Things
are pretty hectic at present trying to get various customer’s cars
(and our own) ready for the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability
Run. What with pre-event checks, servicing, MoT testing and upgrades
to electrical systems, seats, seat belts and the like, not to mention
suspension, steering, engine and transmission repairs and conversions
it’s been really busy and we haven’t finished yet.
One
regular customer who hadn’t used his car much this year needed the
rear brakes completely overhauling with cylinders, shoes, cables,
springs and a fluid change throughout plus front pads and flexible
hoses! Another one didn’t realise that of the five mounts on his
Sports twin exhaust system only one was still actually connected –
the others had all broken – luckily the exhaust hadn’t quite
dropped off at that point although it certainly would have very soon
after.
There
have been quite a few conversions to higher output alternators,
brighter headlamp bulbs/better units, mostly with relays, and a
number of people have had additional charge points for SatNavs,
phones and other in car navigation devices fitted. We have also
fitted a few electric engine cooling fans and/or additional
switches/overrides to control them.
Seats
are always a ‘sore point’ if they aren’t in good condition or
if you have a small chassis car then the standard seats aren’t very
good for long trips in the first place. There are many ways around
this but the easiest and cheapest way is often to find an alternative
seat from a more modern car which can be bought cheaply in reasonable
condition secondhand, make up some sturdy brackets to adapt the donor
seat’s runners to the Triumph floorpan and swap them. I have just
fitted some Alfa 156 red leather seats in my Mk1 2000 and despite the
time it took I’m very happy with the end result and the colour is
really close to the original Triumph Matador Red interior too.
