Malc’s pushrod palaver
Not selling the TR3 and Morgan at auction had one positive side – I get to use them, with vague excuses of, ‘I might meet someone who really wants to buy the car,’ and ‘I need to make sure it’s in perfect running order’…
First choice has been the TR3. Having owned my TR2 since 1993 and rallied it extensively after rebuilding it, I have a real affection for these rugged and very usable Fifties sports cars. I rebuilt my TR2 to totally standard, 90bhp spec, so was interested to see if the TR3 felt noticeably quicker with its extra 5bhp. This one had clearly been fully rebuilt and the engine looked to have been done very well – though I was rather taken aback when I traced rough running to bent pushrods, wondering if it could have been assembled like that in USA.
I ran it down to Southampton to visit my parents. It went OK, but was distinctly rough – I wasn’t happy, so took the rocker cover off when I arrived home. I was horrified to find two pushrods working on the sides of the rockers not on the tappets, and one bent so much it was jammed in place. What on earth was going on? Neil Revington supplied a set of good used pushrods to replace the bent ones, but what was causing the problem?
A friend who’s imported a few cars from the States, Rod Shears, had the answer. If a US car’s been sitting for a few years, it’s common for the fuel to evaporate to a gum that sticks the valves fast in their guides when cold. It’s all rather mysterious, because the engine initially appears to turn fine, but after running and then cooling, it will lock up enough to bend the pushrods when you restart it. And it will keep on doing it. It frees off when hot, so you can get the engine running perfectly but as soon as it cools, it’ll lock up again. If the valve sticks open, the pushrod jumps out of the tappet, and if it sticks shut, the rod gets bent.
He recommended a concentrated dose of Redex, so I took the air filters off and, with the engine running at around 2000rpm, gradually squirted over half a can in through the carbs – the rest went in the fuel tank. Then with a straight set of pushrods, I set the tappets and took the TR for a run. What a revelation! Now it certainly felt faster than the TR2 and finally went as well as it looked.
I celebrated by entering the Hagerty Drive-it-day Tour, from Towcester Racecourse. It was a great morning for the run, on terrific country roads out beyond Chipping Norton and back to Bicester Heritage for the extremely well-attended Sunday Scramble. The drive was brilliant, especially following an enthusiasticallydriven MGC – to my and the C owner’s surprise, the 2-litre four-cylinder TR was well able to keep up and actually seemed livelier than the 3-litre six-cylinder C.
The TR3 was much admired – it really is a stunning colour, very similar to its original, rare, Winchester Blue, but metallic – but no offers to buy were forthcoming. I’ll just have to enjoy it some more!