S/S Exhaust System

Choosing the "right" exhaust system was something that evolved for me over the past two years.  Early on I decided on stainless steel, but ,should I stay with the original design, or go with a more sporty system? The issue got settled in my mind when Bob,one of the 6-Pack members from NY state, posted pictures of his "Bell Sport" system!

All S/S construction and slash cut tips ! 

The Bell Exhausts are made in England and imported by Engel Imports located in Kalamazoo, MI.  For several months, the system that I wanted was on back order, but then in February 2012 the system became available, and I pulled the trigger on my order... less than a week later, it was in my shop!




Of course the primary goal of a exhaust system is to allow the engine to breath freely with out excessive noise. The stock exhaust manifold is considered my many to be a very good design, but dyno testing has proven a well designed / constructed exhaust header will free up more horse power.
 Richard Good of "Good Parts" has been making the TR6 handle better and produce more power for over 20 years, so when he came out with his 6 into 1 header, I knew I had found the final piece to my exhaust system design. Richard hand makes these headers and then sends them off to be "Jet Hot" coated inside and out.

 The Jet Hot coating not only looks terrific but will keep its shine, and it also lowers the temperature under the hood.

 This adapter allows the header to work with a dual exhaust system 

While just the rolling chassis was in my shop for the engine installation, I "rough" fitted the exhaust while I had easy access to the frame. When I pulled the exhaust off, I laid the various parts on the floor one at a time and marked all the pipes left / right, front  / rear, etc.

During the initial fitting, I discovered that due to the length of the header, I needed to cut approx. 6" off the front pipes.

Also during the initial fitting, I decided to wrap the pipe closest to the fuel line / brake line with exhaust wrap to help keep the temperature in check.

 The initial fitting also showed me I'd need to create an extra bracket to hang the mufflers.

Several 6-Pack members had reported having problems getting the S/S pipes to seal at the joints.The fix was reported to be the use of a high temp gasket maker in the joints along with wide S/S band clamps.  The clamps will also allow for the removal of the exhaust if ever needed.

Getting the mufflers to hang correctly took quite a bit of measuring  and fiddling !

I wanted the exhaust tips to match...there's nothing that shouts "amateur" like uneven pipes !

I'm discovering that when you rebuild a car from the ground up, there is a lot of "waiting" time. I'd love to hear how this exhaust sounds and if the joints are sealed up correctly, but I have a long way to go before firing up the engine for the first time, so I just keep plugging away.

Putting Those Parts Back Together !

When rebuilding a car from the ground up, you quickly come to realize that there are A LOT of small pieces and parts! Falling in this category with those small parts you take for granted are the windshield wipers

 The wipers on a TR6 work via a cable that slides back and forth in metal tubes buried in the scuttle above the firewall. If that sounds hard to imagine, you're right, and it's even harder to install !


The wiper wheel assembly holds the tubes for the cable to ride in, allowing the cable to engage the teeth of the wheel.  The other side of the assembly sticks up through the body work for attaching the wiper arm.

Yeah, just grease up the parts then try and put them together in a little 2" X 3" opening ! 

This is the end of the wiper cable that will attach to the wiper motor...the pull on this cable has to be less than 6 lbs. so as not to burn up the motor!

Once the cable, tubes, and wiper wheel assemblies are in place and operating smoothly, you seal up the openings.

All ready for the wiper arms.

Moving on...when you're taking parts off the car, the sequence of removal isn't too important, but guess what, when you're putting them back on, the sequence becomes VERY important !

I give you exhibit "A" ... the pipe that returns coolant from the heater back to the water pump and is tucked in next to the block... 

Once the exhaust manifold and carburetors are installed, it's almost impossible to slide that pipe into position...don't you wonder how I found that out?  Yep, the hard way ! 

Make sure you put the throttle pedal in before you put in the pedal box. I got this right the first time !

The brake/clutch pedals need to be installed in the pedal box before the box is mounted in the car, and be careful not to reverse the two pedals. Thanks to a recent 6-Pack thread, I also got this right the first time !

The brake and clutch master cylinders go on after the pedal box is installed...I thought they went on awfully easy the first time. )-:  Got it right the second time !

Heater Box Restoration

In my previous blog I mentioned "go to" guys that rebuilt various components for me.  For the heater box, I'm the "go to" guy!  Tillie's heater box is buried up under the dash, so it's one of the first things to get installed during a rebuild. There are only two parts to go bad in a heater box...the electric motor that runs the fan, and the heater core that the hot coolant flows through. With that in mind, I ordered a new heater core from TRF and a new fan motor.  The core was in stock and shipped within two days of my order, but the electric motor was on back-order. No problem, I thought, as I've got at least two months before I need it. Well, over three months went by and no sign of my fan motor. A call to TRF brought no joy...they had no delivery date.

Old fan motor.

I tried taking my fan motor to a local auto electric shop for rebuilding....the guy behind the counter took one look at it and gave it back,saying, "Sorry, no parts, I can't help you."  

Well, this is the 21st century, so I did an internet search and found a web site for Holden Vintage & Classic Ltd. in the UK.  They carry electric motors(among other things) for various old British cars, and I soon found a motor that had the same specs as my original. Even after the conversion from Pounds to Dollars and shipping from England, the cost came in less than the TRF unit. 

The heater box is truly just a metal box that holds the heater core and the fan assembly, so I simply took out all the screws ( after taking pictures) and pulled it apart. My body tub was at the media blaster's at this time, so I gathered up all the heater box metal and took it out to Roy for cleaning.

Before

All good solid metal, just gunky and dirty after 40 years of use !

A few of the pieces after priming and painting

Old heater core

 New replacement core from TRF

Back in place !

This is a pretty straight forward part to rebuild. Just take plenty of pictures during the dis-assembly process. After I was done, I did find out through the 6-Pack that there is a gentleman in California who rebuilds the fan motors, and if you don't want the cost of a new core, any radiator shop will pressure test / repair your existing core.  One more thought just came to mind... be very careful with the plastic fan unit when you pull it off the electric motor. They are not available new, so you would have to find a used one if you break it ! 

Parts and "Go To Guys" !

On this post, I wanted to turn the spotlight on three vendors who have provided first class work for Tillie's restoration. All three of these guys have been easy to work with and have a proven track record in the British car community. I have no financial interest in any of these companies but am just a satisfied customer!

One component that makes an engine run is spark via a distributor....a.k.a "dizzy" in Brit speak. Jeff Schlemmer of Advanced Distributors is considered by many to be the "go to" guy for distributor rebuild work, so I filled out his very detailed "curve" work sheet, packed it up along my distributor, and sent them off to Minnesota. Jeff's worksheet allows him to build your dizzy to match any performance enhancements you've added to your car's engine. In my case, I found out my dizzy was not even the correct one for my car!

Old dizzy

Jeff supplied a correct core, did the  rebuild / recurve, then topped it off with a nice polished finish.

The TR6 came from the factory with two Zenith Stromberg carburetors, and one way of increasing horse power with a modified engine is to add a third ZS carb.  Jeff Palya is the owner of Paltech Technologies, and one of his specialties is carburetor rebuilding for British cars. Jeff is considered by many as the "go to" guy for this critical component of any engine. So, off went my old carbs to be rebuilt and used as part of  a triple conversion.

My original two carb setup

The new Triple carbs will not only provide more power, but look terrific !

Jeff uses an exclusive micropolish process to make old parts look better than new.

My final "go to" guy on this post is Scott at Brake Materials and Parts located in Fort Wayne Indiana.

Like all the parts on a 38 -year -old car, my brake servo(power) unit was looking pretty tough. However,  uppermost in my mind were the internal components and if they were up to the job of stopping my car! Since this is another part  that needs professional attention, I packed up my servo and sent it to Indiana. 

Ten days later, I got back my brake servo unit with power coating on the outside, and most importantly, all new components on the inside!

 Again, a big "thank you" to the TR6/250 Car Club of America  (6-Pack Club) for all the great information on it's web site. These "go to guys" have all been recommended by other 6-Pack members.  

Tillie Comes Home !

Friday, May 11, 2012 was a HUGE day for me.  This is the day I've been anticipating since November... my TR6 body and paint work is finished! John had called me several days before and confirmed the car would be ready for me to pick up on Friday, and even the weather cooperated with 74 degrees and clear skies. 

Wife Rhoda went along to keep me from bouncing off the truck cab roof with excitement, and I was very happy once I had backed into my own driveway without incident.

Oh, did I mention I had the car painted black?  Yeah, I know, black wasn't a color option on the TR6, but  I've always had a "thing" for black cars. So, Tillie has gone from the original maple brown she left the factory with to "exotic red" that the previous owner had applied, to black...do I look pleased ?

John told me I'd need to clean up some of the dust / etc. from the final rubbing, so I put the car on jack stands so I could get into the wheel wells.

I mentioned in a earlier post that Lizard Skin was applied to the top and bottom of the tub floor, inside the wheel wells, and inside all four fender panels. I had John paint the Skin with single stage urethane paint to give those surfaces some shine...

  

I guess now it's no surprise why I painted the engine red... 

Three coats of black base, followed by three coats of clear, followed by color sanding, and the final rubbing...all done by John, my body man / painter, craftsman, artist extraordinaire!  Now it's up to me to make this beauty a runner.