mpbarrett Posted February 2 Posted February 2 Having had most Triumph models (apart from the big saloons) I decided its time for a TR7.... Brought this one from near Grimsby and drove it home last week to Cambridge, probably the longest trip is has done in 10 years. Its a 2l low mileage, 35k, and was Zeibarted (sp?) from new and doesn't seem too rusty apart from the drivers door. Starts and goes well, running a bit rich and a nice torquey engine. Feels very modern after the Herald and very spacious! But terrible wheel wobble at 65 but I understand they all do that! Clutch is heavy and gearbox a bit slow until its warmed up. A few electrical faults, fuel and temperature gauge not working, lazy NS headlight (temporary fixed with some Plusgas). Probably a bit more of a project than I really wanted but quite pleased with it. I have booked it in with my friendly MOT garage to get on a ramp and get them to go over the underneath and to get the wheels balanced. mike 5
John I Posted February 2 Posted February 2 Nice looking motor from the pictures, not sure on the colour….if it were on our drive it would probably grow on me plus if the drive is exciting I can’t see too much of the colour from the driver’s seat. Looks like a great buy.
Nick Jones Posted February 2 Posted February 2 ^^^ What he says On the wheel shake, consider that if the car has spent months/years sat around, some or all of the tyres may be mis-shapen. If not that old they sometimes recover (at least partially) with use, though higher ambient temperatures are helpful with this!
JumpingFrog Posted February 2 Posted February 2 Looks very nice, is it the 4 or the 5 speed (or even an auto)? Every now and again I find myself looking at them, I feel like the styling has really grown on me in the last few years, previously they didn't interest me much at all...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted February 2 Posted February 2 That looks nice. The DHC TR7s look very much the part and seem to have held up well in the styling department. And always had a bit of a hankering for the V8 version. 6 hours ago, mpbarrett said: Clutch is heavy and gearbox a bit slow until its warmed up. If it's the 5 speed then 'they're all like that sir'. The first (and second) one in my Scimitar was pretty dire until I rebuilt the second one myself but still something of a trial, especially 2nd and when cold. BL/Rover/Landrover fought this box for years with a host of different lubricant recommendations from EP90 worst for shifting performance to ATF, marginally better shifting from cold but pretty much sh1te for hot shifting, bearings and overall life. Muligrades and synthetics don't make much difference to shifting, although are a better lubricant than ATF. Ignore whatever is recommended as the oil de jour for your year and use GL-4 MTF 94. It's the least worst and at least it does a good job of lubricating things and protecting the sychros. PS - the 5 speed has an internal oil pump driven by the input side so never tow the car with the rear wheels on the ground for any distance. The clutch shouldn't be that heavy. Possibly down to how long the car has been sittig. A flush of the hydraulics might help. 1
mpbarrett Posted February 3 Author Posted February 3 well that went well..... Took the new toy to my local TSSC and CT meet and it decided to release lots of Lucas Smoke from the fuse box wiring harness! At least I got off the A14 before the car filled with smoke, lots of support from my mates at the club meeting. Decided to phone the RAC, complexly useless, forces you to the web app, put the details in and then told to phone the recovery number! Estimated to get a van to come out between 12 to 3AM, over 4-7 hour wait.... Phone car insurance breakdown and a very helpful AA man turned up within an hour and helped bodge the car so it was driveable with front and rear fog lights and drove home with him following. Checking/sorting out the electrics was on my job list for the car (someone has fitted a replacement fuse box..) but that has now moved to the top of list. Not sure what the original cause of the fault was or why the fuses hadn't protected the harness... but will need to replace some cables.... mike 5
Escadrille Ecosse Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Oh! Sorry to hear about that. Glad you managed to get home in the end. 1
Mark Posted February 3 Posted February 3 3 hours ago, mpbarrett said: Decided to phone the RAC, complexly useless, forces you to the web app, put the details in and then told to phone the recovery number! Similar recent experience with RAC when my motorbike broke down. Gave up with link to the app RAC emailed to me. Either my phone or the app Couldn't find my location so unable to proceed to report breakdown. Several different numbers ended back at the same automated recorded message. After a couple of calls to the new membership line, which was answered very quickly, I finally got connected to a person and reported the breakdown. A van eventually turned up, told him i suspected dead fuel pump, not able to tow the bike no dolly or bike trailer, had to get authorisation for a lorry. Advised by him it would be a long wait. A good 6 hours later with still no ETA from RAC and frozen to the bone I gave up. A family member knew a man with a van and I paid him mates rates to come and recover me and the bike.
Escadrille Ecosse Posted February 3 Posted February 3 4 minutes ago, Mark said: Similar recent experience with RAC when my motorbike broke down. Gave up with link to the app RAC emailed to me. Either my phone or the app Couldn't find my location so unable to proceed to report breakdown. Several different numbers ended back at the same automated recorded message. After a couple of calls to the new membership line, which was answered very quickly, I finally got connected to a person and reported the breakdown. A van eventually turned up, told him i suspected dead fuel pump, not able to tow the bike no dolly or bike trailer, had to get authorisation for a lorry. Advised by him it would be a long wait. A good 6 hours later with still no ETA from RAC and frozen to the bone I gave up. A family member knew a man with a van and I paid him mates rates to come and recover me and the bike. Not really service
zetecspit Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Good luck with the wiring, if you need spares Jon Fallowell seems to have a fair amount of TR7 stuff. Re wheel wobble, I think there is something "different" abut how TR7 and small chassis wheels are mounted. Hub centric and lug centric, but I can't remember which way round it is. Maybe worth a peek. And as Nick says, flat spots can cause the issue. (indeed a garage owning friend had a "modern" car in, polo I think, with flat spots. He popped it on a 2 post lift, pumped the tyres up to 60psi and left it over a weekend last summer. That fixed them, but it probably depends how bad/long etc etc the car had been left) Of course, fitting mgf wheels is a possibility, and depending on what size wheels yours are, it opens up a much wider choice
mpbarrett Posted February 4 Author Posted February 4 Might have got carried away.. at least I can fix the burn out wires and sort out some of the other suspect wiring (why were there 2 toggle switches on the dash?) and do some work to the dash board instruments.. Putting it back will fun! BTW anyone know anything about Unipart car alarms? Found one in engine compartment and a hidden switch under the dashboard.... Unipart alarm 1 1
RogerH Posted February 4 Posted February 4 .......all that to change a fuse - wow................... 2
Escadrille Ecosse Posted February 4 Posted February 4 16 minutes ago, RogerH said: .......all that to change a fuse - wow................... A similar thought crossed my mind. Remarkable how quickly these things escalate. But worth doing properly. Those multi-connectors for what I am assuming are dash switches look like the ones in the Scimitar. My experience with these is that they gum up with age and either don't connect properly and things don't go on, or they stick and things don't go off. I have had a melted switch in the past. Lots of smoke and diving for the fusebox. Worth checking all the switches while you're 'in the area' perhaps. They can be dismantled and cleaned up quite easily.
mpbarrett Posted February 5 Author Posted February 5 15 hours ago, RogerH said: .......all that to change a fuse - wow................... almost. What I think happened is that there is a short on the RH side light cct. This is protected by a fuse but it was rated at 15A probably higher than the cable rating. The fuse did not open but heated up and started to melt. Meanwhile the cable coming out of the fuse has got so hot its melted all the insulation off and as it touching the feed to the fuse melts thru the insulation of that cable (larger size) shorts to it and effectively now bypasses the fuse (that still has not opened). Once the insulation has burnt off the cable to the side lights any other cable it has been touching is damaged. The damage went down into the loom which is behind the dash board and I could only get to by taking the dash board out! I am not planning to do this again so might as well try to sort out some of the other electrical bodges and sort out the fuel and temperature gauge on the dashboard... mike
John I Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Best of luck, sadly I can’t help re the alarm system. That could be fun once you’ve got the electrics sorted.
Nick Jones Posted February 5 Posted February 5 23 hours ago, mpbarrett said: BTW anyone know anything about Unipart car alarms? Found one in engine compartment and a hidden switch under the dashboard.... One for the bin I would suggest….. Echo Colin’s comments on switches and multi plugs. I like relays on headlights. With the power side separately fed and fused. 2
NickyT Posted February 5 Posted February 5 On 2/3/2026 at 4:00 AM, mpbarrett said: well that went well..... Took the new toy to my local TSSC and CT meet and it decided to release lots of Lucas Smoke from the fuse box wiring harness! At least I got off the A14 before the car filled with smoke, lots of support from my mates at the club meeting. Decided to phone the RAC, complexly useless, forces you to the web app, put the details in and then told to phone the recovery number! Estimated to get a van to come out between 12 to 3AM, over 4-7 hour wait.... Phone car insurance breakdown and a very helpful AA man turned up within an hour and helped bodge the car so it was driveable with front and rear fog lights and drove home with him following. Checking/sorting out the electrics was on my job list for the car (someone has fitted a replacement fuse box..) but that has now moved to the top of list. Not sure what the original cause of the fault was or why the fuses hadn't protected the harness... but will need to replace some cables.... mike The dash and electrical INSIDE the car in pictures looks to have been modified over the previous older models. Did they update the Lucas electrics to something more modern at the same time? Or still the same POD stuff as on the Spitfires?
mpbarrett Posted February 6 Author Posted February 6 still Lucas, lots more connectors and much more wiring. The connectors outside the cabin seem to get very dirty as they are not sealed. But it is over 40 years old!
mpbarrett Posted February 6 Author Posted February 6 17 hours ago, Nick Jones said: One for the bin I would suggest….. Echo Colin’s comments on switches and multi plugs. I like relays on headlights. With the power side separately fed and fused. Yes the alarm is going once I work what its wiring into... Agree its needs relays on the lights...
2.5piman Posted February 6 Posted February 6 Hello all, I remember being very disappointed when the TR7 was released, as it was slower than the TR6, no doubt it was better in handling but a disappointment all the same. I think it would have benefited with using the Sprint engine, much more power and less brute force than the V8? Alec
Nick Jones Posted February 6 Posted February 6 Yes, odd decision not using the 16v. Or even making it an option Was supposed to be a sports car after all! Good luck with the fixes Mike. Get the reliability built in early! Better now than halfway up an Alp! 1
BiTurbo228 Posted February 6 Posted February 6 (edited) Reading up on the history of it they had big plans for the TR7. 16v Sprint. V8 version. LWB 2+2 tourer. But it was early 70s Leyland. The future of the company's finances effectively rested on the success of the mass-market Allegro...and we all know how that went. The dismal failure of the Allegro to sell in any appreciable numbers put the kibosh on all sorts of interesting projects (all the TR7 variants, the Triumph version of the SD1, the serious replacement to the cobbled-together Morris Marina, and the Triumph SD2 Dolomite-replacement). It also put massive pressure on the commercial success of the SD1, which led to all sorts of self-sabotage. If you read up the testimonials from Rover factory workers at the time, it's clear that they weren't one of the militarised unionist lot, they were a bunch of experienced old boys who were doing a very good job assembling P6s to high standards (to the point Rover was compared to Mercedes at the time, not entirely unseriously). Then, in a panic, the Leyland management comes in and puts enormous pressure on them to churn out as many SD1s as they can, which leads to the massive drop in early build quality that wrecked the SD1's chances (and the subsequent militarisation of the Rover workforce...great job guys). A lot is made of the lack of quality control processes in the early days of SD1 production...but the reason they didn't have them is that prior to all of that mess they hadn't needed them. Oh, and the Allegro effectively ended widespread BL dealership presence on the continent, which meant that even when they did produce a car the Europeans wanted (SD1, Metro, Range Rover, Rover R8) they couldn't sell any of the things. So yeah. Blame the Allegro. Or, rather, blame the French. De Gaulle specifically. It was De Gaulle's veto of the UK joining the customs market for a decade that put BMC in such dire financial straits that precipitated the whole mess, against which no-one was quite able to turn the tanker around. Edited February 6 by BiTurbo228 1
NickyT Posted February 6 Posted February 6 8 hours ago, mpbarrett said: still Lucas, lots more connectors and much more wiring. The connectors outside the cabin seem to get very dirty as they are not sealed. But it is over 40 years old! I'm not sure the exact reasons but my perception is that the Lucas bullet connectors, lamp sockets, etc. were more prone to problems than their American counterparts. Intermittent connections and lamp sockets due to corrosion. (Within the 1966 to 1980 range of British and US vehicles I've had. 5 UK vs 4 US. I want to get my '78 on the road so initially I'll just clean connectors and sockets to get it running and past inspection. But over time I'll be replacing all the Lucas Bullet and other connectors with AMP style, sealed connectors where possible. (See image.) Not sure about how to prevent continual corrosion on the lamp sockets. It can be difficult with lead contacts on the bulbs.
NickyT Posted February 6 Posted February 6 5 hours ago, BiTurbo228 said: Reading up on the history of it they had big plans for the TR7. 16v Sprint. V8 version. LWB 2+2 tourer. But it was early 70s Leyland. The future of the company's finances effectively rested on the success of the mass-market Allegro...and we all know how that went. The dismal failure of the Allegro to sell in any appreciable numbers put the kibosh on all sorts of interesting projects (all the TR7 variants, the Triumph version of the SD1, the serious replacement to the cobbled-together Morris Marina, and the Triumph SD2 Dolomite-replacement). It also put massive pressure on the commercial success of the SD1, which led to all sorts of self-sabotage. If you read up the testimonials from Rover factory workers at the time, it's clear that they weren't one of the militarised unionist lot, they were a bunch of experienced old boys who were doing a very good job assembling P6s to high standards (to the point Rover was compared to Mercedes at the time, not entirely unseriously). Then, in a panic, the Leyland management comes in and puts enormous pressure on them to churn out as many SD1s as they can, which leads to the massive drop in early build quality that wrecked the SD1's chances (and the subsequent militarisation of the Rover workforce...great job guys). A lot is made of the lack of quality control processes in the early days of SD1 production...but the reason they didn't have them is that prior to all of that mess they hadn't needed them. Oh, and the Allegro effectively ended widespread BL dealership presence on the continent, which meant that even when they did produce a car the Europeans wanted (SD1, Metro, Range Rover, Rover R8) they couldn't sell any of the things. So yeah. Blame the Allegro. Or, rather, blame the French. De Gaulle specifically. It was De Gaulle's veto of the UK joining the customs market for a decade that put BMC in such dire financial straits that precipitated the whole mess, against which no-one was quite able to turn the tanker around. Looking back to that era, we got the Mini 1000, Austin 1100, Austin "America" (1300), Austin 1800, Austin Marina (NOT Morris), Triumph Spitfire, GT6, TR6 and predecessors, MGB and Midgets, Rover SD1, Land Rover's and E-Type Jags. Supposedly we got the Stag as well but they are so rare I don't think they sold in large numbers. And I don't recall many SD1's on the road here either. 1
mpbarrett Posted February 14 Author Posted February 14 all back together but a lot of work. Lots of strange wires, burnt wires and connections removed. Put everything together then found that the Lights witch had melted when the fault occured so had to replace the swithc with a new. one
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