TR6 New TR6 project... where to begin?

[Hachman]

Hi everyone,

My situation. I just "inherited" a '74 TR6. The car has 63000 orginal miles on it and has been sitting covered at least 10 years. It is a factory overdrive car. I have the car in the garage now and have spent some time under it with a flashlight. This car is ABSOLUTELY unrusted. Someone had it Zebarted some time ago, and it's clean underneath. Top is in great shape, just needs a cleaning, and the interior is in good condition as well, complete and unmolested. So far so good right? Now the bad:

The motor appears to be orginal and unmodified, twin Strombergs. The motor is seized.

Brakes are in horrible condition. Sat so long the rears locked up solid. Brakes will need to be gone through.

No pressure in the hudraulic clutch. Will need to be gone through.

I am new to Triumphs, but not to mechanical work, though mostly in motorcycle rebuilds.

Because the car was free, I don't mind putting some real money into it to get it running and enjoy. I have always loved TR6's, which is why I got it.

So... ready to turn wrenches, where should I begin?

All help appreciated!
John

 

[roofman]

There is a wealth of knowlege on this board, I would start by gathering catalogs from Moss Motors, Victoria British, Rimmer Brothers, The Roadster factory, British Northwest etc., and gather the cash. Much of the expenses will be based on how much work you can do yourself. Read past posts, and the archives. I would start with the motor.

 

[Brosky]

John,

First of all consider yourself very lucky to have a rust free car with factory overdrive. Mechanicals are much easier to repair than having to deal with rusted out frames and panels.

If I were you, I would try to contact a local Triumph club and see if there are any "advisers" available to come down and help you evaluate the situation. Most guys would jump at the chance to unearth a find like this.

If there are none, then I would begin by getting prepared to change the oil and see why the engine is locked up. It may just need some busting loose and I say that figuratively, not literally. Perhaps some Marvel Mystery oil down the cylinders for a couple of days and a nudge from a long breaker bar on the crank to turn it over by rocking back and forth?

Then you could replace the plugs and get fresh fuel into the tank (pump out the old) and try to start it.

If it's locked up, then get back to us and we'll take it one step at a time.

There will probably be a lot of comments on this, so take your time and study them all to decide what you want to do, but never forget, knowledgeable local help and hands can be the best at times like these.

 

[kodanja]

Start with pix pix pix !!!


Your gunna have so much fun putting this car together !

 

[Brosky]

Bill,

He may be lucky and not even have to take it apart!!!

Aside from the clutch and fluids, etc.

 

[kodanja]

if he can get it to turn over

 

[Brosky]

Let's have some positive vibes here....what's going on, did Captain Negative enter the room while I was gone??

 

[Scott_Hower]

Where to begin?

Open your checkbook and freeze your credit card.

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

Congrats! Pics or ban.

 

[Brosky]

Scott, be gentle now. John has plenty of time to learn about the "fine art of Triumph restoration checkbook tuning".

 

[mrv8q]

Hello, John, as a new '74 owner myself, welcome aboard! I'd take a spin thru the archives, your questions have been answered over the years. It's great reading, and you'll learn stuff you didn't even know you didn't know!

Except for the seized engine, you'd have to go thru brakes/hydraulics anyway. With the help of BCF, you may get that thing turning. As Paul sez, pull the plugs and let some MMO do it's thing for a couple of days. If you can, drain the gas, and examine the tank itself for rust from condensation, before adding fresh premium gas. In the meantime, post some pix!

 

[Tinster]

And don't forget about refurbishing
those Smith gauges!!

Ya probably ought to apply for a secong job
to support your new " $$ habit"-

d

 

[Telly]

John,
having revived a '72 TR6 a couple of years ago I can say that you are getting some great advice. Here's what I found:

The gas in the tank no longer smelled like gas and the tank was so badly corroded it could not be restored.

The brake fluid was cloudy brown and the master cylinder was pitted inside.

The seals were shot in the tranny and the differential (the old saying about seals drying out!)

The tires were flat spotted even though they had great tread.

Now for the good news. She's back on the road running pretty good(the engine was not seized) and I'm hoping to make it to VTR.

Terry /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif

 

[AltaKnight]

Congratulations John and welcome to the forum.
I would start with the engine; there's a great joy in hearing it come to life that will help keep you going through the rebuild of brakes and clutches etc.
Also, it's potentially the most expensive bit to fix.
If you can't move the crankshaft, I would drain all the fluids, drop the oil pan (very easy to do) pull the main bearing caps and have a look at the bearing shells, chances are they need replacing anyway along with the rod bearings and thrust bearings; in which case you will have to pull the cylinder head (sometimes not quite as easy to do)
I did all this on my '73 couple of years ago (53K miles) in situ with the car on ramps, not too difficult but read up plenty before starting and ask lots of questions here.
Please post some pics and let us know what you're doing, good luck.

 

[Dale]

Hello and Welcome to this fine forum!
As you have already seen this is the place for help with your LBC. I would only reiterate what one poster said about affiliating with a local group, preferably one with ties to an international body such as The Vintage Triumph Registery.
Good Luck and God Bless.

 

[Hachman]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I love the advice about getting some local club help, and know several people in my area with background in vintage British metal.

I'll get some MMO in the cylinders and get out my breaker bar.

Will get aome pic's on here ASAP as well, look for them soon!

Thanks alot, everyone for your feedback, I'm sure we'll all be speaking again soon.

BTW, looking for just an approximate number here. What might be the total cost to completely go through the motor? Bearings, seals, pistons, valves, blah blah blah... plus machine shop work? (I'm pretty confident I can do the actual reassembly myself). I'm looking to keep most everything stock, not buildng this to race, just a nice driving TR, so not really interested in big $$$$ speed accessories.

I'm guessing I'm looking at 3-4k. Am I way off here?

Thanks again everyone!
John

 

[YankeeTR]

Here's a good club...
https://www.detroittriumph.org/

I would get the engine running FIRST...soak it and be patient! Sometimes this takes a little time. If water hasn't gotten into the engine you may get lucky...

My latest TR2 project soaked for three weeks...then I managed to wiggle it loose. Unfortunately one cylinder needs a sleeve BUT it's better than needing a complete major.

Speaking of major work, don't get too carried away with worrying about having to overhaul the motor right away. Get it running, fix the brakes, clean the fuel system and give it a little TLC. DRIVE THE CAR FIRST and enjoy it for one summer. Then you can decide how much work you want to do and how much you like the car. Maybe this 6 isn't for you..at least you will have a running car to sell rather than a basket case that will bring a lot less money.

We all like to see really nicely restored cars but remember that cars are like women...they don't have to be perfect to be fun!

 

[Brosky]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]but remember that cars are like women...they don't have to be perfect to be fun! [/QUOTE]

As in life "perfect" is in the eye of the beholder. There is a lot to be said for the comment above.

 

[kodanja]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]but remember that cars are like women...they don't have to be perfect to be fun!

As in life "perfect" is in the eye of the beholder. There is a lot to be said for the comment above. [/QUOTE]

but after all the effort they should put out! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/bow.gif

 

[RomanH]

BTW, looking for just an approximate number here. What might be the total cost to completely go through the motor? Bearings, seals, pistons, valves, blah blah blah... plus machine shop work? (I'm pretty confident I can do the actual reassembly myself). I'm looking to keep most everything stock, not buildng this to race, just a nice driving TR, so not really interested in big $$$$ speed accessories.

I'm guessing I'm looking at 3-4k. Am I way off here?

Thanks again everyone!
John

I am just finishing up a rebuild. I went .020" over on the pistons, new cam and lifters, had hardened exhaust valve seats installed, rocker shaft rebuilt, head milled .070" crank polished, new water pump et al. I did it all for around $2500. I did do the disassembly and reassembly work.

 

[brent615]

From someone who is knee deep in a 71 that wasn't running when I bought it I can tell you that every bit of the project is fun so far. Its like golf, a bad day at the course beats a good day at work...same can be said about working on a car.

You'll find that most parts are reasonably priced so if you have a budget of $50 a month or $5000 you can still keep moving forward.

I started by flushing all of my fluids - radiator (which I had tested at the same time), oil, and gas. Turned it over several times without the plugs to get some oil through the engine and then with a fire extinquisher handy, started her up.

I am now replacing the clutch master and slave cylinders since the clutch was frozen solid. Both are straight forward replacements and will cost about $150 for both.

Good luck and keep us posted. If you want to keep a log of your progress check out blogspot.com for a free website/blog.