My brother's car needs help

[Contributor]

My older brother and I have shared a love of cars for many years. My brother has always liked European cars and is attracted to projects where he finds "gems in the rough". I have restored many cars through my years but I prefer newer modern vehicles (reliable and comfortable).

So my brother is ill and asked me to get rid of one of his projects that has been sitting since 1985. He lost the bill of sale (never changed title) and the vehicle fell off the CA DMV records.

So this week I started on this 1969 TR6. It is a mess but I'm determined to get it running. The car has sat at mom's garage prepped for a paint job that never happened.

Started by rebuilding the twin Stromberg side draft carbs. waiting for the rebuild kit.

 

[IBTripping]

Fun car to drive. Good luck getting it back on the road.

 

[Ex-Calif]

TR6 is a great project. If you haven't found them yet check out Moss Motors for parts. Almost anything is available somewhere.

Moss Motors

The Roadster factory can be good as well.

Roadster Factory

I know "everyone" starts with getting the motor to run - I strongly recommend you do a thorough job on the brakes first. No point in making it go if you can't make it stop - LOL...

Like all vehicles the big drama is the rubber bits. Especially the flex hoses to the brakes, and the seals in the master and slave cylinders.

The other recommendation I would make is to disconnect every electrical connector you can find, clean all the pins and sockets and reassemble with dielectric grease. I also pulled all the bulbs from every fixture and cleaned the sockets.

This goes a huge way in making those "darn" Lucas electrics work properly.

 

[Boat Bum]

Why do Brits drink warm beer?

Because the refrigerators are made with Lucas electrics.

My first bike was a 1972 Triumph Daytona Twin 500cc.

 

[Old_Crow]

Why do Brits drink warm beer?

Because the refrigerators are made with Lucas electrics.

My first bike was a 1972 Triumph Daytona Twin 500cc.

I had a '69 Bonneville chopper back in the day. Had a battery eliminator on it when I first got it. The generator wouldn't make enough power to run the bike and the lights at the same time, so I only rode it during the day.

I graduated in '69 and that TR-6 was one of the cars I lusted over back then.

 

[Babe2201]

Have fun with that sir. Will you have completed pics by the end of next week?

 

[Skookum]

Good ol’ Lucas, Prince of Darkness!

Looks like a fun project. We’ve had a TR4a in our family for almost 40
years and a couple of other little British cars dad owned over the same time. Ex-Calif has some solid advice above.

 

[Tom]

This goes a huge way in making those "darn" Lucas electrics work properly.

I recall my wife's Spitfire in the 80's. It would randomly quit working. I'd drive over to her, turn the key, and it fired right up. One time a friendly cop pushed the Spitfire to a parking lot.

The following weekend, I took the Spit for a drive and experienced the shutdown. Clearly electrical, and apparently catalyzed by heat. Replaced the Lucas stuff with different brand ignition parts, problem solved.

Great car until one of the kids 'borrowed' it and totalled it.

 

[Ex-Calif]

I recall my wife's Spitfire in the 80's. It would randomly quit working. I'd drive over to her, turn the key, and it fired right up. One time a friendly cop pushed the Spitfire to a parking lot.

The following weekend, I took the Spit for a drive and experienced the shutdown. Clearly electrical, and apparently catalyzed by heat. Replaced the Lucas stuff with different brand ignition parts, problem solved.

Great car until one of the kids 'borrowed' it and totalled it.

My kid blew the engine in my '77. I can't blame him really but as yet undiagnosed. "Red Betty" is gonna be my project car. I have it all planned including blower, 5 speed tranny and new IFS front suspension. I have a lot of other bits already including Sebring bumpers with nerf bars, roll bars and late model Mazda Miata seats.

Soon, soon...

I got the British bug early when a sister's boyfriend had a TR4. Any vehicle with a bump in the hood has to be cool. It was clearance for the dual carbs.

In JC I ended up buying 2 spitfires and a Fiat Spider 650 - little tiny 650cc engine. On that tiny car it went pretty good.

British Cooper race cars were also cool. They put a 500cc motorcycle engine in a monocoque chassis to create "everyman's" racing. They put the engine in the rear so they wouldn't have to mess with gearboxes that didn't exist.

When they went to Formula 1 they kept the rear engine and although not hugely successful they did define the F1 car configuration that exists to this day.

 

[Contributor]

I want to make sure the engine is in good condition before I spend much money on it. I'll drain the fuel tank today. flush the fuel lines and check to see if the fuel pump works.

Once it runs, brake system is next then put some rubber on some wire wheels my brother has sitting in his garage.

Here are some pics of my last project about 15 years ago. 1966 TR4A IRS that I restored, drove it some then sold it for $11K and got myself a C5 vette for some real sporty driving.

 

[Rene T]

I want to make sure the engine is in good condition before I spend much money on it. I'll drain the fuel tank today. flush the fuel lines and check to see if the fuel pump works.

Once it runs, brake system is next then put some rubber on some wire wheels my brother has sitting in his garage.

Here are some pics of my last project about 15 years ago. 1966 TR4A IRS that I restored, drove it some then sold it for $11K and got myself a C5 vette for some real sporty driving.

View attachment 157939View attachment 157940View attachment 157941View attachment 157942View attachment 157943

Nice. Very professional.

 

[Ex-Calif]

A good TR4 like that is fetchin' over $20k these days.

 

[Old_Crow]

A good TR4 like that is fetchin' over $20k these days.

Yeah? Try looking for a Toyota Land Cruiser from the 60's, like the one I drove to high school. They're either hunks of rust or the price of a 2-bedroom house. That's why I switched to Jeeps about 15 years ago.

 

[Reinigm]

Owned a mint '53 MGTD for a while back in the 80s. Loved driving that car. The only problem with it was that it drew so much attention whenever I parked it, I had to plan on people holding me up to discuss it.

 

[Old_Crow]

Owned a mint '53 MGTD for a while back in the 80s. Loved driving that car. The only problem with it was that it drew so much attention whenever I parked it, I had to plan on people holding me up to discuss it.

I owned a hot rod and restoration shop for the last 10 years of my work life. That was a common problem every time I took a test drive. We did a '29 International flatbed. Every time I drove that thing, I factored in an extra 1/2 hour at every stop. That thing drew more attention than any other vehicle we did.

 

[edjunior]

Well, it looks like a little more rough than diamond at the moment, but yeah, I've seen worse. I'm not much for the European cars, but that one has always been a pretty neat little car. Good luck with it, and keep us posted with the progress if you can.

 

[Contributor]

The car is at mom's house so I can't really work on it as efficiently as I'd like. I got the carburators cleaned and the rebuild kit came today, I'll get them done tonight.

Went over and drained the fuel tank without any problems. Then I found the fuel lines completely clogged up with varnish. Not good, I have to remove the two lines and make new ones. I was hoping to just buy them from Moss Motors but they are listed as NA. The tires won't hold air so it's a PITA to roll it out of the garage to work on it.

So another thing I forgot about wrenching on old cars, I smell like gasoline and grease for the rest of the day after working on them.

 

[Reinigm]

That's the thing about the British. They love dual carburation. My MGTD had twin Lucas on them. Tough to tune.

 

[jackiemac]

I had a TR7 convertible at one point. No photos though.

 

[Contributor]

Got the carbs done today. Here are a few pictures. Tomorrow is a busy day but my goal is to have the fuel lines out and new ones in by the weekend, maybe even start it.

I'm hoping my brother is feeling well enough after chemo for me to come over and go through his garage for all of the parts he bought in anticipation of painting and restoring the car in the mid 80s.