Progress on Rusty...
I will admit, I have not been spending much time on Rusty, as I have pulled the TR8 out of it's winter slumber. I had replaced the TR8 brake booster last fall after it failed, and when I bled the brakes the pedal would slowly sink to the floor. <mumble> So I tossed in a new master cylinder. Took her for a spin, and she would not start to get me home. It was doing this 12 years ago, and a new fuel pump finally cured it, so I threw in another new fuel pump. Seems to be working now, but the throttle will not let it settle down to an idle unless I blip it after coming to a stop. <sigh> Worst spring startup ever for the TR8. =:-(
Ahem. OK, let's talk about Rusty. I have installed the headlight surrounds, and replaced my leaking, rusty fuel tank with a new aluminum one from Robey. It fits nicely and to my surprise is powder coated, so it looks the business.
I spent time diagnosing my rough running when I last tried to start it. My plug wires were off by one tower on the distributor, so I am surprised it tried to run at all. After I moved the wires around, I bumped the engine over to TDC on number one, and tried to set the timing statically. There was oil everywhere, leaking past the new o-ring I had installed on the dizzy drive during its rebuild. I went to the hardware store and got a slightly thicker o-ring, which prevented the distributor from seating in the block. Argh! Nothing is ever simple. I ended up using a metric o-ring with a 2mm thickness, and it seems to seal and the dizzy will seat in the block. I had thought that since the distributor was dimensioned in imperial units, the o-ring should be imperial as well. WRONG!
Setting the timing on this car is a pain, because the spring between the oil pump and the distributor keeps pushing the dizzy out of the block. I finally removed the spring entirely in a fit of pique. We will see if any problems occur as a result. (Probably).
So, I think I am ready to try to start it once again. Wish me luck!
VanceLast edited on 05-10-2026 09:22 pm by vnavaret
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