>From: John Howard <trjhhow7@home.com>
>Reply-To: John Howard <trjhhow7@home.com>
>To: triumph list <triumphs@autox.team.net>
>Subject: TR4 rebuild - various
>Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2000 11:09:28 -0400
>
>Listers:
>
>I've been working on a engine compartment rebuild since acquiring this
>64 TR4 last Fall. Engine, ZS carbs, fuel pump, starter, generator
>rebuilt and installed, together with "new" OD, so all is going as well
>as can be expected for your basic duffer. A few puzzlements, however, on
>which I seek your input.
>
>1. How does the oil pressure gauge work? The tube runs from the filter
>fixture to the gauge, but there seems no way for oil to enter the tube
>from the sump. Do I prime the tube separately? What gives?
If you look at the banjo fitting (that's the round thingie at the
end of the copper tube) there's a little hole that allows the oil to
pass through... There's no need to prime the passage, oil will get
where it needs to go...Hell, it's a Triumph... oil will go wherever
it wants to go, whether you want it to or not!
>2. Encouraged by the TRF catalogue, I bought the plastic fan intended
>for the 250, believing their promise that it would fit. Seemed good
>idea to replace the bulky steel fan with all the little balance weights
>with a nice light, plastic one. Lo and behold, the pretty yellow thing
>juts out too far, not allowing the radiator to reach its mountings. Have
>I done something wrong? Was TRF off base? If I have to return to the
>metal fan, how the heck do I balance it...especially since the one I
>have came from a lister (thank you!) while the balance weights came off
>my badly damaged one.
>
I'm a bit fuzzy on fan balance weights... My early `4 didn't have
any. In fact the car came witha TR3a fan that wouldn't pull fuzz off
a dandelion. I replaced it with a later TR4 fan (which I got from
Moss) which worked just fine. To me the whole assemly (that big
chunk of iron hanging off the front of the crank). could be seen by
some to be a culprit for many problems. For those of you who will
only use your TR to cruise around the neighborhood, it's fine.
The problem comes when you wind the engine out to the higher RPMs.
That chunk of unbalanced metal can create vibrations that can
damage your crank shaft. If you use your car competitively (like in
racing and autoxing, etc) or realliy like driving it hard, the
consensus is to convert that thing to a harmonic balancer and use an
electric fan for cooling. (I've probably told you more that you need
to know here).
Call TRF and talk to their tech person (probably Dave Hagenbaugh)to
see what his recommendations are regarding mounting this fan. If it
won't work for you they may take it back.
>3. I gather from recent postings that the 96 inch speedo cable available
>from Moss will allow me to avoid buying the angle drive and reach around
>to the takeoff on the OD unit.
Spend the money for the right angle drive. It will save you a lot
of grief routing that cable... BTDT.
Greg Petrolati Champaign, Illinois 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
That's not a leak... My car's just marking its territory...
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