Well, I finally decided to buy a GoPro Camera, and as part of my camera learning sessions, I recorded a brief "exhaust melody"...enjoy!
Tillie Sings A Sweet Song !
Those of you who have followed this blog know I picked the Bell Sport Exhaust for it's "sweet music".
Well, I finally decided to buy a GoPro Camera, and as part of my camera learning sessions, I recorded a brief "exhaust melody"...enjoy!
Well, I finally decided to buy a GoPro Camera, and as part of my camera learning sessions, I recorded a brief "exhaust melody"...enjoy!
Miss Tillie Goes To TRials 2016
Well, you non-6-pack members are probably wondering what a "TRials" is and why is it spelled funny.
"TRials (TR is sometimes short hand for Triumph) is the annual gathering of the TR6/TR250 Car Club of the Americas...a.k.a. "6-Pack", so named because both the TR250 (1968) and the TR6 (1969-1976) have a 2.5 liter 6 cylinder engine. Prior Triumphs used a 4 cylinder engine, so it was a big deal when Triumph upgraded their roadsters to a six cylinder engine.
The TRials gathering moves to various locations around the country, and this year Ohio was chosen to hold the event. A local 6-Pack club does all the organizing work, and for 2016 The Buckeye Triumph Club did the honors. Mohican Lodge and Conference Center near Perrysville, Ohio, was the location....a perfect venue for the event. Lots of great roads to explore, great food to eat, and great people who all share a love for old Triumphs.
Mohican is located in central/northern Ohio, and since I live in NW Ohio, the drive for me was just about 125 miles. Other club members traveled from places like Kansas, Mississippi, New York, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Please note that most of the approx. sixty 40+ year- old- cars in attendance were driven to Ohio....not for the faint of heart!
TRials weekend starts with folks arriving on a Thursday and staying until Sunday. Thursday is registration day with a welcome picnic in the evening where participants greet old friends and make new ones. The organized fun began on Friday with a "poker run"....a 60 mile loop where you picked up a playing card at five locations with the best "poker" hand being the winner.
I have to admit that I left my real camera in the hotel room on Friday so I just have a few phone
photos.
The cars were placed in various classes....concours (original) & concours (modified) were judged by a team of experts. Most other cars were placed in classes based on the year of the car and were judged by"participant choice".
At the closing awards banquet on Saturday night, it was announced that the 2017 TRials will be held in Hershey Pennsylvania. Sounds like a sweet venue to me !
"TRials (TR is sometimes short hand for Triumph) is the annual gathering of the TR6/TR250 Car Club of the Americas...a.k.a. "6-Pack", so named because both the TR250 (1968) and the TR6 (1969-1976) have a 2.5 liter 6 cylinder engine. Prior Triumphs used a 4 cylinder engine, so it was a big deal when Triumph upgraded their roadsters to a six cylinder engine.
The TRials gathering moves to various locations around the country, and this year Ohio was chosen to hold the event. A local 6-Pack club does all the organizing work, and for 2016 The Buckeye Triumph Club did the honors. Mohican Lodge and Conference Center near Perrysville, Ohio, was the location....a perfect venue for the event. Lots of great roads to explore, great food to eat, and great people who all share a love for old Triumphs.
Mohican is located in central/northern Ohio, and since I live in NW Ohio, the drive for me was just about 125 miles. Other club members traveled from places like Kansas, Mississippi, New York, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Please note that most of the approx. sixty 40+ year- old- cars in attendance were driven to Ohio....not for the faint of heart!
TRials weekend starts with folks arriving on a Thursday and staying until Sunday. Thursday is registration day with a welcome picnic in the evening where participants greet old friends and make new ones. The organized fun began on Friday with a "poker run"....a 60 mile loop where you picked up a playing card at five locations with the best "poker" hand being the winner.
Triumphs all lined up for the start of the Friday poker run
photos.
One of the card pickup locations was this cider mill / apple orchard!
The roads on Friday's run were terrific...lots of curves, hills, and all around beautiful. The Buckeye Triumph Club did a great job organizing the whole weekend. THANK YOU !
Saturday morning was car show time.
The cars were placed in various classes....concours (original) & concours (modified) were judged by a team of experts. Most other cars were placed in classes based on the year of the car and were judged by"participant choice".
The Triumphs were amazing to look at....check out these two engine bays!
A big part of TRials is just hanging out and telling stories!
Saturday afternoon was auto cross time...a.k.a "driver's training" ;-)
Tillie on a one lane bridge!
Let's see, just where am I ?
My wife and I had to explain to Tillie that is was time to head home!
All packed up in front of the lodge entrance...
There are some Amish folks living in the area, gotta be careful!
Tillie did bring home a first place award for the "modified" class participant choice
At the closing awards banquet on Saturday night, it was announced that the 2017 TRials will be held in Hershey Pennsylvania. Sounds like a sweet venue to me !
Wake Up little Tillie Wake Up.....it's Spring 2016 !
For those of you who are old enough to remember the Everly Brothers and their song, Wake Up Little Susie, Wake Up, the title to this post may make sense... for the rest of you here is a link !
Ok, enough of the nostalgia... here is what's happening to prepare Tillie for the 2016 driving season.
After the final drive of the 2015 season, I drained the hot oil and dropped the filter. The following day, after all the "mess" connected with an oil change was cleaned up, I installed the new filter and secured the oil drain plug. Then a 2" wide piece of masking tape was placed across the middle of the windshield where I wrote in large letters "NO OIL IN CRANKCASE". I'm still debating if leaving the crankcase empty over the winter is a good idea, so if anyone has a thought on the matter please, leave a comment.
My engine builder recommended Brad Penn 20W50 weight oil, so that's what I use. By the way, the local automotive speed shop where I buy this oil orders it by the pallet...must be good stuff!
Last fall, I filled the gas tank with 93 octane fuel and mixed in the Sta-Bil storage additive.The fuel shut off valve was turned to "off" and the engine was run until the carbs were dry, so we'll be good to go this spring.
The Optima battery was pulled out last fall and put on a Optima conditioner / maintainer....fancy words for a battery charger that keeps the battery ready to go to work!
Of course, adding air to the tires, checking the coolant level, and all the other fluids, needs to done before the first ride of the season.
I did splurge on new seat belts for Tillie. The old belts were only two years old, but I found very cool- looking, vintage, race type belts made by Simpson. (And, my wife really liked them,too. :-)) When you snap these bad boys on there is some serious holding power going on !
The Simpson belts are 3" wide vs the "regular" belts that are 1-7/8" wide and just look wimpy next to the larger belts.
The spring 2016 first engine start was delayed by a fuel pump that decided to "expire" during the winter!
Once I got the fuel pump changed out, Tillie fired right up, but after about 30 seconds I saw smoke coming up out out of the engine bay! Yikes, then I remembered dropping a small amount engine oil on the exhaust manifold which quickly burned off.
Our delayed Mother's day ride ended up being a lot of fun for wife Rhoda, dog Happy, and yours truly. Happy motoring this summer !
Ok, enough of the nostalgia... here is what's happening to prepare Tillie for the 2016 driving season.
After the final drive of the 2015 season, I drained the hot oil and dropped the filter. The following day, after all the "mess" connected with an oil change was cleaned up, I installed the new filter and secured the oil drain plug. Then a 2" wide piece of masking tape was placed across the middle of the windshield where I wrote in large letters "NO OIL IN CRANKCASE". I'm still debating if leaving the crankcase empty over the winter is a good idea, so if anyone has a thought on the matter please, leave a comment.
My engine builder recommended Brad Penn 20W50 weight oil, so that's what I use. By the way, the local automotive speed shop where I buy this oil orders it by the pallet...must be good stuff!
Last fall, I filled the gas tank with 93 octane fuel and mixed in the Sta-Bil storage additive.The fuel shut off valve was turned to "off" and the engine was run until the carbs were dry, so we'll be good to go this spring.
The Optima battery was pulled out last fall and put on a Optima conditioner / maintainer....fancy words for a battery charger that keeps the battery ready to go to work!
Of course, adding air to the tires, checking the coolant level, and all the other fluids, needs to done before the first ride of the season.
I did splurge on new seat belts for Tillie. The old belts were only two years old, but I found very cool- looking, vintage, race type belts made by Simpson. (And, my wife really liked them,too. :-)) When you snap these bad boys on there is some serious holding power going on !
The Simpson belts are 3" wide vs the "regular" belts that are 1-7/8" wide and just look wimpy next to the larger belts.
Once I got the fuel pump changed out, Tillie fired right up, but after about 30 seconds I saw smoke coming up out out of the engine bay! Yikes, then I remembered dropping a small amount engine oil on the exhaust manifold which quickly burned off.
Our delayed Mother's day ride ended up being a lot of fun for wife Rhoda, dog Happy, and yours truly. Happy motoring this summer !
2015 Fall Update
Hi folks,
Since fall 2015 is almost over, and 2016 and winter are just a few weeks away, I thought I had better update this blog.
I'm happy to report that Miss Tillie ran fine on several 100+ miles trips Rhoda, dog Happy, and I took earlier this fall. (Sept and Oct.)
When I first put Tillie back on the road after the restoration in the spring of 2014, I was as nervous as a cat in room full of rocking chairs...always listening for strange noises or waiting for some part to fall off while driving...I thought a 10- mile round trip was a major accomplishment !
Well, our last ride in October was a real pleasure...just listening to the song of the Bell Sport exhaust, and smelling the fresh country air at harvest time with no thought of mechanical problems.
Here are some photos ...
We are living in some pretty stressful times, but God is still in control, and His Son Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and a terrific New Year in 2016.
Since fall 2015 is almost over, and 2016 and winter are just a few weeks away, I thought I had better update this blog.
I'm happy to report that Miss Tillie ran fine on several 100+ miles trips Rhoda, dog Happy, and I took earlier this fall. (Sept and Oct.)
When I first put Tillie back on the road after the restoration in the spring of 2014, I was as nervous as a cat in room full of rocking chairs...always listening for strange noises or waiting for some part to fall off while driving...I thought a 10- mile round trip was a major accomplishment !
Well, our last ride in October was a real pleasure...just listening to the song of the Bell Sport exhaust, and smelling the fresh country air at harvest time with no thought of mechanical problems.
Here are some photos ...
Polish time before the last car show of the season -
Proud owner (me) at the "Cars for Critters" show -
Wife Rhoda and dog Happy enjoying the ride!
A ride through the "Hidden Lake Gardens" in the Irish Hills of Michigan -
A scenic overlook
Sigh...all put to bed for her winter rest.
"Sam" the Simplicity snow blower is ready for duty.
We are living in some pretty stressful times, but God is still in control, and His Son Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and a terrific New Year in 2016.
Summer 2015 Update
Well, fellow car enthusiast, in regards to Miss Tillie...there were two things I wanted to accomplish this summer... first was finding an automotive shop that would be able / willing to check the wheel alignment, and second, to find a shop with a rear wheel dynamometer to measure her engine torque / horsepower output.
I'm happy to report both tasks have been completed, and what follows are the details with obligatory photos/video.
Starting with the wheel alignment, the shop I use for my daily driver repair work was reluctant to tackle the wheel alignment on a 40 year old British car, so I started asking around for recommendations and was pointed to "Heatherdowns Automotive" just a few miles from my home.
A discussion with the owner confirmed his shop not only could do the alignment, but Dan, the tech who would do the work,also is a TR6 owner !
The alignment machine is an older model, so it has the specs. for a TR6 in it's data base.
I had originally installed Good Parts rear trailing arm brackets on Tillie, which makes adjusting the rear camber much easier and more precise...the rear toe is still adjusted with shims.
A big thank you goes out to Heatherdowns Automotive and Tech Dan who took extra care with Miss Tillie !
Ok, let's move on to the exciting stuff...Dyno Day !
I had been inquiring the last few months if anyone knew of a shop in Toledo with a rear wheel dynamometer with no luck. Since Google is my friend, a quick search turned up "Pure Tuning" in west Toledo. A phone call later and I had an appointment to put Tillie "on the rollers".
Pure Tuning's dyno is a "Mustang Dynamometer" that can handle 2 or 4 wheel- drive- vehicles with up to 2,000 HP. Tillie wouldn't strain it !
Another thing I learned during this test was that a dyno run is not just pinning the throttle to the floor, the tech also was very careful to start slowly, making sure everything on the dyno was working correctly and the engine oil pressure, coolant temperature, etc. were ok. Once he was satisfied, the ZS butterflies were opened up, and Tillie sang a pretty cool song...listen in!
I'm happy to report both tasks have been completed, and what follows are the details with obligatory photos/video.
Starting with the wheel alignment, the shop I use for my daily driver repair work was reluctant to tackle the wheel alignment on a 40 year old British car, so I started asking around for recommendations and was pointed to "Heatherdowns Automotive" just a few miles from my home.
A discussion with the owner confirmed his shop not only could do the alignment, but Dan, the tech who would do the work,also is a TR6 owner !
Tillie on the alignment rack
The alignment machine is an older model, so it has the specs. for a TR6 in it's data base.
I had originally installed Good Parts rear trailing arm brackets on Tillie, which makes adjusting the rear camber much easier and more precise...the rear toe is still adjusted with shims.
Dan told me that my "guesstimate" concerning the number of shims to use when I assembled the suspension wasn't too far off, but I'm happy to know that Tillie has been "on the rack" and is now really tracking straight down the road !
A printout of the final results.
A big thank you goes out to Heatherdowns Automotive and Tech Dan who took extra care with Miss Tillie !
Ok, let's move on to the exciting stuff...Dyno Day !
I had been inquiring the last few months if anyone knew of a shop in Toledo with a rear wheel dynamometer with no luck. Since Google is my friend, a quick search turned up "Pure Tuning" in west Toledo. A phone call later and I had an appointment to put Tillie "on the rollers".
Pure Tuning's dyno is a "Mustang Dynamometer" that can handle 2 or 4 wheel- drive- vehicles with up to 2,000 HP. Tillie wouldn't strain it !
I'd never seen a dyno room before...it's really impressive.
There is quite a bit of preparation that needs to be done prior to the actual pull. The car needs to be strapped down, fans need to be placed to cool the engine and also suck out exhaust fumes, an AFR (air fuel ratio) sniffer must be attached to the exhaust, and finally, a sensor was attached to the ignition coil to record engine RPMs.
All hooked up and ready to rock and roll on the first of three pulls on the dyno.
Another thing I learned during this test was that a dyno run is not just pinning the throttle to the floor, the tech also was very careful to start slowly, making sure everything on the dyno was working correctly and the engine oil pressure, coolant temperature, etc. were ok. Once he was satisfied, the ZS butterflies were opened up, and Tillie sang a pretty cool song...listen in!
Well, I have to admit that at first I was a bit disappointed with the results...the best run was 109 HP and 109 lb. ft. of torque, but several 6-Packers pointed out that this was a rear wheel tire number, and the engine was really cranking out about 125 HP at the flywheel. I was also reminded that 109 HP is about 20 HP more than when the car was new.
The top line on the graph is torque,the middle line is horsepower, and the bottom line is the air fuel ratio.
This ended up being a fun experience, and I plan on another dyno session in the future. I'm confident Tillie has some more HP/Torque hiding under her skirts, so after she is fully broken in, and I get the carbs and timing totally dialed in, I'll report back to you!
Hope every one has a pleasant late summer/fall driving season...get out there and enjoy your collector car !
2015 Spring Update
Well, it's the middle of June already, so I'd better bring this blog up to date !
I've been working on several items that have needed attention...the first being the quantity of oil dripping off Tillie.
Now, I'm well aware that old British sports cars leak some oil, but this was over the top as far as I was concerned. I went after the low hanging fruit first. When I originally filled the gearbox and the differential, I used the wrong type of sealing tape on the fill and drain plugs .
The white tape works on water fittings but not so well on oil. This topic came up on the 6-Pack forum, and I learned that the yellow tape is for oil, so yellow tape was used when the new oil was added... now there is a lot less oil under the diff and gearbox. Not perfect, but I can live with it.
However, the big oil drip offender was the engine oil pan. The original oil pans were made of pressed steel, and I've been told, after 40+ years of service, the holes where the bolts fasten the pan to the block get bent out of shape and tend to leak even with a good gasket. So, I decided to replace the
original.
A baffle for the pan is also included...however it did cause a bit of a fitting problem!
I've been working on several items that have needed attention...the first being the quantity of oil dripping off Tillie.
Now, I'm well aware that old British sports cars leak some oil, but this was over the top as far as I was concerned. I went after the low hanging fruit first. When I originally filled the gearbox and the differential, I used the wrong type of sealing tape on the fill and drain plugs .
The white tape works on water fittings but not so well on oil. This topic came up on the 6-Pack forum, and I learned that the yellow tape is for oil, so yellow tape was used when the new oil was added... now there is a lot less oil under the diff and gearbox. Not perfect, but I can live with it.
However, the big oil drip offender was the engine oil pan. The original oil pans were made of pressed steel, and I've been told, after 40+ years of service, the holes where the bolts fasten the pan to the block get bent out of shape and tend to leak even with a good gasket. So, I decided to replace the
original.
Time to retire this old boy !
Other 6-Packers have used a cast aluminum oil pan with good results, so when BPNW (British Parts Northwest) had then on sale with free shipping, I jumped on board.
Note the thick flange that mates to the engine block.
6-Packers also pointed out that the engine block mating surface needs to be perfectly clean!
Bastuck is the German company that also made my aluminum gas tank. The new oil capacity is about 1.5 quarts more than stock.
A baffle for the pan is also included...however it did cause a bit of a fitting problem!
The oil pan can be installed with the engine in the car, but getting the baffle to clear the oil pump proved to be an issue. After numerous attempts, I finally decided to cut a section out of the baffle to allow the pan to slide into place.
Please keep in mind this "surgery' would not have been needed if the engine was out of the car.
Payen is a highly recommended name when talking about gaskets.
I watched several YouTube videos on how to install oil pans...it seems everyone has an idea. So, I
chose what process I thought was best for Miss Tillie. I ended up putting Permatex "High Tack" sealant on the engine block surface, put the gasket in place on the engine, followed by another coat on the gasket surface that mates to the oil pan, then slid the pan into position.
Since the flange on the new pan is about a half inch thicker than stock, I needed to get new 1" bolts.
I also used hylomer sealant on the bolts
All buttoned up and ready for oil !
I don't know if this will stop all the oil leaks, but it sure looks cool !
A trip to the wheel alignment shop is the next order of business, so stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)