TR2/3/3A Triumph TR3B Questions

[GerryL]

Did the TR3B use a PCV valve system as used in the TR4 models or did it use a downdraft pipe?

 

[Andrew Mace]

It is possible that some 3B models had some sort of positive crankcase ventilation, as I vaguely recall California required such earlier than most states. On the other hand, production of the last of the 3Bs was done by fall 1962, so the cars might have "skirted" any such requirements?

 

[af3683]

My TR3B which was built in August 1962 and has a commission # near the middle of the production run doesn't have a pcv valve.

Art

 

[TR4nut]

I think the TR4's of the same time had SU H6's with the engine draft tube - no pcv valve.

 

[TR3driver]

I couldn't find a really definitive reference, but several sources say that any car sold in CA as a 1963 model or later had to have a crankcase emission control device. There was also a retrofit program for earlier cars, but compliance was low and it was later rescinded.
https://www.aqmd.gov/news1/Archives/History/marchcov.html

Many sources say 1961, but I believe that is when the rule was passed; it didn't actually take effect until 1963 model year cars.

This would have most likely been fitted by the dealer (not even provided by Triumph) and no doubt much cruder than PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation). Even the early Triumph-supplied systems did not really meet the definition of PCV (which actively moves fresh air through the crankcase under 'normal' conditions).

The rest of the country (and more remote areas of CA) didn't get crankcase emission regulations until 1965, I believe.

 

[bgbassplyr]

My TR4.....CT5589....had the road draft tube....titled as a 1962.

 

[martx-5]

My buddy has one of the last TR3Bs made that he bought when it was a year old. It doesn't have a PCV system. The first TR I bought in '65, a '63 TR4 didn't have it either.

 

[Andrew Mace]

I couldn't find a really definitive reference, but several sources say that any car sold in CA as a 1963 model or later had to have a crankcase emission control device. There was also a retrofit program for earlier cars, but compliance was low and it was later rescinded.
https://www.aqmd.gov/news1/Archives/History/marchcov.html

Many sources say 1961, but I believe that is when the rule was passed; it didn't actually take effect until 1963 model year cars....The rest of the country (and more remote areas of CA) didn't get crankcase emission regulations until 1965, I believe.

I'd also heard both 1961 and 1963 for California, so ??? But I think New York also required something by 1963 or so. In that case (using a mid-1963-built Herald I own as just one example), all Triumph did was close off the draft tube, use a different oil filler cap that more or less sealed rather than vented, and ran a hose from the valve cover to the air cleaner. There was no "PCV valve" as such at that time.

 

[TR3driver]

In that case (using a mid-1963-built Herald I own as just one example), all Triumph did was close off the draft tube, use a different oil filler cap that more or less sealed rather than vented, and ran a hose from the valve cover to the air cleaner. There was no "PCV valve" as such at that time.

The TR4 got that same setup, at CT23594 (according to the Moss catalog), which would have been roughly mid-1963.

 

[billspit]

My 64 Spitfire has an open pipe.

 

[Geo Hahn]

...all Triumph did was close off the draft tube, use a different oil filler cap that more or less sealed rather than vented, and ran a hose from the valve cover to the air cleaner...

The effect of which was to cause any significant crankcase pressure to get oil oozing out of any handy seal or pore.

 

[vivdownunder]

I had the 154th last TR3B made, still matching number original, and it didn't have a PCV valve. Same downpipe vent as the earlier cars.

Viv.