Started the day by retorquing the cylinder head in the hotel car park.
Then over to Knockhill for signing on and scrutineering - thankfully no problems.
Four tests today and the main decision to be made was whether to stay in 1st or try and go for 2nd gear! On the first test I decided early on I'd grab second as soon as I could and hold on to it all the way round which I did but the car "bogged down" too easily - 101 seconds was our time.
Next run I stayed in first and rev'd the engine up to to 6000 (ouch!) and came in with a time of 96 seconds.
After that it was first gear near enough the whole time - sorry BRP!
But at the end of day 1 we are in 10th out of 17 so not too shabby.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Speedfair Rally 2011 - getting there
Writing this from the bar of my hotel in Dunfermline with BRP parked outside looking rather damn good actually.
The drive up at a steady 70 mph where possible was uneventful and it kept it at 3500 rpm which is no bad thing given the reconditioned head that is fitted.
Tomorrow morning I'll retorque the head in the hotel car park before we go to Knockhill for scrutineering and 4 tests against the clock.
Meanwhile, BRP is certainly very very noisy on a long journey! Since I stripped out all the sound deadening and carpets etc I have not driven it any distance other than competitively so now I know I couldn't use it in it's present form for a RBRR or the 10CR.
Something that helps make up for it though is all the admiring looks from people on the roads - a guy at a filling station really liked it and at one point a whole taxi full were looking at us and smiling.
The drive up at a steady 70 mph where possible was uneventful and it kept it at 3500 rpm which is no bad thing given the reconditioned head that is fitted.
Tomorrow morning I'll retorque the head in the hotel car park before we go to Knockhill for scrutineering and 4 tests against the clock.
Meanwhile, BRP is certainly very very noisy on a long journey! Since I stripped out all the sound deadening and carpets etc I have not driven it any distance other than competitively so now I know I couldn't use it in it's present form for a RBRR or the 10CR.
Something that helps make up for it though is all the admiring looks from people on the roads - a guy at a filling station really liked it and at one point a whole taxi full were looking at us and smiling.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
BRP on the road again
Back from holiday and my first trip out in BRP.
Just about 10 miles and it seems fine so far but by eck it's noisy with no interior trim etc! It also feels very different to the soft top as it so much more rigid and firm on the road.
Power seems good but I am trying to look after the head by keeping the revs down for a while. I will have to look into the fact it keeps stalling as soon as it comes to a halt though.
Speedfair Rally in 10 days and not much time to check things over.
Just about 10 miles and it seems fine so far but by eck it's noisy with no interior trim etc! It also feels very different to the soft top as it so much more rigid and firm on the road.
Power seems good but I am trying to look after the head by keeping the revs down for a while. I will have to look into the fact it keeps stalling as soon as it comes to a halt though.
Speedfair Rally in 10 days and not much time to check things over.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
A record for the Raider fleet!
As of today I have 3 Triumphs with MOTs, all insured and all taxed - WOW!
There are different degrees of "readiness" though.
UNJ - taxed, MOT and insured, radiator and dipstick tube replaced - completely roadworthy. In fact I was in UNJ at last night's Pendle and Pennine meeting. Probaly in use later today for a run out in the sun.
BRP - taxed on line today, MOT and insured, rear brakes freed off by the garage who did the MOT. Needs a good once over and a sump guard made up ready for the Speedfair rally and the Little Devils in August.
PMW - taxed, with MOT and insurance. Also with transmiaaion vibrations, without a distributor and under a dust cover! So not so ready to roll with this one.
There are different degrees of "readiness" though.
UNJ - taxed, MOT and insured, radiator and dipstick tube replaced - completely roadworthy. In fact I was in UNJ at last night's Pendle and Pennine meeting. Probaly in use later today for a run out in the sun.
BRP - taxed on line today, MOT and insured, rear brakes freed off by the garage who did the MOT. Needs a good once over and a sump guard made up ready for the Speedfair rally and the Little Devils in August.
PMW - taxed, with MOT and insurance. Also with transmiaaion vibrations, without a distributor and under a dust cover! So not so ready to roll with this one.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Back to BRP!
I have just been invited to take part in the Speedfair Rally at Scottish Classic Speedfair, Knockhill July 30th and 31st so this is another incentive to get back to BRP.
2 weeks after that though I am aiming to enter the Little Devils so it's a busy time ahead.
I had intended to get BRP entered for it's MOT this week but the wiper stalk simply broke, here it is removed from the car today and looking very sorry for itself as you can see.
In amongst my second hand spares though was a replacement from an early TR7 but that was held in by one bolt and two rivets rather than 3 bolts as on BRP. So I carefully placed the column switches in my vice supported underneath by a block of wood and drilled out the rivets.
That all worked out well but the bolts from BRP had nothing to grip on in the replacement switch (where the rivets had been) so off came the steering wheel in order for me to fit two small thin screws through the mounting holes and into clips which has done the job very nicely. The fixings are visible below, one bolt at the base of the stalk and two black screw heads further in above and below.
Re-assemble everything and it all works!
Next was a problem with the front near side headlamp not coming on when on main beam. I had a suspicion it was down to my naff wiring and sure enough a scotch lock was the problem where I was taking feed off so as to be available for the Cibie driving lamps when fitted.
I decided to remove the scotch lock, break into the wire and fit bullet connectors which then went into a rubber insulated connector and has solved that one too.
I really must get the heater working too which I think is a cable connector come adrift but that will mean removing the centre console to get at which is more than I can do today. The heater is important as I will need some demisting at different times of the year after all.
I could do with adjusting the rear brakes as well but with time running short I might put it in for MOT and get the garage to adjust them.
Another thing to note is that the car runs OK as regards tick over etc but there's a fair bit of knock from the top end which I suspect is camshaft related. Not entirely happy about that but it was an unkown when I had the head reconditioned so I have no problems with Dale, I took the gamble. I'll see how it goes and decide what, if anything, to do about it later.
2 weeks after that though I am aiming to enter the Little Devils so it's a busy time ahead.
I had intended to get BRP entered for it's MOT this week but the wiper stalk simply broke, here it is removed from the car today and looking very sorry for itself as you can see.
In amongst my second hand spares though was a replacement from an early TR7 but that was held in by one bolt and two rivets rather than 3 bolts as on BRP. So I carefully placed the column switches in my vice supported underneath by a block of wood and drilled out the rivets.
That all worked out well but the bolts from BRP had nothing to grip on in the replacement switch (where the rivets had been) so off came the steering wheel in order for me to fit two small thin screws through the mounting holes and into clips which has done the job very nicely. The fixings are visible below, one bolt at the base of the stalk and two black screw heads further in above and below.
Re-assemble everything and it all works!Next was a problem with the front near side headlamp not coming on when on main beam. I had a suspicion it was down to my naff wiring and sure enough a scotch lock was the problem where I was taking feed off so as to be available for the Cibie driving lamps when fitted.
I decided to remove the scotch lock, break into the wire and fit bullet connectors which then went into a rubber insulated connector and has solved that one too.
I really must get the heater working too which I think is a cable connector come adrift but that will mean removing the centre console to get at which is more than I can do today. The heater is important as I will need some demisting at different times of the year after all.
I could do with adjusting the rear brakes as well but with time running short I might put it in for MOT and get the garage to adjust them.
Another thing to note is that the car runs OK as regards tick over etc but there's a fair bit of knock from the top end which I suspect is camshaft related. Not entirely happy about that but it was an unkown when I had the head reconditioned so I have no problems with Dale, I took the gamble. I'll see how it goes and decide what, if anything, to do about it later.
Friday, June 10, 2011
IAE update and on!
Completed the International AutoEcosse in UNJ which was very enjoyable ineed. Finished 10th out of 23 CT crews on the tests which again I am very pleased with. Also very happy that Mrs R joined me on this one and is already signed up to do next year's.
The car will need a reconditioned radiator as it was leaking but managed to hold out until we got home. We had the hood down all weekend by the way apart from about 30 minutes even though it was cold and blustery all weekend.
Here's video evidence of us on the test at Kames courtesy of Steve Thompson
I am now in joint 5th place in the CT Driver Challenge which is where I would like to be by year end!
As I said over the weekend, I had become so focussed on the Manx that I had forgotten how enjoyable Club Triumph events were so it's good to be out competing again.
I haven't forgotten the Manx though and the next event is both another round of the CT Driver Challenge and a significant step back to the plan for the Manx rally. I am intending to enter the "Little Devils" in BRP in August. This event is as close to a stage rally as you can get without it being one or without needing a competition licence. It's also the first event Sarah and I did together.
Not only that but the last time BRP was out was on the Roskirk Stage rally in 2009 so I am really looking forward to it.
Problem is, I came to start the car and check things over prior to taking it for MOT and the headlight dip/main beam stalk broke! A bit of work needed then :-/
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Better and better
More work on UNJ and it's getting very satisfying now.
The car has been running fine but a hint of the misfire had returned, little things like faltering on the overrun, needing third gear at 30mph and 4th at 50mph. Then there was a fair amount of "pinking" if accelerating and putting the engine under a bit of load.
"It's always the ignition side" is my favourite saying to guide me under these circumstances but just on the off chance I checked the carb balance just in case one pair of cylinders were not getting the same fuelling as the other which would also cause the above. No, using the special tool of a length of fuel pipe stuck in my ear and then into the carbs in succession all was well there.
So, over to the ignition side.
With the engine warm and at tickover (which is also high at about 1200rpm) I pulled the plug leads off one by one using my special insulated grips and number 2 was making no contribution at all! Then testing with a spare plug showed no spark from this plug lead so I inspected it further and found the connector at the distributor cap end broken.
I didn't have a spare lead but managed to fix this with an end from an old lead. At the same time I put a small amount of grease on the distributor cam and lubricated it, along with cleaning up the dizzy cap.
The car performed much better on the next test run with much reduced pinking and no hesitation present so hopefully I have made a permanent cure. It's pretty good how well the car ran before though considering the poor/non existant input from number 2 cylinder.
This also gave me the chance to adjust the tickover speed and I was able to reduce it now to 850rpm but it does seem very reluctant to keep returning to this. Moving the loation of the throttle return spring helped as did oiling of the linkages. More use might help and the car is certaily going to get it with the International AutoEcosse next weekend.
The car has been running fine but a hint of the misfire had returned, little things like faltering on the overrun, needing third gear at 30mph and 4th at 50mph. Then there was a fair amount of "pinking" if accelerating and putting the engine under a bit of load.
"It's always the ignition side" is my favourite saying to guide me under these circumstances but just on the off chance I checked the carb balance just in case one pair of cylinders were not getting the same fuelling as the other which would also cause the above. No, using the special tool of a length of fuel pipe stuck in my ear and then into the carbs in succession all was well there.
So, over to the ignition side.
With the engine warm and at tickover (which is also high at about 1200rpm) I pulled the plug leads off one by one using my special insulated grips and number 2 was making no contribution at all! Then testing with a spare plug showed no spark from this plug lead so I inspected it further and found the connector at the distributor cap end broken.
I didn't have a spare lead but managed to fix this with an end from an old lead. At the same time I put a small amount of grease on the distributor cam and lubricated it, along with cleaning up the dizzy cap.
The car performed much better on the next test run with much reduced pinking and no hesitation present so hopefully I have made a permanent cure. It's pretty good how well the car ran before though considering the poor/non existant input from number 2 cylinder.
This also gave me the chance to adjust the tickover speed and I was able to reduce it now to 850rpm but it does seem very reluctant to keep returning to this. Moving the loation of the throttle return spring helped as did oiling of the linkages. More use might help and the car is certaily going to get it with the International AutoEcosse next weekend.
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