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- Buying a TR7
(by Ray Jones with additions)
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Tr7’s really don’t
rust anymore or less than other British Leyland cars of the period and
certainly rust a lot less than some Italian imports I could mention
that were their contemporaries. However there are some areas on TR7’s
and TR8’s that particular attention should be paid to on a potential
purchase as they are structural and/or expensive to repair or replace.
Just because one or more of the faults listed are obvious on your potential
purchase needn’t necessarily mean that you should walk away, but
rather that the costs involved in fixing the problem should be considered
and the price you are willing to pay for the car adjusted accordingly.
Bring overalls and don’t be afraid to get dirty and to ask for
the car to be jacked up.
1)
Sills, reject anything that has had cover sills. One way to check if
the sill is a cover sill is that outer sills continue behind the front
wing, also cover sills tend not to have the elongated drainage holes
along the bottom. Ask yourself the question “what is the vendor
trying to hide?” If you are buying a DHC have a mate stand at
the panel gap between the back of the door and the rear quarter panel.
Now push down hard on the rear deck a few times. If the gap closes significantly
at the top then it would appear that the sills are shot.
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Pic of sill |
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2)
Lift the carpets behind the rear seat, you need to look at the rear trailing
arm location points at the bottom of the rear bulkhead, if the mounting
points are corroded through at all, they can pull out of the body. This
will cause "Rear wheel steering" as you accelerate on a road test.
Also check the same areas from underneath the vehicle. You do not want to
see long cracks around this area. A crack from the back of the car under
acceleration and braking may be because of worn mounting points but could
equally well just be due to worn bushing in the trailing arm or tie bar
so it’s best to get a good look at the area. |
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The crack of doom
Pic of trailing arm mounting point
Pic of trailing arm from the front
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3)
The condition
of the inner sills can be checked to some degree by lifting the carpet just
where it goes up at the side of the sill, though you may have a battle against
carpet adhesive to reach this area. There should be adhesive tape covering
original holes, lift this and shine a torch inside looking for anything
more serious than just a bit of surface rust. This is a great inlet for
Waxoyl by the way. |
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Check inner sill |
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4)
McPherson strut mountings should be checked for any bubbling or corrosion
both at the turret top and sides under the bonnet and from the underside
up in under the wheel arch around the springs as well. Repair panels can
be bought but get the repair wrong and your suspension geometry can be compromised. |
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Pic of turret from above
Pic of turret from below
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5)
The panel under the windscreen wipers is very susceptible to rust. Impossible
to check without taking off the wipers and the cover underneath though the
state of the black finishing cover is a good indicator of the fussiness
of the owner and probably also the state of the panel below. The turned
up edges are also an excellent indicator of the overall condition of this
panel so lift off the rubber covers and check for nice solid edges that
don’t look like mice have been taking a nibble out of them. |
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Check under the rubbers |
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6)
Check the panel in front of the bonnet and around the headlights. This is
difficult and quite expensive to replace and therefore a prime target for
bodging, a magnet is useful for checking the metal/filler ratio and it can
also be viewed from underneath the car. Check that there is a nice neat
bubble free indented line between this panel and the edge of the wing. |
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Check panel joint |
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7)
Fuel tanks should be checked, these rot from the inside out due to BL in
their infinite wisdom putting the often leaky fuel filler cap where they
chose to. Often the first you know about it is when there is a deluge of
fuel around you and these are not a lot of fun to replace. Look up underneath
and if the tank does not look too rusty on the outside this will suggest
the tank is in fairly good condition. |
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Pic of tank in situ |
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8)
Go through the usual engine checks, smoky exhaust, take the oil filler cap
off to check back pressure and/or oil fumes, mechanical quietness. (They
tend to be a bit clattery, especially the tappets, until warm at the best
of times, but it would be prudent to get the engine up to temperature and
make sure there isn’t a timing chain clatter) Check temperature gauge
comes up to around a quarter or a third of it's movement and stays there.
A blown head gasket will empty the radiator header tank through the filler
cap after a few minutes. Also check for water pump leakage from the rectangular
vent towards the front of the engine on the block, just under the cylinder
head. (The RH carb gets in the way a bit). Check for oil in the water and
water in the oil as this usually means the dreaded head gasket has been
blown. Cheap to buy, a nightmare to replace. Take out the dipstick. The
darker the oil the less likely it is that the car has been regularly serviced.
Try also to see a spark plug. You ideally want to see light brown fine deposits
on the electrodes rather than sooty black deposits, burned off electrodes
or a glaze. |
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Pic of light brown deposits
on electrode
Pic of engine bay
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9)
Dip the clutch in neutral with the engine running. If the general noise
level drops significantly, the gearbox bearings could be on the way out. |
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Listen for gearbox noise |
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10)
If the differential is noisy this should show up on the test drive as you
come on and off the accelerator. More difficult on DHC as Diff tends to
be quieter with hood down I've found. |
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Listen for noisy diff |
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11)
Don't be put off by minor oil leaks, most British cars have them, just check
the levels before and after the test drive. However if you see members of
Greenpeace washing sea birds in liquid detergent in the vendors driveway
it may be an idea to avoid buying the car in question! |
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12)
Subframe (AKA cradle). These are expensive to replace and tend to rust at
the back outer mounting points, strangely more so on the drivers side. |
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Pic of subframe from below
Pic of subframe from front
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13)
Headlights. Check for a good neat simultaneous rise and fall. Cheaper to
fix when you know what the problem is than they often are to diagnose. |
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Check the pop up lights
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