A TR7 16V

Actually the issue's gone away, because I just got a pair of nearly new TR8 calipers for little more than the cost of the princess ones (about £160 including pads and p&p and all), and probably less if they would have needed modifying to go under the 13" wheels. Graham

I don't drive in a way that I need the brakes to stop that hard more than once in a while. So I have no problem with fade, ever, and no need of vented discs. I'm running a Doly Sprint on standard calipers with a 1500 servo, and that seems adequate to me - rather, the wife's PT Cruiser with ABS feels really fierce. Maybe when I get really old and frail, I'll need better brakes and power steering. But I'm hoping infernal combustion engines will be banned before then. Moreover, the coefficient of friction for normal brake pads is roughly proportional to temperature of the interface, right up to the point of fade. So brakes that run cooler will be less efficient (require more peddle force) for any given stopping force at any pair of temperatures less than the point where the hotter running ones fade. So, if all you want is more stopping power for the same pedal force, not prevention of fade, vented discs actually have the opposite effect. That effect may be small, probably very small, but it's not none. Graham

It was 30 yrs ago for me too, but I do know I had the unmodified calipers fitted when the pads met, and that it was me that had them modified by a local engineers to move the holes. My memory is that it was on one of the drop-heads I had that were all on standard 13" alloys. But I did have an FHC on 14" monty go wheels at about that time, but I think that had TR8 brakes and took stag pads.

I once had a set of unmodified Princess calipers on a TR716V with std alloy wheels, and I don't remember any spacers. But they were on TR8 discs. And the problem was that about 6 or 7mm of the pads hung over the edge of the discs, and the disc were worn, so that the pads met before they wore out. At which point the braking got a bit funny (funny peculiar, not funny ha ha). So, I had the caliper mounting holes doweled and re-drilled. So I'm wondering whether, if I get bigger discs I can use the princess calipers without the faff of moving the holes. The assumption is that if the unmodified calipers fit 13mm out from where they should be so 6 or 7 mm of pad overhung (assuming the pads should run 5 or 6 mm from the edge of the disc), then discs that are 13mm larger radius, i.e. 244+26mm diameter, should fit the calipers. And if my memory is right, and the unmodified princess calipers fit under the 13" alloys, everything will be hunky-dory. If the unmodified calipers only fit 7 or 8mm out from where they should be (As I remember the holes were moved less than 13mm) and the pads are supposed to run right up to the edge of the disc, then the 270mm discs will need to be turned down by 6 or 7mm in radius. But I know a man that says he can do that cheap. Next time I needed discs, I'd then have to decide if I wanted to modify discs or calipers. So, I suppose the implicit questions were do 13" alloys go over unmodified princess 4-pot calipers (so the only problem really is the overhanging pads, as I remember it) and are the TR7 mounting holes the same distance from the hub center as the princess's or 7-8mm closer? Graham

Does anybody know if the big Princess 270mm discs fit the TR7/8 or if there's an easy way to fit some other 270mm solid disc? Graham

Wikipedia says 1980 production was 493, though I can't help with what week it ended. I don't even know if that's the 1980 year model and if, like the TR7, year model production started in June or July of the previous year, i.e. 1979, not January 1980. Graham

Possibly a bit late, but I was passing anyway. Do you know about the Heritage Certificates available from the British Motor Museum - https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates. You give them the commissioning (chassis) number, which will be on the V5 DVLA registration form, and £43 + p&p, and they send you a certificate that tells you trim codes, colour, build date, key numbers, and anything interesting the build records have on the car. They don't go off registration numbers though.

Does anyone have a picture of an original Chassis plate from a 1973 Dolomite? One from a mimosa Sprint for preference, but any dolomites from 73 to 75 would be interesting. I think they changed several times, the first sometime in late 75 or early 76, but still had weight in LBS; then later to say Dolomite Sprint and give weight in KGS, then to a VIN plate. There may be more changes than that, but it's the one from 73 cars I'm interested in. Graham

Apologies. I miss remembered the TR8's FIA book of recog. number. It's #654 not #651. You can also read the decal set on the pictured car as "Sprint TR7 V8", which may have been the intent. I note also that I didn't quite say the pic in David Hardcastle's Rover V8 book is of a the small sprint decal on the front of a TR8, presumably one of the Speke built FHC TR8 homologation specials like that on the homologation papers. That does appear more like "TR7 Sprint" as I remember.

I was trawling through stuff and discovered that a link to pictures I posted on this forum a while back don't work anymore. These are thumbnails of the "TR7 Sprint Homologation" pictures from the BMIHT archives. I checked with Jan Valentino of the BMIHT archives at the time and got clearance to post these photos on the forum then  -  as long as I made clear they are BMIHT copyright, etc. The good versions are available from them and were published in TR Driver Issue 296, p 50-53. These photos are from 1 Nov. 1977 and detail the inspection (I believe by Neil Eason-Gibson, who was RAC inspector at the time, and did the Chevette HS in 77-8, and led me to believe he remembered this inspection when he was RAC Director of Motorsport in about 1990). That was for the second FIA approval of the 16-valve head for the Group-4 TR7 rally car, which was needed when the FIA removed the so called "100-off" rule from Appendix J 1976 (the set of rules for homologations) and, effective from the end of 1977, banned modifications that had been approved under the rules in previous (1975) Appendix J. That included the first approval  of the head. That second homologation was then granted on 1 Feb 1978, in time for the Group-4 16-valve TR7 to be used in the Mintex rally that year. The approval is in the FIA book of recognition for the TR7 #3071, amendment 10/8v, and the use of the TR7 in 1978 is documented by Graham Robson and others. The 100-off rule of 1975 allowed approvals of multivalve heads (and optional gearboxes with overdrives, etc.) on production of 100 kits of parts, but no modified cars. Without it, the approval of 1 Feb 1978 needed identical cars with the modification. There's plenty of evidence the number for a variant as described in amendment 10/8v was 50 cars. There was also a need for probably 4 cars for National Type Approval, also required by the FIA from 1978, and 4 cars were built specifically for car shows. I suspect the other 3 went to "Special Customers". Anyway, these show the sidestripes fitted to at least some of the TR7 Sprints of 1977 when they were built: This is of SJW 530S just before it was registered and transferred from Sales and Marketing at Longbridge to Power Train and Foundry Division, identified to DVLA as the "Selling Dealer". The joke is that these pictures make SJW 530S the "holotype" of the species. I do realize that it took Power Train the thick end of a year to sell most of the SJW cars to the BL management lease-hire scheme. James Johnson has that some of the LHD TR7 Sprints were exported one or two days after these pictures are dated and the presumably associated homologation inspection by Neil Eason-Gibson happened. The other interesting thing is a source for the other well known Sprint decals.It's also well known that there was a problem in rallying the TR8 under the name TR8 for before the TR8 was launched - that may have been even more complicated because the FHC TR8 was never launched and, given that the number made almost exactly matches the number needed to homologate the TR7V8 as it came to be known, it may never have been intended that a FHC of the TR8 would ever be launched, only the DHC. Anyway, this picture taken off the FIA book of recognition for the Grpoup-4 TR8 #651 shows one possible option as a set of decals - TR7 Sprint V8. This scan off the FIA form isn't a very good image, but I think it's just clear enough. There's a better version of it available from Motorgraphs, which I believe is the sales arm of the BMM picture archives. There's also the picture of the very small decal on the front of a TR8 (that I seem to remember traces to Power Train) in David Hardcastle's book on the Rover V8 engine. It's not visible in the homologation pics of the TR8, but I assume it's there.  

Look like the part, but At that as a starting price for just the lens, I think I'll get a round led holder for 99p and use a flat file to make fit. Graham

It sits in an oblong hole above and between the speedo and tacho. I could just re-drill round and put a 8 or 10mm thread LED in, but I'd rather find something that fits better. Graham

Got any pictures showing such a frame or just think they should've used one? The point was, it's Quickfit. I think a frame for each side needs to go from the seat belt top bracket to the floor just inboard the B post, and transverse to the floor either at the centre or right across to below the bracket on the other belt. But something formed to lie in the trim channel and round to both B post tops and another bar/tube straight down to the floor might be enough, considering the directions of the forces on the top bracket. Graham

Commanded to mount the bits for rear seat belts in the Herald, I decided all I can do is with the reels in the bottom of the hood compartment and the top brackets in the curves at the ends of the trim channel (804090). The most worrying thing is that when I went on-line to see what others have done, I found a gallery picture from Quickfit showing they'd mounted a set exactly as I intend. Thing is, I don't think that trim channel or the bits that join it to the B post (running along the tops of the rear side cards) are really very strong. I know they offer more protection than no seat belts at all, and it's only to stop the Horde of the Things running riot in the back when going on holiday, but I wonder if anybody's made strengtheners for seat belt mountings in the back? Graham

Oh wonderful. I just want covers for the rear wheel nuts- the Herald's front ones have domes and are okay. Don't think I've seen stainless ones for the Sprint. They'll be 7/16ths I bet - my Sprint's a 73 one with the 3/8ths studs. Mind you, that does mean I can get new studs, just not nuts. I believe the problem is the other way round for the later Sprints with 7/16ths studs. Graham  

I've been looking, and wonder if the 1850HL nuts are the same. Whatever, If you've got 8 nuts, what would you want for them? Graham

Ah. And no, the studs are standard 3/8 UNF, so standard nuts should fit. I'll see what I can find, but they're only on while I sort out the new(er) set of wires - I got them expecting a delay in finding a set and then they turned up 2 days later. The first set turned out to be getting spoke tension from the paint under the flanges and the nipples, and they won't tighten up anymore. I don't know they're dangerous for sure, but they're certainly noisy. But I might want them again come the winter - they certainly make the road holding feel better, and running the wires through salt may not be a great idea, even with a good coat of hammerite. Graham

I just had exactly this problem on my Dolomite Sprint. It turned out that it was the filters that were clogged. I have K&Ns fitted, and I don't take them off to set the jets flat to the step - I've taken to using a vernier recently as well. So I take the dashpots off and check they're flat that way. Anyway, the jets were about 10 flats up near the step to get the idle maxed, etc., and that gave a sooty exhaust and black plugs. But turning the jets down where they should be, and getting the plugs a good colour made it gasp badly and dig in setting out from a stop, and it didn't run well at all. Anyway, long story shorter, I got the K&N cleaner stuff and did the filters properly and the job's a goodun. Graham

Does anybody know what hub cap or wheel centres are meant to fit these wheels I got as Spitfire 5.5" wide ones? It's definitely not these: Even though I got them on - with a bit of work. They at least cover the greasy ends of the halfshafts. But I've a feeling they may not last and they make it a bugger to get the nuts started - the nuts came with the wheels and they are 3/8-24, 17mm AF. Not 11/16ths AF. There are some marks on the paint where something touched the edges of the indents round the nuts. But I can't get a good photo of them. Graham

Yeh, the new hood spoils the shabby-sheque look a bit But I've already spent too much on a 12/50 bonet that will do that when fitted - I think the early bonet (and number plate light) look much better than the 13/60's. But I know that's personal taste. It is changing the car from standard, but it's already mostly Spitfire under the skin anyway. So It'll be a sort of  Herald 12/75. I bin wondering if a longer axle ratio is worth the effort. Graham

Well it's on. I got it from Prestige. Turned out they had a sale on, so it was £50 cheaper than I had expected. Only problem was they said 7 to 10 days to make it and deliver, but it came in 2. So 'd expected to have time to get rivets and stuff off ebay, and didn't.  It's tight enough fore and aft, but not as tight as I'd like side to side: I struggled a lot with the rivets at the front corners - one I did 5 times with 4mm rivets and failed. In the end, I came to the conclusion the hole was too worn and ended up using a 4.8mm, and far too much effort for a hot day like today. I really needed two bits of pipe and the confidence a spare rivet gun would have given. But it's on and it'll do to keep the rain out. I think the only real cost in doing the front corners and what would be the B posts in a hard top again will be in the foam seal at the front, which I'm not sure I can use thrice. Graham  

That looks like the third type that Canley's sell. The pedal stop is the two lugs that stick out to give a step in the rounded section to the rear of where the clevis pin goes through. I don't know what the slotted hook at the front of the bracket is, its not on the herald ones I have or can see anywhere. Is it for a spring? I've looked and the parts diagram on Canley's website for the 13/60 shows what looks like the black one from Sports and Classics, with the hooked up bit at the back. The thing is that the spare pedal I have is canted over about 10 deg. clockwise to the line of the clevis pin. And the wife wants that one because she reckons it'll make it harder to hit the accelerator instead of the brake. I've looked closely, and it looks like original welding, not like its been modified. From what I can see, the pedal in the car is the same, but the thing on the floor where the bracket should be is canted the other way, so the pedal sits straight up. So the pedal SWMBO wants would hit the right one of those lugs first and then, given there's slack in the pin, come straight up, removing at least some of the angle it's canted over at. Whereas, with the hooked end, as shown in the black bracket, the bottom end of the underside of the pedal (the side that faces forwards when the pedal is at idle position) will meet the flat plate that hooked end forms, more or less straight - the bottom/back edge of the pedal will lie across it at about the 10 deg. angle, but it won't make the pedal straighten up. Problem with getting one of those is the postage from Sports and Classics in the US. Graham

So I've been looking for a new accelerator pedal bracket and found that there's two types of idle stop for the pedal. Before I broke the stop off, the spare I have looked like this picture, which I found at Sport and Classics: The stop I mean is the bent up bit at the right hand end of the bracket, which the bottom edge of the pedal rests against when not pressed. But the pictures Rimmers (and James Paddock show) look like this: I take it the stop on this is the splayed part at the end, and assume that the bottom corners of the pedal bare on these when not pressed. The issue with that is that the pedal I have is canted over to the right - the hinge plate is welded to the pedal plate at an angle, and the weld looks original. The question is, does either work better than the other or have issues with wear on the pedal where they bare? The first one looks to at least have some option to adjust it by prizing it up or bashing it down a bit. Maybe the second one adjusts by increasing or decreasing the splays - they'd need to be different given the cant on the pedal. Graham

Well that was a fail. The thing on the floor has been that much welded out of bits, fixing the idle stop for the pedal means back to the drawing board. Without that, fitting the spring makes matters worse. I'm going to have to grind that thing off the floor. I might be able to put bolts right through, but I think I'd rather have captive nuts welded underneath. So If I'm fitting another, I'll get a new one, with the stop attached. Graham

There are no captive nuts on the spare I'm playing with or the one in the car. So I'm hoping there are captive nuts in the floorpan.  I'm going now to try and fix the stop for the pedal at the idle end or fit a fix I have got for it if it snaps off like I expect. Graham