April – I said to myself "you have to get going on the TR2 dude if there is any chance of taking it to TRA and the Canadian Classic", so attack I have. Frontal attack, full of gusto, vigor, and bravado. Silly me.

Attack came on at least six fronts:

And while I’m at it I’ll put on the correct thermostat housing…

Well, the cylinder is off the car. Problem? Yes, shot bores. I knew they needed re-sleeving when I originally fixed them back in 2002. I drove it for a summer, and put up with a bit of DOT-5 leaking (remember – Dot 5 doesn’t lift paint!). Well, I took them off and shipped them to White Post Restorations (White Post, Virginia – heavy Hemmings advertisements) for resleeving. $225 later they came back, a work of art. On the car and they seem to work fine. One down, many to go.

The blue smoke was a result of me trying to get more oil to the valve train via one of those Moss oil feed hoses. It was making a bit of noise, so in a vain attempt to quiet things down I added the feed. Fed oil alright, right down the worn valve guides into the combustion chamber. Greene County wanted to hire me out to kill mosquitoes. Head came off. Bought bronze guides. Went to get them installed. Shop told me the head was cracked in 3 places. "Unfixable", said that shop. Currently waiting for another head from a guy in Washington state (just try to find a low-port head – hope he comes through since it’s $250 just to have a place the specializes in cracked blocks try it, if they can). I’m hoping it’s good, heck, I’m hoping I get it. So far $170 into guides & new valves, and the cost to determine the old head was shot…

Sigh. Should have known better. When Jerry said the engine had been rebuilt, what he meant to say is that he took it apart, didn’t find anything wrong, and put it back together. Usual story of a "rebuilt" engine – pistons are shot, bearings are gone, yadda, yadda, yadda. Even the keepers were re-used. In went 87mm liner and piston kit. In went a new camshaft. In went a new oil pump, in went a bunch of other stuff. $1200 later here’s a short block waiting for its head. This time it’s rebuilt and I have the receipts to prove it.

I’ve got so much of the rest of the car torn apart that the half-shafts can wait. I am tracking down Joel Rosen who had hardened half shafts made for TS601 (after one broken at the Canadian Classic in 1992, ask me how I know…). Wonder what that will cost?

4.5? Yes, 4.5. I made the mistake of grabbing the trannie input shaft and shaking it. It shook back. Wonderful, the mainshaft spigot bush is shot. Repaired that and replaced all the other bearings while I was at it. Luckily the first gear part of the countershaft was in good shape! New spigot bush is a bit tight when the input shaft is all the way in– I’m hoping it will wear in fairly quickly – going into 4^th is a bit tight on the workbench. Estimated cost is $180 since I had most of a trannie rebuilding kit left over from the TR4. Hat’s off to Mark Macy for letting me use his mainshaft circlip installation tool.

The 165-15 Pirellis on the car show signs of dry-rot and hardening. I also have the problem that you can’t get a 165-15 in the spare tire well (my spare is a 40 year-old 560-15). Need to fix this. Bought 4 new 550-15 bias ply tires. With these I don’t have to steer, the car will go where it wants. Finding tubes was tough. The ones Lucas Tire (Springfield, just down the road from Sporty Car Garage) sold me were way too big. Had to order more from Coker Tires. They’re on the car and look good. Found out that the Pirellis had tubes in them way too big also – the tubes had folded around inside the tire and were bound to go sooner or later. Another day, another $500.

Cleaned & painted radiator, painted frame, new throttle shaft linkages, new this, new that, less $$ in the checking account.

$2400 later I still don’t have a running car, but lots of it is new. The only good thing is that the way TR2 prices are going; I can get all our money back. Too back I can’t get the time back!

Used parts are going as a lot on ebay. Wonder what folks will pay for them? Any guesses? Wanna bid? Shipping will be cheap!

Real cheap?