My 1st ever Triumph (Mk2 2500Pi)

[frenchiemk2]

46 minutes ago, Wendy Dawes said:

Great that it’s now driving at last, you’re right a little at a time, I started out just 2 or 3 miles in my herald after recommissioning,  two years on and it’s still needing bits done but it’s almost there.  👍

Yes. One fixing after another.

I've ordered the renewal kit for master cylinder.

Have to check if left caliper is a bit seized or something.

Maybe a leak between 1st section and exhaust line (but i plan to put a center inox line I've got plus a vintage dual Devil cone).

And for the rest, the MOT guy will tell me.

But since then i can do papers and register the car as mine.

[Nick Jones]

On 01/10/2023 at 10:54, frenchiemk2 said:

i have unbalanced front brakes , tends to go on the right when breaking hard... i'll have a look tomorrow if can do better

Sticking pistons in the calipers is a strong possibility unfortunately. The Lockheed “dust shield” arrangement seems designed to promote this. Taking the pads out one at a time and carefully pressing the brake pedal to pump the single piston out (don’t go too far!!) before levering it gently back in will give you an idea of how bad they are. If the chrome plating on the pistons is rusty/pitted, it’s rebuild time. 
 

Bear in mind that the saloon brake discs are really expensive, so if you do need to renew everything  it’s worth considering finding a pair of Stag calipers to rebuild instead. The calipers and discs are a direct swap but the discs are cheaper and bigger and the calipers have slightly bigger pistons, so you getter better brakes. Actual pads stay the same and the whole lot looks almost the same as before.

Just be careful that the wheels will still fit over the brakes. The original 13” steel wheels will not. 13” alloys sometimes fit. 14” good.

If you just need a couple of standard size pistons is possible I have some ok used ones here….

[frenchiemk2]

12 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

Sticking pistons in the calipers is a strong possibility unfortunately. The Lockheed “dust shield” arrangement seems designed to promote this. Taking the pads out one at a time and carefully pressing the brake pedal to pump the single piston out (don’t go too far!!) before levering it gently back in will give you an idea of how bad they are. If the chrome plating on the pistons is rusty/pitted, it’s rebuild time. 
 

Bear in mind that the saloon brake discs are really expensive, so if you do need to renew everything  it’s worth considering finding a pair of Stag calipers to rebuild instead. The calipers and discs are a direct swap but the discs are cheaper and bigger and the calipers have slightly bigger pistons, so you getter better brakes. Actual pads stay the same and the whole lot looks almost the same as before.

Just be careful that the wheels will still fit over the brakes. The original 13” steel wheels will not. 13” alloys sometimes fit. 14” good.

If you just need a couple of standard size pistons is possible I have some ok used ones here….

Thanks

I did this yesterday and the pistons move fine... I think the car was renewed before it had a cooling problem and was stored.

Really rear and front look new.

What the C.T guy said (MOT fail) :

-front left caliper no brake force

- rear no brakes force left and right

- rear right park brakes don't work so issue to balance force too

-rear left wheel bearing not tightened enough.

- hole in the 1st muffler central exhaust

yesterday i had a look at the front left caliper. Pistons move nice but there was grease on the pads and disc. I sanded the pads a bit and cleaned the disc too. Then i had a ride to test. At first half convincing but once the running-in done it seemed correct.

i ordered a new set of Mintex so that i don't have contaminated pads and improve braking.

today i'll check the rear as i have a set of new rear cylinders but again they look good and no leak. I'll try to make the pistons move with pliers first and check the brakes cables and adjusts.

 

[frenchiemk2]

Presently the wheels are french vintage Delta Mics in 6x15. The guy i bought them from near Nogaro racetrack and has old cars (car events organisation) told me they were on a TR3 that raced at Le Mans... Never saw a picture or documentation of that assertion.

I got them renewed locally and put 185/65 HR15 Toyo Proxes on.

[frenchiemk2]

Any ideas why the FUEL red light is always "on" on the center cluster ? 

Even long time after ignition and 3/4 of the tank filled...😮‍💨

 

[Nick Jones]

Does the gauge work ?

[frenchiemk2]

11 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Does the gauge work ?

Yes, the needle seems moving accordingly to fuel level.

[Nick Jones]

As I remember, there is also a switch in the sensor assembly so it has 3 wires. One wire is the earth (black), one is for the gauge (green/black) and the last is for the low level warning light (green/orange). You need unplug the green/orange wire and see if the light goes out. If it does, there’s a problem with the switch in the tank. If it stays on, there’s a short circuit somewhere along that wire. To get access to the sensor, remove the cardboard panel at the back of boot.

[frenchiemk2]

2 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

As I remember, there is also a switch in the sensor assembly so it has 3 wires. One wire is the earth (black), one is for the gauge (green/black) and the last is for the low level warning light (green/orange). You need unplug the green/orange wire and see if the light goes out. If it does, there’s a problem with the switch in the tank. If it stays on, there’s a short circuit somewhere along that wire. To get access to the sensor, remove the cardboard panel at the back of boot.

Thanks, i'll check that.

One thing's for sure : low level light doesn't appear.

[frenchiemk2]

C.T failed today (french MOT).

Only brakes problem :

- front slight difference left 250 daN / right 210 daN

- rear significant difference left 205 daN / right 75 daN

- hanbrake good

 

rear brake cylinders are new, bled 5 times... shoe pads are nice and i sand paper them + drums cleaned

What could it be?

[shenderson]

Although the rear brakes are supposed to be self-adjusting, the mechanism is not very effective.

My procedure is to pump the pedal hard a few times to operate the self-adjusters as far as possible.

Then with the drum removed, lever the shoes apart until you hear the adjuster click three or four times.  Two large screwdrivers (or similar implement), one for each shoe is useful for this.  Try not to let the shoes move vertically when doing this, to keep them centralised.

Refit the drum and repeat the process until the brakes take no more adjustment while allowing the drum to rotate freely.

Then repeat the entire process for the brake on the other side of the car.

With high mileage, the teeth of the self-adjusters wear out and slip against each other.  Replacements are avaialble.

[frenchiemk2]

15 hours ago, shenderson said:

Although the rear brakes are supposed to be self-adjusting, the mechanism is not very effective.

My procedure is to pump the pedal hard a few times to operate the self-adjusters as far as possible.

Then with the drum removed, lever the shoes apart until you hear the adjuster click three or four times.  Two large screwdrivers (or similar implement), one for each shoe is useful for this.  Try not to let the shoes move vertically when doing this, to keep them centralised.

Refit the drum and repeat the process until the brakes take no more adjustment while allowing the drum to rotate freely.

Then repeat the entire process for the brake on the other side of the car.

With high mileage, the teeth of the self-adjusters wear out and slip against each other.  Replacements are avaialble.

Thanks for the tip. That's what i almost tried to do so i will just have a look at the rear right side to tighten a bit.

I'm closed to succeed and i keep faith.

Luc

[frenchiemk2]

On 15/10/2023 at 20:44, Nick Jones said:

As I remember, there is also a switch in the sensor assembly so it has 3 wires. One wire is the earth (black), one is for the gauge (green/black) and the last is for the low level warning light (green/orange). You need unplug the green/orange wire and see if the light goes out. If it does, there’s a problem with the switch in the tank. If it stays on, there’s a short circuit somewhere along that wire. To get access to the sensor, remove the cardboard panel at the back of boot.

I just checked. The problem is the switch in the tank.

At some moment moving the branch lever i noticed a slight difference in the light on the dash but never "switched off"

Do you know any tutorial about the hole thing because i don't think i can open the stuff to see inside.

During the operation the lever went off. And as there's no mark or position indication I'm a bit lost. I wish i had the tank full as the gauge says but i lnow it's nealy empty .🙄

[Nick Jones]

I’ve not messed with the saloon sender units specifically, but certainly it is possible to dismantle some of the sender units non-destructively if you are careful by unbending the tabs around the edge that hold the two halves together.

Herald/Vitesse ones for sure, some Spitfire ones maybe, though this one I just found on my bench…. (Which I think is a late Spitfire one…

……not so much as there other (welded) things holding it together as well.

Whether you can do anything useful once you are in there is debatable….. some very fine wires and also crimped connections that sometimes get corroded and don’t conduct anymore 

[frenchiemk2]

11 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

I’ve not messed with the saloon sender units specifically, but certainly it is possible to dismantle some of the sender units non-destructively if you are careful by unbending the tabs around the edge that hold the two halves together.

Herald/Vitesse ones for sure, some Spitfire ones maybe, though this one I just found on my bench…. (Which I think is a late Spitfire one…

……not so much as there other (welded) things holding it together as well.

Whether you can do anything useful once you are in there is debatable….. some very fine wires and also crimped connections that sometimes get corroded and don’t conduct anymore 

Do you know the position or orientation the seal plate should be in order to close the tank and the lever to operate?

1st i want to get the fuel level back on the gauge

2nd fix the alarm level red light 

I'm watching Youtube vids to find how to test the sender unit

[frenchiemk2]

OK, i could open (slighlty and not completely because of welds) the sender unit, it's plastic and metal

this scheme is what should be (i guess) : 2 parallel inner branches. 1 sliding on the copper wire to indicate level and secondary makes contact for low fuel.

So when the 2 branches (red on scheme) are full left, there should be light and gauge should indicate empty (am i correct?).

What i have :

- when the 2 branches are down and in contact pole, gauge says FULL, when moving them to the opposite, they indicate EMPTY

- alarm light never shuts/off

- branch sliding on copper wire makes scratches at some point

- outer lever can be moved away from the axle, not sure it's always tightened enough to the axle

So, to still get the level info, i put the sender unit on this position in order to have at least 1 correct information on gauge : fuel level in the tank

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by frenchiemk2

[frenchiemk2]

News

Opened the fuel gauge unit sender and couldn't fix the light low fuel alert but the gauge is working... So i won't touch again.

Brakes issues in progress with re-tightening rear shoes as suggested + new front pads to balance forces. I have the car to pass the C.T again.

And i recently had an opportunity in 2nd hand sales for cheap : all functional Terratrip with GPS signal for the saloon Pi. A touch of sports for the car, and as my mate Philippe an I are participating to regional historical vehicles races, maybe ready for doing so or 2nd car ready. Easy to uninstall with no visible mount damage if i need to remove it

 

 

[frenchiemk2]

KONIchiwa beauty 😉

[frenchiemk2]

Contrôle Technique (MOT) passed !  😁

[Batch]

On 08/11/2023 at 10:15, frenchiemk2 said:

And i recently had an opportunity in 2nd hand sales for cheap : all functional Terratrip with GPS signal for the saloon Pi. A touch of sports for the car, and as my mate Philippe an I are participating to regional historical vehicles races, maybe ready for doing so or 2nd car ready. Easy to uninstall with no visible mount damage if i need to remove it

Luc

Congratulations on passing the Contrôle Technique

We had use a GPS sensor for our tripmeter on a rally earlier in the year, rather than the one fitted to the front wheels. We were surprised how inaccurate it became when it didn't have full access to the GPS signals, for us it was when we were travelling in woods/forestry. It 'stretched' distances, and the longer we travelled in the woods the farther out the distance became, which is not helpful when you are looking for a turn at a set distance! It also made the speed read lower than it should, towards the end of the rally we realised that the speedometer and milometer on the car were more accurate than the tripmeter in woods, a great surprise, as we were using a 1970 2.5pi!

Anyway I suggest you fit a wheel sensor, or two one for each wheel, if you can and use the GPS sensor as a backup.

Like you I fitted the trip meter and clock so as to leave no damage to the car, photo attached.

Dave 

Edited November 28, 2023 by Batch

[frenchiemk2]

Well... end of year was deceiving.

I went to a small garage nearby in which i know the owner for long to make oil changes on box and rear train + front engine mounts..

On the way to the garage, in a roundabout (we take them turn left here ) the car started to rattle a bit. At the garage we could do the job but the car seemed to turn on 5 cyl or whatever wrong.

At a moment we did not have any ignition because the ignitor disengaged from the insert (just like it's notenough engaged in) and that clamp seemed  faulty and sure the bolt thread was defective, that made the ignitor rotate... even with a new bolt it's not tightened enough. Did anyone enconutered this before? 

A mistake by G was to touch the settings i did on the throttles 😕 

I could reach back home but the engine ran worst eventhough i could help myself out by the side of the road.

I thought it could be air or particles in the fuel system or valves setting gone wrong.

Friday and saturday i have redone the fuel pump and filter Bosch in the trunk, checked all the injectors and they spray fine, checked valve adjustment again, just minor settings... at one moment i could set idle and get to 4500 RPM and then it failed again.

What the hell is wrong...

On the try to set the throttle back to an operant setting i noticed that 1st and 3rd throttle have a slight depression difference 1st inlet has more depression than the second and 5th has more than 6th (seems well balanced on 3rd-4th). As you imagine, i know no one in France able to check those or have them redone and in GB, takes veryyyy long + VAT and customs fees. 

[thescrapman]

Throttle balance- did you clean the throttle bodies at all? They take quite a few miles for everything to get a good seal again. Mine took about 5k until they would balance well enough, mine were seized after many years of not being used so had no choice.

Distributor - does not look like it is fitted right. Is the drive 180 degrees out, it will engage enough to run car, but sits too high, and will suddenly slip after what can be 1000’s of miles. Mine did it in middle of a French town after about a year of me fitting it wrong.

take distributor off and open up clamp and make sure it is fully home against bottom of body.

May also be the wrong clamp of course, perhaps a 45 one or a delco one maybe. They can be bodged in sometimes.

[frenchiemk2]

15 hours ago, thescrapman said:

Throttle balance- did you clean the throttle bodies at all? They take quite a few miles for everything to get a good seal again. Mine took about 5k until they would balance well enough, mine were seized after many years of not being used so had no choice.

Distributor - does not look like it is fitted right. Is the drive 180 degrees out, it will engage enough to run car, but sits too high, and will suddenly slip after what can be 1000’s of miles. Mine did it in middle of a French town after about a year of me fitting it wrong.

take distributor off and open up clamp and make sure it is fully home against bottom of body.

May also be the wrong clamp of course, perhaps a 45 one or a delco one maybe. They can be bodged in sometimes.

Yes i cleaned the throttles before  the first start that was more than a year now. 

You're right about the distributor, 180° false, the reason why it didn't engage correctly, and the clam was bent so i fixed that, but still, not runing today (very cold outside). Ther's spark. I'll check again if there's fuel coming from the pump (new Bosch 044 which are supposed to be the best).

Martin from Millturn also answered me about the possible throttle issues and how to detect them.

Sometimes i feel like 5cyl Audi have less issues... and i know quite well they have, sometimes. Just for fun, imagine a 10V turbo 160-180Hp in a triumph with that peculiar sound...

[frenchiemk2]

OK

Next step will be improving fuel feeding.

I bought a swirl pot for Bosch pump and an additional low pressure pump.

Trying to figure out the best way to connect all this. At the moment guessing which is best : A or B or AB...

And also how to secure and bolt the mounting (additional stainless steel plate fold between fuel filter mount and swirlpot mount?).

[frenchiemk2]

Step by step (ooh baby, gonna get to you girl) 😅 

 

Well seems i don't have a return line to tank around there...

Maybe insert a T after the PRV to return to the swirl pot ?