Update by Tim Suddard to the
Triumph TR3 project car
Sep 19, 2012
We try to shift at 6800 rpm, but it isn’t uncommon for our TR3 engine to see 7200 rpm during a race.
Last time we posted, we were getting our 1957 Triumph TR-3 ready to race at the 2012 Classic Motorsports Mitty event. Before our next race, we wanted to neaten up under the hood, as so many of our changes were last-minute and performed at the track. Our first upgrade was proper catch tanks, though almost anything would be better than the water bottles we’d been using.
Moroso makes a line of beautiful, low-cost catch tanks, so we substituted our tacky water bottle coolant tank for one of their nice aluminum ones.
We also had a lot of oil coming out of the Triumph’s valve cover breather. We realized that if we could get the crankcase to breathe better, we wouldn’t have that oily mess all over the valve cover after each race. We again went to the Moroso catalog, this time ordering a smaller catch tank. We mounted a fitting to the side of the block, then ran a piece of braided stainless steel hose up to our new catch tank.
While we were working on the car, we mounted a scatter shield sourced from eBay. We keep going faster and faster in this old car, so we decided that this obviously homemade—but well-built—steel scatter shield might be a good idea. With it installed, we’ll be at least a little safer in the event of a clutch failure at speed. We try to shift at 6800 rpm, but it isn’t uncommon for our TR3 engine to see 7200 rpm during a race.
After installing the scatter shield, fixing our breather, changing our fluids, and mounting our new catch tanks, we’re ready for another test session. After that, it’s time for our big race at Lime Rock.
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