I pulled the head off of my 1969 TR6 a couple of years ago to replace a
head gasket and disassembled it to check valves, seats and guides. The
guides were worn and I needed a couple of new exhaust valves, so I took it
to a machine shop with the intention of having hardened seats put in for all
the valves and replacing all of the valves or at least all of the exhaust
valves with new stellite valves. In essence, do a complete "unleaded
conversion". The machinist, however, discouraged me. He said that the car
was showing no signs whatsoever of valve seat recession and he really hated
to cut into the combustion chambers when he didn't have to. He reminded me
that without the inserts that the valves actually cool a little better, so
he just recommended installing the new guides and the new exhaust valves,
grinding the seats and the intake valves, lapping the valves in and using
it! I'm still using the stock 8.25 compression ratio and have the carbs set
a touch rich, so I can't imagine I'll have any problems for quite a while.
As far as insurance goes, I made inquiries of several of the specialty
insurance companies that advertise in Hemmings Motor News. Their coverage
and rates were great, but I have two teenage drivers and none of the
specialty companies would allow under-25 drivers. Both my son and daughter
really like the TR and drive it really well, so I wanted to be sure that if
one of my kids took the TR for a spin that they would be covered. I wound
up selecting coverage with my normal State Farm agent. SF offers a classic
car policy that uses a stated value and has no deductible whatsoever for
either the comprehensive or the collision insurance. The rates depend on
your estimated annual mileage and the value selected - mine is only about
$95 per year. And, best of all for me, all drivers rated on any of the
family cars would be eligible to drive the TR.
Rex Townsend
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