coldamus
12-10-2013, 06:40 PM
Nice to see some new members keeping the 1st gen forum alive and existing members persisting. I'm persisting too as I've just bought another TP.
As Rumpfy, Vee and others will recall, I was having continuing problems with rough running of my TP carby sedan. It gradually became worse and a transmission problem (defective lock-up clutch) also became obvious. The car needs new tyres and a complete exhaust system as well. It is not economic to fix, so I've been looking out for a replacement.
My budget is very limited, but eventually I found what I was looking for - a TP at a realistic price with a few months registration, low kms and reasonable prospects of passing the next roadworthy check. Oh, and efi (praise the lord!).
It is a 1990 TP Executive sedan. I'd have preferred a wagon but beggars can't be choosers. The location was about two and a half hours from here, so I drove down in the carby sedan to check it out. The interior was good but the engine bay grotty and the exterior worse than expected. It must never have been polished in its life as the paint is extremely weathered and dull. The colour is Tuscan Beige (an insipid shade of cream) but at least that has no clear coat, hence no peeling. It had been parked in the open under trees, so there were bird droppings all over it.
There are a couple of rust spots - a small one on the roof, a couple under the door protection mouldings and the usual spots in the lower doors - nothing too serious. The panels are straight and the only dent on the whole car was a cricket ball sized indent in the lower left side of the front bumper. There were 61,460 kms on the clock which I was assured is genuine. The same family has owned it since new.
It drove better than expected, so I made an offer, bought it for $800 and drove it back home. No problems on the 200 km trip. The engine is smooth, the air cond actually works, no signs of overheating and the transmission seems fine. The lock-up clutch works properly so rpm at 100 kph is around 2300 rpm as compared to 2600 to 2800 for my carby sedan.
I returned by train and bus the next day to get the carby sedan and drive that back home too.
I've put in plenty of work over the past week, cleaning it up, doing oil and filter changes and fixing little things. In another week or two, it should look fairly respectable.
I swapped the towbar from the other sedan as well as the rear seat cushion and squab. Both sedans have the same interior colours, which is convenient. The front seats are like new, so nothing required there. The centre console was badly cracked, so I took it out and repaired it with fibreglass and aluminium reinforcement. I removed the front bumper and popped out the dent completely by applying a heat gun and standing on the indentation from the back side.
Today I started on the paintwork. Autobarn mixed a spray can of the correct colour for $30, so I can use that for touch ups once I've patched the rust. Today I masked off and resprayed the gloss black window pillars that had faded to grey. There are some minor things to fix but no roadworthiness issues so hopefully it should give a few years more service.
As Rumpfy, Vee and others will recall, I was having continuing problems with rough running of my TP carby sedan. It gradually became worse and a transmission problem (defective lock-up clutch) also became obvious. The car needs new tyres and a complete exhaust system as well. It is not economic to fix, so I've been looking out for a replacement.
My budget is very limited, but eventually I found what I was looking for - a TP at a realistic price with a few months registration, low kms and reasonable prospects of passing the next roadworthy check. Oh, and efi (praise the lord!).
It is a 1990 TP Executive sedan. I'd have preferred a wagon but beggars can't be choosers. The location was about two and a half hours from here, so I drove down in the carby sedan to check it out. The interior was good but the engine bay grotty and the exterior worse than expected. It must never have been polished in its life as the paint is extremely weathered and dull. The colour is Tuscan Beige (an insipid shade of cream) but at least that has no clear coat, hence no peeling. It had been parked in the open under trees, so there were bird droppings all over it.
There are a couple of rust spots - a small one on the roof, a couple under the door protection mouldings and the usual spots in the lower doors - nothing too serious. The panels are straight and the only dent on the whole car was a cricket ball sized indent in the lower left side of the front bumper. There were 61,460 kms on the clock which I was assured is genuine. The same family has owned it since new.
It drove better than expected, so I made an offer, bought it for $800 and drove it back home. No problems on the 200 km trip. The engine is smooth, the air cond actually works, no signs of overheating and the transmission seems fine. The lock-up clutch works properly so rpm at 100 kph is around 2300 rpm as compared to 2600 to 2800 for my carby sedan.
I returned by train and bus the next day to get the carby sedan and drive that back home too.
I've put in plenty of work over the past week, cleaning it up, doing oil and filter changes and fixing little things. In another week or two, it should look fairly respectable.
I swapped the towbar from the other sedan as well as the rear seat cushion and squab. Both sedans have the same interior colours, which is convenient. The front seats are like new, so nothing required there. The centre console was badly cracked, so I took it out and repaired it with fibreglass and aluminium reinforcement. I removed the front bumper and popped out the dent completely by applying a heat gun and standing on the indentation from the back side.
Today I started on the paintwork. Autobarn mixed a spray can of the correct colour for $30, so I can use that for touch ups once I've patched the rust. Today I masked off and resprayed the gloss black window pillars that had faded to grey. There are some minor things to fix but no roadworthiness issues so hopefully it should give a few years more service.