Saturday, February 14, 2015

Twelfth vehicle -1972 TR-6

I purchased the final TR-6 shortly after selling the Yamaha XS650.  I still owned the Corvette at the time, but I really missed having a little sports car.  This little Triumph was red.


The top and interior weren't in great shape, so I just left the top down with the cover over it (like in the above photo), and let the San Diego dew soak the seats.  It was under a carport, so nothing got *soaked*.  I kept an old towel behind the seat to wipe things down before going anywhere.

It let me down only once, and that was when the transmission failed.  If I recall correctly, something had been wrong with second gear.   My roommate was driving when it gave up the ghost.  Neither of us was very surprised.  I found another transmission, and this one had an electric overdrive!  That made everything even cooler.

TR-6 transmission with overdrive.  The two overdrive sections bolt on to the standard 4-speed at the right.

The new transmission required a little extra work, but it was worth it.  I installed the new transmission and built a little electric circuit with a toggle switch on the dash to engage the overdrive solenoid.  That solenoid is a little black cylinder at the lower right side of this transmission.

There are two electrical switches on top of the gearbox.  One is to turn on the back-up lights, and the other is to prevent the overdrive from engaging unless the car is in 3rd or 4th gear.  I guess the torque of lower gears would damage the overdrive unit.  Anyway, I was really happy with that car, and kept it for several years, until I decided to get my first 4x4, which I traded it in for.

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