I bought my first TR 4A when I was 15 years old... in 1977... It was a
tired 10 year old car... I fully restored it. It was set up for very
high performance and I had a lead foot. The car was beautiful and I
spent so much time maintaining the car that I began to identify with the
main characters of "Christine" in the Steven King novel/movie... The
problem with that first TR was that it was not reliable. I was always
able to hobble it home, so I only had it towed once... (when my heated
brakes went out as I approached a turn at high speed....fortunately,
they had removed the tree that used to be there)... So, on one hand, I
was proud of the fact that I was always able to get it home, one way or
another, but I did come to believe that the cars were very unreliable.
I never left home without a tool bag (that saw as much use out on the
road as at home in my garage!) and while I'd put several hundred miles
on the car in one day... it would always be in circles, usually within
100 miles of home. I just didn't trust it to other states, etc. I
accepted the idea that British cars, including Triumphs... just were not
reliable cars. As far as I could tell, the stories of "Lucas, Prince of
Darkness" were all true. After a drunk driver slammed into the car, I
gave it up in the mid 80's. Now push forward to 1992 or so...
I bought another TR 4A. It had been sitting for over 20 years,
exposed. Everything was frozen. The windshield was cracked and the top
convertible top had long given way U.V. and rain. I did a relatively
quick, but extensive rebuild on the car's mechanicals. My goal was to
get it back on the street as soon as possible, so that I could enjoy the
project, rather than allow it to turn into a long term restoration
project. I focused on the areas that would get it on the road, and
then as time went by, I would restore the rest of the mechanicals as I
enjoyed driving it. I did quality work, but not to the point of being
anal retentive! I focused on keeping it basically original, but more
important, I focused on paying close attention to the areas that my
first TR had problems with. And that is what this e-mail is about.
I used to go through a lot of generators, subsequently, I made sure that
it was a quality rebuild and that all the bolts that held the generator
in place were extremely secure. Here, I moved away from "stock", and put
in whatever fasteners I felt I needed to make sure that it would never
come loose on it's own. (Which is something that happened on my first
car a number of times!) I used to go through a lot of starters, so
made sure my battery connections were top grade and matched it to a
quality battery. I used to have a lot of "Lucas Prince of Darkness"
issues, so I went through the wire loom... carefully replacing or
wrapping damaged wires. I cleaned connections. I replaced damaged
connectors. I lengthened wires that were too short and always coming
apart, etc. I re-wrapped parts of the loom that had become unwrapped.
I simply cleaned it all up. I put a special lubricant on all the
connectors (designed to increase electrical contact while keeping
moisture out.). I replaced fuel lines, as my first car had a tendency
to clog up. I slush cleaned the fuel tank, something I had never done
with the first car. To make a long story short... it's not that I was
necessarily throwing money or become obsessed with these areas, it's
just that I did focus on these areas, spent the extra time, to remove
the potential for future failure. So what's the result?
The car isn't my daily driver, but it doesn't just come out once a year.
Once I worked out the initial "bugs" in the car, in the first year,
the car has proven to be totally "turn-key" for over 10 years. Whether
I take the Triumph or one of my more modern cars is never a question of
"will it make it?". It's based on weather and my mood. (My TR 4A is
permanently set up as a convertible with aeroscreens.) I have driven
the car to San Francisco several times. The car doesn't have a "tool
bag" in it, like my first TR did. I do have a box of "spares", that I
sometimes throw in on those 500 mile type trips, but I have yet to need
it. The car runs cool in the hottest southern california traffic. (A
new radiator AND I always use Redline's "Water Wetter" with
coolant/water.) Whether the car has sat for a couple months or a
couple days, it almost always starts within the first few seconds of
effort, with only an occasion and momentary use of the choke. I'm
knocking on wood as I type this, but I have to say, I've just been
amazed. The fact is, the car has proven to be more reliable than
almost any car I have ever owned.
Now, of course, this doesn't mean I haven't done anything to it in all
these years. I certainly get in there and do some maintenance here and
there. I finally rebuilt the rear axle some time back. I also put in
an overdrive trans some time back. I had a freak electrical problem
because I let a heater cable float about and it knocked into a positive
connection. The result was my fault and quite dramatic, but I drove my
car on to my destination and back. The car has not been perfect, but
damn, it's been good to me. I will note, that I don't have the lead
foot as I did in my youth (looking for V8's to race!), but I still have
my fun here or there. I don't have the car set up as hot as I did, and
I'm sure that adds some reliability that my first car didn't have. In
the end though, my advice is this: If your TR is unreliable, this is
NOT normal. If your TR's electronics are the basis of "Lucas Prince of
Darkness" tales, over and over again, that is NOT normal. If your car
is overheating all the time, that is NOT normal. Your TR should be as
reliable as any other car. If it is not, it is not just a fate you
need to accept. What you need to do is to take some time and focus on
the areas that cause you trouble and tackle potential problems. If you
go through life accepting the notion that TR's are just unreliable, then
you'll only focus on repairing things as they break down and doing only
most basic of maintenance. If you are just a bit more proactive, in
the preventative maintenance category, your car will be there for you,
24 hours a day, just begging to be driven.
---Justin Wagner
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