Spring is almost here

With spring now upon us many people are starting to get their Triumphs out of hibernation and on the road for this year’s activities. We have just completed an engine rebuild on a Mk1 2000 with upgrades to fast road spec to the owners requirements and two unleaded cylinder head conversions, one for a Spitfire 1500 and one for a Vitesse Mk2. We have also had a few gearbox rebuilds this winter with extra work on one running to an overdrive rebuild and clutch replacement, crankshaft seal renewal and clutch crosshaft modifications on two others. 

 

Those few jobs along with a few suspension rebuilds, a couple of brake overhauls and the usual running repairs, tuning and servicing work for those who continue to use their Triumphs over the winter period have kept us busy during the winter months. Now we seem to be encountering a glut of water sealing problems, either trying to stop coolant leaking out or rain water leaking in! I can only hope that as the year progresses and the weather improves, we don’t get too much of the latter and that we get to see the sun a bit more this year. Oh yes and did I mention that we had recently fitted new hoods to a TR5 and a Herald?

We are preparing ourselves for the rush of annual servicing, tuning and MoTing which inevitably starts during March (it already has) and will probably reach torrent proportions next month, though hopefully not full ‘flash flood’ status. More next time. 

 

Triumph TR7 Engine

As I write this the Round Britain Reliability Run is fast becoming a distant memory. All of the vehicles prepared finished the event and helped contribute sponsorship monies towards the massive total raised of over £90,000 – Well done everyone!

We are now into winter rebuild territory with a couple of long term jobs and a few engine builds being brought forward off the back burners and reignited. We have just finished a TR7 engine which has been lurking at the back of the workshop and will shortly be reuniting it with the car which it came out of earlier.

We are also rebuilding a set of TR5 inlet manifolds with new throttle spindles to go with the linkages which have also been deseized, re-bushed and are now capable of being adjusted.

A rare Dolomite Sprint automatic in remarkably solid condition having been stored in a dry garage for the last 13 years has also just been returned to the road. As you can imagine though after such a long period of disuse, every rubber component needed to be replaced as well as all the fluids, with the fluid systems all being thoroughly flushed and cleaned through. This car now drives very nicely indeed and should give many miles of enjoyment to its new owner.

Next up is a very pretty little Mk2 Spitfire which we hope to get back on the road in time for Christmas after a few years ‘resting and recouperating’.

Blog 17

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.

Triumph Spitfire - 21 owners!!

The 21 owner Spitfire came and went and is now safe, usable, roadworthy and has a fresh MoT on it. We are now well into the busy season with our current lead time being around 3 weeks for mechanical and electrical repairs, servicing and the like, which is fairly typical for the time of year. The main bulk of our present workload is, as you might expect, servicing, MoT work and tuning to get the cars out on the road for the summer.

In addition to all of that usual work we seem to have had quite a lot of injection work lately with several ‘aggravated’ tuning faults, all seemingly injection based problems. One of these required a new fuel pump as the original replacement Bosch item had developed leaky seals and two required metering unit repairs or replacement, one delivering unequal volumes of fuel to the cylinders and one leaking from the control unit end and also fuelling unevenly.

Although these faults were fairly evident, it never pays to be too hasty in assuming that all else is well. One of the cars in question had two partially blocked injectors and were hosing badly and underfuelling, one had also sooted up four of its plugs and another had burnt out points, low tension wire and block from the coil to the points due to the absence of a condenser! The difference replacing/fitting those made was quite significant and the owner had no idea how long the car had been like it!

Mark 2 Triumph Spitfire Finished

The Mark 2 Spitfire which we had in with paintwork issues, welding work to structural areas and driveline repairs needed has now been finished and is back with its owner who is busily refitting all the equipment he removed for the body restoration to be carried out.

We have now had the first few ‘early birds’ in, three with TR6s all at the same time, for putting their pride and joy back on the road after the winter lay-up. One required a replacement fuel pump shut off inertia switch to be fitted and a relay fitted for the pump itself as it is a Bosch unit which will draw rather more current than the original Lucas one. Funnily enough one of the other two had the same upgrade this time last year.

The third one was in for some additional work to the rear brakes and rear suspension, with Superflex trailing arm, damper drop link and spring seat insulator bushes being fitted along with a new driveshaft UJ and grease up of the splines. We also fitted a spin on oil filter conversion to prevent that awful death rattle which some cars suffer from with the standard oil filter and an oil cooler with thermostat to help stop it from getting all hot and bothered in the summer.

We also had to reinforce the boot floor where the twin box exhaust system had been fitted as it was tearing through the boot floor which had become a little thinner over the years and there were no ‘penny’ washers fitted to spread the load. Luckily we had some paint to finish off with which was a reasonable match.

We are now attempting to resurrect a 2000 Mk1, a Dolomite Sprint and a poor little Spitfire 1500 which has seen better days and has 21 owners on the V5 – it looks like one of them was careful, but only one!

Spitfires

We seem to have been overrun by early Spitfires of late, two Mark 2s and two Mark 3s in fact. These have come in for a variety of repairs and associated work with one Mark 3 in for its annual pre-winter service and MoT plus a few minor alterations to the electrickery side of things to improve the lighting with some nice new Halogen headlamps, the charging with an uprated alternator and an additional 12V power socket for all those important little gadgets we have these days. The other Mark 3 was in to have a long standing and worsening brake problem sorted out and to have some work done to the clutch hydraulic system and steering. This ended up being a set of replacement brake hoses with fluid renewal, a new clutch slave cylinder and a master cylinder repair and a set of new Superflex Urethane rack mounts, one new track road end and resetting the tracking – that got it going where it was pointed, starting off and stopping – what more could you ask?

The Mark 2s were in for a list of stuff to be sorted on one including many interior trim and control requirements from fitting a modern Bluetooth stereo compatible with hands free phone technology to replacing the aftermarket steering wheel with an original Mk3 type and the control knobs with new ones showing the correct icons for their purpose. There was also work to the braking system, carburettors, one driveshaft bearing, the overdrive unit and a general check over, service and tune up. To say that it felt like a new car afterwards is no exaggeration. The other Mark 2 is in for a bit longer with a few paintwork issues and some welding repairs in structural areas being undertaken as well as some repairs to the driveline – more on this one next time.

Winter Rebuilds 2015

With summer now just a distant memory – even the Club Triumph Ten Countries Run was two months ago now, what a rush it was getting several customer cars finished on time for the start of the event in the Netherlands and what a rush the event itself was too! I don’t think I have ever experienced more breath-taking scenery; there was just a constant stream of surprises from quaint local roadside cafes through huge 2.5Km + high mountains, tunnels, little rickety wooden bridges over mountain rivers. It seemed that there was something around almost every bend in the road.

Thoughts are now turning to winter rebuilds with orders confirmed for two engines to be built so far and a gearbox too. We have also had a late rush of ‘Reinstatement’ jobs this month, with no fewer than three cars arriving on the back of the transporter for sorting out and putting back on the road – that’ll give us something to while away the long dark hours until spring – think I had better order some more midnight oil for the lamps. 

The continuing rise in Classic Car prices seems to be fuelling more and more people’s efforts to dig old family motors out of hiding and get them back on the road. Either that or modern cars are so boring to drive that anyone with a sniff of a classic wants it ready for next year. Keep them coming I say, it’s just so nice to see them on the roads again.

My only reservation about all this work is that I have somehow to find the time to get my own little ‘garage find’ on the road in time for a few fairly important runs next year, the first of which is the Club Triumph ‘Tour of Ireland’ in May which I hope to be taking part in with my wife. Perhaps I had better stop typing and get to work – until next time then…………………