• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Reliability question

Share this page

Dale
the only problems I experience are injectors getting blocked and fuel pump overheating on hot days, usually when it's over 35C.
The only problem I have had where the car broke down was a reverse polarity of the Lucas alternator. It drained the battery at 13.5v untill the fuel pump stopped.
No problems since.
Hang in there Dale!!
And I would like to pass on a message to your British wife,'the Ashes are where they belong (well soon anyway)'.
Regards
Craig
 
My '56 Tr3 has been remarkably reliable. As a matter of fact I've wanted to upgrade components (reg/alt, wiring, ignition, etc.) but everything works as intended all of the time so I'm afraid to touch it; every light and switch, never overheats (original style thermostat and system), does not burn oil (and yes I check there is some in there), runs strong, good gas mileage, tight steering, fine brakes and not a bit of a leak anywhere around the resevoirs, no clunks, smooth tranny and clutch, starts on the first crank......knock wooood.
 
Dale,
The answer is YES. These cars are reliable when looked after. I think the only problems I have ever encountered have been caused by previous owners' "repairs". (And a condenser that gave up in the driveway after an 800 mile journey!)
In 20 years of ownership I have never been left stranded. My Triumphs have competed in rallies across the UK and Ireland and I used a Dolomite as my daily car for four years.
You need to go through everything, give it a good service and replace any suspect wiring or changes made by the previous owners.
I looked after a friend's TR6 for three years without any problems at all and that was a UK injected car.
Nick
 
Dale,
I drove a 71 TR6 for years as my only transportation. This was before I started back into college. I was young and drove it hard, but it never broke down. If it didn't run I couldn't get to work and I wouldn't have been able to pay my bills. I was living from paycheck to paycheck.
My first TVR lost a front wheel bearing once on a trip from Atlantic City to Northern Virginia. I limped into a truck stop and had a guy torch the old bearing off the stub axle. It welded itself to the axle as I was entering the parking lot. After about an hours work with a file, reshaping the stub axle and installing a used bearing I had in my tool kit, I was on my way.
Last year I bought my current TR6. My brother and I flew to Seattle, inspected the car and headed out. 5 days and 3330 miles later we arrived in Huntsville Alabama. The only problem was the new ignition rotor (Lucas) cracked after about 200 miles. Reinstalled the old one and "engined" on.
Like all the guys mentioned above. Once you get it sorted out it will run for a long long time. How many miles is one lap around the island? How many laps in 50,000 miles?
By the way, do you have spark?
Send me your address and I'll send you a battery cutoff switch. It's a lot easier than removing the cable every night. No charge, no obligation, no strings attached, your's for the asking. That's a total savings of about 3 bucks off the bottom line of your restoration.
 
Maybe I'm just lucky but I have always treated my LBC's the same as any other. No cut off switch, no carrying extra parts. Just get in and go and smile all the way. Maybe I'm just too old and dumb to know any better. Probably lucky is the key here.
 
Back
Top