TO3O questions

Hey guys.
I am getting my Grandad's old TO30 going after a 2 year rest in the woods. I have a few questions.

1. I wasn't getting spark but was getting 12v at the coil. I got a bunch of triumph spitfire tune up parts today to take down there after work tomorrow. (Cap, rotor, points and condenser) Also have a coil with an internal resistor off an old VW bug that I am going to try. (Bypass the inline resistor). When I took the cap off the rotor was all mangled up from hitting inside the cap. It looks like the phenolic spacer dust cap is busted and the cap can move around a little. Seems like if it's not carefully installed this could happen again. Thought someone might have some guidance on that. New one is on order but won't be here in time for the first go around.

2. Once I get the bush hogging caught up I plan to bring it home to test fit the front hydro pump. Looking at the axle pivot pin the cross shaped hole for the crank handle is too small for the splines of the pump shaft to go through. I know that it might be Wise to go ahead and spend some time addressing whatever wear might be there and replace the pin with the "right" one, but as a temporary measure I am wondering if anyone has drilled, reamed, or used a die grinder to open it up a little for clearance.

I'm sure there will be other questions to follow but for now I'm just kind of going through the motions and trying to learn as much as I can.

Thanks,
-Josh
 
That you have 12v at the coil, and no spark, and it's been parked for a while, there is an excellent chance it's just corroded points.

Try cleaning them with a point file, check the gap, check the distributor for side play in the shaft. As long as the rotor or cap are not broken, it should be good enough to run. If you get spark after cleaning the points, check the spark at each plug (not the cap but the plug end of each wire).

Might check the fuel flow through the carb, pull the drain plug on the carb bowl, see if you get a good flow of clean gas.

Good chance there will be water in the gear cases. If you will crack each plug and let the water out before cranking it, it will let the settled water out before emulsifying it in the oil. Check the engine oil for water too, might give each cylinder a couple squirts of oil to help seal the rings.

Never dealt with the front pump on one of those, I'm sure someone here has a solution.
 
(quoted from post at 21:45:40 01/15/20) That you have 12v at the coil, and no spark, and it's been parked for a while, there is an excellent chance it's just corroded points.

Try cleaning them with a point file, check the gap, check the distributor for side play in the shaft. As long as the rotor or cap are not broken, it should be good enough to run. If you get spark after cleaning the points, check the spark at each plug (not the cap but the plug end of each wire).

Might check the fuel flow through the carb, pull the drain plug on the carb bowl, see if you get a good flow of clean gas.

Good chance there will be water in the gear cases. If you will crack each plug and let the water out before cranking it, it will let the settled water out before emulsifying it in the oil. Check the engine oil for water too, might give each cylinder a couple squirts of oil to help seal the rings.

Never dealt with the front pump on one of those, I'm sure someone here has a solution.
Thanks Steve!
I'll drop the new points in first and go from there. The gear case drain plugs you speak of, are they on the bottom?
 
Drain plugs, (3) are on the bottom. One under Hyd pump at the rear and the other two are forward.
As for the front pump, your best bet might be to pull the front axle and replace the front axle pivot pin/bushing.
If the bushing is worn through, a machine shop might be in order. If the pin is in good condition, the front pump drive shaft will be a
direct fit with a fair clearance around it.
The TO-30 is lucky that the front pulley for the pump, should you need one, should still be in production.
The TO-20 pulley is no longer made.
Best of luck.
Hyd oil fill is another topic
 
(quoted from post at 04:01:44 01/16/20) Drain plugs, (3) are on the bottom. One under Hyd pump at the rear and the other two are forward.
As for the front pump, your best bet might be to pull the front axle and replace the front axle pivot pin/bushing.
If the bushing is worn through, a machine shop might be in order. If the pin is in good condition, the front pump drive shaft will be a
direct fit with a fair clearance around it.
The TO-30 is lucky that the front pulley for the pump, should you need one, should still be in production.
The TO-20 pulley is no longer made.
Best of luck.
Hyd oil fill is another topic
so the theory here is that the water will be on the bottom so crack them loose and look for either water or oil if a couple ounces of oil comes out and no water tighten it back up? do this at all 3?
it seems like i remember he added oil at the large cap to the left of the shifter. if there's more to it I'm all ears. I have a new shift boot with me, the one on there was kinda messed up but still there. Hope it didnt let water in but we will see.

I have a shopping list for the pump parts. most of it is still available. the original disc shaped coupler with the 2 hole yokes is a little harder to find and really expensive. think i'm going to go with the small u-joint style coupler instead.

it's going to the shop at home for a more thorough work over once i get it going enough to bush hog and drive it up on the trailer. think that'll be a good time to dig into the axle pin and pump parts.
Thanks!
 
I could be wrong, but I'm thinking the Triumph electrics are Lucas and the TO-30 would be Delco, so not sure they interchange. What is
the front pump for? Does it have a loader on it? For purposes of getting it going initially, it will turn over much better without the
front pump hooked up.
 
Phil(VA), Spitfire used Delco electrics for Dist. Cap, rotor arm, condenser, should be same as Fergy. Points I believe are different.
 
(quoted from post at 07:53:41 01/16/20) I could be wrong, but I'm thinking the Triumph electrics are Lucas and the TO-30 would be Delco, so not sure they interchange. What is
the front pump for? Does it have a loader on it? For purposes of getting it going initially, it will turn over much better without the
front pump hooked up.
after a bunch of searching, the Delco was used on a handful of 40's-50's GM products as well as 70's triumph.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/...da5/1972/triumph/spitfire?q=distributor+rotor
For the Delco dizzys with the clip style cap I found that asking for parts for a 71 spitfire 4 cyl got me what I needed at the parts counter...
It's more expensive to go this route but my local TSC did not have the TISCO tune up kit in stock and i wanted to get something going and not wait around too long for parts.

The front pump is for a FEL from a 9N (dearborn 19-22) trip bucket. The person I got the loader from did not have the pulley, spline adapter, shaft, or coupler i needed to make it work. (the other brackets, pump and everything else is all accounted for) the pulley, adapter, and shaft from the 9N wouldn't have fit anyway. It's something i am working on adding later so it's nothing i have to contend with right away. As it sits, it is still bone stock. Going to wait until I get it in the comfort of the shop to tackle that part. Also worth adding that the FEL will not be a permanent fixture on this machine since the whole assy can be "easily" (6 bolts/2 pins) removed when not needed. most of the time it will be used for cutting and I may drag the box on the drive from time to time.
 
(quoted from post at 08:57:34 01/16/20) Phil(VA), Spitfire used Delco electrics for Dist. Cap, rotor arm, condenser, should be same as Fergy. Points I believe are different.
Thanks for the heads up, I'll check on that! might have to stop off at walgreens and get a cheap nail file on the way out there :)
 
I believe all the front pump hardware is still available. One possible problem you may run into is the front bucket loaded with no P/S is a
pain to turn. If your front tires are 16" you can change over to a 225/75-16 truck tire and will have a flat tire surface and still have an
inch of clearance to the spindle.
Beyond that you can make the steering arms on top of the spindles about 1.5 inches longer. That will make turning easier and while increasing
the total turning radius, can be compensated for with the turning brakes.
 
(quoted from post at 09:50:12 01/16/20) I believe all the front pump hardware is still available. One possible problem you may run into is the front bucket loaded with no P/S is a
pain to turn. If your front tires are 16" you can change over to a 225/75-16 truck tire and will have a flat tire surface and still have an
inch of clearance to the spindle.
Beyond that you can make the steering arms on top of the spindles about 1.5 inches longer. That will make turning easier and while increasing
the total turning radius, can be compensated for with the turning brakes.
"pain" is a relative term. moved about 40 tons of rock last summer with a round point shovel and a wheelbarrow over about 35 yards. I'll try to live with the hard steering lol. but on a serious note I have heard that and have seen the truck tires in use. I think moving forward turf tires may be the plan anyway. trying to keep my expectations on the performance of this at rock bottom so I wont be disappointed. having manual steering on most everything I've driven/used in my lifetime, I'm sort of used to it. Besides with this trip bucket, it ain't going to get done in a hurry anyway wont feel compelled to take huge bites either. I also don't anticipate having to maneuver tight spaces with it so i might be able to roll out of the real hard steering to a degree, we will see. it'll definitely be exciting to find out. If I end up wanting more from it than it will give, i'll look for a purpose built machine before I go to tearing up this guy.
 
Quick update:
Got it running! cleaned the points up, replaced the condenser cap and rotor. finally got spark.

The gear case did have what seemed like a gallon of water in the front section and a little in the rear. I wasn't able to get to the center one it was larger than any of the wrenches I had. the oil above it looked pretty nasty anyway, Disengaged the pto before i started working on it so hopefully it kept any of it from circulating too much. going to return with 5 gallons of oil, proper wrenches and give that another go. runs well though, could use a muffler...

the front rims are 16" the fronts were flat when i got to it and the rears were way low. after 4 trips back to the truck with the tank I got air in them.

found out that my grease gun was out one pump into the job of greasing everything LOL seems like that's always how that goes.

came home with less parts than i went there with, so I guess it was productive.

Thanks everyone for the help!
 
12 volt means it has been converted over from the orignal 6 volt. And the thrust bearings in bottom of front spindles are likely wore out and new ones make steering a lot easier. Also the 225 tire is likely to be too wide without reversing the front wheels that will put more strain on all front end parts as well as make hard steering, think a 6:00x16 is largest you can go.
 

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