More overdrive

I didn't have much time today but did have enough time to use a borrowed 5/16 UNF die to rethread the gear lever (thanks Bryce for the loan of the die).

With that done I was able to fit another overdrive gearknob, but this one is like ones used in competition with a toggle switch. It fits very nicely and feels nice and solid. Next up is wiring it in.

Not used to this

I have bought a non overdrive gearlever and today I thought I would clean it up and out of curiosity see how it looked against the overdrive one n the car.

Using a rag and turps the new old stock gearlever cleaned up a treat but I knew there were some parts I would need so I referred to my parts book.  Well everything I needed looked like should be in place on the one already fitted as they didn't seem different where they locate so I decided to partly dismantle things to take a look.

Here's the assembly and yes it looks like everything should be able to be switched over. Well, having come this far I might as well check it out a bit more eh?

So, I undid the bolt at 6 o'clock in ths photo and removed it. Then there's nuts at 3 and 9 o'clock but if I remove them that would still leave studs in place surely so how would the metal cover come off?

Well, only one way to find out so I undid them and out came the studs too. Then the cover lifts off with an "inverted saucer" that holds a spring below it. With those out of the way the gearlever came out and I could compare with the non overdrive gearlever.

They looked exactly the same at the gearbox end so rather than describe the blow by blow of reassembly it was in the tradition of the Haynes manual a reversal of what I had just done and here's the "new" non overdrive gearlever in place.

Before fully replacing all the trim I then took the car for a test run and all is well with gear selection and how great it is to have a proper "knob" to get hold of!

Meanwhile the car ran well for a good 12 miles or so but then started to bog down and struggle again. I think this could easily be more fuel problems as on a light throttle it pulled quite well so next weekend it will be checking the fuel pump again.

Looking for a knob

I have seen this all too often. The overdrive gearknob switch won't stay in place which is a real pain and of course means no overdrive.

I have decided on a completely different alternative. It's possible to fit an alloy gearknob with a toggle switch which is much more robust and retains the ability to easily flick the overdrive on and off whilst holding the gearstick.

I am going with a different approach though which is cheaper and whilst not as hands on as the above option should be fine with how I want to use the 2000, more of a cruiser than a sporting car.

Here is an overdive switch for a TR2 which I have used in the past on a Vitesse I owned. That's not the position for it by the way but was a good place to put it whilst I worked.

 Although it would be good there I want to keep the power outlet for satnavs etc so I looked for options.

I then thought about using the location for the dimmr dwitch on the dashboard as the dashboard lights are rubbish anyway and there's no need to dim them!

Now started another saga where the car decided to fight me.

I pulled the dashboard out and removed the dimmer swicth which wasn't easy but when I fitted the overdrive pull switch it didn't really work well as a solution due to the gap around the switch. During removal of the dimmer swicth though the connectors became disconnected from the back of it so when I wanted to replace it I needed to use a spare I had.

I needed to get a little bit more clearance though and had to disconnect the tripmeter cable from the speedometer. When putting this back I actually found it was broken at the speedo end  but I thought this wouldn't be a problem as I had a spare on the original 2000 speedo. The cable had actually broken with the plastic connections falling inside the speedo so the job became a bigger one.

OK I thought, I'll swap in the whole 2000 speedo but then realised it wouldn't match as it has chrome rings whilst all the other gauges have black rings because they are Pi ones. Then I remembered a brand new TC one I had bought as  a Rimmer Bros clearance item a few years back. That had a black ring and the trip doesn't use a cable as it's a push button through the front of the gauge. I fitted this although it has a top speed of 120mph instead of 140mph but who's kidding anyone the car will ever see 140!.

With the dashboard back in I could return to fitting the overdrive pull switch.

I put it where I had in mind right from the start, where Triumph fitted a pull switch for a rear screen heater. This is fine as I can re-use the hole for a rear screen heater switch which I will need in the future.

So, a bit of drilling and fitting resulted in this.

A Triumph part in a correct location in the car.

Now what I need though is a gearknob for a non overdive 2000, maybe a complete gearlever too but that's for another day.

Where's the nearest scrapyard?

Just about had enough of this car now.

Took it out for a run to check out the various issues.

Clutch worked fine - so that's a good thing but I haven't yet checked the integrity of the slave cylinder couplings.

Overdrive worked with the switch nicely in position on the top of the gearkob - then it stopped working. Faffing about with it in a layby didn't help, the connections are too long/falloff/the wiring is too long holds the switch out of the top of the gearknob and then when I finally gave up the top of the knob flew off somewhere into the recesses of the car.

If I keep this car it will get a proper switch somewhere else. I used to have a TR3 overdrive switch on my Vitesse years ago and that would look good - or maybe one of those rally type ones on the gearlever but with a proper toggle switch.

Meanwhile, whilst in another layby I tried to sort out what was happening with the heater thanks to some tips from my mate Andy Pearce only to find the linkage on the heater valve on the inlet pipe is entirely missing! What joy. More faffing about there then.

There should be a linkage on the centre of the circular brass valve!

Finally to cap it all off when I left the second layby the car started hesitating and backfiring - now it was a case of if I could get it home. With much revving in low gears I got the car home and now it is under the car port in shame waiting for when/if I can be bothered to look at any of these different problems.

10CR in 2015 in this car looks a long way off right now.

In fact, why don't I sell my Triumph sand buy a reliable Z4 or something instead?

Not convinced

Slave cylinder now fitted the correct side of the bracket

So, returning to the clutch saga here's the slave cylinder fitted at the rear of the bracket  giving more of a "push" and maybe helping the loss of fluid problem.

I did take the car for an 8 mile run and the clutch worked just fine but will the fluid stay in the system?

Well, I have all the connections as tight as I can get them. I have cleaned them off and then left some kitchen towel tissue around them to see if there's any seepage visible in a day or so.

Leak detection system!

Meanwhile, there is visible leakage from the sump plug area too!! 

Now actually I don't think it's the sump plug itself especially as I have PTFE round it.

I think there may be a problem with the brazing on the threaded insert that the sump plug goes in to.

I could do without that really.


















Having had enough of that though I then ventured inside the car to try and get the overdrive switch on top of the gear lever fitted properly. It just won't sit down as it should though so now I know why I have seen a fair few cars with insulation tape holding the switch on!

I thought a combination of pulling the wiring down the gear lever and pressing the switch into place would sort it out but no matter what I do I can't get it to co-operate. Thoughts of a normal gearknob and wiring another switch start to come to mind or buying a different type altogether as used to be fitted to works cars but that seems a bit drastic right at the moment.

Did I mention the heater still doesn't work?

Oh, and how about the fact that the weld broke on the bonnet stay so it went further forward than it should and marked the paint on the bonnet and slam panel?

Don't you just love classic cars?

Into Overdrive - then!

Last week I had fitted a new overdrive gearlever wiring harness but the overdrive didn't work  :-(

This week I patiently worked through the wiring with my digital analyser as most overdrive probelms are electrical.

First check - power to the switch - yes.

OK - now time to dismantle the gearlever gaiter so I could get to the top of the gearbox.

That allowed me to check if there was  power from the switch. Yes.

OK good so far. I could see wiring to the inhibitor but that wouldn't be easy to get to and I didn't feel like pulling the connectors off to check if power was there as it wouldn't be easy to get them back on.

No matter - I could check if there was power reaching the solenoid with the the ignition on and the car in 3rd or 4th by jacking the car up and getting it on to axle stands.

This accomplished when I got under the car I saw the earth lead to the solenoid wasn't connected. Putting that back on and then checking the power said everything should be OK.

Whilst under the car I noticed the clutch slave cylinder connection was weeping as was the sump plug so I tightened them up a tad. Note this for later reference.

With the car back on the ground I carefully reassembled the gear lever gaiter and associated trim, even replacing a missing clip and screw.

So, the moment of truth - would the overdrive work?

Out on a test drive and I can report yes it does - hurragh!

Which is just as well because the clutch failed but I managed to jam it in third and switch between third and overdrive third to limp back home.

The 2000 is now back under the car port in shame until next weekend. I think I will take a long hard look at the whole clutch hydraulics again and see if I can sort that one out next.

I am absolutely convinced there's a great car lurking behind all this grief and I'll get to it eventually.

Just a little bit more

So this weekend I fitted a new overdrive gearlever wiring harness.

The old one was completely shot at the gearknob end and I had bought a replacement some time ago but other things had got in the way - like getting the car to run, sort out a propshaft with a UJ that went AWOL and also clutch problems!

Anyway, I wondered how the fitting of the replacement would go and started off with taping the new one to the old and pulling through. That didn't work either way (from top or bottom) as there was too much of an obstruction.

So, with a sinking heart I pulled the old harness out completely. Now if I couldn't get the new one to co-operate there wouldn't be another one to guide it - gulp.

It wasn't a problem though and it went in from the bottom and up the gear lever shaft no problem. Then with unusual patience from me I refitted all the trim etc and went out on a test run.

No joy I am afraid as using the switch had no effect at all. I pulled over and found a blown fuse which I replaced but still no joy so I think I'll have to get my electric circuit tester out next week.

Meanwhile the car ran well apart from after about 15 miles it started to hesitate again - hmmm.  When it is running though I am using more of the revs, up to 4500 now and my goodness it sounds great with a real howl from the exhaust.

I also found out the heater doesn't work  which is no problem for the 10CR next September but is no good for use in the UK over winter.

So jobs to do now are

1. Get the overdrive working
2. See why the car is starting to hesitate again.
3. Fix the heater (maybe the control isn't attached so that's where I'll start)

Returning to the battle

But the battle was so much easier having been through it last week.

Not easy, but manageable using all the techniques I learned last week - 2 hours instead of 3 this time.

Emboldened by this I decided to move on to replacing the speedo cable, having ordered a new one. Hmmm- not so good, the new one doesn't have the same fixing at the gearbox end as the current one!
Whilst fiddling around with the bit in the gearbox/overdrive the cable fits into to see if there was something I was missing it came out and gear oil started to run out the gearbox - oh good!!!

Thankfully it went back in and with a tap I got it flush and replaced the original speedo cable to hold it all in place.

Meanwhile, the exhaust had been rattling and still being a glutton for punishment I decided to sort this out. No problem really, just tightened the brass nuts up at the manifold which had worked loose after the few miles the car had done since fitting the exhaust.

Then put the car back down on the ground, tighten the wheel nuts and fire it up for a test run of the brakes and exhaust (the speedo cable can wait a bit longer) but no, the battery was too low!!

The battery is now on charge overnight so I can then try again tomorrow - the place under the carport is needed for Mrs R's car

Screen seals

Replaced the rear screen seal today with Bryce's help as it was very perished - the car will be outside over winter soon and needs to be watertight.

Then we moved to the front screen but on inspection this looks quite good so we left it.

Thing is though, to view the seal we had to remove a stainless trim and it's not at all easy to see how to get it back on! I'll be seeking advice there.

A couple of other small jobs completed - the overdrive gearknob switch cap which means it isn't all taped up with insulating tape thank goodness.

Also tried to remove the aerial - Trouble is, it is snapped off and could easily cause someone to gash their hand. Given that there is a big chance it will be me I'd like to remove it (the aerial, not the hand). I am not worried about replacing it as I don't generally listen to music in my Triumphs - there's the sport exhaust for listening to.

Thing is - how is it removed? I can't see to get to the bottom of it as it sits under the wing but is encased by the inner wing/wheelarch panel and there's no other access I can see.

Anyone done this before?

On Friday I'll be going over by bus and train to collect PMW and drive it home - hurrah!