iani

I often buy parts from Mick, always great service. Ian

Are you going to ask for a change of username on here now James?

2000 Mk1 Estate - my door seals are in a poor state, the drivers one being particularly bad and frankly embarrassing with bits hanging out when the door was closed. I had bought a couple of seals from CW a few months ago but kept putting off fitting as I knew it wasn't an easy job. In the end it took me two hours just to do the drivers door, it wasn't easy but more fiddly than anything, I now need to do the others, just not today, one a day is probably about the right pace for this job.

2.5 PI Saloon - I'm having fun with getting a working Speedo, I obtained a NOS speedo and sent it to Speedy Cables for conversion to electronic operation, something I had done previously with my TR6 without any issues; First fit - speedo worked fine until turning off, stopped at 10mph, next run stopped at 20mph, then 30mph, you get the picture, sent it back to Speedy Second fit - speedo needle constantly oscillating, not by much but very annoying, speedo went back and Speedy reported no fault found Third fit - speedo worked great, until I stopped the car, speedo stopped at 20mph, then 40mph, similar to first fit but with greater increment. This speedo is on its way back to Speedy again... So, I bought a NOS original 2.5 Speedo and fitted that: Works great, up to 30mph, then it's wavering about, it also won't go above 80mph I refitted the original speedo, it's great, needle is steady, reading is about 10mph out at 60, obviously not good, the wheels are 14" so a bit bigger than standard, the discrepancy should only be 3mph though. I think for RBRR I will just rely on a GPS speedo on the windscreen, it works fine. Not content with giving me speedo trouble, the MU choke cable appears to have broken, the throttle body choke still works fine. Rather than faff about swapping both out, I have ordered parts from Martin Giles to fit his adaptor plate to the throttle body end and a secondary cable that operates the MU enrichment lever, this is part of a kit he sells for the TR6, unfortunately the full kit won't fit a saloon (we think, I will measure up & check with him)

Do you happen to have a pic Steve?

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.

I should be there on Sunday

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.

The OD on my PI was dropping out above 3k RPM, suspect the OD clutch was on the way out so this week I had a recon gearbox & OD fitted, both of these are working fine. Whilst in for this work, I also had a recon diff & strengthened nose cone fitted, this too was fine. I decided that, as I was having a new gearbox fitted that I would have a spare speedometer converted to electronic operation, I had done this before on my TR6 without any trouble, unfortunately this time it hasn't worked. Having set the calibration figure for the speedo to the same as my TR6 as a reasonable baseline I took the car for a drive, on the first drive it worked ok, calibration a bit out but that was to be expected. On stopping however the speedo didn't return to 0, it stopped at 20mph, I drove off and it worked ok, increasing speed correctly but the actual speed +20mph. On next stopping the speedo stopped at 30mph, this went on until it was stopping at 110mph! There is no reset function that I can see, I called Speedy Cables who converted the speedo this morning but they don't have any technicians in on a Friday. I have just had the original speed cable fitted and put the mechanical speedo back, now the car is reading c.10mph high, obviously the speedo pinion isn't quite right for this car. Will try to get the electronic speedo sorted and refit it, the wiring is all still in place and the transducer taped up out the way near the OD so a quick swap.

You can get great quality hoses from these guys, make sure you also use good quality clamps http://classicsiliconehoses.uk Ian

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.

Your car is coming on very well Richard, where did you get the cutter for the door seals from?

I'll be coming, not sure on which car yet, a few of the Nene Valley TR group will be coming along too.

I'm going for Lucas PI on my Estate conversion Tim, had a couple of sets here and it seemed silly to buy something else. I'm happy with how it's behaving on my Saloon so will give it a go on the Estate, modern pump & PRV though.

Camshaft & Metering Units are different, that's where most of the change is

Yes, the later TB's have twin balance pipes, the earlier a single pipe, the linkage arrangements are different too.

No progress on cars really, the parts pile is growing however: 2000 Mk1 Estate: Reconditioned 150BHP throttle bodies with roller spindle bearings, diaphragm PRV & reconditioned MU delivered by Martin Giles on Friday, 6-3-1 exhaust manifold & semi-sports exhaust system ordered from Chris Witor, new Camshaft being sourced from CW too. New rocker shaft, bushed rockers & solid spacer kit received, that completes the parts I need to convert the car once the engine is ready, will need a some adaptors/fittings to sort the feeling out at the tank end but otherwise I should be ok. Whilst the engine is out I will also be converting to PAS, all parts for the conversion are here, just hope the rack I have obtained works. 2.5P: intermittent OD issues decided to be become much more "mittent" today, I did a 360mile trip down to see Lloyd Reed in Cardiff and the OD started dropping in/out after the first 150 miles or so, I can't delay it any longer, time to fit the recon 'box & OD I have ready. TR6: went to its new home last week, I'm down to 3 Triumphs now

The engine is with machinist now, expect it will be a good few weeks. Going to send MU away for refurb this week & speak with Martin Giles about having TB's reconditioned.

Sad day today, my TR6 left with its new owner. This frees up some funds for the 2000 Estate however, James Godfrey-Dunne is sorting out a 2.5 engine for me, I will be fuelling via Lucas PI, I received a new 123 Tune+ dizzy for it this week, I may fit that to the current 2000 lump whilst awaiting the new motor. In my impatience to kick the conversion off, I fitted a Mk1 PI Formula steering wheel to the Estate today, it's a fair bit lighter than the standard wheel, perhaps a performance increment already! With the TR6 leaving, that left a space in my garage, the PI just fits, I need to find a home for some stuff in front of it to improve access but at least it gets under cover at last.

A productive day today, great that the rain has stopped for a bit! GT6: I had a set of 4.5" standard wheels powder coated this week, I think they've done a great job. I have a set of chrome hubcaps coming but my wife is telling me she prefers them as they are, I did put a Mk1 Estate hubcap on with the medallion and she didn't like that. Whilst I was fitting the wheels I detected some play in the OSF bearing, sorted that out. The next job was to fit a modified throttle pedal, I had a twin cable mount welded onto it, drilled another hole for the second cable and routed it, had to fit another lever arm to the throttle control rod for the Webers but it works great, the throttle feels much smoother, I guess the stress on the cable has been reduced. 2000 Mk1 Estate: Planning for the engine swap continues, I bought a short motor this week, it's going for machining this week. I am assembling the other parts I need, I have a rebuilt fast road head (Peter Burgess), two sets of PI kit to choose from, still deciding on pump/MU/swirlpot options. I have a 3:45 diff that I need checking over, that left the speedo. I bought a NOS Mk1 PI speedo from Fitchetts, problem is that my car is an early one, it has white dials, I sent the new speedo to Speedograph Richfield who have done a great job in printing and fitting a white faced dial, I'm very pleased with the result.

2000 Mk1 Estate - New cylinder head fitted today, along with a duplex timing chain conversion, I seem to have a few BHP back but need to sort out idling, throttle is sticking open TR6 - sold today, will be with me for a few weeks before collection, looking forward to getting some space back

I noticed fuel leaking from my rear carb on the Mk1 Estate a few days back, whipped them off today and replaced needle valves, gaskets & O rings, car seems a bit more responsive now, I did find some debris in one of the needle valves, overall much cleaner than I'd expected though. The car had definitely been running rich judging by the plugs, hoping to swap the head out next week, will set carbs up properly then. I then replaced the indicator repeater bulbs with LED's, they were bright enough with standard but I'm swapping them all to LED so did the job whilst in there. Last job for today was to strip the N/S/R door down, the door lock mechanism doesn't work very well and I wanted to replace it with a NOS unit. I was disappointed to discover that it appears that the door glass channel is blocking removal and, as I've found a hole in the door bottom and will look to replace the door, I decided against further dismantling for now. I cleaned up & lubed the door lock mechanism and reassembled, it's a bit better but not great, at least the door stays shut better than before.

Another vote for Fiat Coupe seats in a Stag, I found them to be excellent when I had them in mine. As Tim says, the TR6 seats aren't great, I went for the same MK5 ones in my TR.

Mk1 Estate: was supposed to change cylinder head today, I couldn't face it in the low temp, settled for fitting sunstrip & a pair of Ranger fog/driving lamps, just need to wire them up.

Great work Richard, when you finish and boredom sets in, you are more than welcome to pop over and do similar on my Mk1 Estate 🙂