Eagerbeaver

Many thanks David. I think I'll be in touch in the coming weeks. 

I'm not sure how repairable my bumpers would be. The front could be chromed but the back has a bit of a twist in it so really not sure if that could be straightened.  The stainless ones are about £840 including VAT so not cheap but at least they won't get pitted.  I wouldn't ant them though if they were a pain to fit. 

I'm thinking of getting a set of stainless bumpers for my GT6 Mk3. My current bumpers both have dings in them and pitted.  When I last looked at s/s about 8-9 years ago, they were quite poor quality with uneven edges and looked not quite right.  Are they any better these days?

Hi Tim, I wouldn't be selling the TR6 for any financial reasons. Certainly not to raise money for entering the RBRR which as you say is not mega costly.  I last completed the RBRR in 2012 and was otherwise tied up for 2014. If I do sell the TR it is just because it would free some time up to get the GT6 up and running. Since my previous post, I have moved on my Volvo 1800es so that has helped balance out the time issue so the TR may not be going up for sale now.

I'm thinking of selling my TR6 so to enter RBRR 2016 I would need to get my GT6 up an running. What is the date?

Yes, they did that on my dads Jag when he somehow managed to lock the keys in.

I wish I would have taken photos at the time but I was convinced it wasn't going to work as the bonnet is such a tight fit. The secret is the wide plastic wedges which the AA man carried for exactly this kind of problem. I'm not sure what the wedges were made from, maybe polypropylene but the were strong enough not to distort but soft enough not to damage.

Well, here is the post RBRR report. We had got as far as Blyth when the car developed a serious misfire. A compression check showed very little compression on number 1, all others about 14/15 bar. A few more checks confirmed that burnt valves on that cylinder were likely. Until this is fixed I'm not sure if any air fuel guage figures count for anything. I suspect that the initial problem developed with the first MU. The car idles with an A/F of about 11.6. It accelerates at about 12.4. It cruises at low speed at about 15-16 and about 13 at 70.  It is at about 10-11 on overrun. I guess I need to sort the head before doing anything else. RBRR was fantastic by the way. Tim Bancroft and the rest of the organisers/marshalls/supporters/entrants all deserve much praise.

Did I dream it or did I do the RBRR this year?  It's just that of all the video and photos I've seen, I can't see my car on any of them! What's more someone has driven around the country buying lots of petrol on my credit card. Can anyone confirm seeing a magenta TR6?  

I'm really pleased you got back OK Tim. I was admiring your car before going for breakfast and hope I didn't cause offence by taking the sneaky picture later as it was being loaded on the recovery truck but I needed some pictures of broken down cars to convince some of my sponsors over how demanding this event is :) I've got some of it on the event as well whilst it was running Ok if you would like those! You might have gone by the time the AA man had helped be open the bonnet of my magenta TR6. I am now an expert on overcoming this problem. In fact I'm tempted to not to use the cable and use the AA technique just to add to the challenge. Well, maybe not.

I think the guys in the yellow TR6 on the RBRR had this issue but I can't remember exactly what they said it was. I'm sure someone will come along soon who can.

Our final car failure on this years RBRR was the bonnet release cable. Yes we should have fitted a backup cable but it was on a part of the RBRR to do list which we didn't get to. I'd read and was advised by many helpers that the way to do this was from underneath with a long rod or possibly reaching through from the front with a broom handle or similar. Sound good in principal but very difficult in practice. When the AA man came, he could only jack the car up and we couldn't get to the catch. He suggested prising the edge of the bonnet up with plastic wedges. I can hear you shout "NO" as loudly as I did but he assured me that he wouldn't damage or bend the bonnet in any way as he had done this dozens of times on other cars. The guy first of all pushed the wedge in and raised the edge a few mm, then he put another in and raised the first a few more mm, then he put a 3rd in further along. Eventually, he had created a gap about 4mm wide which allowed a thick hooked wire to slide in. Pulling the catch popped the bonnet open without any damage. The guy also made up a new cable and fitted that so top marks to the AA. Prevention is better than cure but this cure worked well. If you need to do this, the way to do it is to spread the load over as many wedges as you can. One other thing. It's easier to do this in the dark as you eyes are already adjusted to the dark and it is difficult to get light in through such a small crack.

Not wishing to clutter the board with new threads I will use this to give my thanks for the best motoring event I've experienced. First of all the biggest thanks to Tim for the kind offer at Tebay to miss out Wales without penalty due to the burnt valve problem that we'd been nursing from Blythe. We refused the offer as we felt that finishing whilst deliberately missing 2 points wasn't how we wanted to finish. It was either back at the Plough with 19 signatures or it was on the back of a recovery vehicle. We made it not just to the finish but home too. The other organisers couldn't be faulted. The route book, the refreshments, the pre event advice, all outstanding. The marshalls were all great. As a newby, I was one of people who walked up for signing at Sugar Loaf as we'd been told it had to be a quick passage "under pain of death". 2 ques, 1 for cars, 1 for people looked the quickest way as the walkers could be getting books signed whilst the Marshall had to wait for those in cars "fannying about" for their road books. We've heard and listened to the points made and will learn for next time. Those who stopped to help us with the electrical fire we had in our magenta TR6 near Edinburgh Airport, thank you. In fact, anyone who has been involved in this event either behind the scenes or "front of house", thank you.

Not wishing to clutter the board with new threads I will use this to give my thanks for the best motoring event I've experienced. First of all the biggest thanks to Tim for the kind offer at Tebay to miss out Wales without penalty due to the burnt valve problem that we'd been nursing from Blythe. We refused the offer as we felt that finishing whilst deliberately missing 2 points wasn't how we wanted to finish. It was either back at the Plough with 19 signatures or it was on the back of a recovery vehicle. We made it not just to the finish but home too. The other organisers couldn't be faulted. The route book, the refreshments, the pre event advice, all outstanding. The marshalls were all great. As a newby, I was one of people who walked up for signing at Sugar Loaf as we'd been told it had to be a quick passage "under pain of death". 2 ques, 1 for cars, 1 for people looked the quickest way as the walkers could be getting books signed whilst the Marshall had to wait for those in cars "fannying about" for their road books. We've heard and listened to the points made and will learn for next time. Those who stopped to help us with the electrical fire we had in our magenta TR6 near Edinburgh Airport, thank you. In fact, anyone who has been involved in this event either behind the scenes or "front of house", thank you.

Neil is very interested to identify the cause of this issue as he couldn't imagine how a metering unit issue would cause these symptoms. I'm dropping the unit off with him for him to do his checks. What I can say is that the car has never run as well as it is now with the previous MU.

Got plugs out. Can confirm all 6 cylinders are running lean but not as lean as earlier. We shall see how we go.

Many thanks for all the input from everyone. Neil very kindly has supplied another metering unit and the car is 100 percent improved. The air fuel meter is showing tolerable numbers, if anything a bit lean under all conditions except overun when the air fuel meter drops to 10. With a running car I'm not going to do any more "tuning". Lets see how it goes on the run. Ive yet to get the plugs out - the car is still too hot for that.

Looking at the photos again, I don't think it is clear just how white 1 2 and 3 are. I'm convinced this isn't just the plenum problem.

I've checked the throttle valves and they are sucking more or less the same amount of air accross the rev range. I've set the mixture adjustment screwws in line with what Neil has suggested, put a new set of plugs in and went for a 10 mile drive. After a couple of miles, the car was clearly running rich and I disconnected the big hose to the plenum chamber to negate any effects of the air filter. Here are the plugs after the run.

Yes, 1, 2 and 3 are obviously lean and 4. 5 and 6 are very sooty. The air filter isn't new but not very old either. If the air filter was old and clogged I could understand them all being rich but it's just the rear 3 cylinders. I wouldn't say the difference is progressive as its quite a marked difference between the first 3 cylinders and the rear 3. I'll take the car for a spin this morning and try to post some photos of the plugs later.

Yes, 1, 2 and 3 are obviously lean and 4. 5 and 6 are very sooty. The air filter isn't new but not very old either. If the air filter was old and clogged I could understand them all being rich but it's just the rear 3 cylinders. I wouldn't say the difference is progressive as its quite a marked difference between the first 3 cylinders and the rear 3. I'll take the car for a spin this morning and try to post some photos of the plugs later.

A few things to check there in the morning. If I was getting continuous injection, I'd see that when I pulled n injector out wouldn't I? All I'm seeing is a regular spurt of fuel on each injection pulse.

Better to find out now whilst there is still time to fix it. I've managed to break my car as well but there's time yet. I hope.

Just spoke with Neil and he is adamant the problem is not the thrust washer but has given some advice to look in other areas. He said it is impossible for the thrust washer to cause this as the metering is done in pairs not in 3s :( .

Yeah, looking at it again, I have got light plugs on 123 and sooty on 456? Which thrust washer? The MU was a recent recon?