TR4/4A Your thoughts/value of this TR4

[HerronScott]

Ack thppptt!!

Scott

 

[Lukens]

Mink, congratulations on the TR4. Easy car to work on with tons of info available here.
Now that you have a new project, how about selling me that Jesus bus in the back of your garage?
Russ

 

[Mink]

Now that you have a new project, how about selling me that Jesus bus in the back of your garage?

It would take an act of Congress to pry that Westfalia out of my hands. Besides, I'll need it as my mobile home when the zombie apocalypse eventually comes.

 

[glemon]

It would take an act of Congress to pry that Westfalia out of my hands. Besides, I'll need it as my mobile home when the zombie apocalypse eventually comes.

If you want to be ready for the zombie apocalypse I would start by getting rid of any rotting carcasses ready to come back to flesh eating life that you might have laying around....

 

[Mink]

Goofed around with the engine all day today and actually got it to fire up! I took the carbs apart and cleaned them up but I've never messed with Strombergs before so much more research on my part is indicated. It'll fire up and run for a few seconds before it dies. I'm guessing a weak fuel pump, but what do I know? I'm a VW guy. It just felt good to hear it run after so many years of sitting.

 

[Healey_Z]

Mink, way to go! The motor sounds really good as well! Are you running from the gas tank?

 

[Mink]

Mink, way to go! The motor sounds really good as well! Are you running from the gas tank?

No, I need to drain the stuff that's in there - it's really old, but thankfully it's still liquid. You can see the can on the left fender well.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Was that running on starter fluid? I agree, sounded like it ran out of gas -- if the fuels bowls had been full when you started it would have run longer than that. Easy enough to check/rebuild/replace the mechanical pump and once working tend to be long-lived. I always carry a simple cheap low pressure generic electric fuel pump as a get-me-home spare, but it is also useful for initial start-up of long-dormant engines.

I agree, the engine sounded pretty good.

 

[Mink]

Was that running on starter fluid? I agree, sounded like it ran out of gas -- if the fuels bowls had been full when you started it would have run longer than that. Easy enough to check/rebuild/replace the mechanical pump and once working tend to be long-lived. I always carry a simple cheap low pressure generic electric fuel pump as a get-me-home spare, but it is also useful for initial start-up of long-dormant engines.

I agree, the engine sounded pretty good.

It was running from a gas can you can see sitting on the other side of the engine. I'm gonna borrow a friend's electric pump to see if that confirms my suspicions.

 

[JimTR3B]

it doesn't look like a California car for starters, I just picked up a '62 TR3B with little or no rust that spent a lot of time in California before storage. One thing that caught my eye was the Stromberg carbs on it. I had a 63 and it was SU so something isn't right there. all-in-all, it's a doable project car but you'll have to completely strip the paint, blast the frame and replace most of the interior. The car has seen a lot of salt or salt water for what I saw but again how much time do you want to spend and how much investment. If you do it yourself it would be worth it but having someone restore it would be a bunch of money. I would offer the guy $1800-2300 for it and no more.

 

[Mink]

it doesn't look like a California car for starters, .... The car has seen a lot of salt or salt water for what I saw

Not sure what makes you say this. I've been all over the car since I bought it and the only rust I've found is a couple of tiny pinholes on the passenger floor (under the carpet, of course). The frame, sills, body, etc are perfect.

 

[Geo Hahn]

it doesn't look like a California car for starters, I just picked up a '62 TR3B with little or no rust that spent a lot of time in California before storage...

I don't know how to tell a car's origin just from looking at photos... but in any case I do not see the serious problems you are describing.

...One thing that caught my eye was the Stromberg carbs on it. I had a 63 and it was SU so something isn't right there...

Strombergs were introduced in 1963 at engine number CT21471E.

 

[Mink]

Strombergs were introduced in 1963 at engine number CT21471E.

Thanks. This car is CT9796L so someone obviously swapped out the SUs for Strombergs.

 

[Geo Hahn]

This car is CT9796L...

In that case I think your car was built in 1962 -- but cars were often titled and registered with the year they were first sold rather than based on when they were built or what U.S. manufacturers would think of as 'model' years.

You might take a look at the engine number -- it is stamped on a boss just to the right of the coil. The original engines were usually close to but somewhat higher numbers than the commission number (though there are exceptions). You can see an example in this photo:

Back in the day it was pretty common for a used engine to be swapped in if major work was needed.

 

[Mink]

Engine is CT10042E, fairly close to the VIN. Possibly the original?

 

[Geo Hahn]

Very likely the original engine.

Someday you may want to get a copy of your car's build record from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust:

https://www.heritage-motor-centre.c...d-archive-services/heritage-certificates.html

 

[Mink]

Small update - Have spent a ton of time this week on wiring and engine issues. I decided to go with a GM alternator and negative ground conversion since the generator was missing anyway. I went through the carbs, put in a new water pump and thermostat and flushed out the cooling system. Still have a bunch of tuning to do, but it's running!

 

[trrdster2000]

Great job Mink, It runs like you stole it and the way it's looking, you did. What a find and the right guy got it.

Wayne

 

[fpstude]

I don't think Mink stole it. That is about the same price we paid for ours. But that was almost 49 years ago from a Triumph dealer.

 

[Healey_Z]

Fast worker! I don't think Mink stole it, rather he is being rewarded for his skills and initiative.