New owner - Triumph TR7 FHC (1976) - with issues.

[auto_cran]

So we (my wife and I) finally found a TR7 FHC after looking for years. We picked up the one mentioned here:

http://www.forum.triumphtr7.com/topic.a ... C_ID=19860

Car isn't perfect, but it's complete, looks great (new paint, decals) and was cheap.

I have a lot of issues I need to tackle to make the car the way we want it. I have to be honest, this is the first time owning and working on a British car, so like the car, I'm a little green when it comes to TR7s. I'm more used to American and Japanese cars.

So here is my first issue at hand: I went to go move it and I noticed it was leaking coolant - not a drop, but a nice steady stream. Popped the hood and all hoses and the radiator looked fine - all dry. I didn't get a great look (it was dark out), but the coolant appears to be coming from the top front of the engine around the intake manifold where the 3 hoses attach. (I take it this is where the thermostat is located?) I believe it's under this where the leak is.

I know this is a rather vague description, but does this ring a bell with anyone? When weather permits, I'll try to take a pic or two.

Also - as far as adding more coolant, do I just unscrew the plug on top of this to add coolant?

Thanks in advance - I love this site; I have been a lurker on here for years - hope one day to help contribute!

Chris
(auto_cran)

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Hi, Chris,

I almost bought that car but I knew that I would not be able to work on it. So, the first thing you get to do is pull the intake so you can get to the water pump, cause that's where it be leaking! If you prepare yourself well in advance, the job can be accomplished in one day. Now, they mentioned that the carbs were messed up, so you can send they to http://www.paltech1.com/index.html to get them rebuilt and micro polished!

I am listed in the Red River Triumph Club Rooster and in the VTR TVT magazine with my phone number. Give me a call if you want help and/or advice.

Clay

[url="http://www.jclay.me/"]My Triumph Site[/url], [url="http://www.triumphtechnical.me"]Technical Stuff[/url], [url="https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B8MWEvqOpX3udEF4SmFQUW9RS09hbU5uNW5Wd0xrUQ/edit"]My Public Folder[/url],

[John Clancy]

I would say it's the water pump too but there's always the vague possibility it's that pesky o ring between the inlet manifold and cylinder head. That is a common source of coolant leaks so fingers crossed it's that cos' it's a simple fix (unlike the water pump!).

<center><b>[url="http://www.triumphdvd.co.uk"]Triumph TR7 and other car documentaries on DVD here[/url]</b></center>

[Workshop Help]

OH! You poor, poor dearie. What have you got yourself into? May I politely suggest you clean out a large area in your garage/workshop/spare bedroom(?) and prepare to meet & greet your new project with all it's little foibles. Many are the articles composed in this most hallowed of forums dealing with all of the various facets of TR7 resurrections. We can help.

First, please identify the car as to year model and provide closeup photos of the engine, interior, exterior, and the underside. This will enable us to focus on the issue at hand.

As for the water leak, there is a rectangular hole in the right side of the block under the front carburetor that is there to allow the coolant to escape when the water pump seals break down. With a strong lamp, observe and please take a photo of that spot, posting it here for our amusement. We will respond.

Mildred Hargis

[FI Spyder]

All good advice here. If it's original (complete) I would suggest keeping it that way as it would then be the rarest of TR7's. They are reliable when everything is sorted but as most are long neglected everything needs attention (it can be a rolling restoration). The other option is to make modifications while keeping appearances original. The third is to throw caution to the wind and change things to match your imagination of what they might have become. As the father said to his daughter's suitor, what are your intentions?



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[HDRider]

If you do take the manifold off I would take that oppotunity to install gaskets on either side of the rubber carburator mounts. They originally will have had a raised rubber ring to seal them but that ring will have shrunken now allowing air to enter the manifold.

Every TR7 that I have worked on has this problem and it is easy to fix with the manifold off the car. That's probably all that is wrong with the carbs other than the diaphram which will need replaceing with a modern one that will withstand the alcohol in the fuel that we now purchase.

You should replace the short section of gas tank vent pipe that is located behind the black panel in the trunk under the filler cap as well as the fuel will have wrecked it also. It will get rid of the nasty gas smell that you get when you fill the tank. It is the section from the tank to the fuel filter that is behind the black trunk panel as well.

You should look at the front of the floors as well as most TR7's have been dimpled in this area for careless use of a car lift. No real damage but if your feet are size 10 or larger it will free up a lot of foot space. Just pull up the foot mat and hit it back with a mallet.

Edward Hamer
Petaluma CA

[Beans]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by auto_cran</i>

... leaking coolant ... appears to be coming from the top front of the engine around the intake manifold

as far as adding more coolant, do I just unscrew the plug on top of this ...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
This is the slot mentioned ...



Check carefully for coolant in this area and where it is actually coming from. If in doubt you could use some talcum powder as "tracer".

Some reading on removing the water pump [url="http://tr7beans.blogspot.nl/search/label/Water%20pump"]<u><b><font size="2"><font color="red">in this link</font id="red"></font id="size2"></b></u>[/url]

As for filling up the coolant on these early cars.
The correct way is to remove the plug on top of the thermostat housing (where the three coolant hoses meet) and fill through there.
Be careful, they are often over-tightened by PO's or not been used at all for many years.

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1976 TR7 FHC (needs some TLC ...)
1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, a.k.a. Kermette)
1981 TR7 FHC (Sprint engined a.k.a. 't Kreng
</font id="blue"><b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="3"><font color="red">My full Blog</font id="red"></font id="size3"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

[auto_cran]

Thanks for all the responses. Seems to be a great support group on this forum!

A little info - it's a 1976 FHC, 4-speed car. New paint/decals. Exterior is very good. Interior is all original (even with original radio) although there are aftermarket speakers in the doors. Compared to the exterior, the interior could use some work, but nothing major. No cracks in the dash. Seats are coming apart at the seams and could use new carpet.

I looked/drove the car a few times before purchasing - seems to drive ok. When we bought it, decided to trailer it home as it's not registered and just not sure how it would do on a 30 mile trip. I think that was a smart move.

Got it home later than expected, so waited until the next day to get it off the trailer. That's when the fun started. The car just wouldn't start (very cold & rainy outside) - ended up having to push it off the trailer and parked it. Due to weather and a game on TV (Super Bowl!) didn't mess with it until Monday. Still no start. Took off the airfilter, sprayed some starter fluid in the carbs - started up on the 1st try.

Since the car needed to be moved to the driveway, I let it idle for a good 5-10 minutes before moving it. That's when I saw the nice stream of coolant leaking on the ground. Did get it moved to the driveway and put away. Can’t believe on the 2 test drives it didn’t leak anything (I checked underneath the car for leaks) – then I get it home – and it’s like a faucet!

The weather here in Dallas is lousy - and will be for the rest of the week, so I probably won't get to it for a while.

I was aware of the cold start issue as the seller did mention it and believes it is the carbs. That's fine, but I think the coolant leak needs to be top priority.

Our overall intent of the car is to get it sorted out and make it a reliable weekend cruiser - no intention of it ever being a daily driver. Original looking is important - but I don't mind smart upgrades (would like to do the oil filter upgrade).

Here are a few pics of the car (sorry so big!). Interior and engine pics are the ones the seller used. Will takes some pics of the leak when time/weather permits.

Chris
(auto_cran)

[trekcarbonboy]

One other possible (but not as likely) spot on an early car that could be leaking is from the small transfer tube connecting the top of the water pump to the intake manifold. There are 2 O-rings that can fail there. But without seeing it I'd guess the water pump as well.

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[FI Spyder]

Yah, that looks nice.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[John Clancy]

That car looks so good why worry about getting it fixed? You can just roll it out of the garage and look at it!

<center><b>[url="http://www.triumphdvd.co.uk"]Triumph TR7 and other car documentaries on DVD here[/url]</b></center>

[Workshop Help]

Okay, here we go. In the engine photo, we are missing the sheet metal over the exhaust manifold that directs heated air thru the likewise missing hot air hose to the air cleaner spigot. This, in the current cold as all stuffing, winter weather will make starting the car difficult. I hope you realize the car has a manual choke, don't you? It appears from this angle you are missing the clips that attach the choke cables to the carburetors. Without these the engine will not start on a cold morning.

You are also missing the air pump and plumbing. This is not a bad thing and has no effect of tuning. As your car is over a certain age, this should have no effect on passing your areas annual state inspection.

I think I see the thermostat housing still has the plastic filler plug. If so, get rid of it and install the brass plug from a TR6, if you can find one, or the later aluminium plug from a post 1977 TR7.

Please note, the filler plug is used for initial fill purposes. Additional coolant can be filled in the plastic overflow bottle.

The TR7 has a myriad of hoses. Remove the air cleaner assembly and start the engine to find the coolant leakage. Report back with photos with your findings.

The seat covers being torn is no big deal. Look in your V-B catalog for a set of tan seat savers to freshen up the interior. The speakers in the doors were a factory install. From the photos I cannot determine if your's are the original. The gear shifter looks a little tall. The gearbox mount may have been installed upside down pushing it upward.

Your personal pit crew awaits with bated breath.

Mildred Hargis

[Peter Nuss]

I would get into the brake situation pretty quick also. Fluid is way low. If you don't have any leaks at the wheels or lines. My money is on a bad master cylinder and the bad brake servo sucking the fluid into itself. That's bad. You'll need a new master cylinder (which it probably does anyway), and another brake servo. If you have fluid in the servo, let me know. I have several nice used ones around here, I'll give you one.

You are also missing the air plenum for the firewall. Those early ones are hard to find. I had a couple extra before my move, but, long gone now.

Nice looking car, good luck with your new project.

TR8

[auto_cran]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions!

Mildred - to answer a couple of your questions:

I do have the hot air hose. Prior to purchase, I looked on here at some engine pics and notice it - and I questioned the seller about it. He found it and I now have it. (engine pic is prior to my purchase) I need the clamps to hold it down. (I had it on when trying to cold start). On my to-do list.

Yep, I'm aware of the choke. I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't connected properly - as it didn't seem to effect anything. The CHOKE light is always on, regardless if its pulled out or not. Also on my to-do list.

The speakers in the door are aftermarket (unless British Leyland used Pioneer). Not too worried about them; same with the seats/seat covers - all the cosmetics are way down the list...

I'll look into replacing the filler plug. I think you're right - it's plastic.

Thanks again - I'll look into getting those photos!

Chris
(auto_cran)

[auto_cran]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Peter Nuss</i>

Nice looking car, good luck with your new project.

TR8
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Thanks for the tips Peter! Sorry I missed you last weekend.

Chris
(auto_cran)