First I want to relay the status of the TR. After I finally had the
timing issue solved, I had the car looked over by Don Ensly at English
Motors. Located in Utica Michigan, Don is the person to go to when you
may have a question or problem with your car. I usually avoid taking
the car in to someone. I would say in all the years I have been driving
(about 14) and twenty seven cars later I have used a repair service
about 7 times...and this two of those times have been this year. One
with the BMW...Rear wheel bearing....After looking over the repair
manual, I figured with the cost of the tool and the amount of time it
would take I would be better off taking it to a local repair. I did the
diagnosis however...This saved time and expense. Fortunately I was
correct and it was money well spent! Second was the TR6. After the
issues of the header glowing red I checked and checked...finally I had
to do more overtime at work and just did not have the time to do the
final sorting....So I made the appointment, ready to hear the worst
since I still had the red header problem....Well, Don called back within
a day and informed me that the car was running great! I was so
relieved!! $200.00 later and this included him fitting a electronic
ignition...I was on my way. Basically the carbs needed balancing and
such. I had just rebuilt three of the things so of course they were not
tried yet. Since I wouldn't let the car run long enouph, I couldn't do
the carbs. Don knew where to go and he said I did everything right and
it runs like it does! I can't speak highly enouph about Richard Good
and his company Goodparts! The cam is great, the manifolds are
beautiful , the head is a work of art and the suspension which I put on
last year are all top notch....! Also I ordered a staimless exhaust and
header from Rimmer Bros in the UK. With free shipping all was less than
ordering JUST the header from the US suppliers. I noticed commentary
about the Falcon exhaust and I have to say that I had no such problem
with the Phoenix system. The system is a 2.25 single pipe system and
exits out of the right side of the car. The header is a 3 into 1, 3into
1, then 2 into 1. The pipe was well made, mandrel bent, no kinks and
fit the contour of the frame. All I had to to was custom fab some
mounts. In this dept I bassically copied my 94 BMW...I welded a support
towards the front of the exaust and used the coller hanger supplied.
Then I used a rubber separation piece between the two to enable enouph
give and isolate from vibration. In the rear I did the same to mount
the muffler. I used a Jaguar exhaust mount among the mix. For clamps I
used the "band type" They sort of resemble a hose clamp and are made of
stainless. The reason I chose this type of clamp over the U clamp is
for the simple fact that you can tighten the band type as tight as you
want without crimping the pipes, creating "pipe lock". Any way.....No
problems at all with either supplier.....Highly recommened!! Next year
I'll put on the roller rockers. Then thats "all" for the 6', I have to
devote time to the TVR now.....
The car has great power and pulls with authority. With the suspension I
can go into a corner and power out and get her power drifting! Very
controlled and predictable. Now of course there's alway's
something......This fall, I'll pull the pan and put in new thrust
washers and maybe a high capacity oil pump since I'm there. I thought
about bearings but my pressure seems to be fine. A little over 75 psi
on startup...2mm past 50psi at 55 to 95!! 25psi to 1mm past the mark
on a hot day....So I think it's fine...why mess with it. I use 20w50
and the motor has 69,500. Let me know what you think. Now I do have a
certain degree of blow by. It's not to bad but It's definately more
than before since the head job. I'm in the progress of making a custom
catch tank. I'm also thinking of putting in a PCV valve. First, is
this necessary and what exactly does a PCV valve do? Second..The car
has a slight bog at 2500 rpm then clears to all the rest of the way.
Sometimes, it doesn't do it at all. I'm starting to think it's
temperature related but I'm still in the r&d stage. Another area that
is bugging me is run on when I switch off the car. Remember I have the
higher compression head, so I'm thinking it's an octane thing. It
doensn't do it all the time but it's not good when it does. The timing
is set at 10 degrees right now and I'm ready to retard it to 4 or
lower. The book call for 10 and it left Don's shop at the very
same...but this pinging thing is not healthy. By the way it doesn't
ping on acceleration....the car pulls wonderfully...hense the reason for
my hesitation..... I don't have the anti run on valve or the charcoal
canister. Hence the reason I'm making the catch tank. I thought about
adding the anti run valve to the canister but Since the canister will
vent to the atmosphere via a filter and PCV(?) I don't see what it will
do...The car also runs a smidge on the rich side but seems to like it
and my fuel consumtion seems to be fine. If any of you have any
thoughts please feel free......Most of the long list of things above are
no big deal, but the running on must go!!
Chris Young
74TR6
76TVR
94BMW
93Ducati
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