[TR] TR2 update - and balls of steel wool in the distributor - part one.

[Chris Simo]

Hi All -  The urgent TR4 issues are behind me - at least for now. It's
running great and we had a really good time at the show the NC MG car club
put on.

Today I pulled the dizzy cap off the TR2 and had what looked like a mouse
nest of steel wool in there - The crappy rotor was falling apart - but it
was brass so that was not it.  I took the thing apart and I think a washer
or screw fell down inside and got ground up - I see no evidence of any
interference after taking it apart and cleaning it completely.

 So we made it to the show. In hindsight, I should not have taken the TR2
to the show - it was just not ready - but after all that effort - I was on
a bender to make it there.  The only electrics that worked were the brake
lights and the electric fan - the ignition was hot wired. Generator was
functioning only as a tensioner for the water pump. Some of the carpet was
in place - the rest of the the floor was painted flat black - and we did
not have a top or a tonneau.  I was exhausted and not thinking right. The
starter was sometimes working and sometimes just making a pleasant whirring
sound. But from 10 feet - it looked darn good.  I packed what tools I could
still find and two fire extingushers and we headed out.

The TR2 made it to and back from the Gathering at Shelton Vineyards - there
were well over 300 british cars there.   On the way - the hood decided it
would not stay latched; A bit later,  I had one of those oh crap thoughts
and stopped to check the generator mounts and both bolts were almost all
the way out - 45 mins and several burns later - we were back on the road.
 Since we were so late, we abandoned the plan to caravan with the group and
set out on our own and promptly the car appeared to overheat in
retaliation.  Pulled into McDonalds and did a static timing exercise and
decided to skip the back roads and go full interstate for the 3 hours of
the trip that remained.  On the way we hooked up with a good friend of mine
and we made the rest of the trip in good shape - we ran about 70 miles an
hour most of the way - not bad for a beast that had not run more than a
couple miles from home prior to this. I did manage a few grins when folks
gave us the thumbs up.

 The car tracked really well on the road - I took the 4 inch rims and
retired them for 4.5 inch rims.  After I re-bushed the front end, I made a
jig out of plywood (think wide c-clamp) to set toe in enough to drive it to
get it aligned - but did not have a chance to get the alignment - I'm sure
it will be better when I get it aligned properly - but I was really happy
with the way the car tracked on the interstate.

Still ran hot - at least according to the guage - but never got above 210
degrees. I have one of those infrared thermometers for my pizza oven - I'll
use that to verify next time I run it.