Reference your oil pressure survey,
>
>Hey group, let's do an informal survey on oil pressures...........
>
I bought a '59 TR3A last summer with 93K miles showing on the
odometer but no other car history from the owner. Since it has an original
looking OD switch (i.e. old and crusty) but the transmission is not an OD
type, I assume that both it and the engine have been overhauled, replaced,
etc. somewhere along the way. Anyway, it has been a strong runner from the
start with very little mechanic-ing from me other than a carb rebuild. As
an aside, a box of "extras" in the deal included Grose Jets which I was
really tempted to install but had no instructions for setting, so decided
since the needle type weren't broke, why fix them. And now that I've joined
this list in time to see the recent thread on carb floats/needle
valves/et.al. I'm really glad I didn't.
Which brings me to the topic - oil pressure. After reading the
current thread on this, I took my ego machine out for a spin to take notes
(like I needed an excuse for a cool evening run.) My results were typical
of some of the other listees. At start-up, a healthy 75-80 psi with idle at
50. Once warmed up, the idle was 15 psi with about 50 psi showing at speed
(228,480 furlongs/fortnight; the fastest I've had it to date.) I wasn't
worried that the indications may not be healthy until all the recent
concern. Maybe I should only run it when it's cold, and get going fast
enough to coast the rest of the way back home.
I could also rationalize that my engine never warms up since the
temp gauge has been taking a nap since before I bought the car. A friend
says he thinks the early TR4 gauges are the same fascia design except
electric instead of capillary powered. I would like to keep the gauges
looking the same but don't care about originality of the sensor source. Has
anyone done this conversion? Where is a good source for either type of temp
gauge? And pardon my ignorance, but does LBC stand for Little British Car?
Thanks in advance
Mike Michalski
British Car Club of Wichita (mostly MG's)
Membership Secretary
'59 TR3A TS61753
|