yorkshire_spam

It's a lot of money, but it's a very rare car. Estates are rare, LHD estates... almost unheard of. Condition looks great!

She's not a fan of the 1970s style. Each to their own.

As massive fans of the TV series I've done everything possible to persuade my wife that we NEED to buy that car. But she's TR7-phobic, so I'm not getting anywhere.

Yes, I took it to Peter Burgess in Derbyshire (he supplied the head for the engine build) after it completed it's running-in miles and had an oil change. VERY VERY VERY pleased with the results. Rolling road tuned, throttle adjusted, needles changed, ignition timed up nicely. It drove home like a different car and no-longer stinks like an open bucket of petrol at idle.

It begins! Now that I've cured the mis-fire on the Spitfire and it's tuned and MOT'd ready for some test miles before the RBRR, I've turned my attention to the Dolomite. Last night I started the process of pulling the engine+gearbox out to investigate the failure on last year's 10CR. I'd forgotten what a PITA it is getting it all out - so much to faff about with. 😞

First test miles on the Spitfire now it's tuned and MOT'd, also my first time attending P+P area meetings at the new venue: Photo shamelessly stolen from Jagger's post on the group Facebook page.

Plenty of 3.89 diffs around, if your pockets are deep enough one of those + the 3.63 crown wheel and pinion is a good option! Every notice how Triumph diffs are described as 3.63:1 but the same ratio in a BMW is 3.64:1? They chose to round the ratio off differently.

If as @standardthread says you replace the hoses be very very very careful about the hose you use. Some reputable looking retailers online are Absolute F**king S**t. What they sell as "R9" is just junk. Look for someone selling something like branded Gates Barricade hose (I refuse to use/buy anything else for my cars)

If the car ran for a long time on leaded 4* it would likely be safe to use unleaded regardless of whether the head has hardened seats or not (Lead memory) but if you've had new valves ground in then a lead replacement additive would be a good idea. Personally I'd run on "Super" simply because it's E5 not E10 - with our without lead additive. Running on E10 can be a pain - you'd need to replace most of the hoses and some of the rubber components to stop them being destroyed by the E10.

A quick update, after a lot of searching I've managed to order a Bosch coil - lets see if it really is a Bosch coil when it arrives (it had better be for that price!)

A Bosch 0221119030 coil would be my preferred choice for a ballasted system - but everywhere that lists them seems to be out of stock. (Are they discontinued?) Can anyone recommend a quality branded alternative? I'm half tempted to bridge the ballast resistor and just fit a standard 12V coil.

Although people have different experiences, the cheap EI unit (powerspark) I fitted before the 2014 RBRR is still going strong (1xRBRR, 2x10CR and other mileage!), so I wouldn't immediately jump to that conclusion.

Ferny has an engine specially designed for destroying Triumph diffs and driveshafts. I believe it's MX5 based

Coming along nicely!

Gave the rear bumper on the Spitfire a bit of a clean with Harpic Power Plus at the weekend, nasty stuff, but it takes some of the staining and mess out of the chrome without too much effort. Started making space in the garage to investigate why the Dolomite gearbox failed on the 10CR last year.

I noticed the other day that the quick release coupling on my airline was leaking, I check that it was the airline female that was the issue by connecting tools directly to the compressor (no leaks) or via the airline (all tools leak, not just one). I was pretty disappointed as the fitting on the airline was branded (Draper) and less than a year old (closer to 6 months). I had a rummage and found another new-in-box Draper fitting that I bought at the same time. That one leaks too! So I went and got 2 new PCL fittings from Screwfix (not that expensive, but double the price of the Draper ones), swapped it over and that cured the leaks. Have to say I'm a bit miffed.

MOT passed on the Spitfire this morning (optional) - so on with the next set of things on the to-do list!

Took the Spitfire for a test run on Saturday morning just to make sure everything is good for the MOT this week. 2 faults - horn not working and wipers not working. Managed to fix both last night. Horn was easy - dead relay. Wipers not so easy as it turned out the flexible drive had parted company with the arm in the motor. Managed to bodge it back together, just hope it holds for the MOT and until I can do a proper fix. Fingers crossed for the test now.

Spitfire rolling-road tuned yesterday, it'll get MOT'd ASAP and then a few minor things to tidy up/fix. Then it's get the test miles on the clock.

I used gaskets and parts I had in stock, cleaned lubricated and re-assembled the carbs (I had new jet bearing kits in a box from yonks ago) but ordered "JPR502 JET CONVERSION KIT (LATE TO EARLY)" from James Paddocks to get rid of the waxstats - can't say I was massively impressed with the kit quality, but it does the job and hasn't caused any issues so far (18 months since I fitted, but only 1 serious run in that time on the Border Raiders)

I rebuilt them myself after having the bodies faced, cleaned and bushes/spindles fitted by carbex.

Took the Spitfire to be tuned, road conditions on the M62/M1 horrendous, but very very happy with the results of the tuning. If anyone is looking for tuning, I'd highly recommend speaking to Peter Burgess.

I rent a 20' shipping container at a local self storage for a reasonable monthly rate - might be easier to arrange than a garage?

I heard that the TR7 in Detectorists was actually Mackenzie Crooks car? There's a Herald in Brassic and a Dolomite in The Curse:

I'd forgotten about them, fitted to the Spitfire years ago. Fit and forget and great peace of mind when doing events like the 10CR.