Hello all-
Noah the TR4 searcher (and massive list asker) Freeman here.
I just looked at another TR4 for sale in NH (one of two TR4s on the market
in the entire New England)- (the other one I looked at was that $14K 30
years storage beauty). I found this one out of the extreme helpfulness of
Brian Sanborn, who found the ad for me in an old copy of NE Triumphs. This
list and its members is the most helpful/awesome web community I have ever
come across...thanks all!.
This car I looked at- Red wood-dashed TR4 with overdrive (registered as a
'66, but this must be wrong, silly me did not write down CTC #), completely
restored 4 years ago, owner died, heir barely fit in (6' 4"), barely drove
it after restoration. Exterior looks great, rust free everywhere (and I
_really_ looked) except for some surface rust in passenger foot area under
carpet. Cosmetics look great, (9 out of 10), engine/running is about an 8
out of 10.
I have a list of things that are wrong with it, some of which I might be
able to fix myself, some might require help of a shop- Ill list off the
things that are wrong, and I would love it if you experienced guys could
chime in with "that is really hard to fix" or "that is trivial"....this will
help me a) prioritize repairs if I buy it, and b) adjust my offer to reflect
the things that are wrong-
Thanks in advance for all your help!
(as a seperate question, what books should I buy as a beginning triumph
owner/fiddler for doing some of my own repairs, generally being
intelligient, etc?)
Mechanical-
1) Leaks a little bit of oil at what looks to be the timer cover (down
in front very close to where the fan is)...oil drips on fan, and is then
sprayed around inside hood. Does not look pretty. Does not leak for first
10 minutes, only leaks once warmed up. Current owner thinks it is a timer
cover gasket (or some such). He has the gasket. How hard is this to
replace? It looks a touch inaccessible...does it require major surgery to
get to, or can it be done cleverly somehow? How do you do it? Can I do
this myself (VERY inexperienced)
2) Generator rattle- generator makes a slight occasional rattling
noise- sounds like a blown bearing perhaps (charges battery well
though)...owner has the replacement generator. This looks pretty easy to
replace, as it is pretty close to teh surface. Is this true?
3) Idles high- car naturally idles at about 1700 rpm, which seems a bit
high to me. Is this normal, or too high? How hard is this to adjust (just
a screw on the carb linkage?)
4) Choke not attached- when you operate the choke lever from the
drivers seat, nothing seems to happen. Car starts great (25 deg F last
night), runs well, but choke does not respond...is this easy, hard, or hard
to tell about?
5) Car diesels (runs on) on shutdown (for maybe 5 secs)- is this
related to the high idle? Is this a deathknell? Expensive to fix?
6) Pops out of first in idle- when idling (at stoplight) in first (with
clutch in) gearshift always pops back to neutral. Requires holding it in
first gear. The moment you let go of the clutch and start driving, it stays
in gear perfectly (all other gears work beautifully, including OD). Is this
bad? How hard is this to fix?
7) No syncromesh- this car does not appear to have 1st gear syncromesh.
Is this true? I somehow thought that all TR4s had syncromesh...could it be
not working? Could I be using it wrong? Can it be retrofitted?
Non-mechanical-
1) No instrument guage lights- since none are working, seems like the
whole ting might be unplugged. Is this a big deal?
2) Blinkers (turn signals) dont work all of the time- occasionally
works, occasionally doesnt- is this a big deal to fix?
3) Wood in dash needs heavy refinishing or replacing. How
hard/expensive is this?
4) Surface rust in footwells, both sides- it looks liekthe carpet
liners (very spongy looking htings) held water against the floors- this is
the only rust on the entire car...it appears to be surface, not
penetrating...how hard is this to touch up? Sand and repaint, or more
extensive?
5) Slight rust of spokes on wire wheels- is this a big deal (replace
wheels?) or a little one (polish wheels)?
Thanks in advance for all your help! Sorry to be such a drain on the list
(I promise to become more a contributor of answers, and less of one of
questions, once I finally a) buy a car b) make it almost perfect...(ahh, the
elusive goal...))
Noah
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