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The Lobby
Enjoy the blog this week with the Fleetwood Mac, Gypsy
A fun week of seasonal shift. My grass is splotchy this year – we are already on a 2 day a week watering cycle, and I didn’t use any chemicals this year on my grass as I have bees now, and we were worried of any impact. Like those mosquito systems, even that mosquito hose in sprayer stuff – not using that either. So, my st Augustine is eh – but in a few weeks will look like a champ. Always does. BTW, if you don’t have a Rachio sprinkler system, look into that. Iphone app, and in sprinkler maintenance, I can turn on and off as I stand over it, spraying my legs.
Family and work are good. Oldest is moving out in June, closer to school and work. That’s good for her – no need to be stymied by parents and a nagging younger sister. Crawfish boil tonight with friends, and our car show tomorrow at the lake. More of that in the next segment.
Whats new
Car is in the body shop bay now. Almost May. I dropped this mess off in Feb. Its fine. I like this shop, and I like the owner, who lets me pop in from time to time to pull stuff, like my fuel filler cap, which I forgot in part of the dismantle. Yesterday, I swapped my konigs for my original rims and 205 pirellis. I forgot I had gone that big on those tires and that 5.5 rim. Still easier to work around.
I’m converting my scuttle vent to early with the pop up, so I dropped off a used one to shoot. I may get a new one – this one isn’t bad, its just a little rusty underneath. There is a little fab needed to convert, but Robert and I are going to document some of this, and will be following Lou Mujares write up from 6pack as well. He did this to his late 72 and I like this change, although it’s a judging ding. Color is picked, and the clock is running.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is a big brit car day at White Rock Lake in Dallas. D6 will be there, in an official status, with a tent, table, chairs, water bottles….the whole gambit. We are expecting maybe 10 cars in our section. Ever wonder how many TR6s are around you? More than you think – in a garage down the street even. Parked, for 30 years, with boxes on it.
Did you put gas in your car? Go do that, even if it’s a gallon.
The Wax
Values are up everywhere. Cars that you would think would looked over, are bringing shocking numbers. Who would have thought that a Beetle would be 20K. And this is a daily driver? About the only mark I can think of that has fallen off is the Jeep CJ. Decent and up CJ’s were big money – that was until the market got distracted with the sweet smell of the 4 door Rubicon. Friend Ryan bought an 82 or so CJ7, that bronze paint, running, inspected, clean, and solid. 7K. I mean, some of this may be tied to current economics, but I think it’s a mix of that, nostalgia cycles, and the fact we have been cooped up for a few years. I’ve done more home renno than ever. I’ve also drank more wine than in previous years.
Many think the housing market bubble will burst, and those corrections may affect vintage cars, as I do my best to tie this all back to a TR6. My caution is how this mark has ebbed and flowed over the years. I remember bubbles with this mark – back in the 90s with a German fad. Germans had to have a TR6, and would pay for one in the US, and have it shipped. What I like to see are posts on various forums and social media that speak to the memory of the car, or how a fan always wanted one. I’ve had this impression that this car has this element of Eww, but the truth is, most would see it, then look again, and get hypnotized by it. This is a good sign for future values. That sounds so odd and unrelated, but I think it has some relevance. A mark can’t survive on a fad. The demand for this car is healthy, and regardless of bubbles, I think we are in a great phase of this mark.
Tech: Cotter Pin
Spectrum
Throwback. Lorelei III
Tech: Original diff cotter pin
This area tends to be what trends during the week – if I see something that might need some push. For this week, I caught a question about what can we put in the diff to stop it from leaking. Which led me to say – is your cotter pin clean?
We have talked about the areas to focus on for a gearbox to stop leaking, and all that has to do with sealing washers, shifter o rings, seals, and most importantly, ventilation.
If you lift the right rear of the car, remove the wheel, you can see the diff and the vent hole on top. Most focus on the filler plug, but look at the top of this housing, and find the breather hole. Some may not have a cotter pin in it. If there is no cotter pin, then finding this hole may be a challenge. But its there. And if its clogged or filled, then clear it. The risk is getting debris inside. Take your time, and use items covered in grease – which will attract and pick up the debris. This hole needs a cotter pin in it. If there is one in it, clean it, spin it, move it until it spins freely. The cotter pin is there to keep debris out. Very old school approach, as you see modern approaches with 90 degree fittings, and tubes fitted to aim down to allow air up into it, and debris out.
Can’t stress enough on gearbox and diff ventilation. If these are clogged, you will always have leaks as the pressure has to go somewhere – like hydraulics.
Good luck.
The Spectrum
I do my best to understand all owners and stewards. I am a collector of sorts, which borders on hording. I collect tools, for example – like many, I must have 10 half inch wrenches. I should say I hord tools. I collect Lionel, but I run my stuff, and none of it is in an unopened box. But GI Joe- I do have a collection from Target – mid 90s, that reproduced the original molds. 5 of them, including the astronaut, so 1 for each of the branches. Packed away in plastic. Lovely investment, now worth half of what I paid 30 years ago.
I asked a question on the groups this week – how many miles have you driven your TR6, and are you on your original engine? I realize in this post, there they are – all of them. Some with multiple thousands of miles. And some, with just a handful. And the less they drive the low mile cars, the better it gets. Almost exponential. Sure, I like to drive stuff, and I am very aware that if I got one of those low mile cars, I would not leave it in a garage – I would be compelled to fuel it, and leave skidmarks, returning weeks later after some driveabout. Even I am aware that these stewards are protecting this mark from even me. And if we are clear, assuming I won the lottery, I’d have an original 289 cobra, and I would drive the wheels off that too. But is that a good example? Probably not. One of my influences in vintage cars is Shelby American, and events are usually at a proper race course like Mid Ohio. And like Goodwood, they are either swapping paint, or close enough to polish each other. I respect all areas of this ownership spectrum. I can’t play guitar, but I respect anyone who can play it even at all. For me, the zero to low mile cars, and stewards are amazing to me – I can’t do it, but I like it.
Throwback. The SK race boat
This ain’t got much to do with a TR6. But it’s a fun memory as I was getting close to driving age. I’m guessing we already had the TR6, if not, it was just before. This little stroll down memory lane is about a boat next door. A race boat. The Lorelei III, on a trailer, not covered except for the inboard V8. And its about being invited to join this boat team on a weekend in Raleigh at some lake to watch them race it.
I had to look up SK, and this class isn’t around anymore, but was a flat bottom, tear drop shaped boat style with inboard V8s, and best I can tell, a limit of 400 cubic inches. For a kid, to look next door and see this black race boat, with red and silver trim was distracting. The owner was the son of a prominent business owner in Kinston. They named a highway after his father – the Harvey Parkway. That boat would sit there for weeks and months, and then on occasion, he would show up with this older fellow, and they would start that thing sitting there – looking back, I don’t know how they cooled it as those motors are designed to suck in water and spit it out. Regardless, like a dog hearing a squirrel outside, as soon as I heard tinkering, I was standing there, looking thru the shrubs at them fiddle with that boat, struggling with timing as it sounded like chit at first. Open headers, loud as all get out. Maybe an hour of on and off running, fiddling. Then nothing for several weeks.
I don’t remember how we get invited, but young Harvey must have approached my dad- would you like to come up for a race in Raleigh? You can hang out in the pits with us and watch the races from the bank of the lake. And that’s how it started – I had never talked to young Harvey until we all met in Raleigh. Boat racing, like any racing event, has, or had I should say, feature and support events. I don’t think the SK was a feature, but certainly one of the most popular, and I reckon 20 or so boats in this class, and young Harvey wins. And if memory serves, he was just getting into it, or back into it. And this race pushed him for a few years as a prominent racer in the series in that area. NC is famous for another boat racer, Reggie Fountain, who my dad knew as a kid. But to spend a day, not wrenching, but around the hustle and thrashing, lots of energy between heats, and then back to Kinston. A great memory, and sadly I can’t find young Harvey on facebook – I swore I had a few years ago, somehow stumbling and searching for him. I’ll try to get a pic of him and that boat if I can for a future blog.
That’s enough for today
Thank you for caring for your Triumph TR6, and a special thanks to those considering one. Owning this car isn’t scary and you have an amazing network around to help you. Your TR6 helps people around you, without even knowing it. You bring happiness to the bodyshop guy helping with door panels. Please start your car with it out of gear and foot off the clutch to save your thrust washers. Please pop your hood and have a good look around the engine bay. Please put fresh gas in your car each week, even if just 1 gallon. Please have good insurance, and review your policy today. And please drive your 6 defensively, as if it was a 4 wheeled Harley.
And I always say. Smile when you drive, and whenever possible, take a kid driving.
See you on down the road,
L.O Guvna
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I am the steward of CF50460UO, born September 1975 with current paint code 19 and 11 black interior. Nicknamed “the school car”, is now over 100K in miles, in the paint shop, moving to Cayman Blue Mica 2 stage paint. I am the 3rd steward. Car was delivered with original hard top and factory overdrive. Current upgrades include Volvo overdrive gearing, Konig Rewind 16x7 rims, Falken 205s, 4Runner calipers and 7/8 rear wheel cylinders. Poolboy carbs, FlexAlite electric fan, Patton Machine Fan Eliminator, Pertronix ignitor ignition, TR5 cam, pacesetter header, 70amp Lucas direct fit alternator, Silverstar Halogen headlights, WBC blueprinted oil pump, Bastuck 9LB flywheel, Goodparts suspension on all 4 corners, Goodparts sway bar, Goodparts trailing arm brackets, Uprated Armstrong lever shocks with cycle fork oil, JVC audio with 4 speakers, high torque starter, solid state Rheostat, pending LED dash gauges.
My wish list: r200B diff with goodparts cv joints and hubs, fresh head with roller rockers, new interior, and new paint. At some point, a fresh motor with lightened crank, cam bearings, improved compression and roller rocker valve train. Oh, and AC.