Keep on going

A return to UNJ this time.

I wasn't in the best frame of mind though as I had been away on buysiness to Spain and spent the last two days sipping water as I couldn't face any food. This was all good for weight reduction but not for a day's work on a Triumph when I know they rarely co-operate.

First on the agenda was driving over to Bryce's where he was good enough to help me out again. Priority was getting at a hole I knew was lurking on the nearside bulkhead where it butts up to the back of the inner wheel arch in the engine bay. I had stripped out all the interior for a better view and found two other small areas of rot which were probably caused by water getting in via the first hole and then being held by the carpet.

To get at the bulkhead hole though the windscreen wiper motor needed to come out and then the combined battery tray/wiper motor panel moved out of the way. A combination of drilling the spot welds and then cutting through the horizontal part of it meant it could be bent away to reval the horror below.

Nice grot!

 Having done that it was all cleaned up, metal patches made up, welded in (including in the interior) and then suitably treated with sealer and preservative. Sounds easy doesn't it? Well it wasn't.

With a welder available Bryce and I returned to trying to remove an obstinate bolt putting up a hell of a fight on the removal of the driver's seat front, specifically the one at the front near the transmission tunnel. Of course this wasn't in a convenient place either, what a surprise.

Not to be denied, Bryce welded on another bolt which immediately broke off. Another attempt saw a slight bit of movement before it snapped off again.  By now there was too much weld getting in the way and we still hadn't won. I have to admire Bryce's determination though, we kept at it.

At this point I commented that the seat was completely shot with a broken back in it as well as the fabric being in bits and the fact that I had a good replacement which was the whole point of the exercise. So, Mr Bolt, fight all you like you are not going to win.

Don't look down for those of a nervous disposition.

Out comes the knife to remove the front quarter of the seat followed by an angle grinder to remove the interior seat metal frame so that we could see the bolt directly for the first time. What I should have taken a photo of was the very large old screwdriver we welded to the bolt next and the large molegrips used on it until that bolt finally gave in.

Sacrificial seat!

By now having fought the car all day it was time to put it back into a drivable state - the sacrificial seat went back in for the 17 mile drive home whilst the wiper motor was bolted back in but I wasn't keen to try the wipers until I had another day to check things over again.

Luckily the wipers weren't needed on the 17 mile drive home as it was a fine dry day going into dusk and then

and then

I remembered how great it is to drive the car with the top down, jacket zipped up, woolly hat on head and heater on full.

Why would anyone not have a Triumph??

PMW looking good

A day of cracking progress! Here's a picture first though of the new steering rack gaiter and track rod end fitted to the off side front last week (same near side).
Then on to today - I had the old tyres from the 2000 wheels removed and scrapped, my good new Michelin 185/70R13s removed from the TR7 alloys and fitted to the 2000 wheels so now we have good quality rubber for our trip and the MOT man should be happy.

Meanwhile, Bryce continued with the bodywork and here you can see the offside front wing having been repaired, "made to shape" and primered up.


Followed by DA sanding including some quick repairs to a couple of dents in the driver's door - Bryce at work here whilst I was fighting the rear brakes. Eventually, a new set of brake shoes were fitted and the brake drums back on.

Painted near side front wing. We could have gone for £130 worth of paint and really gone to town but opted for 4 aerosols at £9 each! The colour match is pretty good though as can be seen here and two cans will have done what we need for the two wings and the driver's door. Other offending bits will get attention whilst the paint holds out!


And finally at the end of the day a struggle to get a seat bolt in but then we could stand back and look at the result of our efforts. Really great to see the car back together, the bodywork much improved, decent tyres on and the wheels back on with the original wheel trims.

Let's see what the MOT man thinks!

Progress on PMW

Bryce and I have had a good day on the 2000 having got really stuck in.

The 220 turbo seats are in after Bryce made some alloy brackets which have worked out really well.

All the metalwork is now done too. There is no intention of restoring the car to showroom condition or anything like it - just solid and presentable providing the car is structurally sound.

So, both front wings now have metal repairs where they join the front panel/valence under the bumper, the offside wing has a metal repair to the wheelarch and we (Bryce actually) have also repaired a rear coil spring mounting.

Next will be some filling and painting with (lookaway now purists) a rattle can or two to make it look presentable and cover any other bare metal as there are quite a few scrapes on the car. Paint is for protection here, not for show. The car is in incredibly good condition though and I am very pleased with how sound it is.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures from today but I'll try and put that right next week.

I'll need to replace 2 track rod ends and a steering rack boot followed by completing a service and getting an MOT as soon asw e can so that Bryce can get some miles on it before we head off for the Alps in 6 weels time (gulp).