Rust proof and brake

Completed the rustproofing of both TRs yesterday - nice to have done this as it's better to preserve than put right.

It's just a case of regularly topping up on BRP really which is good for the car but not so nice for the service crew who may have to work on it!

With the ragtop it's a case of getting some on the repairs that others have done but not bothered with - hopefully I can keep it in a good condition for longer this way.

Talking of the ragtop, that's now in at the local garage for a service as I don't have time to work on it as well as BRP.

I am chasing up a local graphics company for something I want on the car for this weekend - I somehow doubt it's going to happen but you never know. It'll be a secret for now but should raise a smile or two.

Finally, I have found someone to do the machining on the AP calipers and left it with them tonight. Once the Jack Neal rally is completed I should be able to collect the calipers, discs etc and fit them to BRP. Then it's a question of getting the Historic Vehicle Identity Form sorted and I can enter historic stage rallies.

It's along way to my goal but it's important to just keep putting one foot in front of another!

A quick blast

Just wandered out under the car port as you do.

I painted over a metal patch welded on the nearside inner wing of the convertible - in the rally car blue (tahiti) which is nowhere near the cavalry blue of the car but some paint is much better than the grey primer that was there.

Then I ventured inside the car and pulled the carpets back in the footwells / front bulkheads. As I suspected from some photos I have of work done to the car there has been metal welded in but on the inside no rust protection done at all. In fact some of the old metal is still there with new welded over from the outside.

Solid enough to pass an MOT but not the standard I know several of the readers of this blog would be happy with.

Still - I am not planning to spend lots of time on this car (he says hopefully) but I do want to make some attempt at keeping it in a useable condition for as long as possible. So, these areas got a quick blast of dynatrol in an attempt to keep rust away for some time.

Next for this car is a new set of tyres and then I reckon I'll get it into the local garage for a service and the misfire fixed - I have enough on with the rallying without spending time doing this kind of work on UNJ.

Speaking of which, I may do a thorough rustproofing job of both(?) cars tomorrow and then switch attention back to BRP - the next rally is less than a week away now so stay tuned.

Round up

Haven't posted for a while so here's a round up of where I am at.

The ragtop has an MOT and I will be taxing it as soons as I can in May.

I have collected some spares from S&S on the usual arrangement for the Jack Neal Memorial rally.

I also collected a second hand rear axle I bought for £20 as a spare which I can rebuild at some point. I can confirm it goes in the boot of an Audi A4 and also that it reduces the Audi's MPG from 53 to 49!

Next up is accompanying Bryce in his TR7V8 to the Club Triumph Cadwell Park track day this weekend followed by competing in the Jack Neal the weekednd after.

It's good to keep busy.

Nearly an MOT!

I took UNJ into my local garage today for an MOT to see how much it would fail on.

Well actually it has failed on emissions and a headlamp not working on main beam.

For me that's a

I have left the car with them to fix these and will be picking it up on Wednesday so I will be taxing it for May 1st.

The guy said "it's really solid underneath - that one's a good'un"

It's amazing what you find out

Yes, it's amazing but before going on to that how about this picture of my carport today. 2 TR7s, it can't get much better than that.

And have you noticed the sign?

Anyway, what's amazing? Well it's what you find out when you work on a car that you have bought which "needs attention".

I just put a couple of hours in on the ragtop today and found out a number of things.

1) It has a brand new nearside front wing. How do I know? Well it still has the sticker on the inside which also means it has no rustproofing of any kind , now why would you not rustproof it?

2) Someone's wiring is even worse than mine I have spent alot of time removing totally superfluous wiring some of which was actually "live" Joints were made up of wires twisted together and wrapped up in insulation tape whilst other connections were in the wrong place. Meanwhile the wiring to the auxiliary flashers on the wings is just rubbish and hanging loose but for now they work and I have other priorities.

Listing the progress though is a psotive thing to do so we now have

A car that runs
headlights that work
Indicators that work
Heater fan that works
hazard flashers that work
Even the rear fog light works
The interior panel lights work.

What still isn't working tho is the headlamp flash and the horn but that can wait until tomorrow.

Once that's sorted I'll book the car in for MOT and see what happens

I've never been topless before!

A beautiful day today here in sunny Lancashire which is just the type of day to go topless!

A fair bit of work needed first though before I could get the convertible up and running. I fitted a new battery and then had to amend the battery clamp to hold it.

Also had to get more water/antifreeze mix into it and then start it up, which it did quite happily.

A very quiet running engine which is a bit of a surprise and no overheating which is also very welcome!

Other than that the clutch needed freeing off and then I could try topless motoring out for the first time ever and very agreeable it was too.

Not all the electrics are working yet though - the headlamps are a bit iffy and the horn/interior lights and hazards don't work. When I sort these out I'll get the car in for an MOT an we'll see what else is needed.

Helping Bryce

Bryce has helped me out so much with my car I wanted to do at least a little bit to help him out so I spent the afternoon assisisting as best I could as he builds his car up.

As can be seen in these pics it's looking great but what you can't get from the pictures is the sound of it when it fired up for the first time.

Oh yes, we got it running and it certainly sounds like there's some power there!




































Then we fitted a brake adjusting valve - you can see Bryce doing so in one of the pictures. Really there's still alot to do but patiently working away at it is the way forward.

I reckon Bryce will be at the May1st Club Triumph track day with the car.