Wedge TR7 Engine and Performance

[Dale]

What he said. I did not use a load leveler just the unequal length chains as per the factory manual. Mine went in with all the accessories on the motor ie: FI manifold and plenum, alternator and fan. The car will be 90 degrees to the engine & tranny when it slips in or out. It's kinda neat the way these cars were made to be worked on. The engine can be completly rebuilt in situ save for the crankshaft. If it must be machined then the engine must come out. The tranny will come out without the engine but the engine won't come out without the tranny. If you dont have the factory manual or a Bentley copy I recommend it. Good Luck and have fun.

 

[James in Michigan]

It boggles the mind all the different things everyone has tried- am wrestling with the question of modifying the 4 or changing to the buick.

I want ask if anyone found out where to get the high compression pistons for the TR7 ?

AND,

is there anything else that has to be done to accomodate the piston change- for example a different cam, larger valves, different jets????

Anyone care to share their experience?


Thanks,


James

 

[Mark Beiser]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by James in Michigan:
I want ask if anyone found out where to get the high compression pistons for the TR7 ?<hr></blockquote>

https://ss-preparations.co.uk/

https://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/cgi-bin/rimmer?tr7/tr7indx

https://www.tsimportedautomotive.com/

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>is there anything else that has to be done to accomodate the piston change- for example a different cam, larger valves, different jets????
<hr></blockquote>

Everything else can stay stock, but if your changing your pistons out, you may as well get a better cam, some headers and richer needles for your carbs. Some porting and polishing on the head would help also. Just is all about how much you want to spend.

[ 01-31-2004: Message edited by: Mark Beiser ]</p>

 

[Dale]

I want ask if anyone found out where to get the high compression pistons for the TR7 ?




Anyone care to share their experience?


Thanks,


James[/QB][/QUOTE]

I'm sure they are available from the domestic suppliers. Even surer that Rimmer has them. I had good experience with Rimmer when the exchange rate was around 1.45 to 1. Now that it is closer to 1.80 to 1 they still bear considering.
Put my engine back in the car 4/20/02 and have put nearly 15,000 miles on it since. Drive it to work daily, when the weather is too cold to ride the scooter. Has been very reliable. The cylinder head should be retorqued regularily and others feel as I do that it should be tightened beyond the factory specs. Definatly spend the extra for the ARP studs and bolts and they're a good plan on the rods also. The slant four engine is a good one when it's right, We've certainly enjoyed ours.

 

[philman]

TSI automotive at


www.tsimportedautomotive.com/

sell high performance TR7 parts also. He is in Ohio. I haven't bought pistons, but I purchased a set of headers for my engine, a roll bar, springs, stuff like that

 

[Hegg]

Thanks again everyone for the information. I think I've decided that I would like to keep the 4 banger in there and do a few modifications (high compressions pistons, better cam, and possibly fancy headers).

I think the first step for me is to see if the block needs to be re-bored/machined. That'll dictate my timeline for removing the engine to get the machine work done on it!

Let me make sure I understood this right though -- you can only remove the engine WITH the transmission? Not the engine by itself? I've got it all up on stands right now... I sure measure to see if I have enough clearance to drop it out from underneath (or would anyone advise against that?).

Thanks again, and have a great weekend!

 

[StagByTriumph]

Well since you decided to keep the OE 4 banger, how about converting it to Fuel Injection? Screw the carbs setup. I have a complete TR7 FI Setup just lying around came off a running TR7 FI. Needs to be cleaned up but it is all there, computer, everything from air cleaner to the intake manifold, wire harness, and I think I might have the exhaust manifold, but I know I have the O2 sensor at least.

 

[Hegg]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by StagByTriumph:

Well since you decided to keep the OE 4 banger, how about converting it to Fuel Injection? Screw the carbs setup. I have a complete TR7 FI Setup just lying around came off a running TR7 FI. Needs to be cleaned up but it is all there, computer, everything from air cleaner to the intake manifold, wire harness, and I think I might have the exhaust manifold, but I know I have the O2 sensor at least.

<hr></blockquote>

I've wondered about doing that, but thought it would be kind of a hassle. What changes do I need to make for fuel injection, and what advantages will it give me for performance and fuel economy? If you're interested in selling yours, would you mind emailing me a few pics? An O2 sensor is easy enough to buy, but the manifold, injectors, and computer are the important parts it would seem.

And I'd assume this is off an '81 TR7?

Thanks!

 

[philman]

you might need to modify the fuel tank for a fuel return line, mabe just changing the pick up assembly. If StagbyTriumph doesn't have everything, I do. I just pulled my fi engine out of my '81 TR7. It only has 35,000 miles. Ran fine, I just wanted a V*

 

[Mark Beiser]

The FI system is great for a stock engine, but the stock ECU can't handle much, if any, in the way of performance upgrades before you get outside of the paramaters of its program.

If your wanting to do performance upgrades, stick with the carburetors, unless you want to get an aftermarket programable ECU to run the injection. Its something I have actually considdered. Using the TR7 FI intake and accessories, but running it all with an aftermarket ECU.

 

[Dale]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Hegg:


Let me make sure I understood this right though -- you can only remove the engine WITH the transmission? Not the engine by itself? I've got it all up on stands right now... I sure measure to see if I have enough clearance to drop it out from underneath (or would anyone advise against that?).

Thanks again, and have a great weekend![/QB]<hr></blockquote>
The engine can't be moved forward enough to get the clutch off the transmission input shaft.But the transmission and bell housing can be slid back enough to accomplish this once the driveshaft is removed. The bolts that hold the bell housing to the tranny are inside the bell housing so it must come with the transmission. Because of the difficulty in accessing all the bell housing to engine plate bolts and nuts I have heard of some folks that pulled the engine-tranny to do transmission work. It has been suggested that the engine be dropped out the bottom after removing the X member. It seems to me that this would be more difficult than the way the factory manual recommends, but I have not tried it that way. I have installed new main and rod bearings from underneath. It's a bit of a fiddle to get the pan off, but again the factory manual tells how to do it and jack up the front of the engine and all.

 

[StagByTriumph]

I may be convinced to sell my TR7 FI setup complete for $750 plus shipping which includes all the parts from Air cleaner through to the O2 sensor and Bosch computer and injectors. The Bosch ECU alone is $1000 through Moss or Victoria Brit. O2 sensors can be $100 alone and you should consider replacing it anyway.
Nice thing about the TR7 system is that it was not Lucas but Bosch, adn it was originally installed on teh TR7 so you can claim somewhat OE installation.
There are folks out there who can remap the Bosch ECU for racing or street performance maps, so this is not a problem uprating the Bosch ECU.
You should probably look at some TR7 parts catalogues to see the other differences.

Now I will tell you that for $750 you can buy two Fuel Injection throttle bodies that directly replace the ZS carburetors and include the wiring harness, programmable ECU with software. I think you still need to install an O2 sensor. One of my members has this type of setup on his Stag.

If you are interested in my complete TR7 setup let me know and I'll get some digital pics out to you.

 

[Hegg]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by StagByTriumph:
If you are interested in my complete TR7 setup let me know and I'll get some digital pics out to you.

<hr></blockquote>

I would be interested in you wouldn't mind sending some pictures! Does this include the exhaust manifold as well (so I have a place to plug in the O2 sensor)?

You can email pictures to hegg@unabled.com.

Thanks!

 

[Mark Beiser]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by StagByTriumph:
The Bosch ECU alone is $1000 through Moss or Victoria Brit.<hr></blockquote>


Heh, yet another reason to deal with TR7/8 specialists rather than the usual brit parts suppliers.