Braking my heart!

I am trying to work through my 3 Triumphs in a logical way.

1. Get the 2000 sorted with a few glitches done to make it OK to drive but no uprating.
2. Get BRP's engine rebuilt and running, fit the Group 4 brakes so I can get it's historic rally car papers, wire in the Brantz rally computer (last year's Xmas present!) and then use it for competitive events.
3. Transfer the surplus brakes from BRP to the convertible, fit new polybushes and the uprated suspension I already have, cure the misfire and get it on the road with an MOT before summer runs out!

Not much there then! It's only a few things on the 2000 really providing I am not tempted to upgrade so today I worked on PMW.

A classic example of the few simple jobs was what I tackled first; the washers kept failing as one of the electrical connectors to the pump kept falling off. Simple, crimp it up and then job sorted. Oh no it wasn't, I had to work through all the tubes and jets too with an airline so that even with the pump fixed there was water to clean the screen with.

And that was just the start.

The brakes have always juddered so today was the day to fit the new discs and pads I had bought. Nothing out of the way here, standard bits, not uprated or anything so I thought 3 hours should cover this.

OK so faffing about with the washers slowed things down a bit but as I have done this kind of job before how hard could it be?

Here we go.

First thing after jacking the car up, setting it on axle stands and removing the front wheels was to remove the off side brake caliper. I always do one side at a time so that there's something to refer to as well as the Haynes manual.

Pulling the old pads out was fine and they went into the hubcap along with the pins and shims etc. The caliper itself is held on by two bolts, just like the TR7s I am used to.

Persuading them to undo though was no easy task and I had to resort to a long bar with some more pipe on the end of that - plenty of leverage eventually worked. I now remembered that the car has had a long time in storage with no maintenance which was now becoming apparent as bolts refused to give in easily!

Anyway, next up having tied the caliper out the way with cable ties was to remove the hub which went OK actually so back on track. Here's the hub in my vice with wood in the jaws to protect the studs. Those bolts didn't come out that easily but defeated they were and then the new disc fitted with new bolts so OK, looking good.At this point though I was beginning to think that maybe I wouldn't do both sides today unless everything suddenly became much easier.

It didn't!!

Putting the hub back on the stub axle was OK no problem, it was when it came to refitting the caliper that things got a tad difficult.

Brake disc shields are the work of the devil. I have always taken them off my "competition" cars to help with cooling but was happy to leave them on this standard car. Well I wasn't happy when the shield made it very difficult to locate the caliper bolts so after much struggle I bent the shield mountings away - now we're flying.

No, putting the pads in then became a nightmare with the inner getting jammed so I unbolted the caliper again (!), cleaned up the channel for the pads some more, refitted it loosely and made sure the cylinders were pushed back in flush.

Now the pads went in and I could bolt the caliper back on. I had tried to bolt the shield back on by adapting it slightly but it was having none of it so I decided to take it off completely. Would it come off? What do you think?

A hacksaw cutting it into two halves persuaded it though - *** note to self, check the front bolt to the steering arm is tight***

Definitely time to call it a day and just do the one side. But then the steering lock won't release and I can't get the wheel back on Aaarghhh!!!

Having put all the tools away I came back to it and eventually got that released, refitted the front wheels and finally got it down on the ground again.

So that's 3 hours work to change one side's disc and pads. Next week the nearside!

Driving again

Yes, at last - after 18 months Raider's on the Road again, wearing different clothes again - oops, that's a song lyric. I wonder if anyone will comment on the original on the Club Triumph forum?

Anyway, back to the point. Yes, I collected the 2000 yesterday and have to say it was all a bit of a shock.

I didn't actually enjoy the experience as I thought I would. 18 months without drivng meant I was a bit wary of myself and then the car I chose to use is 1969 technology meaning getting the choke right is a bit of an art and keeping the car running at junctions etc until warmed up was something I could have done without.

Still, I made it home and then to the Pendle and Pennine meeting where that kind gent, Mike Helm acted in the interests of road safety - see the pics below!
Today though I drove over 250 miles - a round trip to see my mum as I couldn't get to her birthday last weekend and then to a bonfire party my daughter invited me too.

The more I drove the better it got and certainly on the way to Derbyshire the drive through Chatsworth, Bealey village, and Ashover was very very good - PMW sounds great and flicking in and out of overdrive was great too.

A few things need doing to the car though

1. I must fit the discs I have so that I can stop the brake judder.
2. The electrical connection on the windscreen washer pump needs fixing so that they work!
3. It really must get washed and cleaned.
4. The car doesn't pull as cleanly as it should - investigation of carb set up needed here.
5. It definitely needs a larger alternator as with anything electrical in use the volts drop (I have two good second hand ones off TR7s so I'll swap one over)
   

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!

I've been here before!

I returned to the attack today! Having a day off work gave me the opportunity to make more progress and I approached things in a steady calm way' Hopefully, this will pay dividends later.

Whilst the head was off the car I remembered that the heater had not worked for some time so I backflushed that whilstI had the chance.

Then carefully cleaned up the block, blew through the waterways as much as possible with an airline, cleaned off the surfaces and generally did everything I could to give myself a good chance of it going right this time!

The cylinder head was all nice and shiny as it came from Dale's and finally I lifted it onto the block as you can see here with the cylinder head bolts and nuts etc in place. I couldn't torque it down as my torque wrench is over with PMW but it's good to see the engine looking more like an engine again.
Another bonus is that with the cylinder head off the bench and a bit of time put aside for tidying my work area in the garage actually looks clean and tidy for the first time in many months, well, by my standards anyway!

Sump 1 Head 0

I couldn't get access to the 2000 this week but I am doing my best to put in a couple of hours or so every weekend on the cars.

So this week it was back to BRP. My thoughts were that as I had just about got the sump back on I would finish that off and then fit the cylinder head.

There would have been a nice photo then as well with the engine looking more like a full engine again.

Oh well, it took alot more time than expected to get the sump all bolted back up. The main culprit was the bottom engine mount which fits across the bottom of the sump and onto the subframe. This had been the cause of my bloody hand (literally) of a few weeks back now.

There wasn't the problem of wrestling with it all this time though, it was just a very slow process. Whilst I was in the vicinity I changed the oil filter too so all the oil has been changed as well as the filter, hopefully making sure there are no metal bits in the engine oilways as a result.

In the end, 3 hours of work was quite satisfying as the sump is back in place and bolted up.

Next week I plan to change the screen rubbers in the 2000 as they are very perished which is not a good thing for a car about to be used over winter.

A thing of beauty

Attention switches to PMW this week as I have received my driving licence which is valid from November 5th, only 18 days from now and PMW is the only one of my cars taxed and tested.
There are a few jobs need doing though ideally before then and number one on the priority list is an exhaust as it was "blowing" and also knocking against the floor of the car on my birthday trip.

Having thought about it I bought a Chris Witor full sports stainless steel exhaust and today set about fitting it.Here it is fresh out of it's packaging and next to the old exhaust on the workshop floor.

The old exhaust was very thin in places and a number of the mounting points where either mssing or completely shot - whereas the new one is a thing of beauty!



It was a generally straight forward job although there were a couple of delays whilst Bryce and I worked out how it fitted at the rear - was it over or under the nearside drive shaft? The answer is under but it took some time working that one out.

Here it is in the picture below fitted showing the spectacular rear exhaust box and tail pipe.


It's not just the looks that are a thing of beauty though, oh no, the sound is just wonderful to behold. It certainly put a big grin on my face and I can't wait to drive the car on the road - first stop the November Pendle and Pennine meeting.

Proof of progress

Just visible at the front is the sump gasket - now there'll be no more progress for a while as I switch attention to PMW ready for me driving again!!