Now we are getting somewhere

Fitted the disc assembly back to the car first.

Then it was onto the seats again. I followed my plan and swapped the seats over with their mountings and installed the driver's side. Sounds easy but I can assure you it wasn't!

I had bought 12 new bolts earlier in the day for £1.50 as the original mounting bolts had now seen better days having been in and out so many times!

Anyway, the driver's side is in and so I at last had a chance to drive the car for the first time in ages. I took it easy as the car was full of tools, the passenger seat was loose in the car and there was general debris everywhere - also I felt sure one of the tyres was a bit down.

Still, in the 1 mile test drive I think the brakes are improved and the seat position feels great - sat well up and in control.

Next I need to sort out the passenger seat, try the seating our with a helmet on in case it's too high and then generally tidy everything up. I should make "The Little Devils" tho with the car looking like a real competition car!

Why oh why?

As in why oh why do I start something else when the car was OK anyway?

Nevermind, another hour and a half tonight sees the drivers seat in for a trial fit. OMG!! I am only average size but my head is nearly hitting the roof!

Apart from that you certainly feel alot more secure and in control with the comp seats.

Now more patience is needed really whilst I fine tune the seating. I thnk the driver's seat mounts will go to the passenger side as they are of a different make and allow more adjustment rearwards (I want the co-driver sitting as far back as possible to leave me with as much vision as possible and room for arm twirling!).

Then the mountings currently in the passenger side will go to the driver's side (following this?) and I will aim to mount the seats in the lowest position possible. All of this for someone 5'8" for goodness sake - there'll be no chance of anyone taller driving the car anyway!

Meanwhile, remember the brake disk assembly? It's now been machined up and I aim to collect it from Kevin in a couple of days.

So, 3 weeks to go to the Pendle and Pennine meeting followed by an entry in a road rally and I have no brakes and no seats - situation normal really.

Comp seats go in

Having been inspired by Steve's cars I decided to fit the competition seats I bought.

The thing that stopped me up to now though was that I have no budget left and couldn't afford the harnesses which will be hung off the roll cage I also can't afford yet!

However, I had thought that using the standard seatbelts would be a problem because as you can see here, they are bolted to the seat frame.



Upon reflection though I can't see why I can't mount the seat belts to the comp seats and their mounts in the same way.

So, here's fitting the seat mounts having removed the standard passenger seat. Thankfully, they bolt up to the original mounting points which must be a good thing rather than drilling holes through the floor for nuts and bolts.



Next up is to fit the seats incorporating the seat belt mountings.





This is what it looks like - not bad really!

The thing is though, it has taken me 3 hours to get this far!

Unfortunately, it's not as straight forward as I would have liked so more patience and perseverance is required yet.

MYE 778P - a very special car

Just back from holiday and had to post this picture of a very special car.

This is me in the driver's seat of MYE 778P - a car which was originally used in the launch publicity photos (brochures etc) and then was raced by a gent called Dick Adams.

Now owned by Steve Thomas who kindly allowed me to look it over, take lots of photos and drive it too!

See the link to Steve's website.

Off with the hub and disc

So this evening's task?

Removal of the hub and disc so that my wife can drop it off at Kevin's. Then while I am on holiday he'll sort out the run out problem and I'll put it back on in a couple of weeks.

It will be very interesting to see if it all makes any difference!

In the meantime poor old BRP is stranded on the drive without a front nearside wheel, hub or disc and with the caliper supported. Sad really.

Still, I did accompany "Rumpith" to view his Spitfire which is making some prgoress at last. It needs to tho with the RBRR only 3 months away.

Do the shimmy?

I have always had a wheel shimmy problem on the TR but with the addition of the uprated front brakes it is even more noticable.


My mate Kevin is determined to sort this problem out so he came over today with some shims - this is what shims look like nowadays apparently! Sheets of plastic in different thicknesses that you cut with a pair of sciscors - what is the world coming too?


Anyway, we jacked the TR up, removed the wheels and put a dial gauge on the discs. Only 1 thou out on the offside but 7 thou out on the nearside.

That doesn't sound enough to make a difference but we went to work on the nearside. This involved removing the disc and fitting shims between the hub and disc - several times!

We got the run-out down to 4 thou and then reassembled it all for a test drive - no difference.

We really thought that 4 thou wouldn't matter anyway so now we were stumped.

Half and hour after Kevin left he called me back - he has been informed by a chief techie at a rally team that 4 thou will definitely give a problem.

Next step is to remove the whole assembly and then it goes into Kevin's machine shop (he is a director of an engineering company) to be trued up on a rather expensive lathe - then we'll see what difference that makes.

A quick blast - use it or lose it

Nipped out to get some food for a barbecue we are having today so, of course, that was an opportunity to use the TR.

Always a good idea to use the car each week to keep things freed off etc, even if it's only a few miles.

So, into town, buy some burgers and kebabs from the local butcher (good to help local business instead of a supermarket if possible) and then 3 or 4 miles back around the local lanes. My goodness this car is now just great!

It's certainly important to use a classic car instead of leaving it on the drive - using it reminds you of why you bought it in the first place.