Another job done

This is the coil re-positioned up out of harm's way.

Another small job done.

What next? Well I could start swapping the carbs I had from the 8 valve engine over as they were re-conditioned and are not the dreaded waxstat type.

Or I could pull the rocker cover off and start learning about the 16 valve wizardry under there to solve the rattly top end.

I also need to sort the radiator out but I think that will be a new uprated one so it can wait until more money is available.

In a similar vein I need to replace the alternator with an uprated one so that I can return Mark McLain's spare he loaned me on the RBRR. I don't think he's in a hurry for it though and I don't intened putting the car back on the road until May 2007 so there's plenty of time for that too.

One thing I have done today though is post my entry off for the 2007 10CR. At this moment I have no idea who my co-driver will be but that's not an issue, making sure I get an entry is!

Proof of principle

A couple of hours on the car tonight - what better way to spend a November evening than under your carport working on a TR7?

Anyway, leaving philosophy aside I had a problem driving through a ford earlier in the year with water on the coil. This was fixed by covering it with a rubber glove but in the change to Sprint power all this went by the wayside.

On the RBRR h I had the same problems over Glencoe so it's time to sort this out.

Later TR7s have the coil mounted high up on the inner wing so that's what I have been doing this evening. I have done this step by step though. The wiring needed extending so I did one at a time and then started the car to make sure all was OK - it was, thank goodness.

I repositioned the coil and it looks fine but I need to tidy things up and mount the fixing bracket - this will be done tomorrow as well as taking my time carefully wrapping the wiring and securing it all properly.

Another small improvement made and reliability improved.

I must get round to investigating the rattly top end some time tho!

Pottering about

A month after the RBRR I am working my way up to getting motivated again!

It's almost as if I have to skirt round it and surprise myself that I am working on the car again.

So, today I spent some time tidying the garage, putting two wheels up into storage. Talking of wheels - I'll be buying the Minilites which do the job I wanted them for. Photos don't do them justice really.

Next up was tidying away some of the debris in the boot from the RBRR spannering.

Then, and only then, I looked at fixing the oil pressure gauge and getting a feel for the health of this Sprint engine. I had fitted an oil pressure gauge before but the oil pipe came off the back and I had to stop oil filling the driver's footwell by putting my finger over the end! There was no time to fix rhis before the RBRR so I left it disconnected and relied on the oil pressure light.

On the RBRR of course I also had the oil sender unit fail which resulted in a massive oil leak which I fixed with a replacement brought to the Asburton halt by Tony Francis - thanks Tony.

In with the sender unit was another oil pipe and fixings so today I thought I would plumb it all back in.

Unlike the mad activity to get BRP ready for the RBRR I now have some time so I spent at least half an hour assembling the best combination of tee pieces and unions when I connected the oil pressure gauge. This time I also tried it in loose in the engine bay where it wouldn't be so bad if leaks developed.

Here's the result - 40PSI at tickover is certainly OK.



Having proven that there were no leaks it was time to fit it in the cockpit. Again, I fitted and removed it several times before I was happy and also took the time to locate all the pipework correctly - even with spirap for goodness sake.

I would have taken another photo but the camera batteries ran out! The gauge is now just to the right of the steering wheel but this is a temporary position I think - if it's OK in practice I'll wire up the oil temp gauge element too as well as some illumination.

Next up will be moving the coil up out of the way of any water that could be thrown up - a lesson learned on the RBRR.

The wheel thing

I asked for advice on Minilite type wheels on the forum as I want to build up another set for later rallying exploits.

Not only do I get advice but also an offer on a set of nearly new ones!

So I have borrowed one to trial fit and see if I like them.

Well, I wanted 6J wheels with more offset to fill out the wheel arches a bit more and widen the track a little. These are 5.5J wheels and you can see them in the photos (new ones black, old ones 5J silver).

They do stand about 10mm further out than my 5J wheels so they widen the track but still don't fill those wheel arches much more - that's not too bad tho you as there will be alot of suspension travel during rallies and clearance is a good thing.

Anyway, I am thinking over whether to buy them or not at the moment. It's probably better to wait to the weekend when I can see the effect in daylight.

Nothing much to report

Well, nothing much Triumph wise anyway.

After the RBRR I have been on holiday to Corfu which was great but there hasn't been much time for the TR7.

Anyway, I have now surrendered the tax on it so it's now SORNed and I should get a few £ back.

I think I have just about emptied the car out now and this evening spent 30 minutes cleaning and putting the tools away that I used on the event - some of them still wet and slightly beginning to rust!