1975 Triumph TR7
July, 9th, 2024 Update: So, I've been doing a lot of work on the TR7 recently. It got a new Edelbrock 1406 carburetor, new valve covers, breathers, I put a new oil catch can in, running no hood currently because the drivers side bracket broke, so just embracing it, problem for future me. Put a 14"x3" air filter on it. Got a new Edelbrock 75013 intake manifold coming in I'm going to put on, I put a new Edelbrock 8820 water pump, and Billet specialties water pump pulley on, have a crankshaft pulley coming too. Spent last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 32 working hours re-building the entire engine wiring harness, added a bus bar, 200 amp ignition relay, a fuse box, few in-line fuses, instead of the radiator fan being always on, I put a Spal185H or something like that, now it turns on at 185F and off at 165F, with a manual override switch to keep it on. Fire the parts cannon! After the intake manifold, I think I should be happy for a while with it. Also re-locating the alternator to drivers side cylinder head, hopefully that clears the engine bracket. That's my update/rant about what I've been up to for now! I'll throw some pictures below.
June, 2024 Update: Alright, so I've been through a lot with the TR7 recently. Got the transmission rebuilt to get it back on the road, then fought desperately with it for a few weeks trying to get it to idle. The fuel was boiling, so I relocated the fuel lines slightly. Instead of a glass filter laying on the valve covers, I put in an Edelbrock hardline to fix that. Got a new carburetor and a new air cleaner. I power-flushed the cooling system like crazy, and oh my God, the amount of rust and dirt that came out was insane. I'll throw in some photos of what I've been up to along with this update.
Listing things in no particular order since it’s all been over the past month or so, and I've been fixing absolutely every little thing I can find. The other day, I removed some old temperature sensor wires that went nowhere. I also removed the speedometer cable from under the dash, along with the speedometer box and cable from the engine bay. The new carburetor I got is an Edelbrock 1405 with a manual choke, and I installed the electric choke on it myself. That was fun, and I’m proud I did it right—been learning so much recently. I wired it directly to the battery since I couldn’t find accessory power. Used an in-line fuse and switch and a lot of heat shrink. Did a really nice wiring job and will get that sorted properly at some point.
In other wiring news, I went to take it to the gym at 5 am the other day since I finally got it idling, and right when I turned off the street, it died. After going to the mechanic and asking him a bunch of questions on how I could fix it myself since he was a tad busy, he caved and fixed it. I was so thankful. Just some loose wires under the dash that caused the whole thing to die. Got some new Edelbrock valve covers today and will install them when some more parts come in the mail. Also been getting rid of random vacuum lines, cleaning them up—expensive but cheaper than paying a mechanic.
Got some proper 3/8 power brake vacuum line coming in for the brake booster and adding a one-way check valve, which I found out I should have and currently don’t. This should give me some insurance on braking if the engine dies since right now I lose all hydraulic assist if it dies. I have a new oil catch can coming tomorrow, and I'm going to re-route the PCV system from the valve to that, then out to the carburetor, as it should be. I'm saving up for one last gauge, then I’m going to book it at the mechanic's for a new custom gauge cluster. Going with water temp, trans temp, fuel, voltmeter, tach, speedometer—all Autometer, should be good.
Anywho, that’s most of my TR7 update rant for now. Just typed things out as I thought of what I did. Still got a few things to do but now at least it’s a functional car. Need new weatherstripping, door locks, manual window crank thing. Oh, also, my hood latch broke on the driver’s side. The mechanic needs to cut out a patch and weld in new metal. Then, God knows if it will fit with the new carburetor to intake manifold adapter I had to use. If not, fuck it, I’ll drive without the hood for now. Or “bonnet” as the silly Brits would say.
2024-03-26 Update: Alright! So I was going to do a whole big swap job in the car, but I've decided for practicality, the transmission is getting fixed, it's just going back on the road as his (I'm REALLLYYYY hoping by end of next week...), and the 8.8" rear end and 383 are going in the 1994 Mustang, because that's a hell of a lot cheaper swap at this point, way less custom work needed, SBC swap kits available for mustangs, the 8.8" will bolt right in, I already have suspension upgrades for the 1994, makes more sense. Also when I get the current engine and tranny pulled, I can get it towed to the body shop that did the Rav4, and it would hopefully be easier and cheaper for them to just repaint that car the stock white, because the paint is just all over the place right now, fuck whoever did that cheap paint job. Anyways, all that's going in there, and then i can just focus on having fun in the TR7 and hopefully not blowing it up this time, tranny rebuild will be good, just need the engine and the rear end to hold up, should be good then. Not sure about the state of the gauges... We'll get to that whenever it's been years since i've driven the damn car. So below is the original description and info, but this is the most recent update on the car as of time of writing, i'll do the next update that pushes this one down on the page, etc. TR7 soon hopefully! .
I stumbled upon my 1975 Triumph TR7 in 2019, and it was almost like destiny. My mom had often spoken about her own red hard-top TR7 from the '70s, so you can imagine my surprise when a co-worker casually mentioned he was storing a Triumph TR7 for a friend. Intrigued, I drove two hours to his cottage where the car had been stored for years. Miraculously, the old beast roared to life and even managed a short jaunt down the block. That was enough for me-I bought it on the spot for $2,600 CAD.
Things got tricky when I tried to register it. Turns out, I only had the license plate portion of the ownership documents. Worse yet, the guy I bought it from had never registered it himself. The car had changed hands multiple times, all unregistered, making me question whether I'd ever get it legal. Refusing to give up, I turned to Google and somehow managed to locate the last registered owner. He was an older gentleman who had swapped in a 305 small-block Chevy engine and a 3-speed automatic transmission from a 1979 Chevrolet Impala. When I shared my plans to restore the TR7, he was thrilled. He promptly got a new ownership certificate and signed it over to me, even over his wife's protests.
After about three to four months of gathering parts-everything from a new headliner and suspension components to brakes and tires-I finally got the car roadworthy. My first significant trip was a 45-minute highway drive to visit a friend. The car performed beautifully, but on my way home, I experienced a mechanical hiccup. The transmission gave out when I pushed from 100 km/hr to 120 km/hr. Forced to pull off the highway, I had the TR7 towed to the mechanic's shop where it has remained idle for a few years, mainly due to my Pontiac Fiero taking up my time and resources.
However, I haven't abandoned hope. I've got a 383 small-block Chevy engine and a Tremec T5 transmission waiting to be installed-although I suspect the latter might struggle to handle the new engine. I'm also planning on adding a Ford 8.8-inch rear end. To prepare for this influx of power, I'll be installing a full roll cage to ensure the chassis doesn't twist. And one day, I hope to give it a fresh coat of red paint, just like my mom’s old TR7.
