TR6 Differential Mounts

There are a few givens with Triumph TR6's.

You'll have fun in them!
People will compliment them when you are out driving them.
The differential mount will eventually break!

I recently undertook the process of dropping the differential and reinforcing the mounts. My good buddy Boris happens to be a vintage car nut and a good welder. Without his help, this would have never happened.

When we dropped the differential, we found that my mounts were broken, and they had actually been broken at least once before. The car is 40 years old, and I've owned it for 23 of those years, so somewhere along the line she broke.

I did all the mechanical work, all the reinforcement plate fabrication and all the cleanup to ensure the welding would go well. Boris did all of the welding. Believe me, he had the toughest job by far. He did a brilliant job of welding over his head in very cramped quarters.

I'm pleased with the end results. The back end of the car is more solid and the clunk caused by the cracked passenger side front mount is now gone. Thank goodness! (and Boris)

Comfy New Interior

When I originally restored my '73 TR6 back in 1990, I installed with my father a brand new 'biscuit' interior. We did every detail. My father was the guy with the patience to get it done right, and we farmed out the seat reupholstery to a local shop. In the end, it looked great!

 

Unfortunately, time, weather and wear took their toll on my beautiful car. The end result was faded, cracked, torn and worn seats and carpet which literally disintegrated. I can't fault it much, as those repro parts lasted 15 years!

 

As I've gotten the car back on the road, I could not stand to see the torn up seats and they were not terribly comfortable. So, it was time to restore the seats.

 



I decided to reupholster my seats myself this time instead of having anyone in town do it. Mostly this was motivated by the one quote I got which was for more than the seat cover kits cost. Too much dollar value out of my pocket.

I found a couple very good how-to's on the website. One on Victoria British Limited, and one on the Buckeye Triumphs website. If you've not been to the Buckeye site, you really need to visit it as it is well worth the read.

I won't tell you every boring detail of the job, but there are some valuable details in the installation that I learned and think everyone could benefit from.

Before doing any installation, I derusted the seat frames, painted with rust protectant paint and finished with some gloss black for more protection.

The restored headrest with rust removed, painted and new wood

in the lower edge for fastening the headrest cover. 

Next up, when you reupholster the seats, you don't necessarily have to replace all the foam. I found that the seat back foam in my seats was perfect. The seat cushion foam bolsters were also good, but the base foam was dead. I replaced this with high density foam from Jo Ann. When you install this foam, cut the pieces oversize. Install them with plenty of adhesive and when the adhesive is dry, take the time to cut the pieces to size.

What should you use to cut the foam? I used an electric fish filleting knife from Wal-mart. Total investment was $25, but it was worth it. When you cut with the knife, just place the blade where you want it and hit the button. Guide the knife through, but don't force it. Let the blades work their way through and you'll be pleased with the results.

I also took the time to install new fabric along the edges of the seats and over the seat springs. This protects the foam from the springs, and gives the side foams something to adhere to.

Seat top in place and side fabric support installed.  

 

Side foams glued

Side foams trimmed and seat cushion trimmed.

Once you have the foams all glued in place and trimmed, its time to pull the cushions on. My only advice here is to take your time and think the job through completely before you begin. Think how you will pull each piece into place and have your clips ready at hand to secure everything. I did find that installing the seat bottom cover is much easier with the seat fully reclined.

On the seatback cover, there are two formers which are mounted in pockets in the bottom of the seat edges. They provide shape and with two metal clips, they secure the seat cover on the seat.

I originally installed these as stock into my car. The first time I sat down, the former poked me in the leg and nearly punctured the vinyl. I figured out quickly what the problem was and dissassembled the seat cover. I modified the formers as shown in the pictures. I also sanded all the edges of the formers round with some 100 grit sandpaper. This completely eliminated the problem.

The former before cutting with the cut marked on the former.

The former after cutting and ready to install.

When I was done with this job, I was really pleased with the results and I think this pic shows why!

 



 

 

Back On The Road!

Well, Coventry's Finest is back on the road!

That last run of work was not a small one, but the car is in significantly better shape than when it entered that phase. I finally resolved the brake issue when I found that the new caliper pistons I installed were actually slightly out of round and were locking up in the calipers. Before getting all that right however, I had also rebuilt the master cylinder.

In the process of rebuilding the brake master cylinder, I found that the clutch master cylinder was completely blown. It still operated, but it was leaking heavily. The rebuild on it was quick, but I found that the cylinder casting was completely shot. I ended up using an old Girling casting which was in perfect shape. I used several other parts from the old cylinder, including the piston.

So, here is the latest list:

Rebuilt Rear Hubs - rebuilt by Phil (all other items rebuilt by myself)
New Outer Universal Joints
Rebuilt Front Hubs
Rebuilt Front Brake calipers (new seals, new stainless pistons)
Rebuilt Brake Master Cylinder
Rebuilt Clutch Master Cylinder
Refinished Tail Light Assemblies
Repainted Kamm Tail
Rear Bumper rustproofed inside and painted inside
New Interior Visors
New Bullet Door Mirror
Seats Reupholstered
Differential Oil Topped Up
All Rock Pecks Touched Up

It feels great to have it back on the road again!

New Bearings

So while I was testing out the new cooling system, I found that the rear hubs were giving up the ghost. To that end, I decided to send them off to a 6-Pack member - Phil. I cannot say enough great things about Phil and the work he does. He rebuilt the hubs and turned them around quickly. I've now driven the car and the rear hubs are absolutely perfect!

With the car up on stands, I took the time to rebuild the front hubs as well. The front races turned out to be in terrible shape. They were smooth, but worn down so badly that we had put a washer under the stock 'D' washer to allow to take up the slack.

I put the new bearings in the front and the result is great. Slop free bearings, nicely set up and ready to rock!

As with everything however, as I was rebuilding the front hubs, I had removed the brake calipers and was inspecting them. I found a small leak from one of the calipers. Since I had the rebuild kits, I decided to rebuild them. Smart thing to do right?

Wrong..... I rebuilt the calipers and reinstalled them and quickly found I could not bleed them out correctly.

As of right now, I have a car in great running shape with a great looking interior, but I cannot drive it. My father will be here this weekend and we'll take a few mins to try to bleed it out correctly.

Cooling System Complete

After fixing the radiator and re-installing it, I was able to finish out the installation of the electric fan harness and complete the cooling system re-do.

The wiring went in pretty well. I was able to tie into the original fuse box in the car to allow picking up the wiring which was electrified when the key was on and the wiring that was on all the time. I also was able to use some of the original holes in the car to mount the relay. I finished the wiring install by wrapping the harness exactly as the stock harness was wrapped, so the whole setup looks like it belongs there.

 

 

 

I thoroughly tested the system after installation and everything went really well. I installed a 180 degree thermostat and the system performs perfectly. It cycles exactly as expected and the car runs at a perfect temperature all the time. It also handled the 100 plus degree summer in Memphis with no issues.

 

Cooling System Refurb Continued

So where I left off with the Cooling System, my radiator was at the radiator shop being boiled out and soldered up where it had a leak.

Unfortunately, I got a call from the shop and they asked me to come in. When I got there, they had the radiator off to the side. Boiled out, but obviously not soldered up. They basically told me that it had a header leak, and because it was a 40 year old radiator, they would not solder it up. They offered to re-core it for $400, but a new rad is only $260, so I said no thanks and went on my way.

When I got home, I had to figure out how to seal the radiator. I had read that using a vacuum to pull the epoxy into the joint would make the repair much stronger. Talking with a buddy who works on vintage Volvos confirmed that this repair could work.

With all that in my mind, I pulled out the automated vacuum pump I built a few years ago for building composite airplane parts. I sealed up the radiator and then hooked up the pump system and pulled a vacuum. I could hear the leak 'sucking'.

I worked up a batch of JBWeld and spread it around the leaking area. I could actually hear the epoxy being pulled into the leak and then there was silence! After letting the epoxy cure overnight, I pulled a vacuum against the radiator and it held for several minutes. Definitely a successful repair.

Next up, I needed to install the fan on the radiator. I used some self tapping screws to mount the fan to the outer edges of the radiator shroud. This is a definite measure twice, drill once type of job....

With the fan mounted to the radiator, it was time to install the whole assembly back in the car. The fan motor did not clear the frame crossmember. I elongated the holes in the radiator braces to get the fan motor off the crossmember, but will eventually make new longer braces to pull it completely off the crossmember.

To be continued......

Too Busy To Post!

Well, I've been too busy to post much lately, but that is definitely a good thing!

I've had several projects brewing for quite some time, and finally, I've had time to knock some of them out.

The first project was a re-working of my cooling system.

I was really wanting to install an electric cooling fan on my '73, but had not had the time. I was also interested in flushing my cooling system, getting a leak in the radiator soldered closed and then putting the whole thing back in much better shape than it came out.

After getting all the right parts together - Electric fan (16") and thermostatic switch, new hoses, and fan eliminator kit, I was ready to go.

I started by pulling out the radiator. Came out easily and I managed to not make much of a mess either.

As soon as I got the radiator out, I took it straight to a radiator repair shop to be boiled out and soldered up where I knew it had a leak.

Next up, I pulled out the old fan. It came out really easily, first by removing the fan, then the puck it mounts to, and finally the fan extension. I expected the extension bolt to be very difficult, but it popped right out.

With the fan extension off, I was able to install the Fan Eliminator kit. Doing this eliminates 6 or 7 pounds of metal and plastic from the end of the crankshaft. The supposed result according to the collective wisdom of the internet forums is that this is good for approximately 6 horsepower on the dyno- Sounds good to me!

Unfortunately, the radiator shop was not able to complete my radiator as expected, so I went to work changing out the hoses and painting everything I could. The paint work in the front of the car makes all the difference in the world and ensures it won't begin rusting again for at least a while. While I was in there, I also took the time to replace the fan belt.

A few days later, I got a call from the radiator shop and they had bad news. They said they found the leak, but refused to solder it closed for me. They did offer to re-core the radiator however for $400! That is $125 more than a brand new radiator, so I picked up my freshly cleaned, but leaking radiator and headed home.

To be continued........