WWWedge Ezine
                          It's here to help you

Current readers: 273                     May 25, 1999, Year 2, no. 18
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The purpose of this newsletter is to give (technical) information
about the British classic cars Triumph TR7 and TR8.

To make this newsletter a success, I need your HELP:

o Let me know if this newsletter contains the information you're
  looking for.
o Let me know if you want to write a feature article.
o Let me know if you have suggestions, improvements, etc.
o Let me know if you find this newsletter useful and practical, and
  if there is anything you would like to see covered.

For comments, articles, etc. send an e-mail to

                   workshop@voskotan.demon.nl
                  
        WEBSITE at http://www.team.net/TR8/mp/html/ezine.html
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                   THE WEDGE TEAM
The WWWedge website is entirely maintained by volunteers.
Johan Vorsterman van Oijen is responsible for the design and the
daily updates. Mark Elbers is fully occupied with the Registry pages.
Eric Teunissen is responsible for the TR Scale Models pages.

The WWWedge Ezine newsletter is moderated by yours truly (Johan
Vorsterman van Oijen) and my native language isn't English.
But I'll do my utmost to create readable articles.

To save me from the biggest spelling mistakes, David Parnham (an
Englishman in Holland) will check the Wedge Ezine. Great huh?

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                   INTRODUCTION

Hi wedgies,
You missed the April issue? Yep, me too :-)
Due to some circumstances (both private and in work) I couldn't
manage to compile the April edition.

Well I'm back full of energy and material. So much happened the last
two months. I did receive a lot of encouraging email messages and I
wanna thank you all for your kind words. It appears that this Ezine
has reached a steady audience and that you all appreciates the good
work. Thanks again.

I bought myself a new daily driver. It's a Alfa Romeo 146 with a
strong 1.8litre TWINSPARK engine. It has 150bhp and a sprint from
0-60mph should take approx. 8,9 seconds. Not bad for a family
sports-sedan. Don't know if the US readers amongst us know the
Alfa I can make a special webpage for my new car. Oh yeah it's fully
equiped with a lot of goodies!!!

Graham Gay from Australia made some really nice webpages for the 'TR
in competition' section. Gene Thompson from the USA has provided me
with blue-prints for a improved TR8 ECU. Thank you all for providing
me with material. Wanna change your TR8 alternator? It's in this
Ezine where you can read all about it.

Enjoy this Ezine.

Johan Vorsterman van Oijen (NL)

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                   TOPICS
  
            o TR8 ECU
            o Preview TR7V8 (completely rebuilt)
            o Delco Alternator conversion TR8
            o Tech tip: windshield & springs
            o Alternative to Fixing Your Air Conditioner
            o Door handles

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Graham Gay from Australia made some webpages for the 'TR in
competition' section of the WWWedge website. Pages are large but it's
worth waiting for.

Here's the direct URL;

   http://voskotan.net/graham/tr8/competition/index/
  
Enjoy!!!!!!

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                   TR8 ECU
 
Article by Gene Thompson ( thatthompsonguy@hotmail.com )

My name is Gene Thompson. I live in Seattle, USA (you know, Bill
Gates and Boeing!). I own two TR7's and a fuel injected 1981 TR8.
I design electronics for industrial control systems for a living. 

Last autumn I had some spare time, and decided it would be a good
idea to check the solder joints inside the TR8's ECU. Well, one thing
led to another, and pretty soon I had drawn up complete schematics
for the ECU. I'm sure that other TR8 owners would like to have them
available, so I'd like to send them to you for posting on the
WWWedge.

Here is what I found out:
 The TR8 "4CU" ECU is about the size of a fairly thick hardback book.
 It is attached to the under side of the glove box with four screws.
 Inside, there are two printed circuit boards. One board has the
 signal conditioning circuitry for the exhaust oxygen (lambda)
 sensors, along with a circuit the provides momentary fuel enrichment
 (accelerator pump). The other board has the main digital control
 circuit, injector output stages, power supply and the wiring harness
 connector. The boards are screwed to a cast aluminum housing, with
 their electronic components facing inward.

 I have included a few photos of the ECU, but they are monochrome and
 not very good quality, since my old camcorder is just about dead!

 I have also included two new drawings for each circuit board. Each
 circuit board is shown from both the component side and the soldered
 side (it makes troubleshooting much easier). "logic_c.gif" and
 "lambda_c.gif" are the component side views, and "logic_s.gif" and
 "lambda_s.gif" are the soldered side views. I had previously sent
 you a color drawing of the "logic board" and two drawings that
 showed only the locations of the components - go ahead and delete
 them, since these drawings are better. The schematics I sent before
 are still good - one for each circuit board.

 If you need the drawings in any other format, just let me know.

 There is also an Excel spreadsheet with some graphs the show the
 voltages at different points in the circuit. I really need to
 measure many more points to have enough data to make it useful for
 repairing the ECU, but I might not have a chance to do it for a
 while - at least until the summer is over!

Here are a few things that I didn't know before I figured out the
schematics:

 The ECU operates in "open loop" mode - ignoring the lambda sensors -
 until the engine coolant sensor reaches about 30° C. To ease
 troubleshooting and adjustment, the ECU can be forced to operate
 open loop by grounding pin 19 of the wiring harness connector.
 Unfortunately, the contact is missing from position 19 inside the
 main connector. But position 20 does have a contact attached to a
 blue/purple wire that isn't used by the ECU. After cutting the wire
 at the little three wire splice "stub" just inside the firewall
 grommet, a little careful work with a paper clip will release the
 contact inside the connector, and allow it to be moved to position
 20. Do not ground the wire to the ECU case, because there is a
 thousand ohm resistor between the case and chassis ground.

 The lambda sensor circuit modifys the air:fuel ratio by changing the
 intake air temperature signal, causing the ECU to think that the
 incoming air is more or less dense than it actually is.

 The accelerator pump circuit is completely separate from the main
 control logic. It reads several signals, does some digital and
 analog stuff and controls the injector drivers in parallel with the
 main control circuit.

If anyone with the same ECU has _far too much_ spare time and would
like to check my work, then let me know if I made any errors, I'd
love it!

I'm also curious about the ECU in the TR7, and the "6CU" ECU in
Jaguars...  I think we could come up with schematics without the ECU
leaving its owner - a little photography and some pencil sketches
sent back and forth might do the trick!

Gene (not very speedy about checkin' the mail!)

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                   PREVIEW TR7V8 (completely rebuilt)

Johan,

Long time - No speak!!

You may not remember me, my name is Brett Butler and I had one of the
first cars to be featured in the Wwwedge site. I must say straight
out, that it has grown outa site - real cool.

I have dropped you a line to let you know that I am just about to
finish a COMPLETE rebuild of my Trump. Originally it was just a head
gasket change - but I got carried away!!

The car has been completely taken back to bare metal and sprayed in
single pac "Wild Violet" - this colour changes from blue to purple
depending on the light. The bumpers and mag wheel centres have also
copped the treatment. I have also pissed off a small rear spoiler I
was going to fit in favour of an 'Australian Group A V8 Touring Car'
elevated rear-deck spoiler - looks awesome - real aggressive.

The engine now has two new heads that have been match flowed, shaved,
ported and polished, a high lift 'race cam' with new lifters and
followers, new pistons/rings (already rebored 40thou), the crank has
been lightened and balanced, Accel super-coil etc. It should be good
for about 220-250 BHP! I have also contacted Sprintex in ragards to
fitting a Supercharger.

The interior has been redone with 2 Subaru WRX Imprezza seats (Black
with grey trim), black Rimmer Bros. carpet, new doorskins, a flat
bottomed Momo wheel (Black leather with grey suede), momo shortened
shifter and four point racing harnesses.

And private number plates which read 'Money Pit"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will send some development pics and some completed as soon as it is
rolling. Talk to you soon...keep up the good work.

Brett Butler (Aus)

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                   WWWedge Gallery Entry
  
Howdy,

Here is my car.  It's a 1978 FHC, totally stock.  Its' my wife's high
school car and her parents had given it to an Old Timer, who was
(supposedly) gonna restore it.  Well, after sitting for several Ohio
winters and rainy seasons I finally went and got the poor thing. 

But, rest assured, this car is a work in progress.  I just picked it
up yesterday and am assessing what projects the sad little thing
needs.  She will be back on the road soon, with a little TLC.

More to come....

Thanks,


Richard Thompson

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                   DELCO ALTERNATOR CONVERSION TR8
  
When my 25ACR Alternator went the way of the wind, and the cost to
overhaul it was greater than a new Delco I decided to try my skill
and see what happened.

The only problem may be with the belt being to long, mine worked OK
for me. The next problem may be with the extension onto the adjuster.
You should fit the extension by bolting it together before welding it
that way it wont be to long or short.

You can also use 3/8 in. all-thread instead of 5/16, but if you do
you will have to drill out the holes on the original bracket, which I
chose not to do. The choose of stainless steel is the removable
ability of the nuts.

Also the nut that tightens the Alternator to the bracket is hard to
get to and a special   1/2 in. wrench may be needed, or take a cheap
wrench and grind it down to fit.

A single pulley Alternator will not work unless you fabricate a
different bracket attachment. My first attempt at fabricating a
bracket failed because the Alternator was to low and hit the body. I
then remembered that the Delco also came with a double pulley. The
single pulley Alternator will be at least 1/2 in.from alignment as
the Lucas fits on the front of the bracket while the Delco will have
to go behind the bracket. Both the Lucas and Delco that I had
measured the same distance from the face to the outside of the pulley
on the single Delco pulley.

The double pulley made up the difference, and I was able to align the
belt with no further adjustments than what the picture shows.

If you have any problems e-mail me and I will help all I can.

Ron McIntyre ( ronkd0mu@aol.com )

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                   TECH TIP
  
Johan,
Please include these tips in your superb website.

Technical tip: windscreen  (windshield).

The TR7/8 windshield was originally installed with a heat activated
seal. If you refer to the factory supplied workshop book, you would
install a new seal, and then connect the electrical leads in the seal
to an  electrical power source (car battery) to heat up the seal.

This factory seal is no longer available from any suppliers that I
know of. If your wedge car windshield seal leaks, or the glass must
be replaced, this is my solution.

Remove the glass and clean all old seal material from the glass and
frame areas. Use a urethane sealant as a new seal. Modern cars use
urethane as a windshield seal. Sunlight degrades urethane, so a black
coating must be  applied to the inside edge of the windshield
(approximately a one inch border is sufficient). If you look at the
windshield of a new car, you will see that all new cars have this
coating.

The original stainless steel moulding that was pressed into the
original seal can be pressed into the new urethane sealant, but will
probably never come out again. So it is best to not use the
original moulding. A rubber moulding common to new cars can be used
instead.

In summary, the origainal windscreen seal is unavailable, and the car
should be converted to modern specifications.

Technical tip: springs

After fitting uprated springs to my '80 TR8, I decided to switch back
to
factory specification springs. I wanted new front springs, and most
of the
parts catalogs (factory and otherwise) are wrong. There were three
types
of front springs on wedge cars.

1. TR7 without air conditioning (ac) (partno: TKC1328)
2. TR7 with ac and TR8 without ac.   (partno: TKC1329)
3. TR8 with ac.                      (partno: TKC3088)

Reference page 309 of the Triumph collision guide, printed in august
1983. this factory book is the only place I can find that lists the
different spring part numbers correctly. My friend Wade Olson is the
one who actually found this correct part number listing for me.

Please post on the wedge site.

Contact me if you have questions.

Jeff Ware ( WAREJEFF@aol.com )

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                   ALTERNATIVE TO FIXING YOUR AIR CONDITIONER

Those of you who live in Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix of other really
hot places, stop reading this right now and go get you air
conditioner made operational. If you live somewhere not quite so hot,
there is help available for you that is almost as good and a lot
cheaper.

Ever wonder what those original Wedge owners were thinking when they
bought cars without the optional air conditioner?  Well it was a
pricey option on an already fairly pricey car and not everyone chose
to pay for it.  Still they did survive but how?

One day as I was wondering the aisles of my favorite auto recycler,
U-Wrench It (junk yard for do it yourselfers) and was searching the
Import section in hope of finding the occasional British heap among
the Hondas, Saabs, and Yugos I spotted a sad looking early TR7. My
first hope was that the 140 mph speedo was still there but I was too
late. Most all the good stuff had already been removed.

Just as I was about to move on I happened to notice a small door
located in the kick panel on the outboard side of the footwell. My
TR8 had no such orifice. This peaked my interest so I removed a
couple screws and pulled back the trim. Sure enough there was a
spring closed, hinged door leading into the void between the inner
and outer front fenders or wings if you want to speak British. I knew
these trim bits would cost me almost nothing so I decided to gamble
that my wedge would have blanking plates in the same location and
that there might be a flow of fresh air available when the car was in
motion.  All I had to do was get the little devils off the carcass of
the 7.

Of course the Triumph folks didn’t make that easy especially in a
junk yard where no power tools are permitted. Standing on my head
and using a dull chisel and rusty hammer I eventually cut through the
4 pop rivets and had one of the prizes in my hot, dirty, bloody
little hands. Just in case my hopes might be correct, I moved to the
other side of the car and took the prize from there also. Just for
good measure, I took the trim pieces since they had an opening to
give access to the door and if I ever wanted to impress a concours
judge, I could screw my unaltered originals back in place.

Once home I dug into my 8 and found it did indeed have blanking
plates in the appropriate places. I drilled the rivets quickly out,
installed the door, and took a test drive. It was wonderful!  The
same supply of fresh air that enters the front to the car and passes
between inner and outer fender to supply the carburetor intake also
rushes into the footwells to cool sweaty feet before traveling up and
around the cockpit. No noticeable dust or moisture or even any
increase in noise level. An almost perfect solution for under $5 and
an hour’s time invested.

Why don’t all wedges have these marvelous fresh air vents? I guess
the designers thought if you bought air conditioning you didn’t need
them and so they saved a few cents by using the blanking plates
instead. Or they figured we would forget to close the vents and then
complain the air conditioner wasn’t able to keep us cool enough. It
doesn’t matter what they were thinking or IF they were thinking. You
can think for yourself and decide. Maybe your favorite new parts
supplier sells these or check your nearest parts car. 

With these things, if you aren’t getting enough cool air you just
have to drive faster! I can’t guarantee that your significant other
or the police officer will buy this excuse. That depends on just how
good a salesman you are. 

Steve Olson ( solson@planetkc.com )

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Please take note that Bill Wood, well known from the mailing list and
other wedge activities is no longer with us. A tragic accident caused
so many wounds that he couldn't recover.

For any of you that wish to send a condilence card I'll post his
home address:

 The Wood Family
 503 s. Lindell Rd.
 Greensboro, NC 27403

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From   : Jon White
Subject: Speed and Style Launch
   
    For Immediate Release – June Issue, Speed & Style

Freedom Publications is proud to announce the launch of Speed &
StyleTM magazine with the June 1999 issue. Speed & Style is the only
publication to concentrate on the British sportscar industry, the
British club racing circuit and anything that falls between. The Best
of British will be showcased, whilst allowing for special hi-lights
in each issue on British and other sportscars and motor racing
activities from across the waters.

There will be information and articles for the novice as well as the
more advanced enthusiast. Some of the fantastic features of the June
issue are:

 a.. The Ascari Écosse – Focus Manufacturer Test Drive and Review
 b.. Full British GT review – 24 hours in 50 minutes
 c.. Lotus Motorsport – The new one make series ELISE Racing for
     year 2000
 d.. Ginetta G27 test drive – Oh what fun we had!
 e.. Jaguar Car Club – Racing with the Cats
 f.. Profiling with Balfe Racing – Driver/Team Profile
 g.. Buyers’ Guide – Going Morgan Shopping
 h.. Stars and Stripes – What’s up in America?

For further details or to contact us please check out our new and
constantly improving website:

         http://www.speedandstyle.freeserve.co.uk

    Contact Details:

    Speed & Style Magazine
    c/o Freedom Publications
    P.O. Box 5131
    Spellbrook,
    Bishop’s Stortford, Herts
    CM23 4NP
    United Kingdom

    Tel: +44 (0) 1279 723 214
    Fax: +44 (0) 1279 723 214

    Email: FreedomMotors@compuserve.com

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                   WWWedge Gallery Entry
  
Hi there - my name is Bill Rafoss. I live in beautiful Saskatoon in
Western Canada. I am a TR7 buff. Mine is a '77 original in Tahiti
blue with racing stripe. Engine purrrs like a kitten; body could use
some work. But it's fun, fun, fun!  We have an active Saskatchewan
British Car Club, with about 60 members. Not many TR7/s and 8/s
though.

I enjoy and appreciate your website. Keep up the good work!

Bill Rafoss ( brafoss@sk.sympatico.ca )

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Grassroots Motorsports magazine published an article in the
March/April 1999 edition about our beloved wedges. This story goes
mainly about 'the shape of things to come', history, etc. But also an
interview with Woody Cooper, well known from the TR7/8 mailing list
and of course his company (The Wedge Shop) specialised in TR7/8's.

One guess which sources where mentioned? Yes of course the WWWedge
website (which is rapidly increasing in popularity) and the TR8CCA
website.

I received a (FREE) copy (of the magazine) from the editor of
Grassroots Motorsports. He also mentioned that hopefully I wouldn't
mind that in their May/June issue (being  printed right now) also
talks about TR8s, so it once again mentions my Webpages.

David S. Wallens, managing ed
Grassroots Motorsports

http://www.grmotorsports.com
(web board now open!)

NOTE: The TR8CCA website is currently running a redesign with
improved navigation, more interaction, tech articles, etc.

Johan Vorsterman van Oijen (NL)

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                   WWWedge Gallery Entry
  
Hi my name is Brett Brown from Sydney Australia. Here are some
pictures of my 1980 TR7.

The car is mostly original exept for the sunroof, new interior
including custom seats & door panels, custom pioneer sound sytem
which includes 2x10" subwoofers mounted in a ported box behind the
back seat where the back shelf used to be, checker plate flooring,
sports pedals etc.

The exterior has been resprayed, front spoiler added, and a set of
speedy GT 15x7.5x205 wheels added (a set of 17's and lowered
suspension is also on the way).

Under the bonnet not much has been done as yet to the single cam 2
litre only rampod filters added to the twin SU's and the manual
transmission rebuilt. Hope to see the pictures on your web site soon.

Brett Brown ( angela@wolf.net.au )

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                   DOOR HANDLES
  
Hi Johan,
Some time ago the question of Wedge and Land Rover door handles
was discussed on the mailing list. As I said then I was in the
middle of such a swap on my '8.

The Rover versions [can be found off of Land Rover Discovery's pre
'99] is all black - as compared to our normal "Marina" style ones
that have the toggle in silvery bright colour.
I thought that, since I've bought myself a nice selection of brand
new "Discovery" handles of various kinds, it might be something to
photograph and have published in the Ezine, and at the WWW Home page
- and maybe also in the TR8CCA newsletter when the time comes...
So if You find this of interest; here it is.

The pictures show the three different door handles, viewed from
front and back:

xkc795.jpg : the original Marina type      - front & back view
alr2255.jpg: the Discovery front door type - front & back view
mxc1254.jpg: the Discovery rear door type  - front & back view

There is also one picture with all three of them together.

That last type, MXC1254, is interesting only if one wants to
get rid of the possibility to open the passenger door with a
key, for instance if fitting electric locking mechanisms.
[If no lock barrels at all is what one want, then the left
side rear door handle is MXC1255.]

The ALR2255 being for the LHS drivers side door with provision
for the original LR alarm system - could be a nice gadget to
use if fitting an alarm system. The same handle without the
electric fittings is Part No RTC6686 - I did not buy one of
those, so I have no pictures...

All of them are made out of injection moulded metal and have all
the same fittings with the exceptions of: on ALR2255 the cam
wheel etc for the micro switch are plastic  and on the MXC1254
there [obviously!] are no provisions for the lock barrel etc.

The ALR2255 [and the RTC6686 from what they said at the Rover
dealers] is always delivered with a fitted lock barrel and with
two keys. As can be seen in the pictures the face of the barrel
is slightly different since they have changed the way the dust
shield in the lock barrel operates - apart from the colour that
is the only exterior difference to be seen. All of them also
come with a new CZK3754 plastic gasket, or rim [or whatever to
call it!].

Any of them should be a breeze to backfit into our Wedges if one,
like I do, dislikes the horrendous mix of silvery bright handles
and a gold metallic paint. Should look much better with the all
black handles, and they should also blend in much better among
all those black fittings all over the car. [Now, if only I could find
a windscreen surround finished in black! Anyone ever seen one?]

Best Regards

Odd Hedberg
Pomonagatan 4           International liaison secretary,
S-74236 Östhammar       Triumph Club of Sweden
Sweden                 '70 Spitfire Mk3 FD82497LO Signal Red
                       '80 TR8 EFi DHC TPZDV8AT211468 Midas Gold
               E-mail:  odd@triumphclub.se / odd.hedberg@bigfoot.com
             Club URL:  http://www.triumphclub.se/index.htm
       Home Phone/Fax:  Int+ 46-1731 7131 / 46-1731 8131
Geographical Position:  N 60deg 15min  E 18deg 23min

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WWWedge Ezine is a free email newsletter for anyone who is interested
in the classic car Triumph TR7 and TR8.

Please note: the list of subscribers will not be shared with anyone.
The information is used to distribute the newsletter. This newsletter
is not SPAM. It's sent to you based on your subscription.

Advice, articles and opinions are offered 'as is'. The publisher
cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.

The newsletter may be freely copied and/or distributed in its
entirety.

(c) 1998-1999, The World Wide Wedge (http://www.team.net/TR8/)
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