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Re: HELP request TR2 trans conversion

To: Blubaugh <rblubaug@netnitco.net>
Subject: Re: HELP request TR2 trans conversion
From: "T.R. Householder" <trhouse@greenapple.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 22:30:54 -0400
Cc: Triumphs@autox.team.net
References: <200011241731.eAOHVqK56655@ibmx3.netnitco.net> x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
What a remarkable story....... The best I can say here is that hey -----It
still runs...... TR2 spoken here.....

T.R.

Blubaugh wrote:

> As a new list subscriber, I am resubmitting the following item.  It seems
> that the first submission didn't make the list.
>
> Fellow Triumph enthusiasts:  HELP!
>
> Somewhere, somewhere, but I cannot remember where, I did see an address for
> someone offering a kit to convert a TR2 - TR3 drivetrain to a Toyota Supra
> 5 speed gearbox.    Can anybody shock my memory or tell me where or who is
> offering this "kit?"  Has anyone undertaken such a conversion?  Were there
> complications?  Were you satisfied with the end result?  Is this a cost
> effective alternative to rebuilding (in my case having some else rebuild)
> the old Triumph gearbox?  Would the Toyota Supra five speed be a better
> alternative than a rebuilt TR4 full synchro, overdrive gearbox?  (Are there
> any TR4 overdrive units available?)  I am not worried about keeping the
> gearbox in my TR2 authentic Triumph.  My car (its name is IPE-GAGG  (short
> i - long e) ...  Internal Percussion Engine - Grinding And Growling Gears)
> is NOT a prime candidate for restoration.  As a genuine "bondo buggy" it is
> a sculptor's work of art.  The fellow who restored my TR2 before I bought
> it should probably have given it up as a lost cause and I should probably
> do so too.   But as he couldn't, I can't either.  I feel bold and
> adventuresome (silly and foolish?) and I won't throw in the towel on this
> "car of character."
>
> Over the Thanksgiving break I hope to pull my engine and transmission for a
> winter project of overhauling my engine.  I have never removed an engine
> from an automobile before and only once have I overhauled an engine.
> Thirty two years ago as a lad of seventeen I overhauled the 215 cu.in.
> alumimium V8 in my first car, a '62 Olds Cutlass F-85.  It was done in my
> dad's barn with the engine still in the car.  It was an absolute miracle
> that it ever ran again.  Do miracles ever happen twice in a person's
> lifetime??
>
> My gearbox is a mess with excessive growling in first gear and almost no
> synchronizer remaining between first and second gear.  (I have mastered the
> art of double clutching on the 1-2 and 2-1 gear change, but it only works
> with warm oil.)  I saw lots of glittering gold (brass) in the gearbox oil
> that I drained from the tranny last week.  I might as well take care of
> engine and gearbox together.
>
> My engine must be in bad shape down on the crank.  Even with 50 wt. oil I
> have very low oil pressure,  (0 - 5 lbs) on idle with a warm engine,  60
> lbs on a coldstart.  En route to an MG / TRIUMPH challenge event in Indy
> back in August I think I lost an exhaust valve.  Number 1, 2, and 4 have
> 175 - 200 PSI compression and #3 has only 68 psi.  I have no evidence of
> back pressure into the intake manifold or the carbs,  but there is a new
> irregularity in the exhaust tone (hence my belief that something is amiss
> with the exhaust valve).  No significant change in compression on #3 when
> wet tested.  Does this confirm "valve" instead of bad or broken rings?
> Even before the compression loss in #3, I have had lots of puffing and
> smoking through the oil filler cap crankcase vent.  Since I have owned the
> car (one year and four months) is has leaked and used oil excessively.
> Previous owner had bored the sleves .030" over.  Is that common on a sleved
> engine?  Should I count on new sleves and pistons this time around?  (I
> need to be cost effective on this job.)  In a TR2 of my vintage, is it true
> that carriers for the camshaft are machined into the block and if these are
> worn a new engine is the only answer?    In any case, the engine in old
> TS7690 is ripe for an overhaul.  Does anyone have experience with or
> suggestions for or against grinding away the spiral oil throw groves on the
> crank and going with the alternative "positive" main seal??   Since my
> engine seems to have a wide range on problems, would a rebuilt "exchange"
> engine be a better or more cost effective solution?  I think these are
> available from TRF.
>
> Any tips, hints, suggestions, sympathy,
> empathy, and prayers would be appreciated.
>
> Yours for foolish endeavours,
>
> Rob Blubaugh
> 4805 Locksley Dr. E.
> Rensselaer, IN 47978

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