• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

TR2/3/3A The TR3 -- She's a runner!!!

Share this page

S

sammyb

Luke Skywalker
Offline
My dad was down, and after fixing the spark issue this morning (and getting the new starter in last week,) I decided to try to fire the '59 TR3 for the first time.

Hit the priming lever a few times to fill the float bowls.
Pulled the choke.
Hit the starter and WHOOOM it fired instantly!!!

Wow that high-torque starter is incredible.

It smoked all the WD40 through the exhaust (and it's wedged into the back of my garage, so it just created a standing cloud in my garage.) Shut it off right after I checked to see it would rev.

But I'm totally psyched -- after the brakes are fixed, I'm putting her on the road!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
Good to hear you got it going...Gotta love that feeling!

Zack
 
Hey, Sam, I'm going to reply to you what you replied to me earlier this year when I got my car started; "Fantastic!!!! Congrats.

It's amazing how strong the TRs are, and how easy it is for them to sit for decades and simply start up like they were run two months ago."

True enough! Congrats on getting her started! Don't forget the brakes! BTW, I enjoyed going up to your site and reading about the "classics"... Good stuff!

Best, Kevin Browne '59TR3A #58370
 
Congrats on the TR-- both on getting the spark thing fixed and getting it to fire. I know it feels great when we can figure things out (even if it's with a little help from our friends) and when these old machines come to life.
Pete
 
Congrats!!!! That's a huge step. Way to go.
I remember the first time that my TR 3 fired after having worked on it for over 6 years. I was dancing around the garage (surrounded by smoke) and screaming. The neighbors probably thought I was nuts, but they pretty much knew that ater I sand blasted in the driveway and and painted in the garage.
 
I tried to free the pistons from the calipers yesterday, but they were pretty well seized (used a blow-gun in my friends' shop on their industrial compressor and got nothing.)

Took the calipers to Rapid Brake, and the guy said "do you need them quickly?" Of course, I said "not really" Then he explained he could do full rebuilds of the calipers for about $40 each if he could do it in between other jobs, but he'd have them for me next week.

Very cool.

This means I just have to do one more rear brake cylinder and replace the gasket where the float bowl connects to the carb on the rear carb (I kept moving the fuel bowl while replacing the starter, and now it leaks.)

Oh, and bleeding the brakes -- of course.

Then I should be able to take her out for her first run since 1996!!!

I'm getting very excited. (Although we're having flooding from so much rainfall! Hopefully it will clear up enough next weekend to get a chance to drive it.)
 
I'll never forget getting our 61 3A started. After sitting in the garage in various states of dissassembly for over 10 years we finally got her together. We started putting the engine in at about 10AM on a Saturday. Working all day and late into the evening we were ready to push the starter button. We, my son Rob his buddies Alex and Jammie paused to wonder if we really should. What the heck push the button. She fired and came alive. We let her idle a couple of minutes shut down and check oil. Everything looked OK so we fired her up again and gave her a quick rev, with out the exhaust connected she sounded great. It was fantastic, we shut her down and lit up cigars. It was then that we realized it was 2AM and some neighbors lights were coming on. Been 5 months and the wife is still a little miffed, some of the neighbors are talking to me again.
 
Back
Top