TR6 New TR6 project... where to begin?

[Kirk_Fisher]

I recently rescued a 1962 TR4 that had been sitting for 6 years. It had zero rust except the rocker panel behind the front wheels. Frame was spotless and it had a major resto a few years before it was parked. The rear brakes were seized and all of the hydraulics were shot. I pulled the plugs and put in some MMO and let it sit for a few days. I drained the gas, flushed the tank with some fresh gas and had to celar all the fuel lines. New fuel filter and fuel pump. The needles in the carbs were stuck in the bottom, so I freed them up and cleaned off the grime with some parts cleaning fuid and a very lite sanding with a very very fine grit paper.

I turned the engine by hand and got it freed up and turning. Changed all the fluids. New plugs, points, rotor and condensor.

She fired up.

With regard to the hyrdaulics, I replaced and rebuilt everything - new master cylinders (clutch and brake), clutch slave cylinder, new brake pads, rotors, drums etc.

It runs great!!! I neeed to rebuild the carbs to get it fine tuned.

All in all I spent about $1600 in parts. A friend that used to race MG's and TR's helped me, and I paid him for his time to the tune of about $800.

 

[Hachman]

New TR6 project... where to begin? UPDATE!

Hi Everyone!

Quick update and question!

OK, was told by the person who gave me this TR6 that the engine was seized. Not so. I threw in a battery and tried the key. Click click click...

Whacked that Lucas starter with a hammer a cuople of times, pulled the plugs and dumped some MMO in the bores. Got back in the car and keyed the ignition again, motor spins freely, no problem at all. Oil pressure showing on the guage when spinning with the starter.

Next problem... no spark at the plugs. I am suspecting the coil or a connection to the coil. If I crank the motor over while holding the coil wire, I feel nothing.

Where would one start? I do have a digital multimeter, and it's reading 12 v at the coil posts. New coil?

BTW, planning on converting to electronic ignition. Does anyone have any experience with the $100 unit that MOSS offers?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

John

PS- Pics coming, just need to get them off my digital camera.

 

[martx-5]

Re: New TR6 project... where to begin? UPDATE!

I would check the points first. Run a file or some emery between the points to make sure they are clean, and set the gap to specs. IIRC, it's .014"-.016". Then give it a try and see if you have spark.

No sense in throwing on any fancy stuff until you get it running and see what's what.

 

[Hachman]

Re: New TR6 project... where to begin? UPDATE!

I cleaned up the points and the rotor and the dist cap with sandpaper last night. No dice.

JH

 

[RonMacPherson]

Re: New TR6 project... where to begin? UPDATE!

Okay, your multimeter. What does the primary resistance read, ohmmage between the two outer small primary wire terminals(wires disconnected). Then what is the secondary resistance, wire from the center of the coil to either primary terminal? What type of coil do you have. When you have the voltmeter hooked up to the coil small terminal coming from the points, points closed what is your voltage reading? when you open the points with a screwdriver, or turn the engine over where the cam lobes(of the distributor) open the points what does the multimeter read?

 

[Brosky]

Re: New TR6 project... where to begin? UPDATE!

John,

Where are you at with this project? Have you got it started yet?

Paul

 

[Hachman]

Re: New TR6 project... where to begin? UPDATE!

Hi Paul, thanks for the question.

Car is not started yet.

In playing with my meter, here is what I get.

With the ignition switched off, I get the full 12v at the positive terminal on the ignition coil. Once I turn the ignition on, that power goes away completely, 0 volts.

Do I have a loose wire here or bad ground? I'm sure this is why I'm getting no jolt when I grab the coil wire while cranking her over.

I checked the 3 fuses along the drivers side front frnder and they are all good. Any other fuses I should check? Wires?

By the way, my IGN idiot light glows red when I sitch the key on. What is this light coming on for and is it supposed to?

Don't want to order new parts till I'm confident the coil is getting power.

Thanks!!!
John

 

[AweMan]

Re: New TR6 project... where to begin? UPDATE!

Hi Paul, thanks for the question.

Car is not started yet.

In playing with my meter, here is what I get.

With the ignition switched off, I get the full 12v at the positive terminal on the ignition coil. Once I turn the ignition on, that power goes away completely, 0 volts.

Do I have a loose wire here or bad ground? I'm sure this is why I'm getting no jolt when I grab the coil wire while cranking her over.

I checked the 3 fuses along the drivers side front frnder and they are all good. Any other fuses I should check? Wires?

By the way, my IGN idiot light glows red when I sitch the key on. What is this light coming on for and is it supposed to?

Don't want to order new parts till I'm confident the coil is getting power.

Thanks!!!
John

I would think with the ignition off there should be NO voltage to the coil. One thing you could do just to see if the coil, points and condenser ARE WORKING is, hot lead the coil {that is to say run a jumper wire from a hot source to the + terminal on the coil} turn the engine over and check for spark. If you get spark then I would say that possibly the ign switch has a problem. It could be wired incorectly, or it may be faulty altogether.
Before you do too much more turning of your engine it would be a good idea to eliminate the bad gas {if you havn`t already cleaned the tank and replaced the bad gas with fresh gas, you don`t want that old gas in your carbs.
Kerry