From richardolindsay at gmail.com Fri Aug 2 06:33:18 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2019 07:33:18 -0500 Subject: [6pack] More brakes Message-ID: Hey all, Today, before the Houston heat grows too great, I hope to address the rear brake hydraulics on my '75 TR6 project car. Specifically, I will inspect all of the pipes, flush them clean, then replace the rear flex hose. Work from the distribution block on to the new slave cylinders has already been completed. I already finished work on the front system and cleaned up the area. Here's how it looks now. (Remember, this is to be a nice driver, not a show car.) http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190731_103230.jpg The switch on the pressure differential warning system, is bad and the piston seals leak. Until replacement parts can be sourced, the switch port is sealed with a short 3/8-fine bolt and a thick rubber washer. Doing so leaves the system a straight through junction, if with a tiny bit of leakage between chambers. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rrochlin at comcast.net Fri Aug 2 06:42:42 2019 From: rrochlin at comcast.net (Rochlin Robert) Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2019 08:42:42 -0400 Subject: [6pack] More brakes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1D73E84F-F669-4095-B032-F6C4246B6552@comcast.net> Hi Rick, I have spare O ring type seals for the brake warning switch block. I can send you a couple if you need them. Best, Bob > On Aug 2, 2019, at 8:33 AM, Richard Lindsay via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > > Hey all, > Today, before the Houston heat grows too great, I hope to address the rear brake hydraulics on my '75 TR6 project car. Specifically, I will inspect all of the pipes, flush them clean, then replace the rear flex hose. Work from the distribution block on to the new slave cylinders has already been completed. > I already finished work on the front system and cleaned up the area. Here's how it looks now. (Remember, this is to be a nice driver, not a show car.) > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190731_103230.jpg > > The switch on the pressure differential warning system, is bad and the piston seals leak. Until replacement parts can be sourced, the switch port is sealed with a short 3/8-fine bolt and a thick rubber washer. Doing so leaves the system a straight through junction, if with a tiny bit of leakage between chambers. > > Rick > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/rrochlin at comcast.net > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mark at bradakis.com Fri Aug 2 07:30:15 2019 From: mark at bradakis.com (Mark J Bradakis) Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2019 07:30:15 -0600 Subject: [6pack] More brakes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <04a7c2d5-cfc5-2d62-4011-36e9faeb2af7@bradakis.com> On 8/2/19 6:33 AM, Richard Lindsay via 6pack wrote: > > ? ?I already finished work on the front system and cleaned up the area. Gee, sounds familiar.? Something I wrote maybe 25 years or so ago.? It was a TR4A, but you get the idea. And I wish it had a date in that header.? The sol at hoosier.utah.edu was the father of british-cars at autox.team.net.? And no, the sol doesn't stand for that, it is for Scions Of Lucas. From: uunet!hoosier.utah.edu!mjb (Mark Bradakis) Message-Id: <9103180729.AA24594 at hoosier.utah.edu> To: sol at hoosier.utah.edu Subject: Repair Escalation It was just a small leak, certainly well within the capability of a doting Sports Car owner to add to the litany of Things To Look At before a drive. A dribble of brake fluid from the master cylinder, easily kept in check with a wipe of a shop rag and topping up the resevoir is not a matter of grave concern, but The White Car is my autocrosser and I do tend to drive it in a vigorous manner.? So naturally I could not let something which could lead to braking troubles go unattended for too long a time, so into the garage with the car, and out with the tools.? Sure, it is only a trickle now, but I bet the Grand Canyon was once a simple crease in the sand. I've rebuilt hydraulics before and anticipated no problems.? Given the right parts, the rebuild would be a quick and easy repair, the sort that makes one feel that the years of dirty fingernails have actually led to some sort of competence.? And if the old cylinder was simply too well used to be filled with clean fluid and fresh seals there was always the nearly new cylinder from The Rust Rocket, installed when that car handled the competitive duties. So plans were made and kerosene for the little heater was purchased, as the repair was to be undertaken over the Christmas holidays, which turned out to be among the coldest on record in Salt Lake. The first part was easy, getting the cylinder drained and the lines off, and loosened from the bracket.? The manner in which the TR4A master cylinders attach to the bracket makes it difficult to manuever them out of the bracket, so it seems like the thing to do is go ahead and remove the bracket along with the cylinders.? Which of course entails removing the entire pedal assembly from the inside of the car. Once the bracket is off, I am faced with the results of years of constant erosion.? Like the Colorado river working its way into the Arizona bedrock, brake fluid has transformed the surface of the engine compartment.? Most of the damage is covered with a few years worth of dirt and debris, and only comes to light as I mine away the upper layers.? Out comes the windshield wiper motor, the windshield washer bottle and a few bits and pieces.? Off comes more dirt and grime, more paint in an odd plastic state, not solid enough to protect against the elements, not soft enough to be easily removed. And you know, while I am cleaning up this area, I may as well do the entire inner fender here, and get rid of some of these runs in the factory finish. It looks like the Triumph apprentices were given the chore of painting these areas which few would see in the showroom.? And I could get to the side of the footbox better were I to take out the battery. Removing the battery may have been the turning point.? I wonder how long before the nice plastic battery box would have ended up bouncing off the gearbox cover and onto my feet during spirited maneuvers.? There is not much holding the battery in place.? Some rusty sheet metal, covered in spots by the dull, brownish white substance which was once the paint on this car wanders from one side of the battery box to the other, trying its best to look structural.? This has got to be repaired, as long as I am in the area. Very little distance separates the top of the gearbox cover from the bottom of the battery tray, and since I was meaning to work on the gearbox cover seals I may as well pull that out.? Contemplating the repair of the area it is easy to see I'd never get good access to the repair area with the motor in the way. So the motor comes out, along with all the stuff that entails, like the radiator and bonnet.? And as long as the bonnet will be off the car, I might as well redo the Delft Blue racing stripes, now that I have decided I do indeed like that pattern. In short, here it is, Saint Patrick's day, a bit past the Christmas holidays. The White Car sits in the garage, the bare tub from the firewall forward sporting a freshly laid coat of white paint [I am painting the engine compartment of my car WHITE??], and the first autocross race is a week from today.? You know, I think I *still* haven't ordered that brake rebuild kit. mjb From yellowtr at adelphia.net Fri Aug 2 10:02:49 2019 From: yellowtr at adelphia.net (Bob) Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2019 12:02:49 -0400 Subject: [6pack] More brakes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <765c1366-fd04-3ca1-5b42-4e196430cb05@adelphia.net> Rick, There used to be someone on Ebay that repaired those units. You buy a rebuilt one and turn in your old one as a core. Not sure if the service exists today but worth a look. My rebuilt one is leak free for 10 years with Dot 5. Bob On 8/2/19 8:33 AM, Richard Lindsay via 6pack wrote: > Hey all, > ? ?Today, before the Houston heat grows too great, I hope to address > the rear brake hydraulics on my '75 TR6 project car. Specifically, I > will inspect all of the pipes, flush them clean, then replace the rear > flex hose. Work from the distribution block on to the new slave > cylinders has already been completed. > ? ?I already finished work on the front system and cleaned up the > area. Here's how it looks now. (Remember, this is to be a nice driver, > not a show car.) > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190731_103230.jpg > > ? ?The switch on the pressure differential warning system, is bad and > the piston seals leak. Until replacement parts can be sourced, the > switch port is sealed with a short 3/8-fine bolt and a thick rubber > washer. Doing so leaves the system a straight through junction, if > with a tiny bit of leakage between chambers. > > Rick > > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/yellowtr at adelphia.net > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Fri Aug 2 10:25:45 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2019 11:25:45 -0500 Subject: [6pack] More brakes In-Reply-To: <765c1366-fd04-3ca1-5b42-4e196430cb05@adelphia.net> References: <765c1366-fd04-3ca1-5b42-4e196430cb05@adelphia.net> Message-ID: > > Hello Friends, Today I disassembled my car's rear brakes. The pipes are plugged and the hoses are perished. I have new pipes and hoses ordered and due tomorrow. Two of the short pipes out to the rear slave cylinders appear to be NLA but I have an assortment of new pipes left over from other sets. Two of these spare pipes will fit just fine. I got very dirty. Rick On 8/2/19 8:33 AM, Richard Lindsay via 6pack wrote: > Hey all, > Today, before the Houston heat grows too great, I hope to address the > rear brake hydraulics on my '75 TR6 project car. Specifically, I will > inspect all of the pipes, flush them clean, then replace the rear flex > hose. Work from the distribution block on to the new slave cylinders has > already been completed. > I already finished work on the front system and cleaned up the area. > Here's how it looks now. (Remember, this is to be a nice driver, not a show > car.) > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190731_103230.jpg > > The switch on the pressure differential warning system, is bad and the > piston seals leak. Until replacement parts can be sourced, the switch port > is sealed with a short 3/8-fine bolt and a thick rubber washer. Doing so > leaves the system a straight through junction, if with a tiny bit of > leakage between chambers. > > Rick > > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > 6pack at autox.team.nethttp://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/yellowtr at adelphia.net > > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/richardolindsay at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cartravel at pobox.com Fri Aug 2 14:32:43 2019 From: cartravel at pobox.com (Larry Young) Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2019 15:32:43 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Originality question... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <817499fd-aa98-a48a-5b51-6bfa64d7f93c@pobox.com> I'm a little late on this one. My TR250 was bought for European delivery. I picked it up at the factory in Coventry, so all options were factory installed. The options listed in the brochure I purchased from are: tonneau cover ($24), whitewall tires ($13), Michelin X tires ($39), wire wheels ($77), overdrive ($121), AM radio ($80), AM/FM radio ($120), luggage rack ($38), bumper guards ($23). The list could have changed later, but these are the standard factory options for the TR250. Cars shipped to the US may have had some of them dealer installed. The factory installed my luggage rack after I arrived to pick it up and saw that a normal suitcase will not fit in the trunk. The rack had a small sticker with the Standard/Triumph logo on it. Notice there are no chrome wire wheels which you see on many overrestored cars. Larry Young On 7/26/2019 9:17 AM, Irv Korey via 6pack wrote: > > > On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 9:09 AM Richard Lindsay via 6pack > <6pack at autox.team.net > wrote: > > Was the chrome luggage rack often found on the U.S. spec cars' > boot lids, a factory installed option, a dealer installed option, > or something aftermarket? > > Dealer installed, or aftermarket. > > Irv Korey > 74 TR6 CF22767U > Highland Park, IL > > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/cartravel at pobox.com > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From im_sloane at hotmail.com Fri Aug 2 21:05:37 2019 From: im_sloane at hotmail.com (im sloane) Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 03:05:37 +0000 Subject: [6pack] More brakes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Just my .02 cents on the Pressure Differential switch. They always are a source of grief. Of course it would be best for it to function correctly and to light the BRAKE light if there is an issue. But minus the dash light working, it seems more safe to have the front and rear systems totally separated with assorted brake male & female fittings as needed, than to have a differential unit that could cause all fluid to leak out of both systems. I've helped a buddy do this on his car and he was most happy to end all the fluid leaking. Just keep this in the back of your mind in case you are at wits-end to get the darn thing to stop leaking and the dash-light on or off as necessary. Now, full disclosure. My 69 Six has had a bolt inserted in place of the switch since I purchased it in 86 and with no leaks, if it ain't broke I don't fix it. Sloane :) 69-Six 72-Spit (still waiting for new engine) ________________________________ From: 6pack <6pack-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Richard Lindsay via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> Sent: Friday, August 2, 2019 12:33 PM To: TR6 <6pack at autox.team.net> Subject: [6pack] More brakes The switch on the pressure differential warning system, is bad and the piston seals leak. Until replacement parts can be sourced, the switch port is sealed with a short 3/8-fine bolt and a thick rubber washer. Doing so leaves the system a straight through junction, if with a tiny bit of leakage between chambers. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Sat Aug 3 16:36:30 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 17:36:30 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Almost ready Message-ID: Hello friends, I write today to share news of project progress. But first, here is a bit of back story. The car is a '75 TR6. Everything mechanical is done on the car except for the rear brakes. All suspension, front and rear, has been removed, cleaned, refinished and reinstalled with new bushings. New dampers are installed. New brake calipers, new slave cylinders, new pads and shoes too. The rotors and brake drums are turned to resurface and true. New front hydraulic pipes and hoses are installed. The engine is restored and very strong. The clutch, gearbox, prop shaft, and third member are all tested good. Aftermarket but period-correct alloy wheels have been media blasted and powder coated and sport new tires. Lug nuts and washers are getting powder coated (black) this week. The car is now about ready to go to the paint shop. End of backstory. The rear brake hydraulic bits are all restored except for painting the cleaned brake pipes - the NLA ones that are not to be replaced. Those pipes have been flushed clean with brake cleaner then blown dry. After degreasing and cleaning the exterior with ScotchBrite, the pipe metal is vulnerable to corrosion/rust. I will just paint the pipes gray. The other new pipes and flex hoses are due to arrive Monday. Reassembly will begin then. After a final bleed, the car will be ready for Carmine Red paint. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Sat Aug 3 16:53:39 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 17:53:39 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Wheels on my project Message-ID: http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20171108_104056.jpg -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave at ranteer.com Sat Aug 3 18:09:22 2019 From: dave at ranteer.com (dave) Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 19:09:22 -0500 Subject: [6pack] FW: Wheels on my project In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <003301d54a58$de9daaf0$9bd900d0$@ranteer.com> I believe those are slotted rims? Nice! How did you polish them? From: 6pack <6pack-bounces at autox.team.net> On Behalf Of Richard Lindsay via 6pack Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2019 5:54 PM To: TR6 <6pack at autox.team.net> Subject: [6pack] Wheels on my project http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20171108_104056.jpg -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: Untitled attachment 00003.txt URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Sat Aug 3 18:44:50 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 19:44:50 -0500 Subject: [6pack] FW: Wheels on my project In-Reply-To: <003301d54a58$de9daaf0$9bd900d0$@ranteer.com> References: <003301d54a58$de9daaf0$9bd900d0$@ranteer.com> Message-ID: Thanks. They were on the car when I got it. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000373.JPG The wheels were media blasted with very fine corundum to clean the alloy, then powder coated with Porsche Silver wheel color powder. The hub caps are plastic and refinished with landau black paint for plastic. They are attached with black socket head cap screws. The logo centers were custom made to order. The lugnuts and washers were painted black but scratched easily. They are now getting powder coated black. Rick On Sat, Aug 3, 2019, 7:09 PM dave via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > I believe those are slotted rims? Nice! How did you polish them? > > > > *From:* 6pack <6pack-bounces at autox.team.net> *On Behalf Of *Richard > Lindsay via 6pack > *Sent:* Saturday, August 3, 2019 5:54 PM > *To:* TR6 <6pack at autox.team.net> > *Subject:* [6pack] Wheels on my project > > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20171108_104056.jpg > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/richardolindsay at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Sat Aug 3 18:47:43 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2019 19:47:43 -0500 Subject: [6pack] FW: Wheels on my project In-Reply-To: References: <003301d54a58$de9daaf0$9bd900d0$@ranteer.com> Message-ID: In all of my car projects I try to follow this ideal: If I can't make it 'correct' (affordably), I will make it look 'intentional', and period correct whenever possible. Rick On Sat, Aug 3, 2019, 7:44 PM Richard Lindsay wrote: > Thanks. They were on the car when I got it. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000373.JPG > > The wheels were media blasted with very fine corundum to clean the > alloy, then powder coated with Porsche Silver wheel color powder. The hub > caps are plastic and refinished with landau black paint for plastic. They > are attached with black socket head cap screws. The logo centers were > custom made to order. The lugnuts and washers were painted black but > scratched easily. They are now getting powder coated black. > > Rick > > On Sat, Aug 3, 2019, 7:09 PM dave via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > >> I believe those are slotted rims? Nice! How did you polish them? >> >> >> >> *From:* 6pack <6pack-bounces at autox.team.net> *On Behalf Of *Richard >> Lindsay via 6pack >> *Sent:* Saturday, August 3, 2019 5:54 PM >> *To:* TR6 <6pack at autox.team.net> >> *Subject:* [6pack] Wheels on my project >> >> >> >> http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20171108_104056.jpg >> _______________________________________________ >> Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html >> Suggested annual donation $12.96 >> Archive: http://www.team.net/archive >> Forums: http://www.team.net/forums >> >> 6pack at autox.team.net >> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack >> >> Unsubscribe/Manage: >> http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/richardolindsay at gmail.com >> >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Sun Aug 4 12:12:49 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2019 13:12:49 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Best laid plans Message-ID: Best laid plans. The threads in one of the rear distribution block's ports are too worn. The pipe fitting won't tighten. Steel into brass is great the first time around. After that, the threads can suffer. More new parts are on order. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Mon Aug 5 05:36:39 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2019 06:36:39 -0500 Subject: [6pack] A tale of two cars (a.k.a.Too quiet here) Message-ID: Hello Friends, Its very quiet here now. I have a few words to share, breaking that silence. First a plan for the Maserati Biturbo and second, an update on the other project eating my retirement hours: my TR6. In a few days, my wife and I are attending a destination wedding followed shortly thereafter by a short cruise. In total I will be away from the shop for 11 days. My car work is necessarily going on hold. Before that hiatus begins I will exercise, or at least start all of my cars as I have done semi-religiously. The professional shop that said they would diagnose and repair my Biturbo, has quit returning my calls. I can only assume that they do not want the work. That's okay. Money saved. I have other plans. As I wrote earlier, I intend to remove the engine from my parts car. With the engine on the engine stand, access to it's turbos will be much simpler. This exercise will also familiarize myself with the extraction peculiarities, useful later when I service my 35k miles car. I have also purchased a used oil cooled turbo from a 2.5 liter Biturbo. The ebay cost was marginally less than the rebuild kit that I purchased earlier from Lenny at Auto-Italia. I will rebuild this unit in advance of retrieving the two turbos from the parts car. At the very least, doing so will be a learning exercise. In other news; Work on my Triumph TR6 is once again on hold. Every mechanical system on the car is restored except for the rear brake hydraulics. With mostly new or freshened parts in hand I began reassembly yesterday morning. All went well until I attached the cross pipe to the two-way distribution block. The steel pipe fitting threaded in okay but as I snugged the bubble flair fitting down, the brass threads in the block cut free and the fitting became loose once again. The distribution block is damaged beyond repair. Fortunately, this is one of the parts that is available in the spares market. $23 later, a new block is on order and on its way. A further $16 invested and a new cross pipe is coming too. New threads to mate with new threads. That's it from north-west Houston. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From janah at att.net Mon Aug 5 19:28:36 2019 From: janah at att.net (John Cyganowski) Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2019 01:28:36 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [6pack] Almost Ready In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1993066960.1555159.1565054916488@mail.yahoo.com> I am also returning home tomorrow after 11 days. Hopefully some parts will be waiting for me. The bubble flairs can be very hard. If you sock down on the ferrule nuts too hard, the metal at the compression end of the nut can distort and ride up over the bubble flair, resulting in a leak. Then you will need to fabricate or buy new lines with the correct ferrule nuts.? John Cyg70 DamsonCC52927LO -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From janah at att.net Tue Aug 6 12:46:01 2019 From: janah at att.net (John Cyganowski) Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2019 18:46:01 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [6pack] PDWA - Pressure Differential Warning Actuator In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <310313429.1960695.1565117161117@mail.yahoo.com> I will toss in a few more cents to this discussion.? Firstly, what is this thing and what does it do? ?I have heard ?regulator?, ?brake circuit balancer? or ?valve? etc. ?It is none of these. It is a pressure switch. Period. It is a part of a safety system to alert the driver of an unsafe condition in the brake system. It is one the few safety system in these cars. One side of the switch is open to the front brake circuit and the other side of the switch is open to the rear brake circuit. There is a cross over that contains a metal shuttle. When the driver steps on the brakes, if the pressure in one circuit is lower than the pressure in the other circuit, the shuttle moves toward the low pressure circuit depressing the switch mounted on the cross over establishing a ground and lighting the brake fault light.? The front and back circuits are Isolated by seals on the shuttle. There are 2 types of PDWAs. One uses double o-ring seals on each side of the shuttle to prevent a fluid leak and to allow pressure to be maintained in the circuit. The replacement o-rings are available from the usual suspects. This is the most common type of pressure switch. There is another type with seals that are like little moulded rubber cups mounted ends of the shuttle. I don?t know if these seals are still made. Like any seal they can get old and disintegrate (they swell with contact to glycol based brake fluids) and they should be replaced. It is a very similar with wear components like the brake pads and shoes. They wear out and have to be replaced. When the seals fail, the individual circuits do not intermix. Because the brake circuits are both under pressure, the fluid looks for the path of least resistance and it leaks out the threads of the actuator switch. The leaking fluid will eat your paint quick undiscovered.? It is neither hard nor difficult to remedy the seals in the PDWA and keep a working safety system that could possibly save your life or the life of your passenger. ?But it is your car and we all have our own threshold of risk. I think it is irresponsible to recommend that someone make modifications to defeat a safety system on a mission critical system like brakes. ?YMMV.? John Cyg70 DamsonCC9252LO -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lee at automate-it.com Fri Aug 9 22:31:47 2019 From: lee at automate-it.com (Lee Daniels) Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2019 23:31:47 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Jim Clark tribute in The Grand Tour episode Message-ID: <16aa42dd0fec6b0fac1b287d083ac14b.squirrel@automate-it.com> I had just about written off The Grand Tour, as the humor had become clunky and the real car talk had become thin. Then I watched episode 5 of season 3 tonight. A couple of decent tests/reviews, and yes some juvenile humor, such as Jeremy ice-racing a Lambo Urus vs. Abbie Eaton in a Porsche, on a penis-shaped track. But then --- the tour-de-force --- a 20-minute historical tribute to Jim Clark, with plenty of photos and footage. Oh, my. They include interviews with a couple of his colleagues, who tear up a little - as did I. And Richard Hammond gets to drive the very Lotus 25 that Clark himself drove! If you have Amazon Prime, watch this one. It's episode 5 of Season 3, titled "An Itchy Urus" (of course). If you don't have an hour, jump to 00:36:00 and watch the last 22 minutes, you'll be glad you did. Lee From richardolindsay at gmail.com Sat Aug 10 06:13:09 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2019 07:13:09 -0500 Subject: [6pack] A little luck Message-ID: Morning gang, With a little luck my grandson and I will compete repairs to the TR6 rear brakes today. When done it will be ready for the paint shop. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Sat Aug 10 10:34:06 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2019 11:34:06 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Success Message-ID: Hello Friends, We had a wonderfully successful morning today. We got all of the TR6's rear plumbing installed. Its now all new - Master cylinder to and through the calipers and slave cylinders. We ran out of time and it got too hot to finish a proper bleed but we did flow brake fluid through and found no leaks. I filled the reservoir compartments then with the MityVac, I pulled fluid through each corner. After a week away at a wedding, a friend will help me bleed the brakes properly with the pedal. Here's a picture of one rear corner, taken and shared just because it looks nice. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190810_112143.jpg Rick From richardolindsay at gmail.com Mon Aug 12 14:15:11 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 15:15:11 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Anticipation Message-ID: Hello Friends, With my '75 TR6 heading to the paint shop for a nice two-stage Carmine Red respray, I find myself getting excited about the reassembly process. I have a new beige interior waiting to go in after I get the brown carpet installed. Let me share a few pictures to better tell some of the story. First up, here is the interior, stripped and ready for reassembly. The inner paint is Rustoleum burgundy paint, tinted darker with leftover black paint. The goal here is rust proofing, not 'pretty'. All of the metal is sound and rust free. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190311_151429.jpg The carpets will be dark brown with black gators on the handbrake and gear lever. Here's the tunnel cover, already upholstered and waiting to go in. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190324_090543.jpg The black vinyl bits of the dash are all new and in their boxes waiting. The original wooden dash was water damaged and de-laminating. The walnut veneer was peeling off. Here's how it looked upon arrival at my shop. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000380.JPG I carefully removed the instruments, lights and controls then lifted away the plywood dashboard. After cleaning, my first step was stabilizing and restoring the wood. I did so by re-cementing all the lamina of the plywood with Gorilla Glue for Wood. Once that process was complete and the glue cured, I painted (read: saturated) the entire dashboard with Minwax Wood Hardener. Two coats of that product left the original plywood substrate (almost as) strong as new, if ugly. I next sanded all surfaces in preparation for the next step: new veneer. Okay, by now you're probably thinking, "Why did he go to all that trouble when new, beautiful dashboards are available?" The answer is simple. Its a labor of love. The pleasure is in the 'doing' as much so as the result. Okay, with that out of the way... While waiting for glue and hardeners to cure, I tested stains on scraps of veneer. Sadly I didn't document the colors I used but I remember it was two Minwax stains, appied one over the other. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I thought about the Carmine Red paint choice (original) and the beige upholstery (color also original) then looked through my stash of veneer. I had a sheet of walnut but it was straight grain and offered little 'interest'. Also laying about was a sheet of curly maple veneer. I found it interesting so I tested the stain choice. My decision was made. Back at the plywood I cleaned away all sanding dust, painted on a coat of glue and applied the veneer. I rolled out all the air bubbles then weighted down the veneer with every book and gallon paint can that I had sitting about. Two days later I trimmed the edges and roughly cut the larger openings with an Exacto knife. A couple of hours with the Dremel and a sanding disk had the openings routed in. A small grind stone in the Dremel finished the small holes. My garage was covered in fine sawdust as one might imagine so I swept and vacuumed for another day. With the veneer carefully sanded with #400 sandpaper, and vacuumed clean, I applied the first coat of stain. A day later, the second and final color was applied. Two days after that, the first of three coats of urethane clear coat went on. Here's how it looks. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190116_111637.jpg The color is not quite as vibrant as the camera's flash makes it appear, but it does complement the beige upholstery. The ?ber clever ones among you may notice that I did not cut the hole for the dash light rheostat! It is to be omitted. The instruments are going back in with non-dimmable LED lamps. And speaking of instruments... The gauges and lamps came apart for cleaning, testing and refinishing. They were a mess, as anticipated, but no repairs were needed. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_111736.jpg The black trim on most of the chrome bezels was damaged. I stripped it off, cleaned the chrome and reassembled a couple of the gauges. They just didn't look right so back apart they came. I primered then sprayed all the bezels with satin black and that did the trick, especially against the lighter wood dash. Here's how they look, awaiting reassembly. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_125147.jpg New knobs and switches are in hand. The wiper switch had died, as had the headlight master switch. The warning light bezels cleaned up okay so they will (probably) be reused. That's it for now. If interested, I'll share engine, wheels, brakes, suspension, etc., restoration stories. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the post as much as I enjoyed reliving it. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lee at automate-it.com Mon Aug 12 16:11:12 2019 From: lee at automate-it.com (Lee Daniels) Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 17:11:12 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Anticipation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Nice update, Rick. Thanks! Regarding "Why did he go to all that trouble when new, beautiful dashboards are available?" - I agree with you - part of the joy is in the doing. I did a similar re-boot of a Spitfire dash, but nearly 30 years ago. Happy motoring! Lee On Mon, August 12, 2019 15:15, Richard Lindsay via 6pack wrote: > Hello Friends, > With my '75 TR6 heading to the paint shop for a nice two-stage Carmine > Red respray, I find myself getting excited about the reassembly process. I > have a new beige interior waiting to go in after I get the brown carpet > installed. Let me share a few pictures to better tell some of the story. > > First up, here is the interior, stripped and ready for reassembly. The > inner paint is Rustoleum burgundy paint, tinted darker with leftover black > paint. The goal here is rust proofing, not 'pretty'. All of the metal is sound > and rust free. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190311_151429.jpg > > > The carpets will be dark brown with black gators on the handbrake and > gear lever. Here's the tunnel cover, already upholstered and waiting to go in. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190324_090543.jpg > > > The black vinyl bits of the dash are all new and in their boxes waiting. > The original wooden dash was water damaged and de-laminating. The walnut > veneer was peeling off. Here's how it looked upon arrival at my shop. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000380.JPG > > > I carefully removed the instruments, lights and controls then lifted > away the plywood dashboard. After cleaning, my first step was stabilizing and > restoring the wood. I did so by re-cementing all the lamina of the plywood > with Gorilla Glue for Wood. Once that process was complete and the glue cured, > I painted (read: > saturated) the entire dashboard with Minwax Wood Hardener. Two coats of that > product left the original plywood substrate (almost as) strong as new, if > ugly. I next sanded all surfaces in preparation for the next step: new veneer. > Okay, by now you're probably thinking, "Why did he go to all that > trouble when new, beautiful dashboards are available?" The answer is simple. > Its a labor of love. The pleasure is in the 'doing' as much so as > the result. Okay, with that out of the way... While waiting for glue and > hardeners to cure, I tested stains on scraps of veneer. Sadly I didn't > document the colors I used but I remember it was two Minwax stains, appied one > over the other. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I thought about the Carmine > Red paint choice (original) and the beige > upholstery (color also original) then looked through my stash of veneer. I had > a sheet of walnut but it was straight grain and offered little 'interest'. > Also laying about was a sheet of curly maple veneer. I found it > interesting so I tested the stain choice. My decision was made. Back at the > plywood I cleaned away all sanding dust, painted on a coat of glue and applied > the veneer. I rolled out all the air bubbles then weighted down the veneer > with every book and gallon paint can that I had sitting about. Two days later > I trimmed the edges and roughly cut the > larger openings with an Exacto knife. A couple of hours with the Dremel and a > sanding disk had the openings routed in. A small grind stone in the Dremel > finished the small holes. My garage was covered in fine sawdust as one might > imagine so I swept and vacuumed for another day. With the veneer carefully > sanded with #400 sandpaper, and vacuumed clean, I applied the first coat of > stain. A day later, the second and final color was applied. Two days after > that, the first of three coats of urethane clear coat went on. Here's how it > looks. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190116_111637.jpg > > > The color is not quite as vibrant as the camera's flash makes it appear, > but it does complement the beige upholstery. The ??ber clever ones among you > may notice that I did not cut the hole for the dash light rheostat! It is to > be omitted. The instruments are going back in with non-dimmable LED lamps. And > speaking of instruments... > > The gauges and lamps came apart for cleaning, testing and refinishing. > They were a mess, as anticipated, but no repairs were needed. > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_111736.jpg > > > The black trim on most of the chrome bezels was damaged. I stripped it > off, cleaned the chrome and reassembled a couple of the gauges. They just > didn't look right so back apart they came. I primered then sprayed all the > bezels with satin black and that did the trick, especially against the lighter > wood dash. Here's how they look, awaiting reassembly. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_125147.jpg > > > New knobs and switches are in hand. The wiper switch had died, as had > the headlight master switch. The warning light bezels cleaned up okay so they > will (probably) be reused. > > That's it for now. If interested, I'll share engine, wheels, brakes, > suspension, etc., restoration stories. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the post > as much as I enjoyed reliving it. > > Rick > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/lee at automate-it.com > > > From richardolindsay at gmail.com Mon Aug 12 16:18:28 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 17:18:28 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Anticipation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks Lee, I'm heading to a destination wedding...and I don't care for weddings. So... I will write up some of the other restoration steps and post them here...unless I am advised to do otherwise. Rick On Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 5:11 PM Lee Daniels wrote: > Nice update, Rick. Thanks! > Regarding "Why did he go to all that trouble when new, beautiful dashboards > are available?" - I agree with you - part of the joy is in the doing. > I did a similar re-boot of a Spitfire dash, but nearly 30 years ago. > > Happy motoring! > Lee > > On Mon, August 12, 2019 15:15, Richard Lindsay via 6pack wrote: > > Hello Friends, > > With my '75 TR6 heading to the paint shop for a nice two-stage Carmine > > Red respray, I find myself getting excited about the reassembly process. > I > > have a new beige interior waiting to go in after I get the brown carpet > > installed. Let me share a few pictures to better tell some of the story. > > > > First up, here is the interior, stripped and ready for reassembly. The > > inner paint is Rustoleum burgundy paint, tinted darker with leftover > black > > paint. The goal here is rust proofing, not 'pretty'. All of the metal is > sound > > and rust free. > > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190311_151429.jpg > > > > > > The carpets will be dark brown with black gators on the handbrake and > > gear lever. Here's the tunnel cover, already upholstered and waiting to > go in. > > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190324_090543.jpg > > > > > > The black vinyl bits of the dash are all new and in their boxes waiting. > > The original wooden dash was water damaged and de-laminating. The walnut > > veneer was peeling off. Here's how it looked upon arrival at my shop. > > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000380.JPG > > > > > > I carefully removed the instruments, lights and controls then lifted > > away the plywood dashboard. After cleaning, my first step was > stabilizing and > > restoring the wood. I did so by re-cementing all the lamina of the > plywood > > with Gorilla Glue for Wood. Once that process was complete and the glue > cured, > > I painted (read: > > saturated) the entire dashboard with Minwax Wood Hardener. Two coats of > that > > product left the original plywood substrate (almost as) strong as new, if > > ugly. I next sanded all surfaces in preparation for the next step: new > veneer. > > Okay, by now you're probably thinking, "Why did he go to all that > > trouble when new, beautiful dashboards are available?" The answer is > simple. > > Its a labor of love. The pleasure is in the 'doing' as much so as > > the result. Okay, with that out of the way... While waiting for glue and > > hardeners to cure, I tested stains on scraps of veneer. Sadly I didn't > > document the colors I used but I remember it was two Minwax stains, > appied one > > over the other. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I thought about the > Carmine > > Red paint choice (original) and the beige > > upholstery (color also original) then looked through my stash of veneer. > I had > > a sheet of walnut but it was straight grain and offered little > 'interest'. > > Also laying about was a sheet of curly maple veneer. I found it > > interesting so I tested the stain choice. My decision was made. Back at > the > > plywood I cleaned away all sanding dust, painted on a coat of glue and > applied > > the veneer. I rolled out all the air bubbles then weighted down the > veneer > > with every book and gallon paint can that I had sitting about. Two days > later > > I trimmed the edges and roughly cut the > > larger openings with an Exacto knife. A couple of hours with the Dremel > and a > > sanding disk had the openings routed in. A small grind stone in the > Dremel > > finished the small holes. My garage was covered in fine sawdust as one > might > > imagine so I swept and vacuumed for another day. With the veneer > carefully > > sanded with #400 sandpaper, and vacuumed clean, I applied the first coat > of > > stain. A day later, the second and final color was applied. Two days > after > > that, the first of three coats of urethane clear coat went on. Here's > how it > > looks. > > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190116_111637.jpg > > > > > > The color is not quite as vibrant as the camera's flash makes it appear, > > but it does complement the beige upholstery. The ?ber clever ones among > you > > may notice that I did not cut the hole for the dash light rheostat! It > is to > > be omitted. The instruments are going back in with non-dimmable LED > lamps. And > > speaking of instruments... > > > > The gauges and lamps came apart for cleaning, testing and refinishing. > > They were a mess, as anticipated, but no repairs were needed. > > > > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_111736.jpg > > > > > > The black trim on most of the chrome bezels was damaged. I stripped it > > off, cleaned the chrome and reassembled a couple of the gauges. They just > > didn't look right so back apart they came. I primered then sprayed all > the > > bezels with satin black and that did the trick, especially against the > lighter > > wood dash. Here's how they look, awaiting reassembly. > > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_125147.jpg > > > > > > New knobs and switches are in hand. The wiper switch had died, as had > > the headlight master switch. The warning light bezels cleaned up okay so > they > > will (probably) be reused. > > > > That's it for now. If interested, I'll share engine, wheels, brakes, > > suspension, etc., restoration stories. Until then, I hope you enjoyed > the post > > as much as I enjoyed reliving it. > > > > Rick > > _______________________________________________ > > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > > > > > 6pack at autox.team.net > > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > > > > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/lee at automate-it.com > > > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From daybell7 at aol.com Mon Aug 12 17:26:03 2019 From: daybell7 at aol.com (daybell7) Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 19:26:03 -0400 Subject: [6pack] Inspirational updates, Rich. Good job. Thx. Message-ID: Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stan at redtr6.com Mon Aug 12 18:15:44 2019 From: stan at redtr6.com (Stan Foster) Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 00:15:44 +0000 Subject: [6pack] [TR] Jim Clark tribute in The Grand Tour episode In-Reply-To: <16aa42dd0fec6b0fac1b287d083ac14b.squirrel@automate-it.com> References: <16aa42dd0fec6b0fac1b287d083ac14b.squirrel@automate-it.com> Message-ID: Thanks Lee. I lost interest in the Top Gear trio years ago but I very much enjoyed that tribute to Jim Clark. Stan ________________________________ From: Triumphs on behalf of Lee Daniels Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2019 12:31:47 AM To: 6pack at autox.team.net <6pack at autox.team.net>; triumphs at autox.team.net Subject: [TR] Jim Clark tribute in The Grand Tour episode I had just about written off The Grand Tour, as the humor had become clunky and the real car talk had become thin. Then I watched episode 5 of season 3 tonight. A couple of decent tests/reviews, and yes some juvenile humor, such as Jeremy ice-racing a Lambo Urus vs. Abbie Eaton in a Porsche, on a penis-shaped track. But then --- the tour-de-force --- a 20-minute historical tribute to Jim Clark, with plenty of photos and footage. Oh, my. They include interviews with a couple of his colleagues, who tear up a little - as did I. And Richard Hammond gets to drive the very Lotus 25 that Clark himself drove! If you have Amazon Prime, watch this one. It's episode 5 of Season 3, titled "An Itchy Urus" (of course). If you don't have an hour, jump to 00:36:00 and watch the last 22 minutes, you'll be glad you did. Lee ** triumphs at autox.team.net ** Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/triumphs http://www.team.net/archive Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/stan at redtr6.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From im_sloane at hotmail.com Mon Aug 12 20:58:04 2019 From: im_sloane at hotmail.com (im sloane) Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 02:58:04 +0000 Subject: [6pack] Anticipation In-Reply-To: References: , Message-ID: Just a silly suggestion for you, but in the right hands might be of interest. That omitted dash light rheostat knob might make a neat pull knob for your emergency hood release, and save the original appearance. Sloane :) ________________________________ From: 6pack <6pack-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Lee Daniels via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> Sent: Monday, August 12, 2019 10:11 PM To: Richard Lindsay Cc: TR6 <6pack at autox.team.net> Subject: Re: [6pack] Anticipation Nice update, Rick. Thanks! Regarding "Why did he go to all that trouble when new, beautiful dashboards are available?" - I agree with you - part of the joy is in the doing. I did a similar re-boot of a Spitfire dash, but nearly 30 years ago. > but it does complement the beige upholstery. The ??ber clever ones among you > may notice that I did not cut the hole for the dash light rheostat! It is to > be omitted. The instruments are going back in with non-dimmable LED lamps. And > speaking of instruments... > > The gauges and lamps came apart for cleaning, testing and refinishing. > They were a mess, as anticipated, but no repairs were needed. > > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_111736.jpg > > > The black trim on most of the chrome bezels was damaged. I stripped it > off, cleaned the chrome and reassembled a couple of the gauges. They just > didn't look right so back apart they came. I primered then sprayed all the > bezels with satin black and that did the trick, especially against the lighter > wood dash. Here's how they look, awaiting reassembly. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190113_125147.jpg > > > New knobs and switches are in hand. The wiper switch had died, as had > the headlight master switch. The warning light bezels cleaned up okay so they > will (probably) be reused. > > That's it for now. If interested, I'll share engine, wheels, brakes, > suspension, etc., restoration stories. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the post > as much as I enjoyed reliving it. > > Rick > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/lee at automate-it.com > > > _______________________________________________ Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html Suggested annual donation $12.96 Archive: http://www.team.net/archive Forums: http://www.team.net/forums 6pack at autox.team.net http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/im_sloane at hotmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Tue Aug 13 19:07:13 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 15:07:13 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Engine restoration, abbreviated Message-ID: Hello again Friends, The following is an abbreviated story, with pictures, of the resurrection of my TR6 engine. The car hadn't run in decades, I am told, but the engine looked pretty good. Here's a first look. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000408.JPG First step was to pull the plugs, squirt in about 1cc of oil, and turn the engine over by hand. Everything turned smoothly. I next changed the oil and filter, connected a battery, pulled the fuses out, and spun the engine for a second or two on the starter. Everything turned smoothly. Next step, a compression test. Given a 1975 U.S. specification engine with a compression ratio of 7.75:1, the perfect static pressure would be about 114psi. My engine's initial (cold) compression readings are: *1 115 psi 2 106 psi 3 103 psi 4 111 psi 5 102 psi 6 111 psi* Considering that this engine hadn't run in ages and the condition of the valve and their seats was unknown, I decided to *not* open the engine unless further tests indicated that doing so was warranted. I next removed the valve cover and found a clean rocker shaft and springs. And with the cover of off, I cleaned and refinished it. Lots of other bits got cleaned and refinished at the same time. The waterpump and thermostat were replaced. All hoses are new. The radiator was flushed and pressure tested. A new fan belt was installed and the cooling system was flushed. The Z-S carbs were rebuilt and reinstalled on new gaskets. The fuel line was disconnected and flushed clean. The tank was boiled out and no corrosion was found. Earlier I posted a picture or two of the electric fuel pump I used. Here's one of the pictures again. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190722_091448.jpg I removed all the non-functional emissions bits including the air injection plumbing. The pipe fittings on the manifold were not coming off by any means known to man so...I sawed off the pipes and plugged them with bolts and ultra high temperature cement. Here's how they looked before 'surgery'. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190514_091212.jpg Before going on and on, as I am want to do, here is the engine and it's bay. This is before balancing the carbs and installing the refinished air cleaner with a new element. It now starts easily and runs great! http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190515_120747.jpg I've left out the bit about omitting a waterpump bolt and causing a leak. And probably other little issues like a new alternator, but you get the gist. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From grglmn at gmail.com Tue Aug 13 20:29:05 2019 From: grglmn at gmail.com (Greg Lemon) Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:29:05 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Engine restoration, abbreviated In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Richard, I have enjoyed the story of your TR6 ressurection. When I did my TR250 motor I did tear it down, a 90,000 plus mile car, the machinist polished the crank, and honed the notes. I put on new rings and bearings. Point being you may be on the right path leaving it alone, they can apparently do considerable miles without too much wear. One note, don't forget to check crank float or end play. The thrust washers on the crank are a known fail point. I seem to recall they can be replaced by dropping the pan and sliding the bearing out. Greg Lemon TR250 On Tue, Aug 13, 2019, 8:07 PM Richard Lindsay via 6pack < 6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > Hello again Friends, > The following is an abbreviated story, with pictures, of the > resurrection of my TR6 engine. The car hadn't run in decades, I am told, > but the engine looked pretty good. Here's a first look. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000408.JPG > > First step was to pull the plugs, squirt in about 1cc of oil, and turn > the engine over by hand. Everything turned smoothly. I next changed the oil > and filter, connected a battery, pulled the fuses out, and spun the engine > for a second or two on the starter. Everything turned smoothly. > Next step, a compression test. Given a 1975 U.S. specification engine > with a compression ratio of 7.75:1, the perfect static pressure would be > about 114psi. My engine's initial (cold) compression readings are: > > > > > > > *1 115 psi 2 106 psi 3 103 psi 4 111 psi 5 102 psi 6 111 psi* > > Considering that this engine hadn't run in ages and the condition of > the valve and their seats was unknown, I decided to *not* open the engine > unless further tests indicated that doing so was warranted. > I next removed the valve cover and found a clean rocker shaft and > springs. And with the cover of off, I cleaned and refinished it. Lots of > other bits got cleaned and refinished at the same time. > The waterpump and thermostat were replaced. All hoses are new. The > radiator was flushed and pressure tested. A new fan belt was installed and > the cooling system was flushed. > The Z-S carbs were rebuilt and reinstalled on new gaskets. The fuel > line was disconnected and flushed clean. The tank was boiled out and no > corrosion was found. > Earlier I posted a picture or two of the electric fuel pump I used. > Here's one of the pictures again. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190722_091448.jpg > > I removed all the non-functional emissions bits including the air > injection plumbing. The pipe fittings on the manifold were not coming off > by any means known to man so...I sawed off the pipes and plugged them with > bolts and ultra high temperature cement. Here's how they looked before > 'surgery'. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190514_091212.jpg > > Before going on and on, as I am want to do, here is the engine and it's > bay. This is before balancing the carbs and installing the refinished air > cleaner with a new element. It now starts easily and runs great! > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190515_120747.jpg > > I've left out the bit about omitting a waterpump bolt and causing a > leak. And probably other little issues like a new alternator, but you get > the gist. > > Rick > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/grglmn at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Wed Aug 14 00:24:45 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 20:24:45 -1000 Subject: [6pack] More resto stuff Message-ID: Hello Friends, I'm stuck out in Hawaii at a destination wedding, not near my cars. Still, as I sit here jet-lagged to the hilt, I am pondering what to do next. If you don't mind me sending voluminous posts about my project car, I will continue to do so. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Wed Aug 14 01:06:36 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:06:36 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Wheels and tires Message-ID: Hello Friends, Tonight I will share a few words and pictures regarding wheels. First up let me state: My car did not come to me with Triumph wheels on it. Rather, it has period-correct alloy wheels. Earlier here, someone commented on the wheel name...but I have forgotten it. So first up, here is a picture of the kind of wheels that were on my car when I got it. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000397.JPG I'll keep this note short. Short for me anyway. Here's the story. I put the car up on my platform lift. That got it up about 24 inches. More than adequate. I removed all four wheels and stored the lug nuts and washers in a ziplock bag. I took the wheels to my local mechanic and had the tires removed. Back home I removed valve stems and any remaining wheel weights. The wheels then went to my friend Ashton for fine media blasting and powder coating. She used Porsche wheel silver. The lug nuts and washers were coated in satin black. While the wheels and attachments were getting refinished, I selected and ordered new tires. When the wheels came back I installed new metal valve stems, then mounted the tires and balanced them. My words are out of sequence here because I also rebuilt the suspension and brakes before installing the newly restored wheels and tires. They sat and waited while I worked. So skipping forward, I mounted the newly restored wheels using the refinished lug nuts, on the restored hubs. I then examined the chrome plastic hub covers and decided the chrome was too far gone. So I roughed them up with ScotchBrite and painted them with matching satin black paint. They came out nicely but had no center emblems. A guy I met on some car list pointed me toward a site that makes high quality wheel logo emblems (stickers). He didn't have Triumph artwork so I kludged one up in PowerPoint then sent it to him as a JPG. Not cheap but I got back four beautiful center emblems. They fit the hub covers perfectly - since they were specified to fit them! I next measured the original screws that held the caps on and replaced them with black socket head cap screws of the same diameter and thread pitch. Before installing the caps, I ran a tap through the threads to clean out any powdercoat. I then installed the hub caps with the cap screws, lubricated with a little copper infused thread lubericant. Here's how they look now. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20171106_094521.jpg http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20171108_104056.jpg That's it for wheels and tires. Suspension and brakes yet to come. Then interior rebuild as it evolves. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pdqtr6 at comcast.net Wed Aug 14 06:40:27 2019 From: pdqtr6 at comcast.net (Tom Walling) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 08:40:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [6pack] Engine restoration, abbreviated In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <731604834.214295.1565786427970@connect.xfinity.com> Another "Zombie TR6"!! You can't kill 'em, even if they look dead. > On August 13, 2019 at 9:07 PM Richard Lindsay via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > > Hello again Friends, > The following is an abbreviated story, with pictures, of the resurrection of my TR6 engine. The car hadn't run in decades, I am told, but the engine looked pretty good. Here's a first look. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000408.JPG > > First step was to pull the plugs, squirt in about 1cc of oil, and turn the engine over by hand. Everything turned smoothly. I next changed the oil and filter, connected a battery, pulled the fuses out, and spun the engine for a second or two on the starter. Everything turned smoothly. > Next step, a compression test. Given a 1975 U.S. specification engine with a compression ratio of 7.75:1, the perfect static pressure would be about 114psi. My engine's initial (cold) compression readings are: > > 1 115 psi > 2 106 psi > 3 103 psi > 4 111 psi > 5 102 psi > 6 111 psi > > Considering that this engine hadn't run in ages and the condition of the valve and their seats was unknown, I decided to not open the engine unless further tests indicated that doing so was warranted. > I next removed the valve cover and found a clean rocker shaft and springs. And with the cover of off, I cleaned and refinished it. Lots of other bits got cleaned and refinished at the same time. > The waterpump and thermostat were replaced. All hoses are new. The radiator was flushed and pressure tested. A new fan belt was installed and the cooling system was flushed. > The Z-S carbs were rebuilt and reinstalled on new gaskets. The fuel line was disconnected and flushed clean. The tank was boiled out and no corrosion was found. > Earlier I posted a picture or two of the electric fuel pump I used. Here's one of the pictures again. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190722_091448.jpg > > I removed all the non-functional emissions bits including the air injection plumbing. The pipe fittings on the manifold were not coming off by any means known to man so...I sawed off the pipes and plugged them with bolts and ultra high temperature cement. Here's how they looked before 'surgery'. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190514_091212.jpg > > Before going on and on, as I am want to do, here is the engine and it's bay. This is before balancing the carbs and installing the refinished air cleaner with a new element. It now starts easily and runs great! > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190515_120747.jpg > > I've left out the bit about omitting a waterpump bolt and causing a leak. And probably other little issues like a new alternator, but you get the gist. > > Rick > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/pdqtr6 at comcast.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pdqtr6 at comcast.net Wed Aug 14 07:48:23 2019 From: pdqtr6 at comcast.net (Tom Walling) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 09:48:23 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [6pack] More resto stuff In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <826169933.216077.1565790503599@connect.xfinity.com> Please - keep them commin'! > On August 14, 2019 at 2:24 AM Richard Lindsay via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > > Hello Friends, > I'm stuck out in Hawaii at a destination wedding, not near my cars. Still, as I sit here jet-lagged to the hilt, I am pondering what to do next. If you don't mind me sending voluminous posts about my project car, I will continue to do so. > > Rick > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/pdqtr6 at comcast.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Wed Aug 14 09:34:49 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 05:34:49 -1000 Subject: [6pack] More resto stuff In-Reply-To: <826169933.216077.1565790503599@connect.xfinity.com> References: <826169933.216077.1565790503599@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: Thanks. Just sharing my one and only hobby. On Wed, Aug 14, 2019, 3:48 AM Tom Walling wrote: > Please - keep them commin'! > > > On August 14, 2019 at 2:24 AM Richard Lindsay via 6pack < > 6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > > Hello Friends, > I'm stuck out in Hawaii at a destination wedding, not near my cars. > Still, as I sit here jet-lagged to the hilt, I am pondering what to do > next. If you don't mind me sending voluminous posts about my project car, I > will continue to do so. > > Rick > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/pdqtr6 at comcast.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Wed Aug 14 10:01:21 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 06:01:21 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Engine restoration, abbreviated In-Reply-To: <731604834.214295.1565786427970@connect.xfinity.com> References: <731604834.214295.1565786427970@connect.xfinity.com> Message-ID: > Another "Zombie TR6"!! You can't kill 'em, even if they look dead. Yep resurrection in progress...and its eating my brain. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20170429_135748e.jpg http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000402.JPG http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000409.JPG ...and its eating my brain. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tomkate at shaw.ca Wed Aug 14 10:45:56 2019 From: tomkate at shaw.ca (TOM MARTIN) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 10:45:56 -0600 (MDT) Subject: [6pack] Fwd: Engine restoration, abbreviated In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1910746914.128974866.1565801156258.JavaMail.zimbra@cds206.dcs.int.inet> A zombie with great bones,,,thanks for the play by play it?s great Tom Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: > From: Richard Lindsay via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> > Date: August 14, 2019 at 9:01:21 AM PDT > To: Tom Walling > Cc: 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> > Subject: Re: [6pack] Engine restoration, abbreviated > Reply-To: Richard Lindsay > > > Another "Zombie TR6"!! You can't kill 'em, even if they look dead. > > Yep resurrection in progress...and its eating my brain. > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20170429_135748e.jpg > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000402.JPG > > http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/P1000409.JPG > > ...and its eating my brain. > > Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Wed Aug 14 21:20:40 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 17:20:40 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Carburetors and Induction System Message-ID: Hello Friends, Here is a piece that I wrote a bit ago. Prompted on by those of you who have responded, this and a following note, are repeated here. I hope you find them informative. Although the assumption is that the engine is fed by SU carburetors, the physics hold true for Z-S fed cars. Please ignore the minor irregularities. Rick Carburetors and Induction System Inside of the SU?s 'float bowls' are brass cylinders called 'floats'. They float, thus the name, on the petrol in the 'bowls'. The float bowl is plumbed internally to the main 'jet' or tube, sticking up through a 'bridge' in the 'choke'. The bridge forms a venturi, accelerating the air passing over it. Physics tells us that faster moving air exhibits lower pressure causing petrol, resting at ambient pressure, to flow up and out of the jet and into the rarefied air. How much flows is determined by the metering 'needle'. That closely fitting needle is tapered with the smaller diameter at the tip and larger at the shank. The needle is attached to an 'air piston' or air dam that raises and lowers as the 'throttle' demands air. More demand and the air piston lifts, admitting more air. In doing so, the attached needle lifts up the jet. As the diameter of the needle decreases, the annulus between the needle and jet increases in area, allowing more petrol to flow into the air stream. And Voila! The fuel is metered to the air, keeping the 'air:fuel ratio' of the 'charge' correct! Gravity makes the petrol in the jet seek the same level as that in the float bowl. Therefore, the level in the bowl must be carefully established. And that is the job of the ?float bowl valves?. So the first step in tuning is to install a new float bowl valve and adjust the actuating arm or float feelers, so as to correctly set the petrol level in the bowl and jet. With the SU, the correct setting is 11mm, as per the TR3b / H6 carburetor manual. The height is measured from the lid flange up to the fingers with the arm resting on the valve. The cork gaskets on the float bowl covers are available new but because of low demand, they are typically old stock, and have shrunk a bit. They just don't fit well. So instead of fighting new-old-stock, many tuners reuse the old cork, helping it seal with a thin smear of vacuum grease - the stuff used to seal glassware in wet chemistry labs. The other value in reusing the old gaskets is that they are already compressed to the proper thickness. While sealing well, the new gaskets may require the attachment nut to be over tightened to attain the correct thickness. The SU carburetor, when in use, is operating in a dynamic state. The fuel dynamics are actually very mild. Petrol flowing from the jet is replaced via the float bowl valve. That's about it. The inertia of the fuel causes the replenishment to lag the output. However, even at maximum flow, the amount of petrol flowing is very small. Thus the mild fuel dynamics and it is of no consequence. Air flow is another issue all together. Air (moving at low speed) has very little inertia, owing to its low density. When the throttle is opened, a great gust of air begins to flow. Without some method of moderation, the mixture would lean-out terribly. The fuel flow simply couldn't keep up with the air. But fortunately, the mighty SU moderates the air flow, via a 'damper' on the air piston. There is another piston down a bore in the center of the air piston. That piston forms a damper because it contains a one-way valve. The little bore is partially filled with a thin oil, for example, ATF. The upward motion of the air piston is retarded by this damper and slows it down. This is how the SU prevents the charge from leaning-out. The one-way valve in the damper allows the air piston to fall quickly when the air flow reduces as the throttle closes. So the second step in tuning is to add oil to the dampers. The correct amount of oil is set when resistance is felt when inserting the piston, just as the cap reaches the threads in the cover. The cap is further tightened, if only snugly. The desired air:fuel ratio is set by raising or lowering the jet. This is done by adjusting the jet height nut. Clockwise adjustment raises the jet. Anticlockwise adjustment lowers it. Setting the initial jet height is the next stage in tuning. The stoichiometrically correct air:fuel ratio for modern petrol is 14.7:1, by weight. That is, to perfectly burn the charge, 14.7 units of air are required to burn 1 unit of petrol. That is also the ideal air:fuel ratio for over-run, after 'lifting'. However, it is not the ratio that produces the most power. Testing demonstrates that the peak in the power curve occurs when the air:fuel ratio is about 12:1. Since this discussion is about carburetors on sports cars, this is the desired air:fuel ratio. A discussion of the cold starting circuit is now appropriate, since cold starting requires a change to air:fuel ratio. The word 'choke' is used for two purposes. In the SU carburetor it means the central bore or air path through the carburetor. On the dashboard, the control called the ?Choke? is an American-ism. The British term is a 'strangler'. However, SU carburetors do not have air restricting stranglers. Rather, they induce charge enrichment for starting by lowering the jet, thereby allowing more fuel to flow past the smaller diameter needle position. But why do engines need enrichment to start, especially when cold? The short answer is because petrol has to be in the gaseous state to burn. The slightly longer answer requires a bit of preface. The engine bits are (typically) made of metal and when cold, they absorb heat easily. That's why they feel cold! So here's what happens at cold start. When the throttle opens, the 'charge' (air and fuel mixture, ideally at about 12:1 ratio, by weight) rushes in. That's because the action of the engine's pistons cause a reduced pressure beyond the throttle plate. When the charge experiences the drop in pressure, the petrol evaporates. Think lowered boiling point at high altitudes. All is as intended except when the engine is cold. When the engine is cold, the petrol now vaporized by the reduced pressure, condenses back to liquid on the cold metal walls of the manifold, intake runners, head and valves. When it does so, this 'inlet track wetting' leans the charge below the ignition point. So what is done to remedy the problem? The charge can be enriched by strangling the air, as is done in older American cars, or by lowering the jet in SU equipped cars. And the later is precisely what the 'choke' control on the old British car?s dash does. Once the engine is running, the problem doesn't immediately go away. The engine and all of its inlet bits, have to 'warm up' before the 'wetting' ends. To speed up this process, carburetors, inlet manifolds and often heads, are made of aluminum. That metal conducts heat much better than iron, allowing the inlet track to warm quicker. In fact, many early Triumphs, MGs and Jaguars route coolant, straight from the water jackets around the combustion chambers, to an isolated channel within the inlet manifold. Again, the goal is to heat the inlet track, reducing warm up time. The first step in tuning multiple SU carburetors is to disconnect the throttle linkage between the carburetors. This is done in order to tune each carburetor separately before ?synchronizing? them. The carburetors are then preset. The jet heights are pre-set to a starting point. This is done by turning the adjusting nuts clockwise until the tips of the jets are precisely flush with the bridges. The nuts are then turned anti-clockwise 6-8 hex nut 'flats'. The precise amount isn't critical at this stage, as long as both carburetors are aligned by the same amount. The idle adjustment screws are backed off until they just touch the linkage. The screws are then turned clockwise for one full turn. These screw settings and the jet heights are the initial settings. Start the engine. It should run with these initial settings but a bit of enrichment with the choke control may be required until the engine is warm. Once the engine is at operating temperature, use an air flow meter to measure the air flow on each carburetor. Use the idle speed screws to balance the airflow between the carburetors, and to attain a low idle speed. It may not be possible to set a proper slow idle but try to attain 1000rpm or so. Many SUs have a small pin on the underside of the body, near the choke, with which the tuner may lift the air piston a tiny bit. Other models do not have this pin. With the later, a small screwdriver may be used to lift the air piston. These pins or screwdrivers, are used to test the air:fuel ratio of the charge. It doesn't matter which carburetor is tuned first. Make a choice. Lift the tuning pin or manually lift the air piston a tiny bit and observe the engine speed. An electronic tachometer attached at the engine bay is helpful. When the air piston is lifted, the engine speed may change, and then will probably stabilize. If the engine speed increases, the charge is too rich, since adding extra air made for more efficient combustion. If the engine speed decreases or tries to die, the charge is too lean. The corrections are made with the jet height adjustment nut. If the tests indicated that the charge is too rich, raise the jet by turning the adjusting nut one 'flat' clockwise. If too lean, adjust the other direction. Record the results. In either case, test again with the lifting pin or screwdriver. Continue testing and adjusting until lifting the air piston causes no change in engine speed, then record the total number of flats changed. Apply the same adjustment to the other carburetor and re-test both. Small adjustments may still be needed owing to flow dynamics and variations in carburetor manufacturing. Re-test and correct, as needed, the airflow balance and set the slow idle speed to the value specified in the manual. Now, test everything again, making corrections as required. Finally, tighten the linkage paying particular attention to not disturb the settings. Test again. The final tuning step will have to wait until the engine is once again cold. There is an adjustment screw on the carburetor and a cam on the throttle for the choke circuit. When the choke is applied, the cam rotates against the screw opening the throttle a tiny bit facilitating warm-up. Use the screw to set it to the lowest cold idle speed that is consistent with smooth running. Thus ends the discussion of the charge and carburetion. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Wed Aug 14 21:44:33 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 17:44:33 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Ignition (Loooong Message-ID: Hello Friends, Here is the next piece that I wrote a bit ago. I hope you find them informative. In this work, the function of the ignition condenser is debatable. Some have considered these words apocryphal. Some have offered alternative discussion. And some have found them based in elementary physics. You decide. Rick Ignition System The ignition system on older British sports cars is comprised of a number of components, all of which need to be in top operating condition for maximum performance. Working backwards from the engine, these parts are the spark plugs, plug wires, distributor, coil, and in some cases, a ballast resistor. Spark plugs, or 'sparking plugs' as they are quoted in the British car manuals, are the components that ignite the charge. An electric spark from the center electrode to ground heats the charge, ionizing it and starting oxidation. The 'flame front' then travels across the combustion chamber. As it does so, the MEP, or Mean Effective Pressure, increases to a maximum, pushing the piston down the bore. More on that later but first, here is the anatomy of a spark(ing) plug. The plug is an electrical device. It has a central electrode extending from a connection at the outside, to a tip inside the combustion chamber. It is supported by and sealed within a ceramic insulator. The exposed length of the ceramic insulator sets the 'heat range' of the plug. Short insulators conduct heat away from the tip more quickly. Long ones cool more slowly. Too cold and deposits are left on the tip and insulator. Too hot and the tip material may burn and remain too hot, causing pre-ignition of the charge. The engine designers understood the heat characteristics of the various engines and have specified the ideal heat range for plugs in each application. Plug choices are like oil choices. Every manufacturer has a marketing campaign claiming their plug is the best. And like the oil additive industry, there are a number of added-on doodads to plug tip design. The most basic plug electrode design, and the design for which these older engines were intended, is a plug with a copper or copper plated central electrode and a steel ground or earth electrode extending from the edge of the threads, going up and over the central tip. The gap between the tip and the ground will be discussed later. Arguably, the biggest improvement in spark plug design is the application of rare metals to the tip design. Platinum and iridium are used because they withstand high heat better than copper. Copper tends to melt and burn away with use. These high-end plugs will probably outlast the engine, unless contaminated. Other manufacturers, eager to capture market share, have engineered new plug designs utilizing multiple ground electrodes in various orientations, each claiming superior performance, greater power and extended life. They are a waste of time and money in this author's opinion. Premium platinum or iridium plugs are the author?s plugs of choice. Old design copper electrode plugs are perfectly acceptable too, but expect to re-gap or change the plugs as part of the routine maintenance. The 'reach' of a plug is the length of the threaded portion of the body. It is the bit that screws into the head. The reach must match the engine maker's design. Too short and the spark doesn't occur within the combustion chamber. Too long and the plug extends too far into the combustion chamber, inviting physical damage. Plug reach must match the engine designer's specification. Regardless of the type of plug chosen, assuming the reach and heat range are correct, the plug threads should be lubricated before installation. Copper infused thread lubricant, applied sparingly to the new plug threads, is ideal. This is very important for engines with alloy heads! The plug's steel threads can easily damage the head?s softer alloy plug-hole threads. This can happen either by physical damage, such as cross-threading or over-tightening, or by the action of dissimilar metals placed in contact. Thread lubricant minimizes head damage. The author uses lubricant even for iron heads since the copper particles marginally improve heat flow, thereby cooling the plug. Perhaps that's over-kill but it certainly makes plug changes easier. Before installing the spark plugs, the electrode gap should be set. A typical gap is 0.025", or 0.64mm, and this is often the gap found, straight out of the plug's box. However, the engine maker?s specification should be followed and the gap set properly. In all cases, the gap is set by bending the ground electrode, never by touching the central electrode. That element is surrounded by brittle ceramic and may be damaged. The physicist in the author requires that he write a little bit about the anatomy of the spark. The spark is comprised of two phenomena; the capacitive component that lasts only a few microseconds, and the much longer electrical component that produces the big, fat, hot spark. It is argued that a properly tuned and warmed up engine can run on the capacitive component only, but they never do. Rather, the high voltage electrical spark is needed to heat the charge, thereby vaporizing any wetted charge on the electrodes, and further promoting ionization of the charge between the electrodes. And this is where proper electrode gap becomes important. A wider gap provides a hotter spark as is required to adequately heat the charge, especially for cold starts. However, a wider gap requires more secondary voltage to spark. This topic leads us to the ignition coil. High voltage from the coil's secondary winding travels through the distributor and the plug wires, out to the spark plugs. The distributor and plug wires will be discussed later but first, here is a discussion of the coil. The ignition coil is an autoformer. That is, it is a transformer with one side of the primary winding and one side of the secondary winding connected together. This side of the circuit is connected to the coil's ( - ) or 'CB' post. The later descriptor means Contact Block and is a better designation since this is also the connection for older positive earth cars like the MG T-series of cars. In that case, the ( - ) marking is a misnomer. A transformer is a voltage multiplier. Any deeper discussion of electromagnetic theory is not helpful for our purposes. Stated more simply, the coil's secondary contains thousands more turns of wire than does the primary. Both are wound around a soft iron core. The ratio of turns, primary to secondary, defines how much the primary voltage is 'stepped up'. An automobile coil typically produces about 20,000 volts at the secondary, from its 12 volts primary. This is the voltage that is fed to the plugs. Some ignition designs incorporate a ballast resistor in series with the coil's primary circuit. The reason for this design will become apparent shortly. A conventional coil is designed for 12 volts, applied directly to the primary. The primary coil winding is typically about 3 ohms resistance. So at 12 volts, a current of 4 amps, flows. ( I = E /R ) All is well and good for normal operation but what about start up? During cold weather the starter has to work harder to spin the engine. And when doing so, it demands more current from the battery. In fact, the battery voltage is pulled down to 9 volts or less during these cold starts. We've all seen the lights dim during starting. Unfortunately, reduced primary voltage also results in reduced secondary voltage, thereby weakening the spark right when it needs to be the strongest! The ballasted coil design addresses this problem. Under normal operation, a ballasted ignition works just like a regular ignition, but the components are different. Designs vary but basically, a ballasted coil's primary resistance is on the order of 1.6 ohms, rather than the 3 ohms of a conventional coil. Inserted in the primary circuit path is a ballast resistor of about 1.4 ohms. The sum of the primary coil winding and the ballast resistor in series, is still 3 ohms. The ignition current is the same 4 amps as with a conventional coil. The same hot spark is provided when the engine is running. The tricky and useful bit of a ballasted ignition happens at cold start. When starting, voltage from the ignition switch is applied directly to the coil, bypassing the ballast resistor. Assuming the starter is pulling the available battery voltage down to about 9 volts, the 1.6 ohm coil now sees 9 volts at it's primary, for a current of 5.6 amps! So even with the starter pulling down the available voltage, the ignition still provides a hotter spark for easy starting. Of course, the numbers quoted here are generic and they vary with manufacturer, but the concept is the same. Ballasted ignitions are implemented to facilitate cold engine starts. The ignition's secondary voltage is not continuous. Rather, it is a pulsed system operating under the control of the distributor. This device is actually two devices integrated into one case. The high voltage or 'high tension' stated in old-speak, is distributed to the spark plugs, via the plug wires, by this part of the distributor, thus the name. The other part of the distributor pulses and times the spark by controlling the coil's primary circuit. Both are now discussed. High voltage distribution is achieved by a rotating contactor, aptly termed the 'rotor'. This device is fed secondary voltage at it's center via a contact in the distributor cap. Located around the inside of the cap are electrical contacts leading to the connectors on the outside and to which plug wires, and therefore, the plugs are connected. The distributor rotates at one half of the engine crankshaft speed because of the engine's Otto Cycle or 4-stroke design. The rotor spins around the inside of the cap allowing a precisely timed spark to occur between the rotor and the appropriate contact in the cap. That voltage then fires the spark plug on the correct cylinder at the optimal time to ignite the charge. The other function of the distributor is to pulse the coil's primary at the right times, and to provide a circuit path for the coil's secondary. The first part of this process is rather well understood by most mechanics, but the later bit remains shrouded in mystery. Here is an explanation. Inside of the distributor is a cam with the same number of 'lobes' as the engine has cylinders. Riding on the cam and mounted on the 'breaker plate' are a set of contacts, also called 'points'. The lobes of the cam cause the points to open and close. When closed, the coil primary is grounded allowing a magnetic field to grow to saturation in the coil. When the points open the magnetic field collapses and induces a high voltage in the secondary winding. It is this voltage that provides the sparks. Therefore, the spark timing is set at the time the points open, not close. Before discussing timing, the purpose of the condenser should be understood. One side of this device is grounded to the breaker plate. The other side of the condenser is connected to the coil-side of the points. When the points open, the coil is electrically isolated from earth ground, except through the condenser, and thus its purpose. The coil's field collapses induces a high voltage in the secondary. The purpose of the condenser is to provide a current path for that circuit. Many workers claim that the condenser is there to prevent secondary arcing across the points, but that is a benefit, not the reason for the condenser. Of primary importance is when the spark plugs fire, and this timing is also controlled by the distributor. The breaker plate, described above, is arranged so that it may rotate a few degrees. The rotor is attached to a shaft that also may rotate a few degrees, if by a different mechanism. The former is modulated by a vacuum capsule, or perhaps two of them. The later is rotated by a set of rotating weights, acting against two springs, sometimes of different spring constants. In the vernacular, the capsules are called the 'vacuum advance'. The flying weights are called the 'centrifugal advance'. In both cases, the word 'advance' is the key. And before discussing ignition timing, the characteristics of the burning charge will be discussed. The goal of any ignition is to arrange for the MEP (Mean Effective Pressure) caused by combustion, to occur where it can do the most work. Therefore, timing the ignition is actually timing the MEP to the optimal piston position. Fortunately the engine designers have worked through the maths and have done all the experiments to simplify our task to reading the manual and making a few adjustments! That said, it is still of value to understand why the timing must be varied. The charge does not immediately flash to fully combusted, as our experiences with flammable liquids might imply. Rather, the charge is ignited at the spark plug and the 'flame front' then progresses across the combustion chamber. The MEP is not achieved instantaneously either so the ignition of the charge has to be in advance of the MEP. This would all seems easy enough to understand if the engine operated at one speed only...but it doesn't. At slow engine speeds, such as slow idle, the spark timing has to occur so that the MEP does the most work. In most engine designs this is the 'static timing' and is typically a few degrees BTDC or 'Before Top Dead Center'. Why before? The spark ignites the charge early enough to allow for the travel time of the flame front and for the pressure to build to the MEP. As the engine speed increases, the travel time of the flame front does not, but the piston is moving faster! Therefore, to place the MEP at the optimal piston position, the charge must be ignited earlier. And this is the sole purpose for the timing advance mechanisms in the distributor. The author could write more about the centrifugal advance curve or how the vacuum advance mechanism compensates for engine load, but those are topics better left for later. One of the typical failure modes in old British car ignitions is the points. With use, the contacts tend to burn and the insulating wiper riding on the cam wears. In both cases, the timing suffers eventually ending in ignition failure. For about $120 the whole ignition primary can be upgraded by using a Pertronix Ignitor instead of the points and condenser. This device includes a circular adapter that fits over the cam. Imbedded in the adapter are tiny magnets that spin adjacent to the ignition module. Impulses from the magnets cause the internal circuit to pulse the ignition electronically, with no moving parts! This system provides a maintenance free ignition primary. Unfortunately, the rest of the old distributor components are typically worn or damaged. Most old British cars enjoyed by collectors are 40-years-old or older! A lot of wear can happen in 40+ years. Bushings wear from lack of lubrication, pivots wear in the advance mechanisms, and previous owners may have done quite nefarious things! The author has even found ball point pen (biro) springs substituted for the springs on the centrifugal advance! There are three choices available to remedy these problems: totally rebuild the distributor - a task beyond the skill set of most amateur mechanics, buy a period-correct replacement distributor, either new or professionally rebuilt, or buy a new Pertronix distributor, already equipped with an electronic primary trigger system. Symptoms of distributor wear include the inability to set a smooth, slow idle, and timing instability at low engine speeds as indicated by a timing light. The author recommends the Pertronix distributor. His MG TD and TR3b both have these upgrades and both have beautifully smooth slow idles, and trouble free ignitions. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From yellowtr at adelphia.net Thu Aug 15 07:26:36 2019 From: yellowtr at adelphia.net (Bob) Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2019 09:26:36 -0400 Subject: [6pack] speedo cable In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <264d6a07-4247-07b1-4823-e758f851cdf6@adelphia.net> Hello, I need to replace the speedo cable on my 72 6. A few years ago someone posted a link to a guy who sold them and they were of high quality. I had the link but it is on my old gone to heaven desktop. Can anyone post the contact info please if they have it? Thanks, Bob in Central NY -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Thu Aug 15 11:19:14 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2019 07:19:14 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Restoration, on a budget: zinc Message-ID: Hello Friends, My family is from Scotland and the phrase, 'Scott free' is not just an accident. We are frugal. Said another way, we tend to know how to economize. Here's an example. My TR6 project, independent of how pretty it turns out, is to be a 'driver'. Its not original but its also not butchered. Now let me put this and the previous paragraph together. Around here, having parts plated with yellow zinc chromate is a challenge. Either a shop to do the work is hard to find or said shop looses NLA parts! The hassle, risk, and the cost are just not worth it for a 'driver'. So what does one do? Paint...and I don't mean a fancy, expensive multi-step kit. I just go to the autoparts store and select a can of spray touchup paint in about yellow zinc chromate color. I then spray the clean and degreased part with a light coat of silver/aluminum engine paint. Then, while the silver paint is still wet, I spray a very light dusting of the chosen yellow-gold color paint, sprayed from way back so that it isn't even. The color dusting melts into the silver paint leaving a pleasant almost yellow zinc appearance. Perfect? Oh heck no. But it is certainly acceptable for my driver projects, and the cost is about eight dollars to do every part needed on a dozen cars! Here are the door latches for my TR6. They will be just fine. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190227_094022.jpg Here are the window lift bits, done the same, for no reason other than they needed rust proofing - and I wanted to do so. Also helped with the practicing. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190306_110721.jpg Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Thu Aug 15 12:03:44 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2019 08:03:44 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Ignition (Loooong In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sorry Friends, I did not mean for the text to read like an ad for Pertronix. That text was written for a friend having ignition problems and it WAS a recommendation for him to buy the Pertronix distributor. I have just found that the module and the full distributer worked so well for me. I should drop the name from the text and use the generic terms. Rick On Wed, Aug 14, 2019, 5:44 PM Richard Lindsay wrote: > Hello Friends, > Here is the next piece that I wrote a bit ago. I hope you find them > informative. > > In this work, the function of the ignition condenser is debatable. Some > have considered these words apocryphal. Some have offered alternative > discussion. And some have found them based in elementary physics. You > decide. > > Rick > > Ignition System > > The ignition system on older British sports cars is comprised of a > number of components, all of which need to be in top operating condition > for maximum performance. Working backwards from the engine, these parts are > the spark plugs, plug wires, distributor, coil, and in some cases, a > ballast resistor. > > Spark plugs, or 'sparking plugs' as they are quoted in the British car > manuals, are the components that ignite the charge. An electric spark from > the center electrode to ground heats the charge, ionizing it and starting > oxidation. The 'flame front' then travels across the combustion chamber. As > it does so, the MEP, or Mean Effective Pressure, increases to a maximum, > pushing the piston down the bore. More on that later but first, here is the > anatomy of a spark(ing) plug. > > The plug is an electrical device. It has a central electrode extending > from a connection at the outside, to a tip inside the combustion chamber. > It is supported by and sealed within a ceramic insulator. The exposed > length of the ceramic insulator sets the 'heat range' of the plug. Short > insulators conduct heat away from the tip more quickly. Long ones cool more > slowly. Too cold and deposits are left on the tip and insulator. Too hot > and the tip material may burn and remain too hot, causing pre-ignition of > the charge. The engine designers understood the heat characteristics of the > various engines and have specified the ideal heat range for plugs in each > application. > > Plug choices are like oil choices. Every manufacturer has a marketing > campaign claiming their plug is the best. And like the oil additive > industry, there are a number of added-on doodads to plug tip design. > > The most basic plug electrode design, and the design for which these > older engines were intended, is a plug with a copper or copper plated > central electrode and a steel ground or earth electrode extending from the > edge of the threads, going up and over the central tip. The gap between the > tip and the ground will be discussed later. > > Arguably, the biggest improvement in spark plug design is the > application of rare metals to the tip design. Platinum and iridium are used > because they withstand high heat better than copper. Copper tends to melt > and burn away with use. These high-end plugs will probably outlast the > engine, unless contaminated. > > Other manufacturers, eager to capture market share, have engineered new > plug designs utilizing multiple ground electrodes in various orientations, > each claiming superior performance, greater power and extended life. They > are a waste of time and money in this author's opinion. Premium platinum or > iridium plugs are the author?s plugs of choice. Old design copper electrode > plugs are perfectly acceptable too, but expect to re-gap or change the > plugs as part of the routine maintenance. > The 'reach' of a plug is the length of the threaded portion of the > body. It is the bit that screws into the head. The reach must match the > engine maker's design. Too short and the spark doesn't occur within the > combustion chamber. Too long and the plug extends too far into the > combustion chamber, inviting physical damage. Plug reach must match the > engine designer's specification. > Regardless of the type of plug chosen, assuming the reach and heat > range are correct, the plug threads should be lubricated before > installation. Copper infused thread lubricant, applied sparingly to the new > plug threads, is ideal. This is very important for engines with alloy > heads! The plug's steel threads can easily damage the head?s softer alloy > plug-hole threads. This can happen either by physical damage, such as > cross-threading or over-tightening, or by the action of dissimilar metals > placed in contact. Thread lubricant minimizes head damage. The author uses > lubricant even for iron heads since the copper particles marginally improve > heat flow, thereby cooling the plug. Perhaps that's over-kill but it > certainly makes plug changes easier. > Before installing the spark plugs, the electrode gap should be set. A > typical gap is 0.025", or 0.64mm, and this is often the gap found, straight > out of the plug's box. However, the engine maker?s specification should be > followed and the gap set properly. In all cases, the gap is set by bending > the ground electrode, never by touching the central electrode. That element > is surrounded by brittle ceramic and may be damaged. > The physicist in the author requires that he write a little bit about > the anatomy of the spark. The spark is comprised of two phenomena; the > capacitive component that lasts only a few microseconds, and the much > longer electrical component that produces the big, fat, hot spark. It is > argued that a properly tuned and warmed up engine can run on the capacitive > component only, but they never do. Rather, the high voltage electrical > spark is needed to heat the charge, thereby vaporizing any wetted charge on > the electrodes, and further promoting ionization of the charge between the > electrodes. And this is where proper electrode gap becomes important. A > wider gap provides a hotter spark as is required to adequately heat the > charge, especially for cold starts. However, a wider gap requires more > secondary voltage to spark. This topic leads us to the ignition coil. > High voltage from the coil's secondary winding travels through the > distributor and the plug wires, out to the spark plugs. The distributor and > plug wires will be discussed later but first, here is a discussion of the > coil. The ignition coil is an autoformer. That is, it is a transformer with > one side of the primary winding and one side of the secondary winding > connected together. This side of the circuit is connected to the coil's ( - > ) or 'CB' post. The later descriptor means Contact Block and is a better > designation since this is also the connection for older positive earth cars > like the MG T-series of cars. In that case, the ( - ) marking is a misnomer. > > A transformer is a voltage multiplier. Any deeper discussion of > electromagnetic theory is not helpful for our purposes. Stated more simply, > the coil's secondary contains thousands more turns of wire than does the > primary. Both are wound around a soft iron core. The ratio of turns, > primary to secondary, defines how much the primary voltage is 'stepped up'. > An automobile coil typically produces about 20,000 volts at the secondary, > from its 12 volts primary. This is the voltage that is fed to the plugs. > > Some ignition designs incorporate a ballast resistor in series with the > coil's primary circuit. The reason for this design will become apparent > shortly. A conventional coil is designed for 12 volts, applied directly to > the primary. The primary coil winding is typically about 3 ohms resistance. > So at 12 volts, a current of 4 amps, flows. ( I = E /R ) All is well and > good for normal operation but what about start up? During cold weather the > starter has to work harder to spin the engine. And when doing so, it > demands more current from the battery. In fact, the battery voltage is > pulled down to 9 volts or less during these cold starts. We've all seen the > lights dim during starting. Unfortunately, reduced primary voltage also > results in reduced secondary voltage, thereby weakening the spark right > when it needs to be the strongest! The ballasted coil design addresses this > problem. > > Under normal operation, a ballasted ignition works just like a regular > ignition, but the components are different. Designs vary but basically, a > ballasted coil's primary resistance is on the order of 1.6 ohms, rather > than the 3 ohms of a conventional coil. Inserted in the primary circuit > path is a ballast resistor of about 1.4 ohms. The sum of the primary coil > winding and the ballast resistor in series, is still 3 ohms. The ignition > current is the same 4 amps as with a conventional coil. The same hot spark > is provided when the engine is running. The tricky and useful bit of a > ballasted ignition happens at cold start. > > When starting, voltage from the ignition switch is applied directly to > the coil, bypassing the ballast resistor. Assuming the starter is pulling > the available battery voltage down to about 9 volts, the 1.6 ohm coil now > sees 9 volts at it's primary, for a current of 5.6 amps! So even with the > starter pulling down the available voltage, the ignition still provides a > hotter spark for easy starting. Of course, the numbers quoted here are > generic and they vary with manufacturer, but the concept is the same. > Ballasted ignitions are implemented to facilitate cold engine starts. > The ignition's secondary voltage is not continuous. Rather, it is a > pulsed system operating under the control of the distributor. This device > is actually two devices integrated into one case. The high voltage or 'high > tension' stated in old-speak, is distributed to the spark plugs, via the > plug wires, by this part of the distributor, thus the name. The other part > of the distributor pulses and times the spark by controlling the coil's > primary circuit. Both are now discussed. > High voltage distribution is achieved by a rotating contactor, aptly > termed the 'rotor'. This device is fed secondary voltage at it's center via > a contact in the distributor cap. Located around the inside of the cap are > electrical contacts leading to the connectors on the outside and to which > plug wires, and therefore, the plugs are connected. The distributor rotates > at one half of the engine crankshaft speed because of the engine's Otto > Cycle or 4-stroke design. The rotor spins around the inside of the cap > allowing a precisely timed spark to occur between the rotor and the > appropriate contact in the cap. That voltage then fires the spark plug on > the correct cylinder at the optimal time to ignite the charge. > The other function of the distributor is to pulse the coil's primary at > the right times, and to provide a circuit path for the coil's secondary. > The first part of this process is rather well understood by most mechanics, > but the later bit remains shrouded in mystery. Here is an explanation. > Inside of the distributor is a cam with the same number of 'lobes' as > the engine has cylinders. Riding on the cam and mounted on the 'breaker > plate' are a set of contacts, also called 'points'. The lobes of the cam > cause the points to open and close. When closed, the coil primary is > grounded allowing a magnetic field to grow to saturation in the coil. When > the points open the magnetic field collapses and induces a high voltage in > the secondary winding. It is this voltage that provides the sparks. > Therefore, the spark timing is set at the time the points open, not close. > > Before discussing timing, the purpose of the condenser should be > understood. One side of this device is grounded to the breaker plate. The > other side of the condenser is connected to the coil-side of the points. > When the points open, the coil is electrically isolated from earth ground, > except through the condenser, and thus its purpose. The coil's field > collapses induces a high voltage in the secondary. The purpose of the > condenser is to provide a current path for that circuit. Many workers claim > that the condenser is there to prevent secondary arcing across the points, > but that is a benefit, not the reason for the condenser. > Of primary importance is when the spark plugs fire, and this timing is > also controlled by the distributor. The breaker plate, described above, is > arranged so that it may rotate a few degrees. The rotor is attached to a > shaft that also may rotate a few degrees, if by a different mechanism. The > former is modulated by a vacuum capsule, or perhaps two of them. The later > is rotated by a set of rotating weights, acting against two springs, > sometimes of different spring constants. In the vernacular, the capsules > are called the 'vacuum advance'. The flying weights are called the > 'centrifugal advance'. In both cases, the word 'advance' is the key. And > before discussing ignition timing, the characteristics of the burning > charge will be discussed. > The goal of any ignition is to arrange for the MEP (Mean Effective > Pressure) caused by combustion, to occur where it can do the most work. > Therefore, timing the ignition is actually timing the MEP to the optimal > piston position. Fortunately the engine designers have worked through the > maths and have done all the experiments to simplify our task to reading the > manual and making a few adjustments! That said, it is still of value to > understand why the timing must be varied. > The charge does not immediately flash to fully combusted, as our > experiences with flammable liquids might imply. Rather, the charge is > ignited at the spark plug and the 'flame front' then progresses across the > combustion chamber. The MEP is not achieved instantaneously either so the > ignition of the charge has to be in advance of the MEP. This would all > seems easy enough to understand if the engine operated at one speed > only...but it doesn't. > At slow engine speeds, such as slow idle, the spark timing has to occur > so that the MEP does the most work. In most engine designs this is the > 'static timing' and is typically a few degrees BTDC or 'Before Top Dead > Center'. Why before? The spark ignites the charge early enough to allow for > the travel time of the flame front and for the pressure to build to the > MEP. As the engine speed increases, the travel time of the flame front does > not, but the piston is moving faster! Therefore, to place the MEP at the > optimal piston position, the charge must be ignited earlier. And this is > the sole purpose for the timing advance mechanisms in the distributor. The > author could write more about the centrifugal advance curve or how the > vacuum advance mechanism compensates for engine load, but those are topics > better left for later. > One of the typical failure modes in old British car ignitions is the > points. With use, the contacts tend to burn and the insulating wiper riding > on the cam wears. In both cases, the timing suffers eventually ending in > ignition failure. For about $120 the whole ignition primary can be > upgraded by using a Pertronix Ignitor instead of the points and condenser. > This device includes a circular adapter that fits over the cam. Imbedded in > the adapter are tiny magnets that spin adjacent to the ignition module. > Impulses from the magnets cause the internal circuit to pulse the ignition > electronically, with no moving parts! This system provides a maintenance > free ignition primary. > Unfortunately, the rest of the old distributor components are typically > worn or damaged. Most old British cars enjoyed by collectors are > 40-years-old or older! A lot of wear can happen in 40+ years. Bushings wear > from lack of lubrication, pivots wear in the advance mechanisms, and > previous owners may have done quite nefarious things! The author has even > found ball point pen (biro) springs substituted for the springs on the > centrifugal advance! There are three choices available to remedy these > problems: totally rebuild the distributor - a task beyond the skill set of > most amateur mechanics, buy a period-correct replacement distributor, > either new or professionally rebuilt, or buy a new Pertronix distributor, > already equipped with an electronic primary trigger system. > Symptoms of distributor wear include the inability to set a smooth, > slow idle, and timing instability at low engine speeds as indicated by a > timing light. The author recommends the Pertronix distributor. His MG TD > and TR3b both have these upgrades and both have beautifully smooth slow > idles, and trouble free ignitions. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Thu Aug 15 19:39:28 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2019 15:39:28 -1000 Subject: [6pack] Restoration, on a budget: heater Message-ID: Hi Friends, Another project recently completed was rebuilding the TR6's heater. Here's how it looked, partially disassembled, and just as it came out of the car. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190315_135629.jpg Now please keep in mind, a heater is needed in South Texas only as a windscreen defogger on 1% of our winter days. That said (written?), the heater still got restored. I first lubricated then tested the blower motor. It ran just fine so I didn't disassemble it. It did get a little paint to protect a few bare metal spots. No pix. The heater core cleaned up nicely. I flushed it clean then straightened a few heating fins that had probably been there for 44 years. I also gentlycleaned the exterior of the inlet and exit pipes on the soft wire wheel. Here's how it looks reinstalled in the repainted case. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190318_103420.jpg Here's another look at the heater case, freshly repainted but with the the Smiths label carefully preserved. Trimmed Post it notes make great masking tape for these kinds of small fragile surfaces. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190318_103426.jpg And finally, here is a look at the assembled box with pipe insulation holding the air direction flap closed while the glue cured on a new thin (1/16") closed cell foam seal. http://aubard.us/75_Triumph/20190318_103403.jpg With everything assembled with paint and glues dried, the blower was tested again at both speeds. It blew air strongly through the core and ran quietly. Rick -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mark at bradakis.com Sun Aug 18 07:47:01 2019 From: mark at bradakis.com (Mark J Bradakis) Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2019 07:47:01 -0600 Subject: [6pack] Fwd: Triumph Owners In-Reply-To: <118637250.497906.1566072320203@mail.yahoo.com> References: <118637250.497906.1566072320203@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <53d0f1aa-075c-332b-99d6-9779b22ed824@bradakis.com> -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Triumph Owners Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2019 20:05:20 +0000 (UTC) From: Tom Butler To: We are trying to form a triumph club in N. GA. I am wondering if you could provide me a contact list of Triumph owners in the N. GA area. ?I live near Blueridge GA. Thanks much! Tom Butler From grglmn at gmail.com Mon Aug 19 21:27:40 2019 From: grglmn at gmail.com (Greg Lemon) Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2019 22:27:40 -0500 Subject: [6pack] [TR] Jim Clark tribute in The Grand Tour episode In-Reply-To: References: <16aa42dd0fec6b0fac1b287d083ac14b.squirrel@automate-it.com> Message-ID: Late to this party. Just watched the bit onClark. Not old enough to remember Clark racing, but the tribute was very well done. Knew he (and other racers) participated in a lot other classes back then, and that Clark was killed in an F2 car, didn't know he was so dominant in those other classes as well. Greg Lemon TR250 On Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:15 PM Stan Foster via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > Thanks Lee. I lost interest in the Top Gear trio years ago but I very much > enjoyed that tribute to Jim Clark. > > Stan > ------------------------------ > *From:* Triumphs on behalf of Lee > Daniels > *Sent:* Saturday, August 10, 2019 12:31:47 AM > *To:* 6pack at autox.team.net <6pack at autox.team.net>; triumphs at autox.team.net > > *Subject:* [TR] Jim Clark tribute in The Grand Tour episode > > I had just about written off The Grand Tour, as the humor had become clunky > and the real car talk had become thin. Then I watched episode 5 of season 3 > tonight. A couple of decent tests/reviews, and yes some juvenile humor, > such > as Jeremy ice-racing a Lambo Urus vs. Abbie Eaton in a Porsche, on a > penis-shaped track. > > But then --- the tour-de-force --- a 20-minute historical tribute to Jim > Clark, with plenty of photos and footage. Oh, my. They include interviews > with > a couple of his colleagues, who tear up a little - as did I. > > And Richard Hammond gets to drive the very Lotus 25 that Clark himself > drove! > > If you have Amazon Prime, watch this one. It's episode 5 of Season 3, > titled > "An Itchy Urus" (of course). If you don't have an hour, jump to 00:36:00 > and > watch the last 22 minutes, you'll be glad you did. > > Lee > ** triumphs at autox.team.net ** > > Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html > Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/triumphs > http://www.team.net/archive > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/stan at redtr6.com > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/grglmn at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From auprichard at uprichard.net Thu Aug 29 15:20:56 2019 From: auprichard at uprichard.net (Andrew Uprichard) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:20:56 -0400 Subject: [6pack] Lucas PI Message-ID: <00ca01d55eaf$a6643350$f32c99f0$@uprichard.net> Who is the go-to guy in the US for questions on the Lucas PI system? Andrew Uprichard Jackson, Michigan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From richardolindsay at gmail.com Thu Aug 29 15:30:26 2019 From: richardolindsay at gmail.com (Richard Lindsay) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:30:26 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Lucas PI In-Reply-To: <00ca01d55eaf$a6643350$f32c99f0$@uprichard.net> References: <00ca01d55eaf$a6643350$f32c99f0$@uprichard.net> Message-ID: Wow. Tough question. No clue. Good luck. On Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 4:21 PM Andrew Uprichard via 6pack < 6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > Who is the go-to guy in the US for questions on the Lucas PI system? > > > > Andrew Uprichard > > Jackson, Michigan > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/richardolindsay at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From John.Macartney at Ukpips.org.uk Thu Aug 29 16:49:31 2019 From: John.Macartney at Ukpips.org.uk (John Macartney) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2019 23:49:31 +0100 Subject: [6pack] Lucas PI In-Reply-To: <00ca01d55eaf$a6643350$f32c99f0$@uprichard.net> References: <00ca01d55eaf$a6643350$f32c99f0$@uprichard.net> Message-ID: <1C5BD9B2-40D9-4E47-B09C-26949D2519DC@Ukpips.org.uk> Can I help? Did the Lucas Service course, thefactory service course and owned a saloon with the pi engine to full U.K. police performance spec. Doubt you?ll find too many in the US with experience of the system. PI cars were never sold in North America in the day, though a very small number have snuck in since then. A word of advice. If you?re tempted to fiddle with the PI system, put everything you?ve learned about carbed cars entirely to one side. The Lucas system is a whole different ball game with very unique rules. That said, it?s a great setup but you need to know what you?re doing before you start:) Jonmac Whenever I feel the need for exercise, experience has shown me it is better to lie down until the feeling goes away. WINSTON CHURCHILL > On 29 Aug 2019, at 22:20, Andrew Uprichard via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > > Who is the go-to guy in the US for questions on the Lucas PI system? > > Andrew Uprichard > Jackson, Michigan > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/john.macartney at ukpips.org.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brucesimms2003 at yahoo.ca Fri Aug 30 12:42:16 2019 From: brucesimms2003 at yahoo.ca (Yahoo) Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2019 18:42:16 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [6pack] Lucas pi expertise References: <385207747.285469.1567190536156.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <385207747.285469.1567190536156@mail.yahoo.com> Ask the roadster factory.? ?charles had somebody over here that helped him with his tr5 Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From grglmn at gmail.com Fri Aug 30 17:36:24 2019 From: grglmn at gmail.com (Greg Lemon) Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2019 18:36:24 -0500 Subject: [6pack] Lucas pi expertise In-Reply-To: <385207747.285469.1567190536156@mail.yahoo.com> References: <385207747.285469.1567190536156.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <385207747.285469.1567190536156@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Was it John Swauger (sp?) at The Roadster Factory? I think he retired, but still might be worth giving them a call, or Joe Curto, I know he specializes in carbs, but may have a fuel injection connection. Greg Lemon TR250 On Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 2:36 PM Yahoo via 6pack <6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: > Ask the roadster factory. charles had somebody over here that helped him > with his tr5 > > Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android > > _______________________________________________ > Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html > Suggested annual donation $12.96 > Archive: http://www.team.net/archive > Forums: http://www.team.net/forums > > 6pack at autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack > > Unsubscribe/Manage: > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/grglmn at gmail.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From iron_horse819 at yahoo.com Sat Aug 31 12:09:41 2019 From: iron_horse819 at yahoo.com (Raymond Hatfield) Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2019 18:09:41 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [6pack] Lucas PI In-Reply-To: <1C5BD9B2-40D9-4E47-B09C-26949D2519DC@Ukpips.org.uk> References: <00ca01d55eaf$a6643350$f32c99f0$@uprichard.net> <1C5BD9B2-40D9-4E47-B09C-26949D2519DC@Ukpips.org.uk> Message-ID: <1516941180.706764.1567274981649@mail.yahoo.com> Hello Jonmac, It's been a long time since I last saw you on here, glad to see you're still doing well. I think this list could ask for no finer resource on all things Triumph than you. Take care,Raymond.L Hatfield? Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android On Thu, Aug 29, 2019 at 5:49 PM, John Macartney via 6pack<6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: _______________________________________________ Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html Suggested annual donation? $12.96 Archive: http://www.team.net/archive Forums: http://www.team.net/forums 6pack at autox.team.net http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/iron_horse819 at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: Untitled URL: From iron_horse819 at yahoo.com Sat Aug 31 12:09:41 2019 From: iron_horse819 at yahoo.com (Raymond Hatfield) Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2019 18:09:41 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [6pack] Lucas PI In-Reply-To: <1C5BD9B2-40D9-4E47-B09C-26949D2519DC@Ukpips.org.uk> References: <00ca01d55eaf$a6643350$f32c99f0$@uprichard.net> <1C5BD9B2-40D9-4E47-B09C-26949D2519DC@Ukpips.org.uk> Message-ID: <1516941180.706764.1567274981649@mail.yahoo.com> Hello Jonmac, It's been a long time since I last saw you on here, glad to see you're still doing well. I think this list could ask for no finer resource on all things Triumph than you. Take care,Raymond.L Hatfield? Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android On Thu, Aug 29, 2019 at 5:49 PM, John Macartney via 6pack<6pack at autox.team.net> wrote: _______________________________________________ Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html Suggested annual donation? $12.96 Archive: http://www.team.net/archive Forums: http://www.team.net/forums 6pack at autox.team.net http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/6pack Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/6pack/iron_horse819 at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: Untitled URL: