Friday, February 15, 2008

Reformed Triumph addict

I have been a member of Triumph's Anonymous for a long time nowEyebrow

Having had 3 at one point, got down to one and then back up to two again I am clearly not yet cured.

There are signs the therapy is working tho.

In the last 2 weeks I have looked at 2 TR7s that someone wanted £200 for and then another sound but stripped convertable in the lovely light blue metallic (Aqua?) that the guy wanted £400 for.
On both occasions I have walked away but have advised others so hopefully the cars will be saved, but by someone else.

Now that's progress on my part and taken a real determined effort, in fact the strain and stress that resulted means I really must take a holiday so that's what I am doing.

Watch out Madeira - just make sure no-one offers me any Triumphs!Tanny

Monday, February 11, 2008

Vaseline, rings,rubbers & butterflies!





Since I "fixed" the cylinder head gasket I have had a leak in the coolant system from the top of the water pump to the inlet manifold.

It can be seen here - there's a slight discolouration visible above the "L" stamp in the water pump cover.






So, in a burst of enthusiasm I fixed it!

Here's the short "pipe" which needs decent "O" rings either end to make the seal.

That's where the vaseline came in - to help get the "O" rings on.

Having put it all back I ran the engine and it looks OK.






So, moving on, I went a bit further.

The flexible mountings for the carbs looked well past their best so I pulled the carbs off and put on two new ones I have come by.

One of the new ones is on the right with an old one still in place at this point on the left hand carb.








Then, whilst I am here why not do a bit more? Just a bit of SU tuning here - I had ordered some plain "Butterflies" (I think that's what you call them) for the carbs.

One of them is on the right with one of the originals on the left. The problem with the originals is the "poppet valve" as can be seen here which hangs down into the airflow and so interferes with the optimum flow through the carb.

So I replaced those and even went to the trouble of cutting down the securing screws (as they normally hang out into the airflow too) and lockwelded them back in place.

Combined with the stub stacks and a change of needles I should in theory be getting 2 or 3 more BHP for little effort and not much money really.

That was enough for today tho - all I have to do now is bolt the carbs back on and hope it still runs!