Greg,
thanks for the interesting TR7 story! I also have one scary TR7. It's a '76
coupe which I bought in 1987 ('88?). The guy I bought it from had an extra
engine (2.0 litre), trans (4 sp.), lots of carbs, etc... One of the 2 litre
engines was in the car, but not in working condition. He said he was thinking
about putting an Opel engine into it (and would gladly throw in THAT engine as
well), but along came a wife and baby, so car was out. (I made a mental note
of this. ;) The body was in fair condition, with only some rust on front pass.
wheelwell and a dent in the driver side door. The car and parts were bought
for $475...I think.
At the same time I bought the car, my brother was finishing his restoration of
a '67 Mustang coupe. Luckily, he had an extra engine in the corner and I had
an afternoon to kill. I decided to disassemble the engine to cure my boredom
and help my try to think of why my '7 wasn't starting. Of course, when I was
about 20 minutes into the engine the brilliant idea hit me: Put the 289 into
the TR7 and get one helluva car.
I measured, imagined, calculated, wrote some stuff down, and eventually
convinced myself that it'd work. The engine parts were brought to the machine
shop that worked on my Spitfire engine and parts were ordered. I found the
extra tranny my brother had in the garage (a fairly incredible feat considering
the sight of our garage at the time!); it's a '67 vintage 3 speed automatic.
While waiting for the engine parts to come back clean and smooth, I spent my
free time sworking to get the car ready for the transplant and fixing some of
the body. The engine came back and I put it together with care ($1000+ is a
lot of money, especially for a 17 year old!). I did more measuring and found
that the Mustang oil pan was going to interfere with the K cross member on the
bottom of the front suspension. Building a new oil pan was an option, but an
expensive one. Some more thinking and talking to people, and I found that old
Broncos which had 302 engines had an oil pan which might work. I bought one
from a junkyard, and it worked. Next problems were motor mounts and exhaust
manifold. Mounts were prototyped out of posterboard and fabricated by a
welding shop (for what now seems like an exorbitant price!). As for the
exhaust, this could have been fab'ed too, but in the interest of cost, I REALLY
wanted an alternative. After trips to MANY auto shops to find a set of headers
which would not require massaging the metal of the pass. compartment, I found
help at the NAPA dealer (I was amazed as well). The headers are from a late
model Mustang. They drop straight down after the last exhaust port (as opposed
to the old Mustang headers and steel manifold which pointed straight back). It
was interesting going to the parts stores and saying, "Can I see some headers
which will fit a Ford 289 engine?" The answer invariably was, "Well, what kind
of car is it for?" (The "parts guys" treated my mom better when she went to
get parts!) I tried to tell them, but they only understand Camaros, Mustangs,
and "cool" cars.
Anyways, all of this stuff went in the car fairly easily (driveshaft made by a
semi truck mfr. for FREE!!). The only hint to what lies under the hood is a
2" hood scoop and dual exhaust which will make anyone look. This car
definitely takes other drivers by surprise.
I am presently trying to decide what to do to it next. I will need to swap rear
ends soon. (The TR one hasn't showed any obvious signs of quitting, but why
wait?) Also on my agenda: New springs for the front end (What was the solution
chosen by the PO of your car, Greg?), Larger cooling capacity, then cosmetic
fixes. In addition to the TR, I have other non-brit car projects in the works
and 4 more classes to finish before I get my engineering degree.
To whoever brought up this topic: if you have the time and patience to do them
right, these cars can be a lot of fun. My only regret is not having more time
to play with mine.
Geoff Bauer
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