TR-6: The Saga Continues
In our last episode we were faced with a TR-6 which would occasionally
start and run for a couple of seconds with the aid of a jump. In this
episode we start hitting it with the wrenches.
Yesterday I arrived back at my friend Natalie's house where the car is
with a box full of tools and a bag full of parts. I started by pulling the
plugs. The old ones didn't look too great, one had a bit of oil on it,
so I gapped and installed a new set. Try starting the car. With a
start it once again fires up for a couple of seconds, then quits.
Time to start on the distributor. I pulled the cap, it doesn't look
too bad, but I have a new one so I'll replace it. I yank off the rotor
and find that it and the shaft it sits on are corroded. I chuck the
old rotor and clean the shaft with a wire brush. Next we change the
points and condenser. Hmm, the new condenser isn't quite them same as
the old one. Actually the condenser itself is the same, but the
connectors and fittings are different. The old wires and connections
are in pretty poor shape so I rig up something that will work, but
after I put the cap back on there is now an opening where the old wire
connector used to sit. Oh well, at least it's back together. Time to
connect the cables and try starting it again. Turn the key, and it
comes to life! Pull the cable I connected to the throttle linkage (it
runs through the firewall where the glove box used to be and out the
access panel, er, glove box door) and the revs climb a bit. There is
a cloud of smoke, but she's running. Smiles all around, then the revs
drop off, the engine sputters, it revs up again, then down, etc. It
oscillates like this for a while, and if I open the throttle it dies
completely. Well, one more part left in my bag to replace. The fuel
filter. The old one looked pretty grungy, so I thought it might be
wise to replace it. We pull off the old one and replace it gas. Ugh,
gas everywhere. I guess that is to be expected. I guess I probably
should have waited to put that extra gallon and a half of gas in the
tank too. :-) Well, the moment of truth. Turn the key, a rumble, a
bit of smoke and it's RUNNING! It's idling at about 3000 rpm because
of my trying to get the throttle linkage to work the previous day, but
it's running, and pretty smoothly too! I still don't have the throttle
linkage working so with the engine turning over at 3000 rpm with no
load Natalie and I pile into the car and idle around the block. The
shifts aren't too smooth with the tach jumping up to 3000 everytime I
put in the clutch, but the car is moving under it's own power. We get
back from several trips around the block, and I start in on the
throttle linkage as it gets dark. I adjust the are on the gas pedal
shaft, and I can work the carbs. Adjust another arm and the idle is
back to a respectable 700-800 rpm. It looks drivable!
After dinner we finally clean up and throw all of the boxes of spare
parts back into the car, put the hardtop back on and get ready to
drive her home. Oops! No dash lights. I guess I'll follow behind
Natalie since I can't tell exactly how fast I'm going. Not that the
speedo is reading correctly anyway. I hit it with a flashlight a
couple times so I can compare it to Natalie's speed and it looks to be
reading 20-25% fast. I'll add it to the list of projects.
The car makes it home without a hitch, and I took it to work today.
Everyone loved it. They all thought I was going to show up with
something whose fenders were falling off when I told them I only paid
$1500.
Now that the car is drivable the list of things to fix are:
Seatbelts
Tighten up throttle linkage
Get a smog certificate
Dash lights
Headlights are dim
Electrical shorts (something clicks when I connect the battery...)
Turn signal level is broken off
Highbeam switch is gone
etc.
etc.
etc.
Well, time to do some work so I can leave while the sun is still up
and do some top down motoring...
Jeff
jlo@elan.com
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