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What's this then, a Triumph 2000 on the Rally TR7 blog?

Well I have purchsed this car with a particular mission in mind - going to the Alps and back 3 or 4 up in August next year (this trip is to replace the Manx rally which was my 50th birthday ambition).

The car has a very sweeet sounding engine, a fine overdrive gearbox that comes in and out very nicely and the diff has been changed to a 3.7 (this should make it a fine long distance car). The sills have been replaced, the car is structurally very sound and the interior is very good but needs a thorough clean first of all.

The plan is to give it a good clean, get everything working (like the headlamps, indicators etc), tidy up the bodywork and give it a very quick paint job, a very thorough service and then go into covered storage under a dustsheet over winter.

Ah - now I understand!

I don't mind admitting that I can be a bit slow on the uptake but eventually I get there.

No matter how many times I read manuals and looked at diagrams I just couldn't "get" this shimming thing so I decided to experiment with one of the spare cylinder heads I have. Terribly boring for those who know what's what but I followed the workshop manual and removed the rocker shaft assembly and the camshaft. Then it was blindingly obvious what these "shims" are - little discs of steel that sit on top of the valve stems so depending on how thick they are (could be very thick like me!) they affect the valve clearances.

Also the famous "buckets" now mean something to me - one is visible having been removed to the right of the head, next to the ratchet. This sits on top of the inlet valve stem with a "shim" in it.

Apologies to all those out there who know what they are doing but you must have come to know how mechanically challenged I am by now! Well, I know a bit more now so it's on to proper shimming shortly (but this will be delayed by a trip out tomorrow which is also Triumph related).

Off with a head to get to the prize

In order to source another component for the timing chain job I have had to remove the cylinder head from one of my spare engines. With that is a pair of carbs seen here which I am putting to one side for possible future refurbishment and use.

The important thing here is that the inlet manifold is not the same as the 8 valve engine as the carbs are further apart so keeping a Sprint inlet manifold is always worthwhile. Added to this the afficionados amongst you will have spotted that the carbs are 2" SUs which are very sought after - with a well sorted angine these can give nearly as much power as a pair of 45DCOes but cost much less (certainly in my case!).

It is possible in the future that the convertible will get a Sprint engine with the carbs from BRP whilst BRP gets thse 2 inchers.

Meanwhile, though, here's what I have liberated as a result of this effort - a vernier timing sprocket (fanfare!!)

The slots with bolts to secure them mean that some fine tuning can be had when it's all put together with the new timing chain gear so I can get the most out of that group 2 cam and the car will then fly