paul
 
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