OK, what am I missing?

Shauniedawn · Postby **Shauniedawn** » 20 Oct 2010 21:11

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Marsu

Itâ€™s the sort car you just want to run your hands over with the same enthusiasm one brings to a sexy womanâ€™s legs. Inside it is spacious and comfortable.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Sorry. I'm unusually distracted [;)]

Are we talking about the car here?

Shaun

Bobbieslandy · Postby **Bobbieslandy** » 20 Oct 2010 21:59

Hahahaha i'm glad you said that, i've been very restrained after a recent thread [:D]

Hasbeen · Postby **Hasbeen** » 21 Oct 2010 11:14

Some more information that gives me a few worries. Please advise any experience good or bad with these worries.

The good. UK car shipped to Adelaide, Oz, new by first owner. Always garaged.

This owner has had it 5 years, & is the second owner. Always garaged.

He has done only 3200Km in that 5 year period.

He has been advised it will have to have tyres, & break shoes to get a roadworthy, [required to transfer ownership].

Head lights don't raise & other electrical problems also have to be fixed for sale.

Worry 1/ Break shoes at only 38000Km sounds a bit wrong.

He had it serviced when he bought it, but can't remember what he had done, will look for receipt.

Worry 2/ Oil has been there 5 years.

Worry 3/ Coolant has been there at least 5 years. What chance of head corrosion?

Worry 4/ Brake/clutch fluid as above. What chance any thing will be repairable?

Hasbeen

FI Spyder · Postby **FI Spyder** » 21 Oct 2010 16:44

Worry #1 - It may need brake shoes because of leaking cylinder seals or dragging shoes. Cylinders and rebuild kits are cheap as is a rear brake clean up.

Worry #2 - Old oil shouldn't be a worry if it only has 3200KM on it. My Spider was garage stored 7 years. Burns no oil at 92,000 miles.

Worry #3 - Read worry #2. If the coolant was good 3,200km ago it shouldn't deteriorate relatively unused 3,200km/5 years later. You might want to test mixture with specific gravity coolant scale and PH with litmus paper to make sure it's not too acid if paranoidal suspicion linger.

Worry #4 - Brake fluid will likely have picked up some water but although the Spider was parked 7 years (albeit in California) the master cylinder and slave was not corroded in piston travel area and was rebuilt with kits. Master brake cylinders can be resleeved (with bronze or stainless steel) cheaper than new or NOS ones if necessary.

While there are no guarantees your worries are not well founded, it may not necessarily be so. These would make excellent bargaining points to lower the price. There will be enough fiddley work to do to bring it up to snuff as it is.

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

Beans · Postby **Beans** » 21 Oct 2010 17:28

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Hasbeen

Some more information that gives me a few worries ... <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"><blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Worry 1/ Break shoes at only 38000Km sounds a bit wrong <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Original linings are glued to the shoes, and I've heard of lining material coming lose with old age.
But I don't know if that's the cause why they should be renewed.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Worry 2/ Oil has been there 5 years <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
That depends very much on the conditions the car was driven and stored, and the quality of the oil used.
If you start the engine any faults should be noticeable.
It might be a good idea to change all oil seals, they will probably perish in the not too distant future.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Worry 3/ Coolant has been there at least 5 years. What chance of head corrosion? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
If there is decent coolant in, there wonâ€™t be any corrosion.
The engine that is in my DHC at the moment had been standing for almost 10 years, before it was put back to use. Inside of the head was clean as a whistle when we took the engine out of the donor car.
The water pump might start a leak too, they donâ€™t like being idle

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Worry 4/ Brake/clutch fluid as above. What chance anything will be repairable? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Iâ€™d say 50/50 ... Again depending very much on use and storage

<center>

1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, now restored and back on the road)
1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)
[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]My Weblog[/url]</center>

Jolyon39 · Postby **Jolyon39** » 21 Oct 2010 19:13

Hi,

I have been thinking of this car and the only real concern I would have, appart from every rubber component, is the water pump. The water pump in the engine I just installed had sat idle in the donor car for years, it was stuffed even though there was antifreeze in the system.

I also had the brake master resleeved, rebuilt the booster, replaced the rear cylinders and rebuilt the calipers (new pistons needed). This was also due to sitting for years.

The scary thing is that the cost of all these parts and sometimes labour really adds up plus the down time for the car. (I went for broke on my car and it really does cost in parts plus time)

You could also consider making up a complete list and have Greg Tunstall do an independant inspection of all components on the list. An hour of his labour for an inspection might save you a lot of money later.

Jolyon

PeterTR7V8 · Postby **PeterTR7V8** » 21 Oct 2010 19:51

Have you considered one more significant other matter - ie, your significant other's inevitable claim for an equal amount to be spent on her priorities!?

I am so whipped. [8][:)]

The map: http://tinyurl.com/wedgemap . The blog: http://www.forum.triumphtr7.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8548

Hasbeen · Postby **Hasbeen** » 22 Oct 2010 05:53

Don't worry there Peter, been there, done that, got some brownie points to spend.

Thanks for the info folks, one of my worries was a corroded cylinder head. There are a few around with excellent bodies. Not much sense paying top dollar for a low mileage thing if you have to do a full restoration anyway.

I'm sensitive to alloy corrosion at the moment, as I've been helping a neighbour with a corrosion problem.

He bought a heavy duty pump, with a heavy cast iron 15 HP diesel engine. His main problem is the Korean instructions. Nothing told him that it required inhibitor in the cooling system. When it started leaking cooling water after 18 months, he found the distributor gone, & no help.

We pulled it apart & found an alloy casting, bolted on top of the cast iron cylinder head, transferring the coolant to the brass & copper radiator bolted in place on top of it, with all the coolant going through them.

I can't imagine a better design to promote electrolysis than this. About half the housing had gone in 18 months. I really would not like the horrible thing we made to replace this housing in my engine bay.

Hasbeen

Anonymous

OK, what am I missing?

Who is online