While you are surfing around over at www.vtr.org you can also look at
their repair manuals... they have a lot of info about TR4's. I'd suggest
investing in a good shop manual from one of the mail order houses too. I
talked myself out of an XKE some years back by getting hold of a manual
and reading it. I needed a daily driver & the XKE was going to require a
lot of sophisticated maintenance and be costly to keep on the road. (If
only I could have bought it & kept it in storage!) That's how I ended up
with a TR4. End of story.
Other problem areas to look for: under and behind the battery,
frequently rusted and I haven't seen the weld-in steel repair panels
lately. Also check the floor pans about where the driver and passenger's
feet rest, especially the driver's side. Again, rust potential, but the
culprit this time is leaky master brake and/or clutch cylinder.
Another common problem is the mount at the firewall that holds the
steering column, it often gets ripped away and is a #^$**##)_! to repair
without removing the whole dash (there is something at vtr about making
up a bolt-in aluminum bracket.
Finally, drive any prospective cars and pay close attention to the rack
& pinion. Some of the parts are becoming scarce. I'm midstream
rebuilding mine and having a hard time finding a good pinion.
A lot of stuff on the cars can be bought new, but some of it is getting
quite pricey and other things are of questionable quality, as some of
the other posters have pointed out.
Happy hunting.
Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
TR4 #CT17602
fergie@ntplx.net wrote:
> Perhaps I'm a little slow, but I just subscribed to several of the
> team.net mailing lists and am trying to figure out how to view any
> sort
> of archived info, cars for sale, posts on how to repair widgets -
> anything - but can't seem to get anywhere.
>
> I've already gotten a couple of real-time posts, as well as answers to
>
> questions I've asked, but there must be a TON of good stuff (and
> probably some not so good stuff) out there and I'd like to look at it
> too. Any instructions, URLs, etc. would be appreciated.
>
> Needless to say, this is my first experience with this sort of thing.
> Thanks, everyone.
>
> PS: While I'm at it, is there ANYONE out there who would recommend
> restoring a TR4 as opposed to buying one already done? Without
> exception, everyone I've asked says I'm crazy to even THINK of doing
> one
> myself. By the way, re the opening of this post, I'm better with
> mechanicals than I am with computers! Thanks again.
>
> Michael Ferguson
> Vernon, CT
--
MZ
|