Sunday, April 30, 2017

A bit of DIY and a positive result

Having got PMW back I changed the oil and filter. The family business from the 60s through to the turn of the century was a country garage in Derbyshire and part of the nostalgia for me is that the first petrol company we were associated with was Gulf so for that and if my brother is reading this - here's the oil I used.
After this was completed UNJ was at the local garage for MOT and needed some more bits and pieces including new front strut inserts.



The battery had been getting low though as when I came to start the car recently it was very sluggish so I also knew it needed another one.


Thinking outside the box the battery on PMW had always started very well but I have not been happy because the terminals are the engine side of the battery and should actually be on the inner wing side.



So, I decided to get a new battery for PMW and then put it's old battery on to UNJ.









Battery that has always been on PMW with terminals on engine side
I then did a fair bit of research on an appropriate battery asking for advice etc and found an 096R battery would do just the job so ordered a Lucas branded one. Now this was something I liked because it was both black as batteries always were in  the 60s and also Lucas is a brand  associated with Triumph and many other British car companies.

Not only that but it's specs are well on top of the job -   70 AH, 680CCA, 4 years guarantee.

I did need a new j bolt and decided to get a new bracket too so that the old naff cut down version (done by a previous owner no doubt to get a wrong battery to fit). Here's how it all looks now.

Sunday, April 09, 2017

Cheating?

I have recently decided to get work done on the cars and do less myself.

Different reasons in these two cases though.

PMW, the 2000 that didn't want to run properly.

Here I decided enough was enough with my limited availability in time and ability in skill so asked my local garage, Vicarage Motor Company of Barnoldswick to take a look to see if they could sort out the poor running.

Well, a couple of  carb gaskets, replacement split vacuum carb pipes but probably more importantly a replacement ballast rsistor and the car runs so much better. Not perfect yet but certainly pulls stongly up to 4000 revs and over testing of about 30 miles too so a big step forward.

Then there's UNJ, the TR7 DHC. As already reported this was much improved due to work done by TR7 specialists S&S Preparations but after this I spotted they had posted on facebook an almost brand new sports exhaust system and manifold. For the price of a brand new one supply only they fitted this nearly new one for me and I picked the car up on Saturday.

The car sounds GREAT and not only that but it goes even better now.

So, yes I am cheating on my old principles of doing work myself and my wallet is much lighter but I am very pleased with the results.