TR6 pushrod fun

Had some fun with this over the weekend. Andy Millers very tidy TR... amazing what a quick blow-over can do to a genuine rust free straight shell!!

Andy has just fitted some serious brake and suspension mods and was setting a PB at Wanneroo (73.8 long circuit) when the engine went on to five and sounded rough as guts and blowing smoke.

Andy limped home half happy that he had gone 1.5 secs quicker with no more power but a little worried that he had lunched his recently rebuilt engine. A compression test by Humph showed zero on number 2 which seemed to confirm the need for a head lift to determine piston or valve trouble.

Anyway arrived at my place where we stripped it down to the point I had the manifolds off (number 2 inlet full of fuel!!! oh dear maybe no cam lobe!! ) and about to strip off the head when upon lifting the rocker cover it was immediately apparent that number 2 inlet pushrod was having a few issues.

Easily fixed with a good SH one from the 'store' and with a cleaned set of plugs and quick reassembly and a very happy Windy was on his way in less than 90 minutes!! And there I was hoping to chuck a different cam in whilst rebuilding the engine to test some theories.... Oh well I'll have to take mine apart next for some development mods.... it's feeling neglected

The rod showed classic fatigue failure ending in brittle failure. This engine has nothing radical. 0.265" cam lift and standard rockers and springs. Revved to ~6000rpm

Just goes to show that you can't be to careful building engines (this one was not built by me) but I don't check pushrod runout routinely either... I will be from now on!!!!

Cam failure and remedy

Not my car but Humphs Mk1 PI. Completely lost a lobe. Bit of a pain changing cams on Mk1's so out with the hole saw.

Poor old thing was a Wade 444C gound on a 3 ring Pi cam but something must have been amiss.. Kent followers and Goodparts double springs. No 1 exhaust lobe completely missing!!

Never one to miss out on an opportunity to upgrade we decided to use a experimental hybrid cam with much longer inlet duration and milder but fast opening exhaust. Do your own research ;-)

We are also using milder Jag XJ40 single valve springs which should be fine for 2.7 triumph rev limits and give less lobe loadings. They are genuine Jag parts and cost 40 pence each. Excellent value.

Timed the cam in at 108 deg max lift on inlet 1. We are alos going to use 1.55 Ratio Roller Rockers on the exhausts rather than the previous 1.65 on both inlets and exhausts.

Cam is ground by Newman on a new blank with lifter supplied by the same people.

Proper brakes - Discs all round and some good front ones

This project has been a while coming. I have binned my Willwood caliper (ex Witor) and puny 265mm x 20mm vented discs and fitted a Nissan Skyline GTS-T setup.

With 280mm x 32mm front discs and 260mm rear discs it is designed for a 1400kg 180kw 1996 Jap car so should be ample for a 1035kg 1965 Triumph.

Yet to be used in anger but feels incredible compared to previous set up although the servo action is possibly a bit strong for my tastes. We shall see how it performs on circuits very soon.

The conversion was engineered and fitted by Bruce Pollock of TSOA WA (contact me for his details)

Below is the optional modded pedal box in case I tire of over servoed brakes (not currently fitted)

Nissan Skyline twin diaphragm servo and master cylinder with adjustable bias via shims

View of rear conversion backplate. It uses a modified cable handbrake

Front discs. The biggest that I can fit under a 15 inch rim. The calipers "could" be upgraded to optional Brembo's if bigger rims were fitted ~ 7x16 Superlites

Front end with 30mm spacer required to fit wheels...

Nice chunky disc :-)

More motors down the garage

Natty little gutless wonder TR250

Makes a changes from Mimosa

Chrysler Charger with worked 340 cube V8.

Conifer TR5 38k miles from new

Under the beast

Popped by Markich and the gearbox is back on, running a 25% J Type rather than a 28% which is a bonus. Headers come off at the starter which makes things very simple... not as shiney now!!! Still automotive extractor porn though :-)

Wonder what it would sound like running like this???

These are the new discs and a couple of shots of the old set up for reference. They have large radial cracks and are warped to hell.

This is a alternative method of ARB attachment to save the tie bar stress

New Brakes for the Mk1 ... Gearbox/Clutch update

Bitten the bullet (again) and will be very soon fitting Nissan 4 wheel disc's. A amalgam of Z32 (300ZX twin turbo) alloy calipers and 280mm (11inch ;-) ) x 30mm (warpfree?) vented Discs at the front and solid discs and a Nissan Silvia caliper with handbrake capability at the back.

This will all be done for <$2000 using new discs and reconditioned calipers with laser cut adaptors. I will update when the job is started. The white beasty is currently at Markich undergoing gearbox surgery (slipping OD on the overun and buggered clutch ... I hope)

Turns out the noisy clutch and bad sounds generally is the Flywheel coming loose!!!! It is a aluminium jobby with 8 high grade bolts holding it on. 3-4 bolts still OK but glad I caught it in time, definitely not something that I'd want to have got any worse.

The overdrive will be replaced with a Dolomite Sprint unit upgraded as per Homologation papers description (basically increase the pressure)...

New uprated clutch cover also fitted

Local Trumpy garage

More happy snaps from the last week or so of assorted Trumphs at Markich Motors. 1977 Stag sold in 1978, one of the last 100 made and a part of a batch that nearly all got sent to Oz... most of these have odd bits fitted like USA reinforced bumper iron and this one has the wrong steering column. BL using up all the bits building the last batch???

2500S de-registered and ready for dismantling. Not saleable at $1500 so owner got fed up , unlicensed it (fatal) and sold to Markich for $300. Only real problem is a rusty O/S sill which is unmessed and original... easy fix but no demand :-(

Above and below. A customers '68 TR5 PI, WA delivered new and VERY original. Still has the original metering unit (brass plug) !!! I want this car but not for sale.

For sale area. Ex USA GT6 Plus and Rotoflex Mk3. GT6's don't sell well in WA... something to do with the heat??? Lurking is a 1300 FWD (??? never sold new in WA) and silver Mk1 2000

Assorted Pretty Pics

First off is my old 1975 2500TC converted to 132bhp PI spec with the help of the odd scrap PI and a the one and only Andy Roberts. Pictured at Gross Glockner Pass

about 2500m above sea level and well above the glacier behind. Destination? Munich Beer Festival 1990. No PI issues at this height and above and mintex 1144 pad were just the ticket down the other side.

Found this B&W print on Ebay. Ronnie MacCartney Circuit of Ireland 1971 Mk1 PI. Anyone else know anything about it?

Now many of you will be familiar with James Shackford Slate Grey Mk1 PI with all its mods and general RBRR modification madness.... who however remembers it from the late 1980's in near mint original condition when it had just been exhumed from a private collection in Dorset. (it had a twin from the same collection in Damson that Chris Lennard in the background now owns!!!)

Managed to scan a few old photo's of various old stuff

Book reviews

http://www.jagclub.ru/triumph_news.html

Been involved in a fair bit of this, slow but steady and very exciting progress being made

Shiney restored wheels on the herald

These K&N 6 x 13's were leaking and going flat due to salt induced corrosion so I cleaned/shotblasted and polished them then etch primed the hidden bits and clearcoated the polished bits... Herald is much happier now

More Exhaust comparisons

My mate Humph has a nice old Mk1 with a similar spec engine but until recently a botch up 6-3-1 exhaust built in the same manner as most currently on the market ie completely unequal lengths built in the that'll do manner...
The crap 6-3-1 = ~100rwhp from a 2.7PI

Mike the Pipe version ~ very good but not perfect ~ good for +18 bhp measured at the wheels




Anyway when he put his car on the same dyno it struggled to make 100rwhp and its power/torque curve was lumpy as hell.

After I fitted my new GT manifold and system I lent my old Mike Randell system to Humph to help him out.

Compare the results (red trace is the "proper" 6-3-1). As GT says , some exhaust are more equal than others








This is Humph on the dyno before any mods.... the fact that he got 118rwhp compared to 128rwhp I think is mostly down to him still running an 8 blade mechanical fan and the standard airbox

The quest for more bhp

This is a ongoing development program.. baseline testing was in July with the setup i have been running for about 4 years.
Untouched for weeks driven straight to the dyno with a tank of BP 98 she gave 128 rwhp and 172 lb/ft of torque after a couple of runs to clear the plugs


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hloGNgQfa-w&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0xi_t9AExQ&feature=channel

I came back after 2 weeks and a bit of spannering with my new 6-3-1 but nothing else changed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtlL1zR4omU&feature=channel

It ran the same topend power but had about 15% more torque from 2800 - 4500 rpm peaking at +190lb ft at just over 4000. After this it tailed back to the same top end power as previous

Work since then has included

1.Retiming the camshaft, Wade advise 102 deg (ie 3deg advanced) for the 444C 105 and it was at 108 so 6 degrees retarded over design. Think I installed it in error at 105deg +/- a degree and time and wear had retarded it further

That made a huge difference. Noticeably more "cammy" now and pulls with gusto through to plus 6000 whereas before it tailed off.

2. Adding 0.002" to the full load fueling to give 0.076"

3. Increasing fuel pressure to 130psi

4. Changed the dizzy to a solid state A123 billet job. Curve 7 - 10deg static 31deg max

Need to get back to the dyno asap to see what I have managed but seat of the pants testing says a big improvement

Heralds in Oz

Arrived a few months ago, ex Nick Jones, been using it for commuting a bit... just fettling a few things at the moment ... very cool and different after years of 2500's and the Stag

Emma thinks its pretty cool too

Random stuff

Mmm... shiney

These are all about go and the show is incidental. Up to 20% more torque over the best Mike Randall 6-3-1

I have been optimising the cam timing before futher development work on the cylinder head

MU Fueling modified, inline pressure increased and midrange power is now like a turbo diesel except it revs too

Now good for about 200lb ft torque and developments continue... EVO valves next ;-)


Saw this old thing about a year ago on the back of a truck... turns out it was being delivered from Toowoomba QLD. Aussie delivered new... private import... never seen salt... probably the best bodied 2500S estate in the world... nice. Oh yeah, TSOA national day, Perth... 11th Oct 2008

Feature Car of the Month - Triumph 2500 TBI Mk2

Thought I'd do a quick feature on each of my cars with a brief history, specification and current state of play.

Starting this series is my everyday hack a 1973 ex-2000 now 2500 TBI

Affectionately known as "Mabel" by my wife it used to be her everyday driver but it now serves as my everyday hack whilst the Stag engine is rebuilt.

It was bought to reshell a rusting 2500S for the princely sum of $1500 after being rescued from a scrapyard. The paint is mostly original and structurally it is wonderful. No nasty rot on this one.

The engine is basically a Mk1 PI motor bored to 0.040" running Duralite pistons. It is currently auto with a BW 65 box but will be converted to manual J-Type very soon. It has a Wade cam with 275 deg duration and 0.280" lift with Harland sharp 1.5:1 roller rockers

The most non-standard mod has been the fitment of Throttle body injection using a GM ECM and custom injector adaptor and distributor from Rick Patton in Maine, US. http://www.pattonmachine.com/

The SU carb have prototype injector bodies and TPS developed by Rick last year and recently I have also installed his Lucas distributor conversion which allow fully programmable advance curves via the ECM. This has solved many issues that the original hybrid Jeep/Lucas dizzy had inherent from day one.

Twin injectors pretending to be HS6 carbs. Clutch master cylinder already installed and waiting for a gearbox!!

The dizzy conversion is extremely neat and uses a fabricated reluctor that sits on the old pegs that the advance springs used to use. The magnetic pickup is adjustable like points and is mounted on a fabricated stainless bracket that mounted like a baseplate .

Ignition module is just to the left. Must get round to binning that fuel pump

This car is currently used on a daily basis and does about 250 congested rush-hour miles a week. It returns about 23-24mpg with this use so hopefully a manual conversion will improve this to 27-28mpg

The interior has been improved with some lovely old Jag XJS seats... they are a bit tricky to fit as they are not offset like Triumph ones so when mounted they sit a little too close to the door... this has yet to be fully resolved but they are soooo... comfortable compared to Triumph's finest back breakers

Interesting website... and more product reviews

http://www.crazyspitfire.blogspot.com/

Just in case anyone doesn't have the link.

Keep up the good work Dave.

Whilst we're on the topic of reviewing products, the small end bushes for the Stag made by County are no bloody good. There is not enough whitemetal on the steel backing to allow honing to the correct tolerance.

If you are thinking of fitting these bushes do yourself a favour and use Healey 3000 small end bushes with a slight overbore of the small end. Much better :-) This will effect Stags and Dolomite 1850, Sprints and Tr7's. Not sure if a better OE spec bush exists anymore.