Triumph Sports Cars

Calvin,

I'm about to order mufflers for my 302 TR6. You used Flowmaster 40's right? From the picture it looks like center in and center out? Did you go stainless? How do you like them?


Thanks,


George

Hi George,

Offset in/ Center out on the Flowmasters. They are louder than I would like, but sound good. I have ordered some Borla pro XS mufflers that is coming in Monday. The Borla is SS and a little queiter. The Borla is 1" longer that I'm sure I can work with. Also the Borla muffler might even give better performance over the Flowmaster. I don't think the Flowmaster is SS. I have a droan inside the car that I not liking to much with the Flowmasters. One thing I did notice yesterday while I was changing out CV axles, the flowmaster muffler is light in weight.

I blew out the driverside CV axle on the inner CV(To much power BOOM). I called up Richard Good and told him what happened. He sent me his new CV axles without hubs for no charge, so I said I'll pay the shipping cost for them. The old axles were like a floating axles like VW's. The new axles weights 3 lbs heavier and have a staionary CV on the outer and a floating one on the inner. The axle is way bigger than the old ones. So needless to say Richard Good stands behind his products. I'm going to send the old ones back to him so he can see the carnage.

I will post on my progress soon since I haven't posted in a long time.

Thanks for the quick response Calvin. Sorry to hear about the axles. I have the same ones but I have less power than you (350hp at the crank). I also used skinnier tires. I remember the axles were very heavy so maybe I have the updated ones. Richard is a good guy. I don't have your rear sway bar so I'll order the Borla too.

I couldn't have done any of this build without the help of people like you here and at 6pack.


George

(Quote from George) I couldn't have done any of this build without the help of people like you here and at 6pack.

I'm with you on this 100%. The day I had an Ls1 in the bed of my 1 ton toyota truck in my breeze way, I asked myself the big question "What the hell am I doing". With all the support that britishv8 and 6pack had to offer, I would have never done this at all.
The greatest of all was watching my wife look at me and shaking her head, the feeling of I better follow through this to the end, or I will never hear the end of this one. Today the TR6 is on the road and legal in Califormia.

Below is some photo's of the old and new Richard Goods CV axles.

The cleaner looking axles are the old ones. There is a difference in size of axle for sure,probably .200 thousands bigger. The old axle had a welded on axle spline with a floating axle between the CV joints. The new ones are machined. The spline end is a staionary CV joint (it will not float back and forth). The inner CV is the one that will float for suspension movement. There is a big difference in length of the inner CV joint housing on the new one. The new axle inner side I have the adapters mountes on the ends, so it looks thicker there. Those are there because the new axle is made for a 5 bolt Diff, I have the 6 bolt diff which requires the adapter from 5 to 6 bolt.

I weighted the old and new axle (short one, they are different lenghts), there was a 2.6 lb difference between the two. The new ones are heavier.


A good photo of both axle size difference.



The one axle that couldn't handle a little power in first gear with no tire spin and no clutch dump. The inner CV expanded, once this blew, I had no power to the wheels, or very little. The car would move very slowly.



New axle is 1" 145 thousands. The old one is under 1" for sure.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2011 01:44AM by 74ls1tr6.

Some more photo's of the adapters. Also needed to tell Richard Good for the 1/2" disk brake brackets that I'm using. Since I'm not using the drum backing plate that is 3/8" thick, Richard added 3/8" longer axle to both sides to compensate for the 1/2" bracket.



By the time I bolted this adapter in, there was 4 bolts + one straight through bolt on the axle side, and 5 bolts on the diff side + the one that was straight through. When done looks like alot of bolts.



Adapter on.



Adapter off.



Took a ride around the neighborhood, and all is good as in Good parts. The old axles are on there way back to Richard today.

Some of the bugs that I'm fixing after this build:

1) Had to raise the front end 3/4" because of tire rub.Used aluminum spacers from Richard Good.
2) Switching back to a standard steering rack instead of the quick rack. To hard to turn car when going slow.
3) Need better braking. Going to 12" vented rotors and Wilwood 4 pot calipers in the front. Will follow Dale and Ken's conversion.
4) Since bigger brakes, will go to 17"X7" wheels( Enkei racing wheels)
5) Miata seats need to wear in some, sitting a little high.
6) Replaced CV axles to better ones.
7) When accelerating the car will sqat down in the rear and the tires rub some, can smell them.
8) Needed to install a 1" block to lower the sway bar on the trailing arms. During acceleration the swaybar was hitting the frame on the sides.
9) One of my steering shafts broke a weld, so re- welded all four ends, then dipped in Sharks hide for surface rust prevention. This happened in the breeze way and not on the road.

So far this car is a real hoot to drive! Has acceration of a racecar + extra power to spare. People are looking and stopping me asking questions.

Everything on the car seems to work well. Need to do some drive time on the road for computer tuning, and clutch brake in time. Clutch has a little chatter and grabs hard. I'm using the stock clutch master cylinder with the T56. It is working real good. I thought there would be a problem with it.

I don't have photo's of the rebuilt soft top frame and a new black canvas covering. The canvas top was fun to install on the frame, but looks good in the end results.

I have been looking at Miata's for awhile on Craigs list lately. Well found this 2004 Miataspeed which has a factory turbo in it @ 170 hp or so. This seller was asking 9000 for it. These go for about 14000 in this shape. Called him up and took a look at it. It had 25000 miles on it, but had a salvage title on it. I looked at the car, good and straight body, he had paperwork showing the damage. The paperwork was for only 1700 worth in damage on the driver side. I pulled the Vin number and did a car fax on it. Found the history on the car and went and bought the car for 7300.

So this car is for my wife since I think the Tr6 is a little radical for her. My other thoughts would be latter to take this drive trane setup and install in my sons Spitfire. Then do another ls1 swap into this Miata. I said this to my wife, and she just gave me some stink eye back:-)... This miata is a gokart. It has w rated tires on it now!

Anyway those wheels are 4/100 mm with 215- 40-17" . So today I will take off a wheel on the Miata and install with an adapter on the TR6 and see how it looks. May put all four on. Will need to check for offset.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2011 01:44AM by 74ls1tr6.

The Miata wheels are 23 1/2" tall, and the Tr6 wheel is 26.6" tall. So the 45's tire will be a little over 1" smaller than the 60's. This will give me the clerance needed for no tire rub. I will be going down to America's tire and see what I can match up, probably try 245, 235, 225-45-17 range of tire. I might be able to use a smaller spacer in the front spring to drop it down some for the right stance.

A 3 inch difference between the two wheels.



There is a 1" aluminum spacer in there. So the offset should be around 38mm to 43mm for what I need.



The offset did suck in the rim some with plenty of clearance. The 215 tire is almost as wide as the 245.



These tires are to small looking for me.

>The greatest of all was watching my wife look at me and shaking her head...


Must be my wife's sister!

George

Ok! Got some new rims and tires.

These rims are Rota SB Hyper black polished lip. 4-100mm +45 17" x 7.5". Tires are 245-45-17 w speed rated Yokohamas S drive.Using 1" spacers bolted on the hub. 4- 41/2" bolt pattern to 4-100mm bolt pattern.

To get them to fit, had to remove metal from the top control arms by the ball joint.I think Ken Hiebert had to do the same with his 17" rims. The rims brought the tire under the car and flush with the fender now. Looks a ton better. Also went from 26.2 tall tire to 25.6 tire This resolved my issue of the tire rub on the rear tire under acceleration.For the speedo difference, went into HP tuners software, in the editor put in 25.6 tall tire in and wrote it to the PCM. Now the speedo reads the right speed

I believe just the right height look now! All tires now are sporting a 10" wide.



Probably can take out the 3/4" aluminum spacer I put in for tire rub, and put in a 1/2" spacer in instead.



The other set of tires and rims would rub at the 9 o'clock position on the rear fender under acceleration.



Side veiw with some shadows in the photo.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2011 04:58PM by 74ls1tr6.

Back photo of new tires, pretty dark shot.

Installed Borla pro XS mufflers and took out the Flow Master 40's. The 40's were to loud for me. I ordered some exhaust tips that are glass packed from monza exhaust. That should quiet it down enough for no droan.



Front photo shows that the tire is flush with the fender now



Interior photo of the center support installed and where the e-brake ended up.



The seat warmer switch intalled in the center support both sides.



Driving this car around town, I'm getting a ton of looks and double takes. It is funny to watch people and their reactions.

Soon will get a Youtube video on here from inside the car for people to see.

Wednesday I'm going to DMV to show them the car to see the vin number match, get my tags, so I don't have to drive around with a big 4 on the windsheild anymore.

Working on my "How it was done article" for Curtis to post up.

Also funny thing happened. I was at America's Tire and ran into Steve Taylor. His car is here...[www.britishv8.org] He was checking out my car and waiting to hear it start up. He just lives real close to me by the Sacramento river.

I will be taking my car to the All British car show in Woodland Califorina May 22nd with Ken Percival and maybe Ken Schmidt.
It will be fun to see the purist's faces with the 3 of us there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2011 04:32PM by 74ls1tr6.

Great to see an update from you Calvin! My axles are supposed to arrive tomorrow -- signature requried & I'm not sure my wife will be home so likely won't actually get them till Thurs. Also have the oval exhaust about 1/2 installed; shoudl be able to finish it this weekend too so the car will be back on the road. The oval exhaust will only hang about 1/2" to 3/4" below the frame rails -- a few inches more clearance :). Hoping the Spintech mufflers are quiet enough but if not, they're under the car (only 2 1/4" thick overall) so I still have room in the back for some sort of secondary resonators or mufflers.

Anyway, will miss you in Townsend, but have fun @ the All British show later in May!

Calvin,

I ended up buying short Flowmaster Hushpower II's. I had them installed with 2" tubing (no room for 2 1/4") and a crossover. They are NOT quite. They are almost in earplug territory. How much do you think your Monza glasspack resonator tips helped?


George

Rob,
I'm glad to see you will trailer your MGB to the meet. I would be a little shy driving my Tr6 there without driving it around to feel safe with a long hall. I wouldn't want to be stuck along the road somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Your wife pulled a good call!

I hope you recieved your axles by now or already have them installed. Enjoy your hard labor of a very cool looking ride!

In my slow age process I like quietier exhaust, so my brain isn't vibrating down the road :-).

Hi George,

There should be enough room there? I was able to run a 2 1/2" magnaflow x pipe in the frame where the original exhaust runs through the frame. Was able to run 2 1/2" exhaust from the header collector all the way back to the exhaust tip. It might be tight but it can be done with 2 1/4". I think Ken Schmidt has the same Hush power exhaust with his 350 chevy. His was a little loud.

I haven't received my glass packed Monza exhaust tips yet. I should be getting them on back order towards the end of the month. I think it will do the trick to muffle some more of that great sound. I will post up the results soon after they are installed.


The 95-9226 is the one I will use. 2 1/2" inlet 3 1/2" outlet.

MONZA BIG BORE Resonated Exhaust Tips are designed for today’s competitive sport compact market. BIG BORE lives up to its name by offering diameters of 3 1/2” and 4”. NOTE: All BIG BORE tips are 10” in overall length and feature a long-lasting, triple process chrome finish.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2011 05:00PM by 74ls1tr6.

Calvin, Car looks great! New tires and wheels too. I have used those resonator tips before and they will quiet it some and deepen the tone. X or H balance pipe helps also. Again, Great job!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2011 11:40PM by mgb260.

Thank You Jim, for the compliment on the rims.

So last weekend my wife was running our booth at the Western Festival to show our business with other venders. So I decided to drive her there in my TR6 last Sunday. There is a small venue of 1982 and older hot rods that show up in the park this same day. So I was going to ask them if it would be ok to park in the show area with them, but not have my car judged. Well they said that would be OK.

So I drove the TR6 on the lawn kind of on the side of the show under the trees. Lifted up the hood to the engine, and walked over to one of my customers that have our products in his house ( he was showing his pair of Camaro1969 Z28's).

Fifteen minutes went by, there was a swarm of people around our TR6. I walked back over there, people started to ask questions. It was like this for the next 2 or so hours. The looks I would get when people would walk by, "Oh a Tr6" then they would get a small peek of what was under the hood, and that would stop them in their tracks to walk on over for a closer look.

About 3 hours of this, one of the judges walked over to me and said " You are not going to enter your car into the show" I said "I wasn't planning on it" He said, " I'm not telling you what to do", "but have a class I can't fill to easy here in the show". "Your car can fit that class, and that is all I'm going to say". OK , so I walked over to the tent and paid my $15.00 to enter in the show. Put the tag on the car. The judge walked over to the car and wrote stuff down on his clip board. So 10 minutes later we were called up to the tent when they were handing out the winner's placques.

"Nice" our TR6 won the Most Unique award in the show. I hope I get this kind of nice peolpe at the All British Car Show in Woodland the 22nd of May.



Benda sitting at our booth!



Was able to snap off a few photos before people started coming over to take a look.







Was trying to keep my original Lic plates, but CA DMV wouldn't alow me to.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2011 02:18PM by 74ls1tr6.

The blue tent in the back ground is where I registered for the show.



There were some nice cars here for sure!



Always try and promote Britishv8.org at every show Brenda and I go to. This is a given for sure!



Here is the award our TR6 won "MOST UNIQUE" I was probably the last to enter so I figure there was 136 cars showing this day.

Here is a closer photo of the plaque!





The story of gettting our TR6 registered in CALIFORNIA!

1st time going to Ca DMV.
Went into DMV with an old 1985 regitration card I had for my TR6, Didn' have my pink for the TR6 anymoe.I must have lost it in several moves I have done over those passed years. I paid $103.00 to register the TR6. I didn't non op my car for those years either. So did a big NO NO and told them it was stored in Oregon since 1985. I brought it back to California to restore it. So they gave me a big number paper 4 to place on my windsheild. This meant I needed to bring the TR6 into DMV to have the Vin numbers checked out. So at this point I could drive my car on the road until end of April 2011. Also asked if I could keep my original blue Lic plates.

2nd time going to DMV.
Drove my TR6 in the back of DMV. A lady came out with a clip board, and she was checking for a vin number. OK , one on the windsheild and one on the door sill. Well, I messed up the original plate with paint remover. I just bought a new one from Moss and stamped it myself. I kind of messed that up with one of the numbers. The lady couldn't read it so well. So she asked me to pop the hood up. So I did another NO NO and said my hood release cable was broke. So she wrote that down on the form. Then she told me to go over to window 23. They gave me a paper with a 6 on it. So now I can drive around until June. They Said, I had to go to CHP and have my TR6 checked over for vin numbers and a form from them. "@#$$%$%^^&" was my thought.

Same day on the other side of the freeway went to the CHP office. Made an appointment with them a week or so down the road.
OK went home and re-stamped another vin plate I had to replace the one I messed up. Pop rivited the new one on.

Drove my TR6 shaking in my shoes all the way to the inspection at CHP office. When the CHP officer came out he asked OK why are you here? I told him the chain of events what happened, and I stamped a new vin plate + fix the hood release with a safty release. I also brought with me the paperwork of the LS1 purchase showing the vin numbers of the engine and transmission. I had run a car fax on the vin number to show the history too. I told him the engine was not original or transmission in the car. The officer took me over to the car and looked under the hood. He asked some questions like did you replace anything on the car. I said 3 of the 4 fender due to alot of bondo on them. I just told him I restored the car and put the LS1 in with the transmission. He told me do you have receipts for everything you did, I sais "yes" I have a 4" file. OK drive your car back here in our garage. He took me back up the the waiting room to wait while they checked the car out..... At this point I'm sweeting it out some......45 minutes later he come out and said you don't have to show us any receipts, we just need to install this vin plate somewhere of your liking to link the engine to your car. I'm un-sweeting after that and totaly relieved.

So the TR6 is now registered with an LS1 engine in California, AND DIDN"T HAVE TO MESS WITH SMOG..."SAAWEEEEET"

3rd time going to DMV.
They wouldn't let me keep the original blue plates. They said original black plates is OK but there not doing the blue plates yet. So keep the blue plates, that may change later. Ok put that in the 4" file for later use.

TR6 LS1 legal in California now.

Photos of the new CHP plate installed to link LS1 engine to body.



Notice how they stamp it into the paint in 2 places.





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2011 10:46PM by 74ls1tr6.

Calvin,

Congrats on the DMV. Up here in Washington State there are basically no rules and no inspections for old cars. Unless you are smoking badly then they don't bother you.

How do you like the new tips on the Borlas? I just put on a pair of 18" Dynomax Turbos and things are MUCH quieter. Now I can pass people and not worry that every cop in town has just heard me.

I passed someone yesterday going up a very steep rural hill. I don't imagine that that happens very often with the stock 104hp engine!


George



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2011 09:51AM by motek.

Goerge,

Passing people is fun!

The Borla tips are still on back order :(.

I installed the flowmasters back on and entered the car at The All British car show in Woodland the 22nd of May, and took 3rd place out of all the TR6s. This was with the purists cars. Guy next to me was a little bummed out because everyone was looking at my car and not his. On the other side was Ken Percivals 289 v8 TR6, so at least I wasn't alone. There was a few remarks not being pure. But in the end it was all in fun.

Calvin

Calvin,

Good for you on the award and good attitude on the purists. I would see their point if we were modding a quality 911, Gullwing, or an E-type but we are not. Triumph chose to put in a 1930s lump of an engine and then they decided to go cheap on the welding and rust proofing. Other than the body lines, any mods we do are an improvement.


George