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newbie intro - from Down Under

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aussieTR

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At the insistence of Webmaster Basil, I'm compelled to introduce myself.
I'm Gary ( aka aussie TR) owner of two TR's - a red 1958 TR3A and a white 1964 TR4. I live in sunny Sydney and belong to two Triumph car clubs, firstly the TR Register Australia Inc that caters solely for sidescreen TR's. I happen to be the current secretary of this organisation.
The other club is the TSOA (Triumph Sports Owners Association) NSW branch. This club caters for all TR's plus sedans, Spitfires, GT6's, and other Triumphs with a sporting bent.
My TR3A has a few modifications. The usual performance mods - head, cam, extractors (headers), electric fan, harmonic balancer. Plus TR4 rear end with widened rear guards, TR6 72-spoke wire wheels with 195.65 tyres, 4.1 diff, overdrive, fast road suspension setup, roll bar for circuit work.
My TR4 is currently pretty standard with surry top, overdrive, minilite-style alloy wheels. Currently a new engine (actually the original) is being prepared with similar mods to the 3A engine.
I am planning on doing a slightly different set up with the TR4 suspension.
Whereas the 3A has 450# front springs and new larger (8mm) main leaf spring with uprated shock absorbers, one of our local race suspension workshops has developed an adjustable Panhard rod that works remarkably well with a softer suspension setup. In my 3A I chased a TR4 with this setup around a local circuit and was impressed how flat the 4 sat on the road. The owner tells me it rides like a much more modern car. He also races one of the fastest TR3A's in the country.
By the way, when I first bought the 3A years ago it had twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors. Best thing I ever did was to replace them with SU's. No apparent loss of power, much better fuel economy and rarely need to touch them. The engine bay does not bring ooh-ahs like before though.
All in all I look forward to contributing to your forum.
 
Welcome, Aussie! You have found the place for TR-heads. Interesting about the Webers. I've not had much experience with them, but from what I've heard, I concur. And I note by your hobbies that you have your priorities straight!

Mickey
 
Welcome Gary:

Nice to see someone who spends some time thrashing his British sports car at the track. I'm doing the same thing with my Sprite here in the eastern USA (roughly 12,000 miles away from you).
One of my first British roadsters (in the late 60s) was a tatty 1958 TR-3 (eventually with a TR4 engine and OD trans). It was a great car and I even got to parade it around the Bridghampton race track a few times.
Alas, I was a poor college kid and the TR (along with an even more tatty MGA) had to be sold when my dear old Dad insisted that I get a more practical VW. I rolled the VW a few months later.....I should have kept the TR!
If I had the room and money, I'd love another TR-3. And that TR4 isn't so bad either.

My original TR-3 (and MGA):
mg_tr3.jpg
 
welcome aboard Gary. Its always nice to see another TR owner join up. Hope you enjoy the place as much as the rest of us do.

Cheers, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
Walter
52 International L110
66 Triumph Spitfire MkII
75 BMW 2002
79 Triumph Spitfire 1500
 
Welcome Gary. You'll find this one of the best enthusiast forum groups there is.
Always wondered, is it true that in Australia, when a British car leaks water, it comes out counterclockwise?
 
G'day Gary, my TR twosome is a bit like yours. So practical to have 2 very different rides with just one batch of spares. We'll be interested in how your TR4 suspension change works out.
 
Many thanks for the warm welcomes.
For any of you who may be interested the sidescreen car website is www.tr-register.com.au. There are some good things there to navigate around.
As for direction of rotation of water leaking out, I must have a close look next time it buckets down over here. It seems every time I go down to the race circuit in Goulburn I get drenched.
And to Geo Hahn, having two very different rides with mostly one set of spares was a motivating factor in getting the TR4.
Once I learn how to do it, I'll post piccies of both TR's.
 
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