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The Rest of the Issues Resolved

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The cooling system issue resolved by two actions - had radiator flushed and repaired professionally and installed a Macy's Hurricane Fan blade for increased air flow.  Now runs really cool, also confirmed by a new temperature gauge. Can was still not quite running right.  After putting more miles on it, decided the carbs were just not set right.  Turned out we had the wrong combination of jets and needles - jets were too big (0.100 inch) for the correct needles we had.  Thanks Joe Curto for the advice that led to this discovery!  Got the right jets in and runs MUCH better.  New points and condenser plus plugs also helped.   Got around to installing the rear panel and floor carpet in the trunk, looks much nicer: We decided to wait on marketing the car until Spring, convertibles not being as exciting during the winter months.  Meantime Ray and I worked with our local car club SIR Brit to bring a 1971 TR6 back to life - was a very successful pro...
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But Wait - 3 more things

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 As is typical, when we put more miles on the car we found more issues (44 miles so far).  Three more issues to be exact. First was poor acceleration.  Seemed to come and go.  But last time we had it out, decided to "not overlook the obvious" and check the oil in the carbs.  They were almost dry.  Filled them up, then ran like a champ. Second was pulling to the right when braking.  Adjusted front brakes, still there.  Took them apart, could not find a root cause.  Decided to sand paper the shoes and drums, plus swap drums from side to side.  Problem appears to be gone now! Third was more challenging, running hot.  We knew gauge read too high.  But we also felt like the car was running too hot, esp when idling.  TR2's and TR3's are known for not moving enough air.  But we also had not done anything to the radiator. More checking ended up first finding a bunch of maple seeds in the radiator.  First picture is from ...
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Coming Down Home Stretch

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Moss motors could not get us a throwout bearing that was narrower.  So we ended up making ours narrower, ie ground off some of the pin on the right side.  Took about 0.040" off, filed it nice and smooth, reassembled and parts now fit great!  Root cause was original bell housing machining was slightly off center, which was fine with a wider throwout bearing but not the new narrower ones.  Then we finally got transmission reinstalled. Received refurbished steering wheel and control head, got them installed.  They both look and function great: Got rest of interior done, including seat installation and carpet.  Those "hot rod" seat rails work pretty darn good! Got new top installed.  Well, it was actually several years old from sitting around in it's box.  Had to let mother nature stretch the material during installation.  We think it turned out real good: Developed a "punch list" of things to finish up.  Great progress on the list.  Do...
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Great Progress until the parts don't fit

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 The transmission guy reassembled the overdrive and created a fixture for checking it out of the car.  Here's a picture of the fixture, using a drill motor to spin the transmission to generate oil pressure: Then here's the video of the test itself.  The overdrive was confirmed to work, which you can detect by the increasing speed depicted by the flapping business card on the output: The transmission guy wanted to also replace the front oil seal and gasket.  In order to replace those parts he needed to remove the clutch operating shaft.  The shaft and it's fork are connected by a bolt that would not come out.  So he ended up cutting out the old lever and fork.  Here's the new parts: The new parts don't line up correctly!  This picture tells the story.  The gap between the two pins on the fork should be the same on both sides of the round portion of the transmission.  As you can see by the drill pits wedged into place, the gap is not the s...
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Need Transmission Back!

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 Transmission has been out for for over 3 weeks.  Was easy to get out: Transmission guy says the overdrive had lots of dirt in it.  He dismantled it, no apparent worn or broken pieces, hopefully a good cleaning will get it working.  Will also replace 4 gaskets and 2 oil seals.  The transmission itself looks very good too, so not further dismantle planned there. Steering wheel is almost done by guy in NY.  He had difficulty getting threads re-established for set screws for control head.   Speaking of control head ie. trafficator, we elected to purchase a rebuilt one instead of an aftermarket replacement.  This guy Dave does an excellent job: We also removed the stator tube (long tube that goes through middle of steering column for trafficator and horn wiring) and confirmed it's in great shape: So looking forward to steering wheel so we can install the trafficator! Got the rear bumpers installed: Front bumpers arrived from Vietnam, had to buy n...
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Pesky Overdrive

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 Last post mentioned the charging system not working.  Local shop that rebuilt generator said it's likely a bad voltage regulator.  They did confirm the generator works fine when we took it out for them to check it. So we arranged a consult with Rick Astley, an electrical engineer who has written a book about MG electrical systems.  He was very helpful.  We had been correctly polarizing the generator field windings for positive ground, but had done it without the engine running.  At Rick's suggestion we tried it again while the engine was running, and how it starting charging!  As Rick says, it needed an electrical Kick in the A**! No red light, ammeter goes to right towards positive current.  Decided to stop by the shop that rebuilt the generator to tell them what fixed the issue - the owner was gone, so I shared the story with his technician of over 40 years experience.  He said "I could have told you that!".  Oh well. Next we installe...
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Still Moving Forward

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 We did suffer some delay on the TR2 due to a 1969 Triumph Spitfire project we couldn't turn down.  We've got the Spitfire running and on the market, so time to get back to the TR2. We got the fluids all changed (engine, tranny, and differential).  We ran into several problem areas, many of which we have since resolved: 1. No gas to engine.  Pretty sure we let the gas level just get too low.  We also cleaned out the fuel line to make sure nothing was slowing down the flow. 2. Carbs were dripping.  We had used the rubber jet seals from the rebuild kit.  Our local SU carb expert strongly suggested using Viton seals that he has been able to procure.  Swapped to those and the leak went away.  Plus the jets move easier now for engaging the choke. 3. Clutch not disengaging.  We could not extend the length of the pushrod enough to get the clutch to release.  Finally decided to get a picture of the slave cylinder installation on the early T...
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