Jim S

Just had a look at a Standard 10 Companion Estate advertised by a trader in Somerset for the the extortionate  price of £10,950. Was expecting to see the most exceptional vehicle on the planet, not so. Just another rip-off merchant preying on the unwary that has lots of money, enthusiasm and no idea. Be warned there are sharks in the water (is that being unfair to the sharks). If you are not sure of your abilities when viewing a potential purchase take someone along with you that has. There are plenty in the club I'm sure.

I've a pair that clip on to the door that I no longer need where are you based?

Sold my Saab 9-5 estate as surplus to requirements thinking my mother's wheel chair would fit into my 2000 saloon. No such luck so looking for a Standard Vanguard, Ensign, etc estate. Can  anyone help?

Thanks for info guys, strange how SUX 999Y comes up on the Vehicle MoT website but not the government one

Saw this on EBay today so thought I'd take a look. DVLA have it registered as a 1983 Talbot, which I feel is a bit strange. Does anyone know anything about it?  Is this a pretend car as it's not got a roll bar?

Hope this is not too daft a thought but is the clivis pin the correct type and fitted properly as if not the return spring will pull the pedal back to a high position.

I also voted for factory seats as I've owned two mk1 mx5's and I think with new foam in the original the TR7 seats are just as comfortable. I also owned a TR7 that had been fitted with Saab seats (not an easy task) which were very comfortable but would not slide forward enough for my little legs. As the previous owner was over 6ft it wasn't a problem for him. I tried modifying the method of securing from being welded directly to the runners to some alloy machined brackets but unfortunatly it made them too tall, altough I did get the fwd/aft adjustment I needed. I also bought a pair if Corbeau type reclining seats that fitted a treat until I tried putting the hood up and found the seat wings fouled it, they're now going in my Dolomite. Cheers, Jim

Fitted the Rimmer SD1 Vitesse Disc/caliper conversion a few years ago and from what I can remember the calipers were drilled to suit the TR7 strut (a call to Rimmers might be worth a go). I'd definately recommend TR8 discs as a minimum. The SD1 conversion replaced Princess calipers and Capri discs and I can remember noting the original holes in the calipers were blanked and new holes were drilled to suit. As an aside, I've been trying to eleminate the vibration I get through the steering wheel and although I'd not linked the two before I wonder if it's the conversion that's causing it due to the extra weight because the SD1 parts are very heavy.

All excellent contenders but I'd like to nominate Car 16 for not calling it a day when they realised at Tebay Services that the vibration they were experiencing on the way up to JO'G was the bracket holding the diff in place had snapped. They nursed it down to Lands End where the tied it up with wire and successfully finished the run, how's that for dedication to the event! Car 99

Got a confirmation last night so we're all sorted. Just need to get that gearbox and diff back in. See you all at the drivers meet on Sunday :)

Got a confirmation last night so we're all sorted. Just need to get that gearbox and diff back in. See you all at the drivers meet on Sunday :)

Wow! the Compass, that take's me back, I think Roz Pope was running things then. Things are a lot more active at the Civil Service Sports Club. Pop along (first Thursday of the month) some time, there won't be many Triumphs, if any, in the car park but there will be at least a dozen of us in attendance. Back to my current situation, things are looking up and the trip looks like a goer. I'll report back when I have something concrete.

Good to hear from you GT6Boy, have you ever been along to our club night? it would be good to have a chat. It was supposed to be a Sprint engined 1850HL but that got delayed some what so I re-commissioned the 2000 saloon (2500 engine). It got me to Le Mans and back no trouble so it should be good for this once I've got the gearbox back in.

Re my plea for help in another area of forum, how do I contact Dave? If I don't get a driver today it's all off for this event, a great shame but I must have three drivers.

I bought cd a few years back titled "Driving Rock Ballads" which had some good tracks on it but also some that just didn't work for me so I started my own compilation of which 'Radar love' and 'Born to be Wild' were the first to come to mind but also included 'Highway Star' and 'Speed King' by Deep Purple. Thanks guys for the other suggestions I'll be adding some of those to it.

Hi all, for various reasons both my co-drivers have pulled out, I've got one replacement but need another, anyone interested? I'll be starting from Bristol so I guess you'll need to be in the Bristol/M4 corridor area. I'd really hate to have to back out now but If I get no response by the end of this week its what I'll have to do. :o

Sorry they're reserved for a TR. I must be careful and not overstep forum decorum by appearing to be sellin stuff so please all ignore my previous remarks regarding the MX5, oops :B

Think the best thing to do is source everything needed to convert to O/D manual and drop the box and see if anything looks iffy at that point. Need to finish stripping and cutting up the MX5 so I've got space to drag in the saloon. MX5 bits anyone?

Took my automatic 2.5ltr engined 2000 saloon to Classic Le Mans all went well but I've decided to change autobox to an O/D manual if I can find one. What I did discover was the next day when I started the engine, I got an ominous metallic dull thumping sound from the block at stall speed but it shut up at normal tick over. Don't think its big ends I know what they sound like, I think it may be crank related. Anyone got a 2.5ltr engine they don't want? :-/ Any ideas?

Hi Dirk, I'd say you're the one best placed to know what your car can and can't do. My view on using a car is -  If it's been used regularly and has had little or no breakdowns between services, which I guess would be a maximum of 3000 miles, then why should it suddenly become unreliable? provided the mechanics, including suspension, steering and body stress areas have been thoroughly inspected beforehand then covering 2000 odd miles should be no different than the previous X thousand miles. OK it will be in constant use so oil pressure and temperature gauges (preferably mechanical) would be a must as over heating and the breakdown of the oil is the engine killer. When was the last time the gearbox and rear axle oil were checked/changed? Most important are the tyres, again this a personal thing but I wouldn't use tyres that were more than 5 years old, had at least 2/3 tread and were holding correct pressure for weeks. Finally how often have you driven it at 60mph for sustained periods of say 2hours or more? If you have, how did you and the car feel? What I mean is, was it relaxing or was it a 'white knuckle' thing? Did the car feel like it was cruising or was it screaming its head off and vibrating? Sorry if I'm stating the (b) obvious but I thought better that than not offer any suggestions please also bear in mind that I'm no expert I'm just giving my experiences on the driving I've done in the past, albeit the oldest car I've driven any distance was a 1972 Stag (Le Mans 1999). personally I'd love to see a Renown on the trip and if I see you I'll give you a wave and if you're stuck I'll definitely stop and help. Good luck with what ever you decide. Jim

Entrant 99 with still a bit to do. It'll be my first time on the run but I've marshalled Easton-in-Gordano since 1996 so it'll be a nice change.

This may be going off at a tangent but having had to scrap my BW35 autobox because so called experts put in the wrong stuff and insist its right, I thought I should warn you that there are two different types of ATF, i.e. low static friction (Soft) - GM DEXRON II and high static friction (Hard) - Ford M2C-33 F & G. The Ford spec being the one to use in all BW35 and BW65 boxes ref this Castrol Austrailia Data Sheet. http://ebookbrowse.com/auto-trans-fluids-b1191-pdf-d37180523 (sorry don't know how to hyperlink). Now the question is which one would best suit a manual box? As Dazzers says Triumph recommend ATF in the LT77 manual box (one assumes Ford Spec) but a mate of mine (an ardent TR7 driver) swore it wrecked the bearing prematurely he always used fully synthetic gear oil. Me, I stuck in ATF a few years ago and I reckon it was Dexron as I knew no better.  I do wonder though if it would be better than the Ford Spec in this instance being as it is low friction? Going back to a Saloon manual box I'd stick the Triumph's recommendation

Alan please find a good home for the Acclaim.The rear st/steel silencer cost £140 alone. God knows the hours I spent welding up the rear arches both inside and out. It was great to see it again. acclaims aren't bad they're just misunderstood. Cheers, Jim