1964 TR4 - Part 22 - Tuning The Engine (attempt 1)

So after the rebuild she runs again, but she need some fine tuning and that is what we will try to do in this episode. But will it work?
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[@mr.kilpatrick2991]

good stuff here- great camera angles - thanks for the education

[@dav1dsm1th]

The temperature probe you are using is affected by the emissivity of the surface being checked so, as you mentioned, the shiny metallic surface screws with the readings. They're usually more accurate if pointed at dull surfaces - so the top hose was perfect. It's also possible to create a temporary "target" on metallic surfaces using black electricians tape (for example). Great video, as always. Stay safe out there.

[@alexanderduncan4302]

Elin, not an air pump, a throttle slide ! Ha Regards, Sandy 🔧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@Patrick-Inc]

Another great educational one. Looking forward to the next.

[@RigelStudiosLasVegas]

My brain short circuited .... great video. I'll have to watch again.

[@jamessimmons8352]

Ahhh The Sting! Great intro! Love your style!

[@JohnCarey1963Jag]

completely clear! LOL I'm glad you had the overall picture in your mind.

[@RustyBeauties]

LOL! I will post a wiring diagram at some point. It will make it clear :) I just want to add the radio and a USB before I finalize the schematic.

[@BruceBoschek]

Many useful tips. Thanks. Infrared thermometers give wrong readings from shiny surfaces. Also, hold the infrared thermometer as close to what you are measuring as possible. The further away it is the greater the error margin.

[@klopklapsenkrea2016]

Thx Elin

[@rolliekelly6783]

I hope you have documented all of those changes you have made and plan to include an as-built schematic to stay with the car.

[@philtucker1224]

I’m sure he’ll get that sorted before delivering the car back to you Rollie.

[@RustyBeauties]

Definitely. I always do that. I used to build limousines and made my custom wiring from scratch for each and every one, so I always keep track of my wiring. I am not done with the wiring here so my diagram is not finalized yet. I will show it once it is done.

[@omphaloskeptic4989]

I got a little lost on the wiring changes, but it helps me if I keep in mind that you are 'ganging' wiring for both the electric fan and the overdrive circuits. Kind of like killing two birds with one stone. lol

[@mrg4722]

Hi Elin, I think there are two circuits inside the solenoid, a pull in circuit 10amp and a smaller hold circuit. There is a switch at the bottom of solenoid , which if everything is correctly adjusted cuts out the pull in coil, but I assume the thicker wiring is just in case it doesn't cut out as you can't see the current on the ammeteras it is fed from the battery side so won't know until it burns out.

[@RustyBeauties]

You are probably right. The spark it produces when I connect the ground doesn't look like a 1amp spark :)

[@bobbyjones2363]

I saw Kentucky Yankee , used some triumph ( rocker shafts or arms on a old Datsun truck)

[@philtucker1224]

Elin, maybe if you put a piece of black gaffer tape on the top side angle of the radiator and aim the thermometer at that, it may give you a more accurate reading.

[@johnsharonwhitaker9242]

I don't know why Triumph switched from SU to Stromberg carbs (maybe pollution ?). The carbs are the same in principle except SU does not use rubber to seal the piston. Like Elin, I use a UniSyn to balance the carbs and also have a ColorTune to adjust mixture. This is a modified sparkplug through which you observe combustion colour. I could never get it to work like in the ads. When I took our new 1967 MGBGT to the dealership in Saskatoon with stumbling on acceleration when winter hit, the shop foreman told the mechanic to richen the carbs 3 flats (a half turn on the nut controlling jet height). They were leaned out 3 turns when summer returned. I used to set timing statically and then confirm the factory advance curve with a light, and readjust.

[@melbournedave978]

Triumph switched from SU to Strombergs, as SU was part of the BMC group and they prioritised their own cars over others. Harry Webster, Triumph's Director of Engineering saw this as a risk to Triumph, and so asked Alford-Adler (who, like Triumph were part of the Standard Group, which was owned by Leyland) to design a Constant Depression carburettor like the SU, that didn't infringe on patents. They did, but their expertise was steering and suspension, so sought someone else to productionise. Amal and Zenith quoted, Zenith won the business, and from 1963 on, Strombergs were used by Triumph. When Leyland and BMC merged in 1968 to form BLMC, SU was now part of the same group, so some Triumphs were fitted with SUs. Strombergs were/are better at controlling fuel flow and emissions, so were always used on North American Triumphs, even after the formation of BLMC

[@johnsharonwhitaker9242]

@@melbournedave978 thanks Dave. Great explanation. John .

[@russelblackwell6041]

Elin is MR FIXIT no end to a wealth of knowledge man your good hows your sons project coming along on the Mazda

[@RustyBeauties]

The Mazda is where we left in the last video. No progress after that :( Unfortunately Nik is with me only every other weekend and not every time we find time to be in the garage. We are hoping to spend more time on it in the summer.

[@pda49184]

Excellent video Elin.. It's odd that although I'm a fully licenced Radio Ham and therefore have a very broad knowledge of electronics and electricals, I hated doing car wiring 😅...

[@philtucker1224]

Yes I know what you mean Pete, I am very similar but over the last few years I have begun to really enjoy the bodywork prep and paintwork tasks!

[@RustyBeauties]

I love the 12v wiring... I've done so many limos from scratch. I don't know much about electronics though and that drives me crazy when some simple circuit boards fail and I can't figure them out.

[@pda49184]

@@RustyBeauties Ha-ha.. PCB's of yesteryear weren't so bad.. The modern ones populated with surface mount components and IC' & processors with the numbers scratched out are no fun at all, not to mention the £100's that you need to spend upgrading to the specialised equipment needed to work on the things. "Not all progress is in a forward direction". 😅

[@barry6274]

That left me in left field, and the ball was in right field. I will possibly understand with the revised diagram. Fun to watch though.

[@philtucker1224]

Elin I was thinking that the valve clearances tightening up may be due to the new head gasket compressing. If that is the case then maybe just check the torque settings on the head studs as they may need tweaking down again slightly. Cheers buddy.

[@RustyBeauties]

Yes, that is why it is recommended to re-torques the head a few hundred miles after rebuilding the engine. I will wait a little longer though. I want to take it for a test drive when the weather allows and will do that for sure.

[@williamlucas8793]

I am curious about the readings on the apparently faulty temperature sender. Could you set up a beaker of hot water at a known temperature, submerge the sender, and then check the gauge? That way we would know how much error is coming from the old vs new temperature sender and/or the gauge itself.

[@RustyBeauties]

I will do a comparison in one of the next videos. I found another used temp sender and compared the readings at ambient temperature. The original one was 157Ω and the other used one was 570Ω. So I installed the one I found, but the gauge did not move at all when the engine warmed up. So obviously it is faulty as well, but in the opposite direction LOL. I don't have the readings on either of them at a hot engine though. I should have checked that too, but I didn't think of it at the time. So I am ordering a new one and I will compare them all at ambient and hot temperature so I have something to compare to in the future.

[@williampeacock8684]

Is it possible to usea timing light to set your timing exactly to specs?

[@geraldschrader8511]

I'm puzzled as to why he's not using a timing light. That is the only accurate way to set the timing.

[@RustyBeauties]

Yes, but you have to go with the spec and I find that each of these old engines is pretty much unique. Also the vacuum advance and retard works differently on all of them and most of the times the "book" setting is not the best. I much rather do it "by ear" or at least with a vacuum gauge.

[@geraldschrader8511]

@@RustyBeauties Maybe you're better at it than me, but my experience was that using a vacuum gauge to set timing resulted in horribly inaccurate results compared to using a timing light.

[@cheftush]

You lost me at get your ohm meter 😉

[@pbysome]

Buy a vac guage the plugs into the Venturi, they come with various adaptors. They are really good. It may be lean because you have no air cleaner , I believe the mainjet does not have any effect below 1/2 throttle you should have an idle mix screw??? Could be wrong

[@RustyBeauties]

Usually the air cleaners reduce the airflow and make the mixture reach (similar to the choke effect), but I don't have great ignition here so I will go back and fix that first before I do the fine tuning of the carbs. The side draft carbs do not have an idle mix screw, the needle to jet relation is the only adjustment and this is the procedure in all manuals.

[@pbysome]

@@RustyBeauties makes it difficult for you, I've never come across side draft Stromberg's. No doubt you'll get there!

[@melbournedave978]

@@pbysome CD Strombergs are all sidedraft, can be used at an angle of up to about 30 degrees like on a Triumph Stag. Stromberg also made a lot of downdraft carburettors but they are all fixed venturi ("traditional") types

[@alexanderduncan4302]

Have you checked that the voltage stabilizer is not producing more than 10 bolts ? Regards, Sandy 🔧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@RustyBeauties]

I need an analog meter for that to be able to take a correct reading. It is the old, mechanical stabilizer. But I am sure it is the sending unit. I will deal with it at a later time. I am not worried about it.

[@PouyaEmami]

I recently started watching this series and have been really enjoying it. A question about tuning the carburetors: Don't they need a reference vacuum from the head cover pipe that is currently unplugged? I assume that would cause some issues with how the engine idles and responds to throttle input.

[@RustyBeauties]

If there is an open vacuum port that would definitely affect how the engine runs. However the pipe on the valve cover is not a vacuum port, it gets connected to the air cleaners allowing the unused gas vapor from the crank case of the engine to be reused. So it will be hooked up at the end, but for now it does not affect the idle.

[@PouyaEmami]

@@RustyBeauties ah okay, thanks for explaining that for me. Looking forward to rest of the project!

[@davidberlanny3308]

Hi Elin, a question, and I also got a little lost on the wiring changes, if you have a problem with overdrive which blows the fuse would this also take out the supply to the fan? I suppose its unlikely to happen though. Have a great weekend and good luck from Spain!!

[@RustyBeauties]

Yes, that is correct. On modern cars you have a fuse for almost every separate circuits, but on these old babies many of the circuits share a fuse (if they are fused at all). I am even planning to hook up the radio and a USB charger to the same 2 fuses. I didn't want to make it way too complicated for the owner, by adding 3 or 4 fuses.

[@drivewayshop]

I'm not familiar with that engine, but it looks like it's moving a lot when you get in the throttle. Is one or both of the motor mounts bad?

[@RustyBeauties]

Both engine mounts are new and this engine even has a torque reaction arm and buffer which is also new. It is just how it is I guess.

[@frankhoward7645]

My first car! Paid $400 for it in 1970. Drove it (and fixed plenty of things) for 20 months until I needed $ for school. Got $785 for it. Thought I made a killing. Passed up the opportunity to buy an XKE for $1,300 instead of going to college. I think I made a mistake.

[@andrepienaar6459]

I hope you will show how the temp probe for the fan is fitted?

[@RustyBeauties]

It was in one of the clips without sound, sorry! It is pretty straight forward. It goes through the radiator (as high as possible as the heat rises) similar to the fan fasteners and then it gets locked in place on the other side with a little metal clip.

[@andrepienaar6459]

@@RustyBeauties So no holes need to be drilled!

[@Rugbyman269]

Wiring .... Mm , clear as mud to me always , oh well , i can cut a piece of wood in half .

[@derekt7606]

Clean that dam horn.

[@RustyBeauties]

😂 cosmetics at the end…. I have more important items on my list still

[@stevesutton1991]

1st one here, ha