1980 Triumph TR7 DHC 2.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Affordable, fun, practical, classic sports car

Faults:

Condenser, water pump, windscreen washer pump.

General Comments:

Despite attracting negative comments in its early days, mainly due to the poor quality of rust-buckets from Liverpool, it has proved itself to be a most reliable, enjoyable and durable sports car.

Bland MX5s come and go, MG TFs fall by the wayside, but Harris Mann's adventurous design is a true long-lived classic which will turn heads for many years to come.

The robust powertrain is bomb proof; all I do is change the oil every 6,000 miles and top up the gearbox (it has always leaked slightly).

I have owned it for 36 years; everything is original apart from the stainless steel exhaust and the water pump which started to leak a few years ago - took two days struggle to remove and replace.

The discs, calipers, and rear drums are original; rear brake cylinders lasted 25 years. I checked the valve clearances at 40,000 miles; they required no adjustment.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 13th September, 2017

1980 Triumph TR7 DHC GM 2.8 V6 MPFI from North America

Summary:

Solid simplicity that puts a smile on your face

Faults:

Everything, and yet nothing.

I bought the car as a semi-rolling restoration.

It's in its second winter of resto work. The back end was done last winter, and the front end's getting done this winter, together with a new drivetrain.

General Comments:

Great. I love my TR7 drophead.

Solid, basic design. Everything's "right there". Easy to fix and generally very forgiving to work on. It's possible to get any component, although to be honest there's not much that can go wrong with them, and if you know what you're doing they can be very rewarding to own.

I've had lots of sports cars. Midgets, TR7s, MX5s, MR2...

The MX5s were a lot of fun and I had my eye out for another one. However this TR7 came up and I figured for the same money (5000 CAD) I could have a decent MX5 or a TR7 and 3000$ to spend fixing it up.

The MX5 would have been the right decision for a daily driver. But the TR7 was the right decision for a summer time blast, and there's nothing else like it for exclusivity. When you're in an MX5 you're just another guy. When you're in a tastefully modified TR7, everyone wants to know what it is and the story behind it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 4th February, 2016

7th Feb 2016, 04:07

Tell us more about the 60-Degree Chevy V-6 part of the story (Great idea, BTW).

In reply to 7th Feb 2016, 04:07

31st Jul 2017, 17:40

For the poster who asked:

"Tell us more about the 60-Degree Chevy V-6 part of the story (Great idea, BTW)"

Previous owner had a Buick 3.8 and an auto box which wasn't to my liking so I sourced the engine and gearbox from a 1989 Camaro 2.8 V6 MPFI with WCT5 gearbox.

I rebuilt the engine and gearbox and adapted the drive shaft. I needed to fabricate A frames on the TR7 subframe and a gearbox mounts. I deleted the smog, O2, power steering, brake servo, EGR, MAF, IAC and so on.

I bought, built, installed and tuned a Megasquirt1 EFI module which drives the engine via MAP and throttle sensor. The V6 is a tall but short engine that fits (just) behind the steering rack and under the stock double-bulge TR7 hood. I had to move the hood latch and use the Camaro fan. The T5 gearstick pops up in the stock TR7 location. I also run the throttle body inverted and without the water heater.

Otherwise the engine fits well and the car has lots of get up and go. I've found the GM V6 to be easy to work on and fairly bulletproof. The 3.1 and 3.4 V6s should also work as it's more or less the same engine.

I also added Mini Cooper vented/slotted/drilled 11in discs, MGF alloys and V6 Accord calipers as well as uprated front springs so it will stop as well ;)

The car is currently working well albeit with a couple of interesting idiosyncrasies. These will be ironed out in due course. A more complete guide to the work can be found on Triumph Experience under userid carltr7.