new owner '74 TCS misc ?

[BDA]

 Great news! 

Now the fun begins! 

[4129R]

Co-incidentally I took 4376R out for its first drive for many years today, and that was for just 4 miles.

I have compiled my "to do" list, and at the moment the most serious thing is I cannot get 5th as the UJ linkage needs twisting to make the lever go further over to 5th. 

4376R was in a very poor state when it arrived at Felixstowe in a container.

[Dilkris]

A real achievement - well done! 

[TurboFource]

 

[dakazman]

 
  Congrats Lumbes,
  I don't know much about the power of a twin cam, only driven once, but I did pick up on its power.
Dakazman

[Lumbes]

Thank you everyone for all the advice and support.  Was able to check out the last day of the Pittsburgh Vintage GP this afternoon which was being held at Shenley Park but wasn't brave enough to take the Europa.  Not having done a full shakedown test on the car I took my bike, which is excellent for city parking and really, it was the right call.  Such a cool event, I will be making sure my schedule is open so I can be there next year for both weekends.  Would have been fun to be able to enter the car show that was being held with the races but oh well, hopefully next year.  Once I returned home from the races I immediately hopped in the Europa and went for a short joyride, just was no way to resist.  Ahhh, it is so nice to be back in the driver's seat of a real car.  Couple more road tests and I'll feel confident with passing inspection and hopefully can fit in a few meaningful short trips this year, car shows, whatever.
I had the engine built up to put out nearly 150 hp at the crank.  Lighter flywheel, higher compression pistons, 420 steel cams, 123 ignition, etc.  It is awesome and I am just overjoyed with the end result.
Thanks again everyone, I'll be posting more pictures in the near future of the car fully buttoned up and inspected.           

[Lumbes]

The car has been so much fun buuuut looks like I now have a problem.  Today, I did minor adjustments on the shift tube linkage being I did some aggressive driving yesterday and thought I could improve it some and now I seem to be stuck in gear.  I can put the shifter in the neutral position but it is most definitely still engaged.  While in neutral I am unable to roll the car without it turning the engine.  It feels like I can and am still able to select R, 1,2,3 and 5th but I cannot find my way into 4th.  It feels blocked.  Any starting points or suggestions on the next steps?  Thanks   

[Lumbes]

I fooled around with the shift linkage and tried going through the gears again.  It is definitely stuck in a gear but can't say which gear.  Going to think on this for a bit before doing anything drastic. 

[Kendo]

As a diagnostic, you could disconnect the shift mechanism from the shifter shaft on the tranny. Then try shifting the tranny directly and see if you can find neutral, then the gears. It would isolate the problem to either the tranny or the shift tubes.

[Lumbes]

I removed the shift linkage from the gear selector shaft on the transmission as requested and as I feared I am experiencing the same results.  Before removing the shift mechanism I selected 4th gear, gives best access to remove the roll pin but also read on here (also in the manual) it engages a internal detent ball to prevent it from falling out when splitting the case...good to know for the near future.  From there I used a drift in the hole of the shaft and pulled it out one click which should be neutral but the car still does not roll freely without turning the engine.  Pulled the shaft out one more click which should be 3rd.  So I am able to select 3rd and 4th right away.  From the neutral position (one click out from fully in) I was able to rotate the shaft to engage the reverse detent cam n push in shaft to select reverse or so it seemed.  Probably should of verified by turning on the lights and seeing if the reverse lights turned on.  I ran out of time and will have to play with it some more but as far as I can tell it is stuck in gear and assuming I have to pull the transmission. 

Not wanting to pull the engine out as well has me thinking and hoping that I can sort of leave the engine in the car even if I have to loosen or fully disconnect mounting hardware and coolant hoses to tilt both engine and gearbox down enough to separate the tranny from the lump and clear the hoop.  Thinking it is possible and will be working towards achieving that as soon as possible.  I put the engine and tranny in not that long ago and went to hook up the clutch cable and discovered the throw out bearing was jammed on the sleeve and I had zero clutch action.  Had to remove engine and tranny from the car then separate the two, pull off the throw out bearing, checked the bearing with a digital caliper then the sleeve and the inner race of the bearing was larger than the sleeve but I guess not by enough so just ever so slightly bored out the throw out bearing and was able to achieve a smooth nice sliding action.  First and last time I will put a rebuilt transmission to an engine without checking the action of the throw out bearing. I put it all back together then and have been enjoying the car tremendously since.  Really hoping my driving season isnt over yet, I need more.

[jbcollier]

I would remove the back of the tranny first and see what's up.

No problem with removing the tranny and leaving the engine in place.

[4129R]

If you take the gearbox off the back of the engine in situ, be aware that the water pump hose will disconnect itself as the gearbox lowers and the engine tips back.

[Lumbes]

After some delays I was able to resume diagnosing the gearbox and ended up pulling it from the car.  First time removing the gearbox while keeping the engine in the car and it wasn't so bad. Used my engine crane with some 5/8 kernmantle rescue/rigging rope to lift the car from the rear hoop.  Some real overkill stuff for a 1500 lb car but easy to work with and it won't scratch any surfaces.  With the car lifted I slid my hydraulic worktable under the engine then cut 2x4s to length to support the weight of the engine by means of the engine stands bolted to the block.  Lifted the weight of the engine with the table then proceeded to remove the engine chassis bolts.  Placed a hydraulic jack under the gearbox then removed the two bolts securing the gearbox to the chassis.  At this stage the engine is free from the chassis and is being supported by the worktable and the jack.  I continue to raise the car with the crane and pay close attention to the timing chain tensioner, the brake light switch and water pump hose at the front of the engine.  In my case the tensioner just would make contact with the frame when I found the appropriate clearance from the rear hoop to pull the gearbox.  The water pump rubber hose did not completely become undone, I loosened the clamp and it ended up dripping coolant but the hose never fully pulled off so I retained most of the coolant and had small spillage/waste so not bad.  Pulled the carbs but probably could of been okay just removing the air filters.  Ended up repositioning the car to where I could throw a bolt through each side of the engine chassis mounts then pulled the worktable out from underneath the car and replaced it with a different arrangement of 2x4s to support the engine weight.  Repositioned the safety jacks and lowered the car slightly so the 2x4s would hold some of the weight of the engine along with the jacks.  Been checking it everyday, hydraulics tend to drift over time so I give the engine crane a few pumps now and then so not all the weight transfers to the safety jacks and blocks of wood. 
Easy stuff done so then I went to have the gearbox assessed.  800 dollars later I discover some damage took place inside during the short life of the rebuilt gearbox.  The diff was set up incorrectly with so much slop and the opposite of preload they said I am lucky it got stuck in gear when it did.  The output shafts had so much play that it ended up wearing away at the case and embedding the synchros with aluminum.  They also commented how far from spec some of the parts were, two of them being relatively hand tight when they call for 45 and 80 ft lbs of torque.  Truth be told, this could of turned out much worse.  They are saying the gearbox can be saved but sourcing all the parts may be a problem.  So far I am unable to find a 3rd gear and a synchro hub for 3rd gear medium blue and another synchro hub for 3rd gear but yellow.  This is for a 365-04 renault gearbox.  All the other parts I have sourced and begun ordering.  Kelvelodonlotus appeared to have one 3rd gear in stock but when trying to purchase I was met with "they have none in stock message.  Sorry for this inconvenience" I'll continue the hunt and with a lot of luck I will be able to acquire the remaining parts for another rebuild.