>From: "Freeman, Noah" <Noah.Freeman@Bain.com>
>Reply-To: "Freeman, Noah" <Noah.Freeman@Bain.com>
>To: "'triumphs@autox.team.net'" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
>Subject: Repair questions/costs
>Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 11:01:16 -0500
>
>Hello all-
>
>Noah the TR4 searcher (and massive list asker) Freeman here.
>
>
>I have a list of things that are wrong with it, some of which I might be
>able to fix myself, some might require help of a shop- Ill list off the
>things that are wrong, and I would love it if you experienced guys could
>chime in with "that is really hard to fix" or "that is trivial"....this
>will
>help me a) prioritize repairs if I buy it, and b) adjust my offer to
>reflect
>the things that are wrong-
>
>Thanks in advance for all your help!
>
>(as a seperate question, what books should I buy as a beginning triumph
>owner/fiddler for doing some of my own repairs, generally being
>intelligient, etc?)
>
>Mechanical-
>1) Leaks a little bit of oil at what looks to be the timer cover (down
>in front very close to where the fan is)...oil drips on fan, and is then
>sprayed around inside hood. Does not look pretty. Does not leak for first
>10 minutes, only leaks once warmed up. Current owner thinks it is a timer
>cover gasket (or some such). He has the gasket. How hard is this to
>replace? It looks a touch inaccessible...does it require major surgery to
>get to, or can it be done cleverly somehow? How do you do it? Can I do
>this myself (VERY inexperienced)
>
sleeve" which is driven over the pulley
base.
The fact that the oil is getting on the fan is what's
throwing me. The timing cover or it's seal leaking
won't show up all over the engine compartment...
Think about it. My guess is the leak is coming from
somewhere on top of the engine and is getting blown
about the engine by the fan. It might be the valve
cover (a common spot) or he may have the sump breather
blocked and the oil could be coming from wherever it
can get out to be blown about.
>2) Generator rattle- generator makes a slight occasional rattling
That sounds like it may be a bad bearing. It could
come from having the fan belt too tight.
>
>3) Idles high- car naturally idles at about 1700 rpm, which seems a bit
>high to me. Is this normal, or too high? How hard is this to adjust (just
>a screw on the carb linkage?)
>
>4) Choke not attached- when you operate the choke lever from the
>drivers seat, nothing seems to happen. Car starts great (25 deg F last
>night), runs well, but choke does not respond...is this easy, hard, or hard
>to tell about?
>
>5) Car diesels (runs on) on shutdown (for maybe 5 secs)- is this
>related to the high idle? Is this a deathknell? Expensive to fix?
>
I think the high idle and the run on are related and
it might be timing.
>6) Pops out of first in idle- when idling (at stoplight) in first (with
>clutch in) gearshift always pops back to neutral.
>
>7) No syncromesh- this car does not appear to have 1st gear syncromesh.
>Is this true? I somehow thought that all TR4s had syncromesh...could it be
>not working? Could I be using it wrong? Can it be retrofitted?
>
The tranny definitly needs work. Non-synchro may be
indicative of a non TR4 tranny. This was a major
selling point for TR4s. My `4 had a TR3 transmission
in it when I bought it. No syncro in first.
Apparently the DPO (Dreaded Previous Owner) replaced
it as a cheap fix sometime in the car's past
>Non-mechanical-
>1) No instrument guage lights- since none are working, seems like the
>whole
>ting might be unplugged. Is this a big deal?
>
>2) Blinkers (turn signals) dont work all of the time- occasionally
>works, occasionally doesnt- is this a big deal to fix?
>
This may be simple (bad ground-blown bulbs) or
difficult... Rewiring needed.
>3) Wood in dash needs heavy refinishing or replacing. How hard/expensive
>is this?
No help here (steel dash on my`4)
>
>4) Surface rust in footwells, both sides- it looks liekthe carpet
>liners (very spongy looking htings) held water against the floors- this is
>the only rust on the entire car...
I'll dodge on these last two items.
Back in 1985, I bought a parts car and did a ground
up rebuild, over the course of three years and for
about $7000. Ignorance is definitely bliss. In some
cases during the redo I got screwed, I also got lucky
from time to time (the total cost of my final paint
job was $375) what I got most of all was an education.
My `4 is what can be truthfully called a very nice
bitsa car (bitsa this and bitsa that).
I do know that what every short-cut I took during the
rebuild came back to bite me over the course of
living with the car. I drive it a lot. I
love/hate/love it a lot.
Noah, depending on the price, it may be a good buy
(if you want an education).
If you don't do the work yourself it will be
expensive... If you do the work youself it will be
less expensive, but you'll get an education... which
is priceless:)
I would enlist the help of someone in a Triumph
club near you to actually look at this car. His
experience will mean a lot when you come to make
your decision.
Greg Petrolati Champaign, Illinois 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
That's not a leak... My car's just marking its territory...
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