One problem that wasn't-solved, then another appears

The joys of working on 45 year old cars.

When I identified the heater wasn't working a few weeks ago now I carried out one or two checks. The control was operating the levers but there was no hot water to the heater pipes from the engine bay.

I had actually missed a crucial bit here as I wasn't familiar with the 2000 heater system and I now know it's a stuck heater valve and there is no lever actually attached any more.

Not realising this though I contacted Chris Witor, talked it over with him and he suggested it was possibly the water return pipe connecting the inlet manifold to the water pump. As it looks like the original it could easily have become full of gunk and be restricting water flow and it isn't something I would like to have fail on the 10 Countries Run either so I ordered a replacement.

I removed the old pipe which was a bit of a faff as it runs between the exhaust manifold and the block but once I had it off the car there was a kink in it but other than that it didn't look too bad. Obviously I still replaced it with the new stainless steel pipe which should last another 45 years!

Of course that sounds easier than it was to do especially when things like ratchets, clips and olives fall on the floor and have to be found/retrieved.

Having completed this I then started the car to make sure there were no leaks and was pleased to see there weren't.

Strangely though the electric fan started immediately but cut off after about a couple of minutes. Getting the car thoroughly up to temperature it didn't come back on though as expected. I switched the engine off, restarted and the electric fan came on.

I'll have to investigate that next.It could be because the car isn't being used and old cars don't like that. For example petrol came out of the front carb float chamber too but a tap on it cured the sticking valve. Regular use tends to make sure these things don't happen.

Engine cleaning & fan replacement

It took 2 hours to steam clean all the 2000 engine components but at least it's a good base to start from.

Also, the flywheel fits in the lathe so we can machine it down from the current 13kg to a target weight of 8kg thanks to advice from the Club Triumph forum - that's one heck of a reduction and it should make a difference to low speed pick up.

That was yesterday but today whilst doing a check over UNJ back at home I decided to sort something else out.  There has been rather a strange noise develop which led me to believe the viscous fan was failing and it certainly did not rotate freely as it should. My plan had been to spend £100+ on an electric fan kit but then I remembered a viscous fan assembly I had removed from a Dolomite Sprint engine.

Best part of an hour later it was swapped over and all appears to be well. Subject to a roadtest that's a good way of earning £100 an hour!

I also rejoined Facebook today (against my better judgement) but here's a photo from my daughter Michelle's page showing me and PMW in the Alps last year which brings back happy memories.

PMW looking great with a tremendous background - not sure about me though!

Ticking them off

I drove UNJ for the first time in 2 years last night - to the May Pendle and Pennine meeting. The car was pretty good and seems very different to the other Triumphs I have driven, more of a modern car for one thing and also a quiet cruising car with the top down in the sun - lovely!

I am now making a "snag" list of course and the picture here shows the first thing on it. At the front of the inlet manifold which is also the casting for the thermostat housing there is a small core plug which is "weeping". This will have to be fixed before I take the car any distance and certainly before the 2 day "AutoEcosse"!

Then after that there were some niggle really.

1. The reversing lights didn't work as I found out when I got home in the dark.
2. The fuel gauge still wasn't working although the low fuel light flickered on the way home (I had only put 10 litres in for now)
3. The indicators don't cancel and there's a squeak from the steering column shroud on turning corners sometimes. I think these may be related with something not quite right in the assembly.
4. The instrument light for the temperature gauge wasn't working.
5. The choke warning light stays on all the time.
   

So this afternoon I set about these smaller niggles. Crawling under the car and swapping the connections on the tank sender unit didn't cure the fuel gauge problem.

Next thing then was to remove the fuel gauge itself and replace it with one from a spare instrument panel I have. Success! It's very satisfying when you cure something.

Whilst the instrument panel was apart I also cleaned it all and replaced one of the bulbs so all the instrument lights now work too.

So that's items 2 and 4 sorted.

I think I have sorted out item 5 too with the sensor for the choke cable removed and repositioned.

What about the non functioning reversing lights? Well I first checked to see if there was power to them by putting the live feed to the side lights instead and they lit up so power was getting through. OK, must be a duff bulb and actually 2 duff bulbs one either side so I removed the bulb holder from the offside and found no bulb in there at all! Same story nearside. Fitting a pair of bulbs I had in my spares cured the "problem".

That's probably the easiest fix I have ever had to do.

The core plug and the non cancelling indicators will have to wait for a little while but not a bad effort overall.

A pleasant change

When we did the Historic Counties the indicator stalk started mis-behaving. It would have to be held in position for the stalk to locate correctly, but only sometimes.

This was a replacement second hand one so I thought I would probably need a new one but they cost £63 so I hoped I might be able to fix it.

So, this afternoon I removed the cover and found one of the screws holding the stalk on was loose - aha. Tighten it up, re-fit the cover and the job is sorted. That was certainly a pleasant change to normal.

Unfortunately, the exhaust is blowing again!

Then I moved onto the TR7 to start it up, warm it through and move it a little to make sure everything was freed off. Well, it started pretty quickly, got up to just under half on the temp gauge when the elctric fan cut in and brought it back down to just over a quarter. There was still the right level of coolant in the expansion tank too - this is looking promising.

All the lights worked, even the offside indicator which seemed reluctant to start with but then played ball. The only thing not happy are the emergency flashers but that's a minor worry.

So, looking good but I need to wait for the roll cage yet which should be here in a couple of weeks.

A glorious sound

Yes, BRP is running again.

Thanks Bryce and Steve - between us we have managed to persuade BRP to fire up again at last.

New leads, new dizzy cap, pulling out the dizzy and re-aligning it finally sorted it. The timing hasn't even been checked yet!

I have run her up to just above the first reading on the temp gauge tho and now I'll be re-torquing the head, probably next weekend. After that it's filling with coolant and hoping the over heating problems are fixed.

No pics in this post - the engine bay looks just the same!

Start as you mean to go on

I am back at work tomorrow of course so I have done a bit more spannering today.

I have fitted the new uptrated alternator I bought back in November - here it is next to the old one which is now tagged as "OK" and has been saved as a spare.

Installed it looks fine and fits no problem at all. The seocnd pic shows the front of the engine - metal header tank as fitted yesterday, new alternator, electric fan on the uprated radiator and in the background the airhorns also
required as part of the regs for rallying.

On order I now have a full set of new plug leads and electronic ignition. Once they are fitted and set up I shgould be able to start the engine, warm it up and re-torque the cylinder head after it has cooled back down.

After all that I hope to have a reliable cool engine.

If that can be achieved the rest of the year can be spent on buying and fitting a roll cage, harnesses, final fitting of the comp seats and the required fire extinguisher system.

When that's in place it will be a question of getting the OK from the MSA and obtaining a stage rally log book along with Historic vehicle Identity Forms.

Last post of 2007

Last night we had another look at starting BRP. 2 dodgy plug leads aren't helping plus we need to pull the dizzy out and re-install it as suspected. That can be done another day.

So, in the meantime, I have fitted the later cooling system which can be seen here.

In effect it's a metal header tank for the radiator although for the moment at least I have left in the original expansion tank too for the overflow from the header tank.

So, in order toget this beast to run without overheating it now has a new thicker headgasket to go with the later header tank system, a new thermostat, an uprated new radiator,a brand new electric fan and all new hoses.

Next, I'll move on to sorting a problem left over from Ictober 2006 - replacing the alternator with the new upgraded one.

I also have a few bits and pieces on order for the SU carbs too just to hopefully add a little more performance using what little knowledge I gained from a chap called David Vizard in his tuning books.

Of course, the engine needs to run and then not overheat yet!

Header tank

Following advice from members of the Club Triumph forum (Trackerjack & Beanz) as well as from a new book on uprating TR7s I have decided to replace the plastic expansion bottle as standard on the early cars with the metal header tank system fitted from 1979 on.

The above picture are the components I got from S&S and the lower picture is after I have cleaned them up and painted them.

Never fear, CT members - this was no more than a quick clean up and paint to preserve them, certainly not a long time prep and painstaking process to beautify the car!

I also got the head back last night and the verdict is that it may be OK but the safest bet would be to strip it down and skim it.

Well, probably wrongly I have decided against that. Given that it doesn't take long to re-fit I have ordered a thick head gasket and will put it all back together following all the tips I have been given on torqueing the head down etc. Then it will have the new cooling system in place and we'll see what happens.

If it still overheats then I reckon I'll pull the engine out and fit one of the second hand ones.

I am determined to spend money on safety prep needed for rallying - not on engines. All I need is an engine that will work reliably, standard tune power will be fine.

Let's get out there competing whilst building another comp engine ready for when I can use it.