Darren Sharp

A new Shed for The Shed !

Best Comment So far “I thought that was one of those underwater pictures of the Titanic”

It begins!

The flying log has been dismantled ready for welding and painting …. A lot of welding ! The headlamp support panels were lace as are the front wing bottom corners and the ends of the front valence . The double skinned parts behind the grille all need a fair bit of attention as well … it’s a good job that Nick is using The log as training for his Padawan or the log might be heading in a whole different direction! Still my bank account is emptying on a regular basis . Pictures to follow .

Hi all I’m scoping for a possible camping weekend for the CT Young members in the summer . I’m expecting that some will want to bring the oldies along . I have a number of country runs out to the coast and hopefully trips to the local museums including the East Kirby air Museum. Which is home to ‘Just Jane’ a completely restored Lancaster which is nearing airworthiness and a Mosquito amongst other treats . If there is enough interest the Museum will open its bar and evening barbecue . We may also be able to avail ourselves of rides in a bubble car .

Olaf ran much better following his ad hock carb and timing tweaking and Italian tune up last week ! I’ve now owned him for 12 years . By far the longest I’ve owned any car . I think he’s a keeper!

See Video .. through Sherwood .. didn’t see Robin of Locksley though. IMG_2337.MP4

Cheers Colin . I will be visiting Nick in Great Baddow with a load of extra Dolly bits in the next month or so . I will try to coordinate a meeting if you can find them .

Thanks Sam . I will have a word with Ellis and Steve Radley I’m sure there’s a definitive answer .

Hi all , has anyone got a complete set of Mk 2 bumpers lying around ? Car is pre facelift but not bothered really . Don’t want to pay too much as I’m buried in Dolomite Resto at the moment . Here’s a tempting view of what I’m hoping will be the ‘Log in Leaf’

Thanks Sam . I will have a word with Ellis and Steve Radley I’m sure there’s a definitive answer .

On a serious note should it have bumpers on for the 10CR . And if so anyone got some ? Manky but complete would be fine .

I’ve got to go in my garage now and find some bits!

Wide eyed and penniless I’ve gone and done it again! Looks like Ash , Wendy and I will be heading down to Somerset to view and pick up another Triumph then . This car was originally offered to me back in the dark ages and has an interesting aside . Steve Radley and I had just completed a CT event and pulled into South Mimms for a coffee where we were approached by an old gent who said “ I’ve got one of those” . Whilst we were talking, another guy was admiring Olaf and I think it was Steve who recognised him as non other than Paul Weller from the Jam and the Style Council. We later saw him in Costa and he nodded his approval . I later went to view this car complete with bush growing around the engine bay . I passed it on to Colin Wake who snapped it up .. is there a town called Malice anywhere on the 10 CR in case in comes to pieces in my hand from the floorboards up. Let’s hope that it’s the “ Best thing that ever happened “ and we don’t have to “ Push it Along” however “ That’s Entertainment “

Update . Run will take place in July or August of 2023 , certainly after July 20th and probably mid week to keep the travel cost as low as possible. Route will start at Calais (or Dover ) and will use the A.26 /A.6 to traverse the country over two days with rest stops including the Grandstand at Reims ( done it before but it breaks the journey nicely and it’s been further restored since I last went) . And overnights at Dijon and near the route of the 1959 alpine rally route probably around Barcelonette . In the interests of old Herald preservation only the French part of the route will be undertaken with stops including 4 of the Alpine passes for photo shoots . The end of the day will include a drive down the Route Napoleon ( very pretty) to the next hotel around Frejus on the French Riviera. There will be a free day here so that people can visit Cannes , or Monaco and maybe an extra mountain drive for the keen ones . The route home will be broken up over two days with some interesting stops . More later

Olaf did the RBRR and the Border Raiders plus a few trips to the seaside and shows . Less than normal but about 4000 . The log did the RBRR ( With Pete and his mates ) plus a lot of fettling mileage as my daily and Pete’s company hack so not far short of 4000 either . I feel like I’ve kept the flag flying lol

Olaf has been out for his first run in 2022 . 100 miles up to Doncaster from Lincolnshire. Stopped at Blyth for Costa .

I will let you Know the proposed dates Pete as soon as it’s all coordinated.

Most Likely it will be organised by Scenic and Continental Mike . They have all the contacts and get discounts that we couldn’t hope to achieve . We have some control over the standard that we want and can vary it for the travelling part and the staying over bit . They tend to use Accor group or private hotels but these give secure parking which has always been a plus . You can do anything cheaper if you shop around of course .

As some of you will know I was planning to arrange a CT tour of Ypres and the Normandy beaches through Scenic and Continental car tours before the spectre of Covid raised its ugly head . Time has moved on and we are getting perilously close to the 100yrs of Triumph anniversary in 2023 . Whilst I’m still keen to visit the Memorial sites, my thinking has changed along the lines of marking the anniversary as the next outing with a trip to the French Alps .. sometime in the mid summer. Together with my lovely girlfriend Wendy we are preparing a 12/50 Herald, principally with this trip in mind to commemorate the amazing success of the Herald in the Alpine Rallies of the late fifties and early sixties where many Coupe des Alps were earned. Nothing so taxing as thrashing the Herald up snow covered mountains but rather a summer trip ( with hopefully a nice snowy backdrop) and plenty of hotels and restaurants along the way . Maybe finishing off in the riviera ( or at least beautiful Provence) . Plans and prices are being drawn up and I’m hoping to have more news soon . I’m receiving great advice from Club members in the know and hopefully plans will advance in the new year . Now that the 10CR has been announced and is fully subscribed. The Tour will not clash with the RBRR or any other CT event . Dates will reflect this so July and August are favourite .

Dear all just a bit of knowledge I’ve picked up when fitting various triumphs with electronic Hall effect ignition systems (Accuspark Etc) be very careful to check whether your Triumph has a ballasted coil . If you do then do not connect the red wire from the dizzy to the +VE on the coil …. It will kill the sensor unit because it’s voltage sensitive. If you have a ballasted coil or a ballast resistor in the circuit then you need to wire the new distributor (or stealth type unit ) to an ignition controlled 12v supply . The wiring diagrams supplied can be confusing (or in some cases just plain wrong) . Heralds are all 12v systems so no problems it’s just black to the CB (-) side of the coil and red to the SW (+) side but make sure your coil was wired the right way round to start with ( Yes they will still run if wired backwards) . For Dollies , some 2000’s and Mk 4 Spitfires you will have a ballasted system which means the coil voltage is only 6v on start up and the Hall effect systems need 12volts to work and will go pop if you try to feed them 6V ! To complicate it even more Some of your cars will have been altered to a 12 volt unballasted coil . Be on the safe side and if in doubt find a 12v direct feed from the ignition switch and take the red wire from the unit to it directly. Some clever people can even add a fuse which can give additional safety and a handy means of disabling your ignition when the car is unattended .

Starts on the button now and is off the choke in no time which should keep things working well . Just need some nice weather for some test runs out . Hoping to drive her to Wales in the summer and next year to France! Fingers crossed!

Nice and smart .. purist’s look away as Wendy has gone away from the archaic DM2 set up for a far more interchangeable Lucas 25d electronic arrangement. No issues with the power feed unlike the Dolomite /late spitfire arrangement . Changing the leads and the coil is far quicker with the 25 as it’s all plug in with no fiddly screws inside the dizzy . looking smart under the lid !

Well he’s great at Miracles … you’ve all seen Olaf !