Triumph TR3 Dead Battery

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“Hey guys, why does my battery keep dying?”  That’s what one customer wanted to know about his well maintained TR3.  Here’s the car:

You’ve seen it recently.  Prior to coming to our shop, another shop had installed a switch to activate the windshield washer fluid sprayer.  Here’s what they put in:

As best we can tell, it’s a doorbell ringer that you would install beside your front door.  A doorbell ringer that stays lit so you can see it when you’re trick or treating on a dark fall night.  A lit doorbell ringer that draws from the battery whether the car is running or not.  We think replacing this with a proper switch will remedy the battery drain problem.  We re-appropriated a gen-yoo-wine nitrous switch to replace the doorbell button.

Here it is prior to installation.  Now this TR3 should be able to slumber without losing all of its mojo.

Jaguar E-type Update

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Pictured is a nice, new, black ball joint boot for the Jag.  The bottom one, below, is a white plastic affair.

Inside the car, the owner wanted to replace the original style jute carpet padding with new, so Chip’s been working on that as well.

The above photo was taken at about the halfway mark in the process.  The passenger’s side is done and he’s on to the driver’s side.

While here, we installed the new knockoffs to replace the Octagonal type that were on there:

And, we put in some robust horns:

That wraps it up for now.

Triumph TR3 Fluid Change

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Prepare for understatement:  This is a clean TR3.  The owner of this TR3 is a member of the Richmond Triumph Register and manages to drive this car regularly and keep it immaculate.  He brought it over for us to change the fluids, which Dean can do with his eyes closed because he wrenches on TR3’s blindfolded for fun (friends, that is hyperbole).

Your standard spotlessTriumph TR3 engine compartment.  Don’t forget to click on the pictures for a larger view.

This is what a TR3 looks like if you are behind it and it runs over a chassis lift.

Lemans filler cap.  Dean informed me that years ago these were sealed  at the beginning of the Lemans race and cars had to go a certain distance prior to refueling.

If you’re a real rally car driver, you have these timers, so I’ve heard.  I’m not a real rally car driver.

Sometimes Sir Stirling Moss drops by to sign some cars for us.  With that, this TR3 is ready for more miles.

Redline MTL

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Good Lube

Accepted norms of polite conversation notwithstanding, some yahoo occasionally asks, “So, what’s your favorite brand of transmission lubricant?”  Remaining composed, my standard line is, “I normally don’t discuss personal matters with yahoos, but I have a friend who uses Red Line MTL and loves it.”

In all seriousness (Boooooo!) we’re big fans of MTL here at the shop.  If you haven’t tried it, consider it.

MGC on Deck

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A customer recently bought this MGC and sent it to be sorted.  We’ll take a look and see what needs to be done.

MGCs, for those who don’t know, had a 3.0 liter straight six under the hood for a bit more oomph than an MGB.  They were panned when new for being nose heavy with slovenly handling, but a good bit of that can be adjusted away.

This car hasn’t run in a number of years, so we are going to change that.

E-Type (XKE) Ball Joint Boots

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Anyone Seen A Grease Boot Around Here?

Seems my earlier comment about cracked ball joint boots was not factually correct, since they were none on there to be cracked.  The picture above is the lower ball joint on the passenger side.  You may need to click on the photo to get a better view.  There is also an upper ball joint, so there are four on the front end and none of them have boots on them like they’re supposed to.  We got one set of boots but that was all that was in stock, so we’re waiting on the other set.  We’re also trying to trace down a coolant leak.  We’ll keep you posted.

Farewell, My Datsun

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The Datsun 2000 roadster has left the building… Gone, but not forgotten.  Chip received a call from the owner last night, who told him that it drove down 288 at [speed withheld] like it was 1970 all over again.  We love those calls.  More accurately, I love those calls.  Chip didn’t really tell me if he loved it or not, so I’m reading into it.

Shiny Paint

Pardon me, Are those new seat coverings you're wearing?

 

Datsun 2000 Seat Repair

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These seat covers from a Datsun 2000 roadster had some rips and tears, so Chip is installing new seat coverings prior to re-installing the seats.  Below are the new covers.

The seatbacks were previously done elsewhere.  I’ll try to get a picture of them once they are back in the car.

Coming Soon: Jaguar E-Type Repairs

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I moseyed into the shop the other day and stumbled upon the “greatest crumpet catcher known to man,” as Henry Manney referred to it.  This e-type is here for a seat repair, some rubber boots on some of the front suspension that are cracked, and perhaps a few other odds and ends.  We’ll let you know as the work progresses.