Happy 4th of July!
The Triumph heat shields that have been manufactured & distributed in the
last few months are begining to draw some comments and questions. Thankfully,
very favorable.
Recently, a question was asked about gaskets. I would say, yes, acquire a
couple of extra gaskets along with your purchase of the heat shield. In
reality,
those two mating surfaces are so smooth, that I would not feel guilty if they
went without, until you got them installed. If you think about it, the orginal
TR3A 'permanent' filters did little more than keep the big chunks out of the
engine.
That being said, Heat Shields for your carbs, simply make good sense. I didnt
realize how much until I made a few for my racey friends. I remember running
autocrosses in my TR4A in the late 60s and early 70s with little
understanding of why my car stalled...there was a lot of heat build up under
the hood on
hot asphalt.
Now it seems pretty clear.
Then, in the 90s, I hand made alloy heat shields for my TR4 vintage racer in
the second or third year. One thing I noticed was that my Stromberg carbs were
now actually COOL to the touch. This has to make a difference.
Note also that all other LBCs seem to have HEAT SHIELDS. MGs, A-Hs, and even
Sprites have Heat Shields. Now there is a clue for you.
Heat is a HUGE enemy of fuel handling. Do you suppose carbureters installed
on Triumphs have gotten a bad rap over the years because, through no fault of
their own, they are sitting on top of hot manifold and headers?
I do monitor the big list and if there are any questions or concerns,
regarding Carb heat Shields, I will try to answer them.
In the meantime, if you dont have a stainless steel carb heat shield for your
big TR, check in with your favorite distributor. I think they look good, too.
Best Regards,
Joe Alexander
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