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New Triumph owner

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eejay56

eejay56

Jedi Warrior
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Hi All,
I bought my 1978 Spitfire last Sunday and love it! This is my first Triumph auto.(I had a 72 650 Tiger) The car runs very well and I have found no rust on it. It has a new top and carpet and good tires. It needs paint and some pretty minor cosmetic stuff. 67,000 miles. Now my concerns. When I let the clutch out quickly it kind of chirps. It doesn't happen if I let it out slowly. First gear synchro doesn't sync, will this cause major problems if I continue to drive it like this? And the biggie, sometimes I will be driving along and it just stops and won't start. So far it has always started after setting for a while but it scares me. It runs great until it stops there's no loss of power or anything it just stops going. I haven't been able to check spark at the plug but juice is getting to points so I don't think it's the ignition switch(although that is kind of flaky and I plan on replacing it. I suspect the coil but it's hard to confirm because it's very intermittent, the only thing that seems to be common is that it happens after it's been running for a while. Any help would be appreciated.
 

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Welcome to the party, eejay56!

This is a great place for help and camaraderie. As for your concerns, I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice. The ignition thing could be any number of issues, but the first things always to check on these cars are wiring connections. They are notorious for corrosion issues, and are the cause of problems the majority of the time.

And first gear synchro? My vote would be to keep driving it until you have no choice but to tear into it. LBC's managed without it for years...

Mickey
 
Welcome aboard! Great looking car, and really low miles.

In terms of the ignition, I agree -- check the wiring. You should probably check points, rotor, capacitor, coil and the cap itself, too. All are easy to replace, and though I ususally replace these right away, I didn't with my TR-250 and got stuck on the side of the road with a rotor that went bad. Also, check the plugs and wires. Can't hurt.

A chirp when pulling off the clutch could be a lot of different things. Might be time for a new throw-out bearing. Or at least possible in the not-so-distant future.

Can't answer the syncro question, but I just put a new tranny in my 250, so I'm not the guy to ask! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif)
 
Thanks, I checked the plugs and points and cleaned all the push-on connectors. I'll probably replace the cap, rotor, capacitor, coil and spark plug wires anyway but I'll have to get them online. Is there anything special about the coil? I was thinking about pulling the coil from a Honda I have and putting it in as a temporary, emergency measure.
 
Mine never dies, but is hard to start after long periods of idling. I attribute this to exhaust heat affecting the carburetor.
I fully intend to fabricate a heat shield for this (like all the other things I fully intend to do).
Anyway...something to think about.
 
Very nice.

Well, I'm not sure about your 1st gear issue, I would say drive it until it drives you crazy, then fix it properly.
As far as your two other concerns, I've had them both in my '78.
Do you remember the blizzard we got on the coast in 1997? Well, my car was being stored at a co-worker's house outside during this storm, and it took me quite a while to figure out why my car was dying all the time after I got it back. Turns out it was about a gallon of water in the fuel tank. The car would run great as usual for about 20 minutes, then die. I would return a half hour later, and it would run.
The last issue I noticed in the same car. I don't know why the clutch squeaked when you released it quickly, but I had the engine and trans out of the car previously, and knew the clutch was not only good, but it was heavy duty(so the previous owner said). In my opinion it's not a problem. I drove mine for 60000km without any clutch issues.

By the way, I wouldn't bother adding anything to the fuel. I would burn as much as you can, then empty the rest(recycle if you can) and put a new filter in line.

Adam H.
____________________________________________________________
1972 Triumph Spitfire.
 
[ QUOTE ]
... Is there anything special about the coil? I was thinking about pulling the coil from a Honda I have and putting it in as a temporary, emergency measure.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nothing really special about the coil. I'm not familiar with Spit coils, and what resistance they are, but what you have to do is measure the resistance of the coil you now have with the one you want to use from the Honda. Measure between the two small posts...not the large center coil wire. It will be either a little over three ohms, or about 1.6 ohms. If the replacement matches whatever you now have, then you should be OK. If you have a three ohm coil, and the Honda is a 1.6 ohm coil, you can always add a ballast resistor.
 
Welcome to the forum and to Triumphing!
TR3's and 3A's had no synchro's in 1st. When stopped, I have always shifted into 2nd before going into 1st. Easier on the tranny and the ears.
If you can live with it, enjoy the car as it is. If you can't, you can learn to double clutch or have it fixed.
If you drive the car enough, something will eventually happen that will necessitate the pulling of the transmission. At that point, you can make the decision whether to fix it or not.
Drive the car a little while, if the chirping sound gets louder or more frequent, you have a problem. Probably as mentioned previously.
Did the car sit for an extended time before you bought it?
 
Nice car, I'd also vote for the coil as your culprit....Replace that first and see what happend, I find a bad(or going bad) coil can have a big affect on the way the car runs. If your coil is on it's way out you'll probably see a big improvement with the new one.
 
Too much engine bay heat can cause a vapor lock and make it hard to restart. but I guess I'm a bit late and it's already been said.
 
Gearbox & 1st gear: I'm wondering if you might possibly have an older gearbox installed. Otherwise, if the gears are otherwise smooth and not noisy, I'd learn to live with it for the moment.

I also vote for the coil as a culprit. But I'm puzzled: a 1978 Spitfire shouldn't have points in the distributor, so I kinda wonder what you've got for an ignition system, and from where. Possibly you could have an engine and gearbox from an earlier Spitfire? Hard to say without knowing numbers. Meanwhile, your coil originally would've been a 6v coil with a ballast resistor. I'm not that familiar with '78 Spitfires, but I believe the ballast resistor was built into the wiring harness?

I'm not sure I've not asked more questions than provided answers...sorry! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Interesting! The gearbox is mostly OK I just can't put it in 1st while moving and I can live with that. The engine number is YC45701HE and the distributer is a Lucas 45D4. It also has a Weber 2BBL carburetor. It also appears to have emission control stuff removed.
 
I have a '78 spit also and it would die unexpectedly often. What was happening was the fuel filter would clog with crud from the tank - the fuel system is also low pressure and once the engine stopped the crud would fall back into the line accumulating there until the line would plug before the filter. I had a bunch of filters with me at all times and could replace them in about 3 minutes. My thinking was that eventually whatever crud was in the tank would work its way out. WRONG I ended up replacing the tank last summer because I got tired of it stopping at inopportune times. Do yourself a favor and replace the tank if indeed you are having clogging problems...

BTW I also replaced the gearbox because the whine I had in 3rd turned into a banging in 1st thru 3rd when the laygear decided to loose a bunch of teeth...

Have fun!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Interesting! The gearbox is mostly OK I just can't put it in 1st while moving and I can live with that. The engine number is YC45701HE....

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting! That engine is originally from a Triumph Dolomite saloon, a model never sold in the US, but the engine is essentially the same as the Spitfire 1500, so not to worry!

As for the gearbox, I won't ask you to tear out your interior to find a serial number./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif But I still wonder if it might be from an earlier car. Is the shift lever slender, chromed and slightly curved, or does it look more like the one in this picture from the Spitbits online cataloge? If it looks like that picture, odds are you've a "correct" gearbox with some problem(s).
 
Here is what it looks like. Not chromed but not really like the catalogue piture either.
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Here is what it looks like. Not chromed but not really like the catalogue piture either.

[/ QUOTE ]I see what you mean. Any evidence that your shift lever has been doctored or "cobbled up" somehow?

Oh...where is reverse? That might help! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
Well I don't understand the the big tube thingy in the middle but it has a rubber boot at the top that looks factory made. Reverse is vertical,right,forward. It's a 4 speed no OD.
 
Hi and welcome!

Regarding your car's gearbox... the squeek and the difficulty getting into 1st gear could be related. These both can indicate a worn or mis-adjusted clutch and/or worn (or long unused) throwout bearing. Besides checking the adjustment (not sure adjustment is possible on a later Spit) you can probably just drive the car a bit and see what develops, deal with it when you have to.

FWIW, my TR4 was used daily on the road for several years with a worn out 1st gear synchro that just made the driving experience a bit more "TR3-like" (as someone else mentioned, TR3 & earlier did not have synchro on 1st gear). No biggie, but I also knew for certain that the clutch and TO bearing were in good shape, so it the problem was definitely the synchro. Despite the lack of synchro I became pretty adept at getting the car into 1st gear, could even sometimes still do so at low speeds with some double clutching.

Regarding the engine quiting suddenly, I agree that it could be a fuel supply or ignition problem. Check the fuel filter and/or float bowls and/or the fuel pump for any sign of residue. If there is some, it's likely coming from a rusty fuel tank (often occurs if the car was stored for a long time). The fuel tank can be cleaned and even coated with a sealer, or replaced, if this is the problem.

But, I think it's more likely that the coil or condenser is at fault. When these parts get old, the build up of heat in the engine compartment can cause them to suddenly fail, in exactly the erratic manner you describe. When things cool off a little, the faulty part comes back to life and the engine runs again. Perhaps it's just time for a good tune up with a new coil, condenser, wires, etc. thrown in for good measure.

By the way, with a new/old car purchase like you've just made, I'd also suggest a very thorough check of the brake system and steering, since those are highly critical safety items. It's a good idea to carefully look over the suspension and driveline too, for any loose or damaged parts (for example, I during my TR4 tear down/rebuild a few years ago I found 6 of 8 nuts holding the drive shaft in place were less than finger tight and flopping around... scary stuff!).

It can help to have experienced eyes looking at your car, and one way to do that is to join a local Triumph or LBC car club, if there is one in your area. Also, you aren't far from PRI, if you ever need an experienced Spitfire mechanic or just want to look at all kinds of neat, go-fast goodies for your car! (www.prirace.com)

Hmmm. Interesting shift lever, too. I have no idea what that's from!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Nice to see you here with us. Sorry that I missed welcoming you on your first post. As you can see, there is a great group of Triumph people here, all willing to help. Welcome and come back often.
 
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