What have you done recently or are planning to do soon to your Triumph?

[Clive]

38 minutes ago, Craig said:

Rocker shaft is pretty shot though. Not sure if it's salvageable.

A good jetwash off, a wire brush and then soak in some citric acid overnight may help to see what is left... Or electrolysis which won't damage good metal at all. 

[Craig]

Herald Coupé rear screen trim: Not the most brilliant of fits, and it may need some gentle persuasion in the future, but it is in.

[Craig]

The windscreen fitter said this was the best he could do with the joining strips. These are Spitfire 1500 joining strips, part number ZXC2099. They won't be staying like that.

[A TR7 16V]

I lost two of the gears (1st and 2nd) from my Dolomite Sprint and couldn't find anyone to even just swap it for the spare I have in any reasonable time. So I had to take out the under-dash shelving, which fell apart, lift the tunnel cover, and take the top off the box.

It was, as I thought it might be, the selector fork that had come loose on the shaft. The Wedgelok screw into the shaft had never been Loctite'ed in properly - there was Loctite on the threads, but only where they didn't reach the hole. So it had slowly unscrewed - though it took nigh-on 50 years. Luckily, it had done no damage falling through the gears, and I was able to dredge it out with a magnet on a stick. So it all went back together OK, with a smallish issue with the reverse light switch wiring.

The much bigger problem than the gearbox was rebuilding the parcel shelf, which was mostly wreckage - there had been a water leak both ends of the bulkhead for some years and the shelf, and the floors, had dissolved. The floors were done and the leak sealed a while back, but the parcel shelf was only usable for as long as I didn't have to take it out.

So I made one from pieces of 3mm marine ply that I screwed to a 20mm square wood frame, and covered with black leather effect sticky-backed plastic, reusing the padded edge that runs right across. There are some screws that show, but they are black pan head ones like Triumph used everywhere (except these are stainless), so they look natural at least. And, it does have the advantage that I can take many of the panels out individually, so I can get at the wiring under the steering (where I have the main light and ignition feed relays) and under the glovebox, with a lot more ease than before.

I also replaced the clutch pedal while I had access, because the hole for the clevis pin had worn oval and there was about 10mm of movement in the pedal before it started to push the master cylinder rod. It's less than half that now, even though I used an SH pedal - I may drill and bush the original one to make it even better. But even that makes getting reverse when hot, quite a bit easier.

Graham

[Craig]

Rocker shaft cleaned up nicely...

[Tim Bancroft]

Blimey, not wrong there...excellent.

Nice to hear about 'A TR7 V8's explouts with his Sprint....those shelves are so poor.

[A TR7 16V]

4 minutes ago, Tim Bancroft said:

Blimey, not wrong there...excellent.

Nice to hear about 'A TR7 V8's explouts with his Sprint....those shelves are so poor.

16V not V8!

I did have a TR7V8 once - P6 engine with SD1 heads - and for the same money spent fitting and tuning a Sprint engine in a TR7, that always gave a car that was more fun to drive. But I do like engines where peak torque is at the higher end of the rev range, as they feel more willing. I think the same of the small journal 1300 over the 1500 engine too.

[Craig]

Cylinder head looking less like a sea anchor. Will try lapping the valves next.

[PeteStupps]

On 25/05/2023 at 20:53, A TR7 16V said:

So I made one from pieces of 3mm marine ply that I screwed to a 20mm square wood frame, and covered with black leather effect sticky-backed plastic

This sounds cool, and like something I should do on my 1300fwd - got any pics?

[iani]

Great weather this weekend, seem to have spent most of it on the driveway:

GT6 Mk1 - I'd had some fun with getting the clutch slave pushrod length right on the dolly sprint gearbox, last time I'd checked I noticed the slave pushrod was bent, bought another one and removed the tunnel cover etc and changed the pushrods over. I really don't like this job, very fiddly as the cover doesn't fit the larger Sprint gearbox too well. Whilst under the dash I removed the wiring for the analogue AFR gauge I'd been running, it never worked very well and sensors weren't lasting long, now car has been set up on rolling road I've removed the sensor & gauge for now. 

2000 Mk1 Estate - Having given up on finding a sensibly priced radio console I decided to fit a bluetooth receiver, it's less than the size of a pack of card, made a small hole on the passenger side of the centre cubby hole and fitted it inside there, the On/Off knob is on the passenger side, completely invisible from the drivers seat but easily reachable. I put a shelf speaker on each parcel shelf and connected them up, the system sounds great, just what I wanted and nothing visible. 

I'd been having some issues with the wipes packing up mid wipe, on investigation it became apparent it was related to the fusebox wiring. I bought a NOS fusebox from Fitchett's, removed the old one, cleaned all the wires up and fitted them to the new fusebox and reinstalled it. I have now cleaned up the old fusebox, will  fit it to the NS and maybe use it as part of the wiring for the forthcoming PI installation.

 

[Dave Bunney]

Bank holiday boot repair was my latest task.

Next job to repaint the section above to colour match. 

[triumphantly]

Hi dose anybody know Tony lindsey dean email address as need to purchase gearbox parts for my TR6. Thanks Gary. 

[JohnD]

He's frequently on Facebook and therefore can be contacted by Messenger.  Just search on FB and you will be offered  a Message.

John

[Guppy916]

Here you go Tony rebuilt my Gearbox and added overdrive  then rebuilt my diff, here's the details I have for him, 

tony@kingstonsportscars.co.uk

01359 269777‬

he is a bit slow in responding, I used to turn up on his door step 

[yorkshire_spam]

Replacement BW65 autobox for Binny the 1850 Dolomite has arrived! Sadly I'm away this weekend, so the refit will have to start in the evening next week. 

 

[Kevin R]

Removed carbs and air intake for rebuild and refurb so with better access decided to repaint the bulkhead, chassis rails, suspension linkages and clean and repaint the engine.

Replaced water pump, timing cover and fixings and now ready to rebuild the rest, flush the cooling system and fit new hoses.  Renew fuel lines, fit filters and service fuel pump then refit and recommission the carbs.

After that fit new seals in the clutch master cylinder and fit Mintex 1144 brake pads.

Hopefully it will then go again and stop.

[Matthew]

Finally had time to do some work on the Spitfire after what feels like an eternity. I’ve painted the bulkhead in the car’s original Triumph White and have started cleaning up all the ‘furniture’ to go back on it so that I can look to get the car running again. This is the first time I’ve seen the car wearing its actual colour as I bought it in surface rust covered primer, so this feels like a milestone hit.

When dismantling the clutch master cylinder to fit an overhaul kit, I noticed something I don’t think should be there - the nut at the bottom of the picture was inside (as though it was a spacer to the pushrod, assuming that is the right name). I’m guessing this isn’t right?

[drofgum]

21 hours ago, Matthew said:

Finally had time to do some work on the Spitfire after what feels like an eternity. I’ve painted the bulkhead in the car’s original Triumph White and have started cleaning up all the ‘furniture’ to go back on it so that I can look to get the car running again. This is the first time I’ve seen the car wearing its actual colour as I bought it in surface rust covered primer, so this feels like a milestone hit.

When dismantling the clutch master cylinder to fit an overhaul kit, I noticed something I don’t think should be there - the nut at the bottom of the picture was inside (as though it was a spacer to the pushrod, assuming that is the right name). I’m guessing this isn’t right?

Matthew,

You are right that nut doesn't belong there. It is a bad sign. A common reason to add length to the push rod is to make the clutch release when the engine thrust washers have failed and dropped into the sump. You should check the end play of the crank shaft. If it is more than barely noticeable the thrust washers are badly worn. If it is something over 1mm the thrust washers probably are in the sump. When they drop, the crank rubs directly on the  engine block when the clutch pedal is depressed. That does the crank and block no good whatsoever.

I hope you are lucky enough to find I'm wrong.

Regards,

Paul

[Matthew]

Thanks Paul. I’ll give it a look when I get chance. It isn’t the original engine so hopefully it is a hangover from the previous unit.

On 28/06/2023 at 14:52, drofgum said:

Matthew,

You are right that nut doesn't belong there. It is a bad sign. A common reason to add length to the push rod is to make the clutch release when the engine thrust washers have failed and dropped into the sump. You should check the end play of the crank shaft. If it is more than barely noticeable the thrust washers are badly worn. If it is something over 1mm the thrust washers probably are in the sump. When they drop, the crank rubs directly on the  engine block when the clutch pedal is depressed. That does the crank and block no good whatsoever.

I hope you are lucky enough to find I'm wrong.

Regards,

Paul

 

[Alex]

Running round in circles currently, I’ve never been happy with the bonnet fit. So easy, I’ll just redo everything 🥴

Progress has been made, but at the cost of a few steps back as I wrecked the paintwork in the process. 
Well rather than just touch it in I decided to go all in…. Even fitted the new bootlid …. Now I’m in for a respray…. It’s entered for the rbrr so best get a shift on 🤣

[iani]

2000 Mk1 Estate: I collected the car from Richard Brake this week, he has kindly done some more much needed welding, I now need  to get some paint/underseal on the car

Mk2 2.5 PI Saloon: I had a speedometer converted to digital operation by Speedy Cables, it was faulty on arrival and the needle wouldn't return to 0 on stopping, yesterday we fitted the repaired unit to find that it has a wavering needle at all speeds, very disappointing and it will have to be returned again.

GT6: still resting in the garage after a 2.3k jaunt to Slovenia last week, I need to address the poor fit of the gearbox tunnel cover as it doesn't seal at the bulkhead end, this is as a result of fitting a Dolly Sprint gearbox, not quite sure how I can resolve this.

[yorkshire_spam]

Engine and box going back in the Dolomite:

[DVD3500]

Drove 1000 km round trip to drop off my fiberglass hood/bonnet at a specialist.

He has over 20 years of experience and is a Spitfire driver so he will nip and tuck as necessary. He also has some paperwork to make sure the German MOT (TÜV) don't have a hissy about the after market part. That is usually a big deal here.

He does it in his spare time so I will go pick it up in 2-3 weeks hopefully and then take to the rest of the car in Stuttgart to then have it shipped off for paint.

How long that will take is up in the air. With any luck she will be back home in the Fall and the rebuild can begin.

For those who care: Because the hood/bonnet didn't fit in the car and I didn't want to strap it to the roof I borrowed a friend's trailer. Here in Germany trailers are limited to 80 kph normally but this one has a special approval for 100 kph.

The whole trip took about 7 hours one way because I detoured about 50 km for charging stops that were easy in and out with a trailer (most charging stations are back in/out) and I am THAT lazy.

All in all it was a dead easy, non eventful trip. I was able to cruise at 100 kph even uphill thanks to the torque, easily passing other cars/trucks/caravans.

I usually charged longer than necessary as I had never driven so long with a trailer and din#t know what it would do to range. In the end it only added about 2-3 kw per 100 KM. Air conditioning and head wind seemed more of a factor.

Return trip was faster as I knew I didn't have to charge as long. In fact on the return trip I had usually hit my target by the time I had "spent a penny" and gotten back in the car.

All charging stations used 100% renewable energy. They even had solar panels on the roof.

Mr Atkinson is very misinformed...

 

[Dannyb]

Because I have adjustable pushrod on my master cylinders my rubber boots would always come loose.  So I've now made alloy covers. Inside I have stuck P shape rubber around the aperture.

Danny

[iani]

Mk1 2000 Est - fitted a NOS tacho, same type as offered as an option originally, had to have it converted to work with electronic ignition, not a problem as it needed recalibrating anyway as it was a 4 cyl unit originally. Bit of a fiddle to fit it, Trumph provided a hole in the dash but it isn't easy to access. Rotating assembly for new 2.5 lump is with the Balancer now, plan is to collect the motor on the 28th, then need the gearbox to be ready and plan the big swap over. When I collect the motor, James Godfrey-Dunne will swap my rear springs over to a pair of Estate ones I was given (thanks Frenchie), the car is currently on the saloon springs that came off my Mk saloon, no issues so far but as I'm putting an engine in there I think it sensible to prepare the suspension for the shock!

M2 2.5 PI - Having sent speedo back to Speedycables, no fault was found, I either have an issue with the speedo pinion drive (fairly likely) or it's interference from having the voltage regulator mounted on the clamp, less likely. More testing required, I have another pinion drive unit here, might as well swap it out and see if it cures the problem, plan B is to go for a bolt sensing unit. 

GT6 - no action, we're both still recovering from the Slovenia run I think.