Impressions from first long trip

[Loach1]

We drove roughly 600 miles over the weekend to attend the Euro Auto Festival in South Carolina, which included some amazing roads through the Appalachian mountains in Western North Carolina. The car performed perfectly, as those in the know would expect, but I did have a few questions for the more experienced owners among us...

With the windows down and roof on it got a bit whiffy with exhaust fumes, but I do have a small leak at the manifold so that might be the culprit? It was more than I would expect from a small leak though. Is this normal?

The coolant temp struggled to reach 70 with the cooler air, but does fine in traffic bouncing off the 90 mark with the help of the fans. I wondering if that is a stuck thermostat? Easy enough but wanted to make sure I’m barking up the right tree because I think there are some opinions on the location of the temp sender?

The loudest noise (apart from the odometer) is wind noise that seems to come from the top of the windscreen. Is there anything that can be done to remedy that? Not a big deal but I was pleasantly surprised how quiet the cabin is cruising at 80mph.

I stopped for petrol a lot, not sure how many times, or what kind of mpg I’m getting because it doesn’t matter a whole lot. I didn’t want to top off just in case I discovered a leaky cap or something more sinister on a long run so just put in 6 or 7 small US gallons at a time. Do you guys fill all the way? Am I worrying over nothing?

I appreciate any feedback!

Here we are in some great company (the Traveller had a Toyota lump and modern brakes, etc. and the DeLorean was like new!

[Loach1]

Thanks for the feedback gents.

It’s obvious now but didn’t dean on me until mentioned that the fumes I am smelling are pre-cat fumes. I do have all cats in place still so this must be my manifold leak coming in via the cabin air intakes. It’s not a job I’m looking forward to but is a little more urgent now that it’s getting colder and the roof will be in more.

I think I’m about right on the mpg but I will do a couple of full tanks now to see what it really is. My tyres are a tad smaller than original now so I’ll need to find a way to measure the miles - I heard there’s an app for that!

The wind noise might be from the wipers? It certainly seems to come from the top of the windscreen though so I will check the rubber trim just in case it’s lifting when moving along.

I’ll check the plugs, perhaps replace if they are the cooler temp. Most of the year the challenge here is high temps, which it copes very well in. Better than I did to be honest - would love just some air conditioning!! I’ll hold off on the thermostat until I’m in there playing with something else coolant related. It sounds like it is probably fine anyway.

Oh, the best part of driving in the mountains on the interstate was to just blast from 75 to 90 up steep hills leaving all of the people that had been previously annoying me in my dust!

[Loach1]

Thanks QBee and Hedgehopper!

I’ll check all seals carefully. The targa is nice and snug I believe but I’ll make sure it’s locating well.

For the thermostat do you mean it should have a jiggle pin? I think I’ve found the correct one if that is the case.

Cheers!

[Loach1]

I have ordered a new thermostat from TVR parts, 82 deg opening with the higher flow (E2027HF). That may help but it’s not 88 deg...

I ditched the plug extenders almost immediately using socks and it sorted out all of my minor running issues. So far so good with no sign of scorching. Using the numerous guides on the engine I don’t expect problems because nothing is touching the manifolds.

I have a wide band but haven’t tried it yet. I’d like to get bungs welded into the manifolds so I can check each bank, which I can do more easily when I address the manifold to head leak.

My friendly local garage has an exhaust analyzer, so I’ll see if they can check out my numbers and report back.

Thanks for the advice!