I recently purchased a 75 TR6. The car looked great, and ran well when I test
drove it. I've had several rusty TR's in the past, so I paid very close
attention to the body condition, and was surprised that I couldn't find any
rust. I even had the cooperation of my wife on this purchase, because I sold
an old VW that I was driving, and hauled off another junker.
Having always been an impulse buyer when it comes to cars, I made the
purchase. After owning the car for a while I have come to the following
conclusions:
1) The body is as nice, or nicer than I had hoped.
2) The engine runs good, but hesitates some at acceleration. ( I recently
noticed that the oil in the carbs is low, but I haven't had time to try adding
some yet)
3) The suspension in combination with the bias ply red line tires is scary. (I
hope to do some improving here)
4) I hate the rubber bumper guards, and dream of getting rid of them, and
lowering the bumpers down to where they belong.
5) My rear end and/or the rear hubs are howling.
6) My engine oil pressure is so low, that I am already thinking about
rebuilding the engine. I actually have a desire to do this, but I am hoping to
get some time on the car before ripping it all apart.
I decided to make some attempt at improving the oil pressure, and determining
if the engine is bad. This is what I did:
- compression tested each cylinder, and they all measured 120psi, which I
believe is within specifications.
- plasticgauged (spelling?) the crankrod bearings, and they were at .002
(within spec), and then I replaced all of these bearings.
- replaced the oil pump that showed some wear.
- replaced the pressure relief valve spring.
- replaced the oil filter, and oil. (I used 10W 40, but the manual actually
calls for 20W 50)
- plasticgauged #3 main bearing. It measured .002, but the bearing showed some
wear. (copper in the center of the half bearing) Bummer.
- I test drove the car tonight, and after getting it warmed up I measured
15-20psi at warm idle, and 55psi at 2000 rpm warm. That is twice the oil
pressure that I had before. I'm very happy, and I think this engine will go a
few miles before it needs a complete overhaul.
Now a few questions:
1) I didn't use new bolts when I put in the new crank bearings. What is the
general consensus on this?
2) What is the spec. for the main bearings? Is it crazy to consider trying to
replace these bearings with the engine in the car? The Bentley manual gives a
procedure for doing this.Will it help prolong the life of the engine?
Note: I'm starting to wonder if the previous owner had some real thin
synthetic oil in the car, and the thicker oil is the main reason that I'm
seeing higher oil pressures.
3) I've seen ads in the Moss catalog for an oiler tube that sends oil to the
rocker arm assembly. Are people having positive results with this
configuration? Is there a loss of oil pressure when using this assembly?
4) Are most of you using 20W 50 oil?
That is all for now, I'm sure that I will have more questions at a later time.
Thanks in advance for any reply's
John H. in Minneapolis
PS: It is getting very cold around here, and the snow is coming down hard. I
was just driving around in the TR6 two hours ago. It will probably be next
spring before that happens again.
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