Greetings Ashford,
I also very much enjoyed the SE VTR convention (Tallahassee, Florida),
meeting you and the others after so long - a lot of fun and nice cars.
Your TR6 looks outstanding with the new wheels/tires. Let me know the
cost of the GTA golf shirt and I'll send along my check - or perhaps
PayPal would be easier? Pls let me know.
I only got my TR4 home yesterday. On Sunday early evening, just
northwest of Nashville, west bound on interstate highway I-24, the temp
gauge suddenly pegged hot; I immediately stopped on the good grassed
road shoulder and shut down. When things cooled down a bit I opened the
radiator and saw NO coolant. No leaks (hoses, etc.) were apparent.
After adding most of a gallon of water I had with me, I restarted (huge
cloud of white smoke [steam?] from the exhaust), and managed to limp
to the next exit (less than a mile) and struggled to the Day's Inn at
Joelton, Tennessee. Seemed to be running on 3 cyls - and getting hot.
After I checked in at the motel, further investigation revealed coolant
in the oil & oil in the coolant - classic signs of a blown head gasket.
After thinking about how to address the problem, rather than trying to
make repairs in rural Tennessee, I decided to transport the TR4 back to
Wheaton, Illinois and repair at leisure in my own garage. I got a ride
into Nashville on Mon morning, leaving the TR4 in front of the motel
office in view of the desk clerk. After a 10 hour Greyhound bus ride to
Chicago (reacquainting me with a segment of society not recently
experienced), a short taxi trip from the bus station to Union Station,
finally a commuter train to Wheaton, I arrived at home Mon PM.
Early Tue I left home towing a car hauler trailer behind my Jeep
Cherokee and returned to Joelton, Tennessee, loaded the TR4 and resumed
the interrupted journey - I spent the night at Cadiz, Kentucky and
arrived back at Wheaton at about 3PM yesterday. At last the TR4 was back
in my garage!
In spite of this unexpected event I consider the trip to SEVTR
Tallahassee (1,700 mi in a TR4 + 500 mi TR4 on a trailer + 500 mi on
Greyhound + 500 mi towing an empty trailer - about 3200 miles total!) a
great success. It was also very nice to receive the 1st place TR4
concours award.
Now to order a Upper Engine Gasket Set and get the TR4 going again. The
driving season is just starting.
brgds, Jay
'64 TR4 CT38895LO - not running at the moment
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