1980 Triumph TR7

The tie rod that I broke end of last year has been repaired and beefed up a bit (new polybushes will be used as well)

From this;



To this (done both sides even though only 1 was broken);



Also I was getting a bit fed up with the 3.5 as it was using a fair bit of oil, smoking under power and just never seemed to be running right to me, I contemplated many engine options, favourite option being the 1UZ but being low on funds I opted for the cheaper more straight forwards option and got myself a 3.9 efi RV8, I bought a rather battered looking offroader which had exactly what I need, the engine with ecu & wiring cut down to bare essentials enough to run the engine, no lighting wiring or anything (not needed as already in my car)



I did contemplate leaving the engine in this and having some fun with it for a bit but was put off by a short test drive down a narrow single lane track with ditches either side, the auto gearbox was either modded for this behaviour or it was slipping badly either way it took its time to change from 1st to 2nd and when it did it gave an almighty kick to the rear end that I felt like it would send me into one of the ditches which made me back off very quickly so was a fairly tame test drive in the end and the engine was promptly removed, a couple weeks later it has been stuck into the TR7, just waiting for the fuel tank to have an additional fitting added to it for the return line (as being carbbed previously it didn't have a return line)

Possibly allowing enough fuel to fill the float bowls at idle or low revs, but not higher up the range? Always feels good when you find something like that, doesn't it? That "ah, so that's why!" moment...

Did you get a big hike in insurance going to the 3.9? At the moment I only pay around £140 for my 3.5, but I keep thinking of a larger 3.9 or even 4.6.