Since getting the exhaust sorted it's been a lot more fun driving Tango-BOB. Fortunately Ella is pleased with the noise. I walk to work every day so there's not that much of a need to drive - it's mainly trips to the shops, football training, etc. So recently I've made excuses to take little trips up the nearby "mountains" whenever possible.
I haven't really gone anywhere with any 'serious' issues. I had a bit of concern about a noise coming from the rear end of the car ... have you ever lost a socket after re-greasing splines? Well it seems leaving it inside the brake drum doesn't cause damage as such! Possibly as a result the ratchet on the brake's self-adjusting mechanism was all over the shop, so I've done a little straightening out and now have the best operating rear brakes and handbrake since purchasing the car. Brisbane's hilly and it's nice to stay still when sitting at traffic lights!
Next up is a trip up to Bundaberg to strip down the spares car and box up the parts I want to keep - it's time to take it off the in-laws hands. Then I'll need to arrange getting rid of all the bits that I don't want. It sounds awful, but the bodywork is next to useless and too big to store so it will probably go back to the scrapyard ... unless someone shows some interest. A lot of other things will need to go on ebay I suppose...
Monday, May 29, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
Brmm brmmm!
BOB is getting better and better as time goes on. Now it even sounds good!
Saturday morning saw me out to the exhaust place with the intention of getting the Chris Witor system fitted and a downpipe made up and fitted too. Having booked in with the workshop with this intention I assumed it wouldn't be a problem ...
It turned out there was a broken stud on the manifold to downpipe join. I'd noticed this previously but naively assumed it would be easy for a professional custom exhaust specialists to drill out ... If only. It seems that they use a special person to do this and he doesn't work on Saturdays, so instead they just bolted the Witor sections that Andy provided on to the dodgy downpipe that i'd wanted changing in the first place. The downpipe can wait. To give them their dues, the system has been fitted nice and high so plenty of ground clearance.
Verdict:
Not as loud as I remember the Big Red Bus sounding, although I haven't got the manifold and engine mod's of course. Still, when wound up it sounds very good ... so it's tricky to not drive around in high gears all the time like a boy-racer (or Bevan as they call them here). Mr Bancroft knows what I mean ;-)
Although the manifold hasn't been changed, it certainly seems more responsive - removing two out of three constrictions makes a definite difference.
Next up:
Investigate the ticking noise - occurs on right-hand bends ... UJ on the Left-hand driveshaft?
Brakes - fit some stainless braided hoses and reconditioned calipers with Green Stuff pads (from the spares car).
Get the speedo sorted.
Saturday morning saw me out to the exhaust place with the intention of getting the Chris Witor system fitted and a downpipe made up and fitted too. Having booked in with the workshop with this intention I assumed it wouldn't be a problem ...
It turned out there was a broken stud on the manifold to downpipe join. I'd noticed this previously but naively assumed it would be easy for a professional custom exhaust specialists to drill out ... If only. It seems that they use a special person to do this and he doesn't work on Saturdays, so instead they just bolted the Witor sections that Andy provided on to the dodgy downpipe that i'd wanted changing in the first place. The downpipe can wait. To give them their dues, the system has been fitted nice and high so plenty of ground clearance.
Verdict:
Not as loud as I remember the Big Red Bus sounding, although I haven't got the manifold and engine mod's of course. Still, when wound up it sounds very good ... so it's tricky to not drive around in high gears all the time like a boy-racer (or Bevan as they call them here). Mr Bancroft knows what I mean ;-)
Although the manifold hasn't been changed, it certainly seems more responsive - removing two out of three constrictions makes a definite difference.
Next up:
Investigate the ticking noise - occurs on right-hand bends ... UJ on the Left-hand driveshaft?
Brakes - fit some stainless braided hoses and reconditioned calipers with Green Stuff pads (from the spares car).
Get the speedo sorted.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
The Triumph Fraternity
There have been some little trips round and about since Easter, but nothing too significant.
The West of Brisbane is one HUGE forest reserve which Ella and I do a fair amount of walking in. The bonus is that the access road is Mount Nebo road - one of the best roads in the area. The approach is marked with a "bendy roads for the next 33km" sign! On any given weekend there are lots of cars and bikes there, but sometimes you get a stretch to yourself and can 'enjoy' it ;-)
The other week we were coming back to Brisbane and as we came squealing around a corner we saw a couple of blokes scratching their heads and looking down into the forest ... presumably trying to figure out how they were going to get their motorbike back up to the road!
No actual action on the car as such, but some progress nonetheless. I finally cleaned all the accumulated dust and dirt from the Easter trip - it actually caked the floor where I washed the car and there are tyre tracks in the silt now! I've done some spline greasing on the drive shafts and other bitty things. Now there's a bit more point to driving, seeing as the carb's are good, it's hard to keep the revs down and the needle keeps bouncing up around the 5k mark.
I investigated the blowing exhaust and found that it was blowing at a seam where it had been hastily patched up. I took it to get fixed and the guy who welded the hole up reckoned it was paper thin. I decided to look at getting a custom one built up (rather than get a mortgage out for a Chris Witor system and postage)and asked some advice on my second home ... the Club Triumph forum . It's a superb resource, with loads of friendly, rather Triumph-mad people from all over the world ready to lend a word of advice ... or 'support'. Anyway, Andy Thompson, a self-confessed Triumphaholic from Western Australia, stepped up and offered me his old racing Mk2's exhaust system! Superb - thanks Andy.
I've yet to see it, but it's apparently a bit rough around the edges (who cares it's costing peanuts compared to a new one!). Can't wait to get it on the car. Then the plan is to drive over to Western Australia (a few thousand miles) at some point to celebrate!
The West of Brisbane is one HUGE forest reserve which Ella and I do a fair amount of walking in. The bonus is that the access road is Mount Nebo road - one of the best roads in the area. The approach is marked with a "bendy roads for the next 33km" sign! On any given weekend there are lots of cars and bikes there, but sometimes you get a stretch to yourself and can 'enjoy' it ;-)
The other week we were coming back to Brisbane and as we came squealing around a corner we saw a couple of blokes scratching their heads and looking down into the forest ... presumably trying to figure out how they were going to get their motorbike back up to the road!
No actual action on the car as such, but some progress nonetheless. I finally cleaned all the accumulated dust and dirt from the Easter trip - it actually caked the floor where I washed the car and there are tyre tracks in the silt now! I've done some spline greasing on the drive shafts and other bitty things. Now there's a bit more point to driving, seeing as the carb's are good, it's hard to keep the revs down and the needle keeps bouncing up around the 5k mark.
I investigated the blowing exhaust and found that it was blowing at a seam where it had been hastily patched up. I took it to get fixed and the guy who welded the hole up reckoned it was paper thin. I decided to look at getting a custom one built up (rather than get a mortgage out for a Chris Witor system and postage)and asked some advice on my second home ... the Club Triumph forum . It's a superb resource, with loads of friendly, rather Triumph-mad people from all over the world ready to lend a word of advice ... or 'support'. Anyway, Andy Thompson, a self-confessed Triumphaholic from Western Australia, stepped up and offered me his old racing Mk2's exhaust system! Superb - thanks Andy.
I've yet to see it, but it's apparently a bit rough around the edges (who cares it's costing peanuts compared to a new one!). Can't wait to get it on the car. Then the plan is to drive over to Western Australia (a few thousand miles) at some point to celebrate!
Friday, April 21, 2006
Some driving at last!
For the Easter weekend we drove a few hours south of Brisbane to meet up with family and spend a few days in the hills in a nice little rented house. It had the first outdoor bath I've ever seen! BOB was loaded up with 4 people and a boat load of their stuff and seemed to cope fine, other than the 22mpg, and still managed to overtake the long lines of overladen 4wds heading south for Easter too.
On the way there the odometer finally turned over:
Shame you don't automatically get a new engine when that happens.
Visiting Giraween National Park meant the chance to drive around on very bumpy but great fun (for me anyway) dirt roads - this road sign made me worry that we were entering League of Gentleman territory!
Unfortunately, the weekend has revealed some extra jobs that definitely need doing. The exhaust is now blowing where a previous owner patched it up. I'd love to put a Chris Witor exhaust on, but the cost (plus the freight) totally prohibits that at the moment. Instead I'm going to get a quote from a custom exhaust maker, and see if he can replicate it. The other thing urgently needed is a correct speedo. The odo. reads about 3% low by my calculations but the speed is reading a far way under which is a bit more of a worry given the Aussie Police and their wily hedge-hiding speed camera antics. First attempt will be to transplant from the spares car up in Bundaberg, if that's no good we'll go for the rebuild option.
On the way there the odometer finally turned over:
Shame you don't automatically get a new engine when that happens.
Visiting Giraween National Park meant the chance to drive around on very bumpy but great fun (for me anyway) dirt roads - this road sign made me worry that we were entering League of Gentleman territory!
Unfortunately, the weekend has revealed some extra jobs that definitely need doing. The exhaust is now blowing where a previous owner patched it up. I'd love to put a Chris Witor exhaust on, but the cost (plus the freight) totally prohibits that at the moment. Instead I'm going to get a quote from a custom exhaust maker, and see if he can replicate it. The other thing urgently needed is a correct speedo. The odo. reads about 3% low by my calculations but the speed is reading a far way under which is a bit more of a worry given the Aussie Police and their wily hedge-hiding speed camera antics. First attempt will be to transplant from the spares car up in Bundaberg, if that's no good we'll go for the rebuild option.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
A Sad Loss
I got a phonecall from fellow Triumph nut Andy MacDonald last night. I'm sad to say that Michael Lyneham passed away last weekend. I'm not entirely sure of the details so rather than saying something wrong I won't try and go into them. My thoughts are with Pat at the moment, but I will take the opportunity to type out some thoughts about Michael.
I met Michael and his wife Pat at a TSSC meet in Lincoln, sometime around Easter in 2003. I can't remember talking to them particularly on that occasion, but on the journey back from Lincoln to Louth we had reason to meet again! Heading home with Andy Mac in his GT6 mk3 2.5 in the middle of the bleak dark Lincolnshire Wolds the throttle cable snapped. Whilst Andy was preparing a "very fast idle" to get us home the last 6 miles, Michael and Pat turned up in their Rover P5. Michael kindly towed us back to Louth. I remember the event particularly well as on the very same road I totaled my Saab 900 about 7 hours later on my way to work.
It turned out that Michael and Pat's house is just outside Louth, and Andy and I began to drop round occasionally at weekends. It's something I used to enjoy a lot; Michael and Pat always made me feel welcome and very much at ease, and the coffee was first class!
Michael and Pat aren't modern car people - the drive was full of old Rovers, there was a rather tidy Blue Vitesse in one garage and what in 2003 was a restoration in progress, a red 1968 GT6 mk1. Both these cars Michael bought a long long time ago (I seem to recall he'd had the GT6 from new, but it's possible i'm wrong - at least he did have a picture of him and the car from some decades ago).
Michael told me one of my favourite Triumph stories ... that of the stolen overdrive gearbox!!! He wanted to sell his Vitesse, and I was looking for another Triumph, and I have a definite soft spot for the Vitesse. His looked and sounded great - a red interior and Webasto, an SAH manifold, but, alas, no overdrive! "It used to have overdrive, but it was stolen" he told me! What? I envisaged an oil covered mechani-thief - perhaps in the 1970s people didn't steal stereos but went for 'hardware'? Michael explained that he'd removed the o/d to recondition it many years ago, and some git swiped it from the garden. Ah ha.
In the build-up to the inaugural 10 Countries Run 2003 Michael was a great help to Andy and myself giving us some Carb. pistons for nothing and offering his advice on getting the 'Worksalike' ready. I recall doing an interview for Lincs FM by telephone from his kitchen the day before we headed off.
Popping round to see Michael meant a chance to see the progress on the GT6, as well as his impressive workshop. He spared nothing on the rebuild, alloy radiator, Webers, Jigsaw engine, rotoflex conversion, beautiful interior. It was used on the Round Britain Run in 2004 and he was planning to it again this year. Michael was very generous; when he heard on a weekend that I needed a replacement rotoflex coupling to get my GT6 to a Men & Motors filming, he popped out to the garage and removed one from his half rebuilt car for me! (needless to say I bought a replacement for him).
I'm glad I had the chance to know Michael. I hope he rests in peace.
I met Michael and his wife Pat at a TSSC meet in Lincoln, sometime around Easter in 2003. I can't remember talking to them particularly on that occasion, but on the journey back from Lincoln to Louth we had reason to meet again! Heading home with Andy Mac in his GT6 mk3 2.5 in the middle of the bleak dark Lincolnshire Wolds the throttle cable snapped. Whilst Andy was preparing a "very fast idle" to get us home the last 6 miles, Michael and Pat turned up in their Rover P5. Michael kindly towed us back to Louth. I remember the event particularly well as on the very same road I totaled my Saab 900 about 7 hours later on my way to work.
It turned out that Michael and Pat's house is just outside Louth, and Andy and I began to drop round occasionally at weekends. It's something I used to enjoy a lot; Michael and Pat always made me feel welcome and very much at ease, and the coffee was first class!
Michael and Pat aren't modern car people - the drive was full of old Rovers, there was a rather tidy Blue Vitesse in one garage and what in 2003 was a restoration in progress, a red 1968 GT6 mk1. Both these cars Michael bought a long long time ago (I seem to recall he'd had the GT6 from new, but it's possible i'm wrong - at least he did have a picture of him and the car from some decades ago).
Michael told me one of my favourite Triumph stories ... that of the stolen overdrive gearbox!!! He wanted to sell his Vitesse, and I was looking for another Triumph, and I have a definite soft spot for the Vitesse. His looked and sounded great - a red interior and Webasto, an SAH manifold, but, alas, no overdrive! "It used to have overdrive, but it was stolen" he told me! What? I envisaged an oil covered mechani-thief - perhaps in the 1970s people didn't steal stereos but went for 'hardware'? Michael explained that he'd removed the o/d to recondition it many years ago, and some git swiped it from the garden. Ah ha.
In the build-up to the inaugural 10 Countries Run 2003 Michael was a great help to Andy and myself giving us some Carb. pistons for nothing and offering his advice on getting the 'Worksalike' ready. I recall doing an interview for Lincs FM by telephone from his kitchen the day before we headed off.
Popping round to see Michael meant a chance to see the progress on the GT6, as well as his impressive workshop. He spared nothing on the rebuild, alloy radiator, Webers, Jigsaw engine, rotoflex conversion, beautiful interior. It was used on the Round Britain Run in 2004 and he was planning to it again this year. Michael was very generous; when he heard on a weekend that I needed a replacement rotoflex coupling to get my GT6 to a Men & Motors filming, he popped out to the garage and removed one from his half rebuilt car for me! (needless to say I bought a replacement for him).
I'm glad I had the chance to know Michael. I hope he rests in peace.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Progress, power and politics ...
Phase 2 is finally completed.
A trip up to Greg Tunstall's on Monday saw things progress a little further.
Here's Greg's workshop from the outside ... with BOB sticking its backside out of the door:
Out the front on the road were some other little beasties awaiting attention:
The guy who did much of the work proved interesting. Andrew Avis owns a few saloons including Pi Mk2 that has been supercharged ... and is currently awaiting a replacement gearbox (I wonder why?) It struck me that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, there are Triumph owners who want to make fun modifications to their cars: Andrew is no exception, and he isn't excepted from the trend of having more fun modification ideas than can fit into a lifetime! ... ring any bells?
Here's the before and afters:
First impressions of the changes are WOW! and PHEW!
WOW because I maybe hadn't expected such a change, and PHEW because it's a relief to have the power to complement the great ride quality at last!
My plans for BOB seem meagre in comparison, yet the list seems long enough (read costly):
oil pressure guage to replace clock
15 inch wheels (the road surfaces in the wet are appalling and demand more traction)
Maplight for navigator (Ella!)
Witor "sound system"
Datsun back-end (and diff. rebuild?)
... oh, I could go on forever here, and I still haven't got to the juicy engine stuff!
I'd like to stay out of politics and car clubs and all that ... but the venerable Mr Chinn has been subject to some strange goings-on in the world of Triumph clubs, so I thought I better direct attention to his blog (and a jolly good one it is ... I think he is intentionally trying to show the rest of us up with his 'regularity' - are Internet prunes available?)
The power of online communities ... the TSSC beware!
A trip up to Greg Tunstall's on Monday saw things progress a little further.
Here's Greg's workshop from the outside ... with BOB sticking its backside out of the door:
Out the front on the road were some other little beasties awaiting attention:
Back to BOB ...
The Carb's were removed, as was the entire anti-emissions kit (which was probably causing more pollution than the standard set-up by the looks of it). Greg's place has done a lot of these "operations" so he knows what holes to plug up, etc. Replacement carb's a la with suitable and somewhat richer needles are in now and the linkage and balancing has been set up beautifully. It's good to watch someone at work with all the appropriately 'adjusted' spanners and original SU tools.
The guy who did much of the work proved interesting. Andrew Avis owns a few saloons including Pi Mk2 that has been supercharged ... and is currently awaiting a replacement gearbox (I wonder why?) It struck me that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, there are Triumph owners who want to make fun modifications to their cars: Andrew is no exception, and he isn't excepted from the trend of having more fun modification ideas than can fit into a lifetime! ... ring any bells?
Here's the before and afters:
First impressions of the changes are WOW! and PHEW!
WOW because I maybe hadn't expected such a change, and PHEW because it's a relief to have the power to complement the great ride quality at last!
My plans for BOB seem meagre in comparison, yet the list seems long enough (read costly):
oil pressure guage to replace clock
15 inch wheels (the road surfaces in the wet are appalling and demand more traction)
Maplight for navigator (Ella!)
Witor "sound system"
Datsun back-end (and diff. rebuild?)
... oh, I could go on forever here, and I still haven't got to the juicy engine stuff!
I'd like to stay out of politics and car clubs and all that ... but the venerable Mr Chinn has been subject to some strange goings-on in the world of Triumph clubs, so I thought I better direct attention to his blog (and a jolly good one it is ... I think he is intentionally trying to show the rest of us up with his 'regularity' - are Internet prunes available?)
The power of online communities ... the TSSC beware!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Cotton Pic'ing
BOB is still patiently waiting for its new carb's. It should be happening next Monday. I intend to take before and after pictures of the engine bay ... may be of interest to those who've never seen the anti-emissions set-up for 'special' overseas markets.
Ella is keen to try rally navigating, so we've been making contact with car clubs around Brisbane, trying to find a suitable entry-level introduction. It turns out that over here "road rallys" are called "touring assemblies" or something similar ... sounds tame, but that could be clever PR of course! In Brisbane there's an umbrella clubMarque Sports Club that organise practices and competitive events. Nice, all sounds good ... except that we have to join a different CAMS (like the UK's MSA) affiliated club in order to join them. So, the decision that needs to be made is which of the CAMS affiliated clubs to join.
It turns out there's a fair amount of activity in the area, and the MG Sports Car Club of Queensland have a good competition schedule. We went along to the first of their hillclimb events on Sunday ... at their own purpose built circuit!!!! How about that for organisation.
It's a great little circuit 30 minutes drive away, and entry is free for spectators. As a circuit, what goes up must come down, so the 1 in 4 hills mean some hard braking is needed, and some good judgement.
There was a great field of entrants - not many MGs, a fair few modern Subarus, Skylines, etc, the Aussie muscle cars, and some Westfields. Plus lots of Mk1 and 2 Escorts, Datsuns, and a Ford Anglia (running with a 2000cc Nissan unit).
The two Triumphs on show were a 2 litre PI Dolomite (driven by the MG Club's president) and a 1300 Spitfire, with fibreglass GT6 bonnet and English plates. A nice way to spend a bit of Sunday morning, and it all helps fuel the enthusiasm to get out and use BOB ... but really sitting watching cars go round in circles gets a bit boring (although watching a modern Mini lose control on the hairpin was a bonus!). The camera ran out of batteries after 3 photos so this is the lot I'm afraid.
All good fun. Hopefully we'll progress and get involved in some rallying soon.
Ella is keen to try rally navigating, so we've been making contact with car clubs around Brisbane, trying to find a suitable entry-level introduction. It turns out that over here "road rallys" are called "touring assemblies" or something similar ... sounds tame, but that could be clever PR of course! In Brisbane there's an umbrella club
It turns out there's a fair amount of activity in the area, and the MG Sports Car Club of Queensland have a good competition schedule. We went along to the first of their hillclimb events on Sunday ... at their own purpose built circuit!!!! How about that for organisation.
It's a great little circuit 30 minutes drive away, and entry is free for spectators. As a circuit, what goes up must come down, so the 1 in 4 hills mean some hard braking is needed, and some good judgement.
There was a great field of entrants - not many MGs, a fair few modern Subarus, Skylines, etc, the Aussie muscle cars, and some Westfields. Plus lots of Mk1 and 2 Escorts, Datsuns, and a Ford Anglia (running with a 2000cc Nissan unit).
The two Triumphs on show were a 2 litre PI Dolomite (driven by the MG Club's president) and a 1300 Spitfire, with fibreglass GT6 bonnet and English plates. A nice way to spend a bit of Sunday morning, and it all helps fuel the enthusiasm to get out and use BOB ... but really sitting watching cars go round in circles gets a bit boring (although watching a modern Mini lose control on the hairpin was a bonus!). The camera ran out of batteries after 3 photos so this is the lot I'm afraid.
All good fun. Hopefully we'll progress and get involved in some rallying soon.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Holes in thumbs and hoses
The Bus is halfway through its status change … from Aussie ‘S’ to Pommy ‘S’. A re-built distributor, with advance instead of retard vacuum and some Bosch internals (harder wearing than Lucas), plus a Crane optical ignition system was stage 1. In a week or so I hope to be fitting some rebuilt carb’s (courtesy of Greg Tunstall )to replace the sad current ones. At this point the emissions kit will be stripped off, blocked up, re-routed. I don’t envisage it transforming Bob into a real snarler, of course, but it’s a logical start at least.
I finally removed the tacky sheepskin covers from the front-seats … to see what they were hiding. The seats beneath are in really good condition, barring the door-side top corners of both seats, which have faded and worn right through. It’s a real shame. For now they can be patched up I think. At some point I will fit some modern car seats instead, as my back gets pretty sore driving at the best of times. I’ve had two Saabs and the seats in those were both excellent, so maybe they will do the trick.
I haven’t really had much of a chance to do anything else around the car, though, on account of my own stupidity. I had an altercation with a fast moving 10mm drill bit … and it won! It basically snapped my thumbnail in two and tore the base out of the finger, which has made ‘handywork’ somewhat less practical for the meanwhile. I have a nice photo, but it’s a bit gory, so unless I get requests I will keep it to myself!
Yesterday I had my first breakdown adventure with Bob! A nice easy fix though. Ella and I went for a drive out of town, and after about ten minutes on the road I noticed the temp. gauge was a bit high … Uh oh! The bonnet goes up at the side of the road, and there’s lots of coolant sprayed around everywhere making it tricky to spot the leak (fingers were crossed hoping it wasn’t the radiator!). Eventually we traced the split hose next to the fan thermostat, sneakily hidden on the underside of the hose-clip. Luckily there was enough hose to chop it down and stick it back on. It was a bit of a pain trying to fiddle around with hot hoses, coolant, metal, etc. with my right thumb out of action. We filled the rad. back up and carried on without any further hitches.
Isn’t it nice when you break down and the fix is really easy?
I finally removed the tacky sheepskin covers from the front-seats … to see what they were hiding. The seats beneath are in really good condition, barring the door-side top corners of both seats, which have faded and worn right through. It’s a real shame. For now they can be patched up I think. At some point I will fit some modern car seats instead, as my back gets pretty sore driving at the best of times. I’ve had two Saabs and the seats in those were both excellent, so maybe they will do the trick.
I haven’t really had much of a chance to do anything else around the car, though, on account of my own stupidity. I had an altercation with a fast moving 10mm drill bit … and it won! It basically snapped my thumbnail in two and tore the base out of the finger, which has made ‘handywork’ somewhat less practical for the meanwhile. I have a nice photo, but it’s a bit gory, so unless I get requests I will keep it to myself!
Yesterday I had my first breakdown adventure with Bob! A nice easy fix though. Ella and I went for a drive out of town, and after about ten minutes on the road I noticed the temp. gauge was a bit high … Uh oh! The bonnet goes up at the side of the road, and there’s lots of coolant sprayed around everywhere making it tricky to spot the leak (fingers were crossed hoping it wasn’t the radiator!). Eventually we traced the split hose next to the fan thermostat, sneakily hidden on the underside of the hose-clip. Luckily there was enough hose to chop it down and stick it back on. It was a bit of a pain trying to fiddle around with hot hoses, coolant, metal, etc. with my right thumb out of action. We filled the rad. back up and carried on without any further hitches.
Isn’t it nice when you break down and the fix is really easy?
Friday, January 20, 2006
Slow progress
Things have been happening ... albeit slowly.
Before Christmas I invested in some weatherseal to replace the driver's door effort. It was some completely ill-fitting stuff that had been glued on to the paintwork!!!
I'd been told that it was a bitch of a job, but rather than use the special tool you can buy a bent knife and some blu-tac ought to do the trick:
It seemed to work ok, despite many temporarily lost clips!!!
The problem I have now is getting the paint tidied up where the old 'seal' was removed.
I've been half-heartedly trying to trace an ignition blip that doesn't seem to be a massive problem. I decided to have a bash with a pertronix ignitor as I had a good experience with one on the GT6 back in England ... and they're pretty cheap too! Having purchased one via England I tried to fit it and just couldn't get the sod to work, despite checking of all the "what to do if it doesn't work" boxes. On the website there is a warning about the two types of 45D 4 cylinder distributors and how there are two different points cam types and one doesn't work ... Well, I ignored this as there is not mention of the 45D 6. It turns out that the late Australian 45D 6 distributor has a different height points cam a la the 45D 4 and it doesn't work either. As you can imagine these things are only revealed after lots of cursing and e-mails to the nice people who sell them.
I started a new job at the beginning of January, and there's flextime! Consequently I've been clocking the hours up and have already earnt a day off. So this morning I've been out to Cleveland to visit Greg Tunstall. I mentioned him a while back I think. The plan is to re-plumb the anti-emissions kit to begin to reveal the true potential of the 'S'. Greg very quickly deduced that there were a few things needed. In order to get some more horses he reckoned we should start with electronic ignition (as I had planned anyway), and he pointed out the wear on the dissy shaft. He organises a reasonably priced Piranha kit with remapped ignition curve on a reconditioned distributor that will benefit from some stronger components. This I can fit it myself. He also diagnosed some nasty wear on the carb's which he will rebuild and 'improve' to work with the K&N filter and the distributor. When refitting the carb's the pollution kit will be 'liberated'. I'm keen to get this done - Greg didn't really try the hard sell, he didn't need to, it's clear that the work needs doing and his reputation out here suggests he's worth relying on.
Look what I spotted the other week! Ella and I went for a trip west of Brisbane up some great mountain roads. On the way back we saw this rather sad looking Pi Estate. It was manual o/d and in need of a bit of TLC. It actually had a MPH clock in it too ... dunno if this means it's an import?
Hopefully I'll be back soon with some 'before' and 'after' shots of the engine bay with and without the emissions kit.
Goodbye.
Before Christmas I invested in some weatherseal to replace the driver's door effort. It was some completely ill-fitting stuff that had been glued on to the paintwork!!!
I'd been told that it was a bitch of a job, but rather than use the special tool you can buy a bent knife and some blu-tac ought to do the trick:
It seemed to work ok, despite many temporarily lost clips!!!
The problem I have now is getting the paint tidied up where the old 'seal' was removed.
I've been half-heartedly trying to trace an ignition blip that doesn't seem to be a massive problem. I decided to have a bash with a pertronix ignitor as I had a good experience with one on the GT6 back in England ... and they're pretty cheap too! Having purchased one via England I tried to fit it and just couldn't get the sod to work, despite checking of all the "what to do if it doesn't work" boxes. On the website there is a warning about the two types of 45D 4 cylinder distributors and how there are two different points cam types and one doesn't work ... Well, I ignored this as there is not mention of the 45D 6. It turns out that the late Australian 45D 6 distributor has a different height points cam a la the 45D 4 and it doesn't work either. As you can imagine these things are only revealed after lots of cursing and e-mails to the nice people who sell them.
I started a new job at the beginning of January, and there's flextime! Consequently I've been clocking the hours up and have already earnt a day off. So this morning I've been out to Cleveland to visit Greg Tunstall. I mentioned him a while back I think. The plan is to re-plumb the anti-emissions kit to begin to reveal the true potential of the 'S'. Greg very quickly deduced that there were a few things needed. In order to get some more horses he reckoned we should start with electronic ignition (as I had planned anyway), and he pointed out the wear on the dissy shaft. He organises a reasonably priced Piranha kit with remapped ignition curve on a reconditioned distributor that will benefit from some stronger components. This I can fit it myself. He also diagnosed some nasty wear on the carb's which he will rebuild and 'improve' to work with the K&N filter and the distributor. When refitting the carb's the pollution kit will be 'liberated'. I'm keen to get this done - Greg didn't really try the hard sell, he didn't need to, it's clear that the work needs doing and his reputation out here suggests he's worth relying on.
Look what I spotted the other week! Ella and I went for a trip west of Brisbane up some great mountain roads. On the way back we saw this rather sad looking Pi Estate. It was manual o/d and in need of a bit of TLC. It actually had a MPH clock in it too ... dunno if this means it's an import?
Hopefully I'll be back soon with some 'before' and 'after' shots of the engine bay with and without the emissions kit.
Goodbye.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Hillclimbing and Scrap Dragging!
My first Australian motorsport spectating happened last weekend when we went to the Noosa Historic Hillclimb. It was run on a 1.5km twisting forest (public) road with about 15 corners on it, and the walking track alongside was elevated from the tarmac affording excellent views.
The line up of cars was spectacular - 175 in total, with a real variety, from Lotus 7s, Mini Coopers, Alfas, TR7 V8s, even a GT40:
Other than the half dozen TR7 V8s (most 3.5l, but a few 4-5l V8s) there was also a TR4, a 3a, a 2.5Pi MK2, and a GT6 Mk2.
The most notable results were the TR7 V8 3.5l cars - dominating their class of 5 cars they took all but the last position ... which went to a lowly Porsche 911!
But in a class with some competition the TR3a came second out of 5 in its class, and incidentally is a daily-driven 11,000 mile per year car!
A Dolly Sprint came fourth out of 16 and only did half its allocated runs, then, the GT6 came second in its class, with one great time and a load of diabolical ones ... I wonder if there was some mid event tinkering!!!
Some of the other great cars were the Minis (one in particular was being chucked around brilliantly, and another had a suzuki 1200 bike engine), the Datsun 240zs
We spent the week after this at the in-laws, which gave me and Jacques the chance to move the spares car. It's been in the garden sitting up at the back end from the diff. removal a month or so back, and somebody was keen on us putting it somewhere out of site. Hilarity ensued.
The car wasn't delivered with any wheels, so we had to consider the best way of moving it 20 metres into the shed ... bearing in mind that my BOB (the 2500 S) was in Brisbane so we couldn't borrow its wheels. Fortunately we had a Bobcat on hire for some other jobs ... could it lift the whole car?
The Bobcat strained and thought about tipping over, so we lifted each end in turn and propped it ... then worked out that the trailer's wheels looked to be about the right size! So with no diff. we dragged it inside:
I doubt you can see the wheels well enough ... but if you ever saw Doug Foreman's GT6 with the wrong rear spring, plus him and Colin in the car ... you get the idea.
Finally we got it in the shed, and up on some home made stands!
The line up of cars was spectacular - 175 in total, with a real variety, from Lotus 7s, Mini Coopers, Alfas, TR7 V8s, even a GT40:
Other than the half dozen TR7 V8s (most 3.5l, but a few 4-5l V8s) there was also a TR4, a 3a, a 2.5Pi MK2, and a GT6 Mk2.
The most notable results were the TR7 V8 3.5l cars - dominating their class of 5 cars they took all but the last position ... which went to a lowly Porsche 911!
But in a class with some competition the TR3a came second out of 5 in its class, and incidentally is a daily-driven 11,000 mile per year car!
A Dolly Sprint came fourth out of 16 and only did half its allocated runs, then, the GT6 came second in its class, with one great time and a load of diabolical ones ... I wonder if there was some mid event tinkering!!!
Some of the other great cars were the Minis (one in particular was being chucked around brilliantly, and another had a suzuki 1200 bike engine), the Datsun 240zs
We spent the week after this at the in-laws, which gave me and Jacques the chance to move the spares car. It's been in the garden sitting up at the back end from the diff. removal a month or so back, and somebody was keen on us putting it somewhere out of site. Hilarity ensued.
The car wasn't delivered with any wheels, so we had to consider the best way of moving it 20 metres into the shed ... bearing in mind that my BOB (the 2500 S) was in Brisbane so we couldn't borrow its wheels. Fortunately we had a Bobcat on hire for some other jobs ... could it lift the whole car?
The Bobcat strained and thought about tipping over, so we lifted each end in turn and propped it ... then worked out that the trailer's wheels looked to be about the right size! So with no diff. we dragged it inside:
I doubt you can see the wheels well enough ... but if you ever saw Doug Foreman's GT6 with the wrong rear spring, plus him and Colin in the car ... you get the idea.
Finally we got it in the shed, and up on some home made stands!
Monday, October 31, 2005
A Tale of 2 Diff's
I spent a week at the in-laws place in Bundaberg recently, where the spare 2500 TC we recently purchased was waiting to be investigated. It turns out to be a fairly 'interesting' car.
Unfortunately it's an auto, and a bit far gone to be worth restoring, but there are some good bits.
A look rummage around in the boot revealed a spare diff., a knackered diff. pinion, plus the starter motor, distributor, a spare pair of driveshafts and the radiator grille from a Mk2 2000 ... The diff. was stamped ME**** so obviously belonged to a 2000. Opening it up revealed that the pinion and crownwheel were quite a mess. A shame as one of the reasons we wanted the car was for a spare diff. (just in case!).
Removing the diff. that was fitted proved it was probably in an even worse state than the first one, however! Two useless diff's ... hurrumph!
The next find was that the engine was also an ME prefix engine, which seemed rather strange given that there's a towbar on the back, twin electric fans, and an oil cooler for the auto-box. Why would someone with a towing car reduce their engine size from 2.5 to 2.0? I attempted to measure the stroke to see what was what, and it appears to actually be a 2.5 unit after all. Attempting to turn it over by hand proved pretty easy too, with nothing apparently seized. It will be interesting to see what's going on inside.
The radiator was still full of bright green coolant, when I removed it, and looks to have been re-cored.
There are lots of useful little odds and sods that have been put on to BOB, too, like a better wiper arm so passengers can see out when it rains, wiper bottle bracket, wiper park switch, glovebox lock, etc.
I've got the electric fan going now as well after diagnosing a bad contact.
BOB's been getting some great runs recently - a lot of dirt roads (we've been out looking for them!), and some good windy 'mountain' roads. Here's a shot on a dirt road on the way back to Brisbane from Bundaberg:
On the next visit I'll hopefully get a chance to drop the engine and gearbox out. The box can hopefully be sold.
Meanwhile back in Blighty, Mum's been selling some of my old Triumph spares on e-bay for me. The only things that haven't shifted yet are a set of very clean GT6 Mk1 carb's and a Mk1 Vitesse rear trunnion set ... contact me if you're interested.
Unfortunately it's an auto, and a bit far gone to be worth restoring, but there are some good bits.
A look rummage around in the boot revealed a spare diff., a knackered diff. pinion, plus the starter motor, distributor, a spare pair of driveshafts and the radiator grille from a Mk2 2000 ... The diff. was stamped ME**** so obviously belonged to a 2000. Opening it up revealed that the pinion and crownwheel were quite a mess. A shame as one of the reasons we wanted the car was for a spare diff. (just in case!).
Removing the diff. that was fitted proved it was probably in an even worse state than the first one, however! Two useless diff's ... hurrumph!
The next find was that the engine was also an ME prefix engine, which seemed rather strange given that there's a towbar on the back, twin electric fans, and an oil cooler for the auto-box. Why would someone with a towing car reduce their engine size from 2.5 to 2.0? I attempted to measure the stroke to see what was what, and it appears to actually be a 2.5 unit after all. Attempting to turn it over by hand proved pretty easy too, with nothing apparently seized. It will be interesting to see what's going on inside.
The radiator was still full of bright green coolant, when I removed it, and looks to have been re-cored.
There are lots of useful little odds and sods that have been put on to BOB, too, like a better wiper arm so passengers can see out when it rains, wiper bottle bracket, wiper park switch, glovebox lock, etc.
I've got the electric fan going now as well after diagnosing a bad contact.
BOB's been getting some great runs recently - a lot of dirt roads (we've been out looking for them!), and some good windy 'mountain' roads. Here's a shot on a dirt road on the way back to Brisbane from Bundaberg:
On the next visit I'll hopefully get a chance to drop the engine and gearbox out. The box can hopefully be sold.
Meanwhile back in Blighty, Mum's been selling some of my old Triumph spares on e-bay for me. The only things that haven't shifted yet are a set of very clean GT6 Mk1 carb's and a Mk1 Vitesse rear trunnion set ... contact me if you're interested.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
The Verdict
We've had a little time with BOB now. I've spent the last few weeks gradually checking him out. No major work needed so it's just been a case of servicing: checking UJs, changing oil, greasing splines, setting tappets, etc. The only issue really is the diff. which is a little noisy. The kms are clocking up though. Regular trips to my place of work and little trips out at the weekend, plus an 800 km round trip to the in-laws have added up and we've done 1600 km since the purchase already ... as it should be.
This pic's of a trip out to Brisbane port ... where I found a good long un patrolled straight where I was able to 'open her up' a little:
The trip up to Bundaberg last weekend went well, taking the highway up we got 28 mpg. The speedo is spot on according the rev counter by the way, which is a first in a Triumph for me! It was more fun coming back down the dirt tracks on the way home. The car's semi-polybushed at the moment, but has new KYB shocks all round. A fairly harsh ride on the dirt, but still ok for 90 kmph on a bumpy surface. We did nearly collide with a Kangaroo around one corner however ... not very pleasant.
Most of the weekend was spent tinkering with the car. My father-in-law is a big fan, and really enjoyed giving the car a good look over, and a drive (he has fond memories of his father-in-laws' 2500). There was time to go out and find another one to buy, too. In the scrapyard around the corner from the in-laws I'd already seen a 1975 2500 TC a while back. We went back to get a window winder, and some little bits, and checked it out in more detail. Although the dissy has gone, along with the wheels and the steering rack (and the sills!), most of the car is intact, including a mint radiator, twin electric fans, and so on.
It's incredible how good condition the car is in, considering the fact it's sitting in a scrapyard, but that's the difference between sun damage and water damage I suppose.
The dealer accepted a very low offer, so it's going to be kept at the in-laws shed as a spares car. It looks to have fairly low mileage, so hopefully the diff. will be in good shape. The engine will be developed over time ... mmmm.
OK, we're off to a British Car Show in BOB in half an hour ... I'll try and get some pictures up
This pic's of a trip out to Brisbane port ... where I found a good long un patrolled straight where I was able to 'open her up' a little:
The trip up to Bundaberg last weekend went well, taking the highway up we got 28 mpg. The speedo is spot on according the rev counter by the way, which is a first in a Triumph for me! It was more fun coming back down the dirt tracks on the way home. The car's semi-polybushed at the moment, but has new KYB shocks all round. A fairly harsh ride on the dirt, but still ok for 90 kmph on a bumpy surface. We did nearly collide with a Kangaroo around one corner however ... not very pleasant.
Most of the weekend was spent tinkering with the car. My father-in-law is a big fan, and really enjoyed giving the car a good look over, and a drive (he has fond memories of his father-in-laws' 2500). There was time to go out and find another one to buy, too. In the scrapyard around the corner from the in-laws I'd already seen a 1975 2500 TC a while back. We went back to get a window winder, and some little bits, and checked it out in more detail. Although the dissy has gone, along with the wheels and the steering rack (and the sills!), most of the car is intact, including a mint radiator, twin electric fans, and so on.
It's incredible how good condition the car is in, considering the fact it's sitting in a scrapyard, but that's the difference between sun damage and water damage I suppose.
The dealer accepted a very low offer, so it's going to be kept at the in-laws shed as a spares car. It looks to have fairly low mileage, so hopefully the diff. will be in good shape. The engine will be developed over time ... mmmm.
OK, we're off to a British Car Show in BOB in half an hour ... I'll try and get some pictures up
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
What to do?
Ok, so we bought a Big Six ... and now I've had time to get a decent look at it and decide what bits and bobs need doing.
We took a trip down to the Gold Coast (about 60 miles south of Brisbane) last Sunday to get an idea of how she's running. As I would have expected of a saloon she was great on the motorway, in fact the fastest on it ... does the speedo read a bit under I wonder? There is a bit of vibration coming from the rear end, unfortunately, but I'd already known that some work was needed there anyway. She was thirstier than I would have liked, too. Otherwise it was a good trip out.
Shooting from the hip right now, here's a few things that it would be nice to do, money and time permitting. No particular order, although there's a few essentials necessary before a trip of any length:
Front brakes - a bit of vibration that could be caused by warped front discs. Plenty of meat on them so they might just need a skim?
Tune-up - get out the timing light/balance the carbs, etc.
Driveshafts - attempt a Datsun conversion, seeing as work is needed at the back.
Diff. - possibly a second hand unit required to swap.
Scrap the anti-emissions stuff? - Aussie set-up has all sorts of extra pipes and an empty canister that doesn't appear to be doing anything (I think it's supposed to have charcoal in?).
Electronic ignition - one less thing to worry about, and worth the money.
Suspension - possibly get some tasty front springs made up, superflex bushes to replace where they aren't already (I noticed the anti-roll bar already has some).
Spin-off filter conversion - the current cannister set-up is a relative pain.
Lots of little bitsy jobs, like alligning the boot latch, flushing the water system out, etc.
We took a trip down to the Gold Coast (about 60 miles south of Brisbane) last Sunday to get an idea of how she's running. As I would have expected of a saloon she was great on the motorway, in fact the fastest on it ... does the speedo read a bit under I wonder? There is a bit of vibration coming from the rear end, unfortunately, but I'd already known that some work was needed there anyway. She was thirstier than I would have liked, too. Otherwise it was a good trip out.
Shooting from the hip right now, here's a few things that it would be nice to do, money and time permitting. No particular order, although there's a few essentials necessary before a trip of any length:
Front brakes - a bit of vibration that could be caused by warped front discs. Plenty of meat on them so they might just need a skim?
Tune-up - get out the timing light/balance the carbs, etc.
Driveshafts - attempt a Datsun conversion, seeing as work is needed at the back.
Diff. - possibly a second hand unit required to swap.
Scrap the anti-emissions stuff? - Aussie set-up has all sorts of extra pipes and an empty canister that doesn't appear to be doing anything (I think it's supposed to have charcoal in?).
Electronic ignition - one less thing to worry about, and worth the money.
Suspension - possibly get some tasty front springs made up, superflex bushes to replace where they aren't already (I noticed the anti-roll bar already has some).
Spin-off filter conversion - the current cannister set-up is a relative pain.
Lots of little bitsy jobs, like alligning the boot latch, flushing the water system out, etc.
Friday, July 29, 2005
... and in with the new!
Well about time too.
Finally, at last, with the news of the GT6's impending sale Ella and i have made a sneaky purchase, swiping a new Big Red/Orangey Bus. It's a 2500 S with Manual o/d of course. On the test drive it proved to have plenty of poke and good level suspension (the new KYB shockers help i think). Plus it was half the price of the others I've looked at.
The footwells were mint, carpets in great shape, no sign of rotting sills, oil leaks, and apart from a couple of minor scuffs on the paintwork great bodywork. Everything seemed to work fine inside, o/d was spot on, electric fan was working fine, there were new front tyres, and so on.
The seller is moving to NZ (note the SOLD sign on the house in the background) and seemed in a hurry to get rid of it, and at the price I paid it won't even matter too much if there are any little problems I haven't spotted yet.
We're going to pick it up on Sunday.
Anyway, here she is, and yes the door and boot lid are open rather than out of shape!!!
Finally, at last, with the news of the GT6's impending sale Ella and i have made a sneaky purchase, swiping a new Big Red/Orangey Bus. It's a 2500 S with Manual o/d of course. On the test drive it proved to have plenty of poke and good level suspension (the new KYB shockers help i think). Plus it was half the price of the others I've looked at.
The footwells were mint, carpets in great shape, no sign of rotting sills, oil leaks, and apart from a couple of minor scuffs on the paintwork great bodywork. Everything seemed to work fine inside, o/d was spot on, electric fan was working fine, there were new front tyres, and so on.
The seller is moving to NZ (note the SOLD sign on the house in the background) and seemed in a hurry to get rid of it, and at the price I paid it won't even matter too much if there are any little problems I haven't spotted yet.
We're going to pick it up on Sunday.
Anyway, here she is, and yes the door and boot lid are open rather than out of shape!!!
Thursday, July 14, 2005
I've Been A Busy Boy!
The photo for the second Triumph Spot (see entry below) was actually taken on June 11th. Since then I've been a rather busy boy. First up was getting married (18th June)
It was great fun ... even though it didn't involve Triumphs (don't worry there was beer and BBQ though!)
Then there was the Honeymoon ... which did involve Triumphs! Hurrah!
Ella hadn't yet seen my GT6, or my family, so we flew to England for a ten day whirlwind Round Britain Run style Honeymoon (or "Funnymoon" as we ended up calling it). We landed at Heathrow, got the National Express to my Mum's near Exeter, and after a rest day gave the GT6 a once over before heading off to North Devon.
Here's the two ladies in my life:
After a beautiful day walking the North Devon Coast we drove up to the Peak District, via the back roads of Exmoor, Canley Classics, and some great Derbyshire roads. Here we met up with both our families for a wedding celebration ... and I got to take my F-in-law along Snake Pass in the GT6 with no traffic around!
After this we headed East to Lincolnshire to stay at my Dad's where we had time for a fancy car line-up!
We also met a load of friends for a day of debauchery. A good Club Triumph count turned up, too! My favourite pub car park was treated to Andy Mac (on his feet), Andy Pearce (and GT6 aka 'The Guttersix'), Andy and Sarah Johnson (Herald aka 'The White Tornado'), Steve Waddingham (Spitfire) and "Group Captain" Tim Bancroft, with the web-enabled JC in Tim's Mk1 2.5Pi (SU) aka 'The Grey Thing'. Great fun! I didn't take my camera unfr
Then it was back to Devon, via Kettering to see my Sister and family, and Reading to see some old work colleagues.
Blimey and Crikey, as Mr Bancroft might say!
Fortunately the GT6 ran perfectly, and not a drop of oil was needed in the whole affair ... seriously, as much as I lifted the bonnet, I couldn't really find anything to do in a week's good driving. Not bad after a 4 month lay-up I reckon.
Nevertheless the decision has finally been made that the GT6 should stay in the country where it was built (or at least in the UK ;-)), and Ella and I will get something a bit cooler running, and more appropriate for dirt-road antics over here.
So now we're back home in Oz. It was great to be back in Blighty where there's fun to be had even within the speed limits, and I must say I do miss the noise of a six cylinder Triumph. But hang on, what did I spot in the paper at the weekend but a 2500 'S' at a pretty good price ... hmmm... I'll take my camera when I go look at this one!
It was great fun ... even though it didn't involve Triumphs (don't worry there was beer and BBQ though!)
Then there was the Honeymoon ... which did involve Triumphs! Hurrah!
Ella hadn't yet seen my GT6, or my family, so we flew to England for a ten day whirlwind Round Britain Run style Honeymoon (or "Funnymoon" as we ended up calling it). We landed at Heathrow, got the National Express to my Mum's near Exeter, and after a rest day gave the GT6 a once over before heading off to North Devon.
Here's the two ladies in my life:
After a beautiful day walking the North Devon Coast we drove up to the Peak District, via the back roads of Exmoor, Canley Classics, and some great Derbyshire roads. Here we met up with both our families for a wedding celebration ... and I got to take my F-in-law along Snake Pass in the GT6 with no traffic around!
After this we headed East to Lincolnshire to stay at my Dad's where we had time for a fancy car line-up!
We also met a load of friends for a day of debauchery. A good Club Triumph count turned up, too! My favourite pub car park was treated to Andy Mac (on his feet), Andy Pearce (and GT6 aka 'The Guttersix'), Andy and Sarah Johnson (Herald aka 'The White Tornado'), Steve Waddingham (Spitfire) and "Group Captain" Tim Bancroft, with the web-enabled JC in Tim's Mk1 2.5Pi (SU) aka 'The Grey Thing'. Great fun! I didn't take my camera unfr
Then it was back to Devon, via Kettering to see my Sister and family, and Reading to see some old work colleagues.
Blimey and Crikey, as Mr Bancroft might say!
Fortunately the GT6 ran perfectly, and not a drop of oil was needed in the whole affair ... seriously, as much as I lifted the bonnet, I couldn't really find anything to do in a week's good driving. Not bad after a 4 month lay-up I reckon.
Nevertheless the decision has finally been made that the GT6 should stay in the country where it was built (or at least in the UK ;-)), and Ella and I will get something a bit cooler running, and more appropriate for dirt-road antics over here.
So now we're back home in Oz. It was great to be back in Blighty where there's fun to be had even within the speed limits, and I must say I do miss the noise of a six cylinder Triumph. But hang on, what did I spot in the paper at the weekend but a 2500 'S' at a pretty good price ... hmmm... I'll take my camera when I go look at this one!
Triumph Spot No.2: Not Just a Pretty Respray!
I am getting better and better at not updating this Blog. But I do have a good reason!
More about that above, but first another Triumph Spot! Admittedly I've seen at least a dozen around Brisbane, but this is the second one that I managed to get a shot of.
It was in almost exactly the same spot as I saw the White 2500 previously (see Triumph Spot No.1), but was an impressive metallic green. It doesn't show up too well in this photo, but looked pretty good "in the flesh".
More about that above, but first another Triumph Spot! Admittedly I've seen at least a dozen around Brisbane, but this is the second one that I managed to get a shot of.
It was in almost exactly the same spot as I saw the White 2500 previously (see Triumph Spot No.1), but was an impressive metallic green. It doesn't show up too well in this photo, but looked pretty good "in the flesh".
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Brumby no more ...
Last week I took a trip to Gregg Tunstall Mechanics in Cleveland, near Brisbane. He specialises in Triumphs, and is a very useful source of information on Triumphs 'down under'. I saw a Mk1 PI, Mk2 2.7 PI, Mk2 2500 'S' (in fact one that I looked at buying a little while back ... see the 'Mellow Yellow' entry below), a TR4a, Spitfire mk3 and some others. At a staggering Gingellesque height I'm not sure how Gregg fits in anything but a 'sedan', though.
Whilst on my way to Cleveland I saw a Mk2 in green sitting in traffic.
Last weekend Ella and I went up to Bundaberg to her folks' place. We did a car swap ... the '91 Brumby for the '97 Saab. Wow! What a difference the extra gear, and a 2.3 turbo makes to the 5 hour drive back to Brisbane!
I looked in at the local breakers yard whilst we were in 'Bundy' too. They let you wander around and take parts yourself, like they should. I asked if they had any Triumphs and the guy at the desk recognised the GT6 on my t-shirt (courtesy of James Carruthers (photoshop) 'design studio'!) He pointed me in the direction of a 2500 TC that was in pretty good nick actually. To see a car that has been left to the elements like that be so relatively clean is great. Dissy was missing, as were most of the sills, but all in all if I had the space and the time and it had a manual 'box I'd have had it. The carbs, manifold, etc, were all in good shape as far as I could tell.
First drive out in the Saab whilst still in Bundaberg and what pulls up behind us but an old couple in a brown 2500 ... clearly the original owners.
Ahhh, Triumphs, Triumphs everywhere, but not a GT6 to drive!
Whilst on my way to Cleveland I saw a Mk2 in green sitting in traffic.
Last weekend Ella and I went up to Bundaberg to her folks' place. We did a car swap ... the '91 Brumby for the '97 Saab. Wow! What a difference the extra gear, and a 2.3 turbo makes to the 5 hour drive back to Brisbane!
I looked in at the local breakers yard whilst we were in 'Bundy' too. They let you wander around and take parts yourself, like they should. I asked if they had any Triumphs and the guy at the desk recognised the GT6 on my t-shirt (courtesy of James Carruthers (photoshop) 'design studio'!) He pointed me in the direction of a 2500 TC that was in pretty good nick actually. To see a car that has been left to the elements like that be so relatively clean is great. Dissy was missing, as were most of the sills, but all in all if I had the space and the time and it had a manual 'box I'd have had it. The carbs, manifold, etc, were all in good shape as far as I could tell.
First drive out in the Saab whilst still in Bundaberg and what pulls up behind us but an old couple in a brown 2500 ... clearly the original owners.
Ahhh, Triumphs, Triumphs everywhere, but not a GT6 to drive!
Friday, May 20, 2005
About time!
It's over a month since I posted on here! I've been working hard, what more can I say?
Much time has been taken up with wedding planning (how exciting!), but there has been some fun driving. Most notable was the weekend trip up the Sunshine Coast. The "in-laws-to-be" won a weekend at a beachside apartment, and Ella and I joined them.
We met up on the Saturday. Ella's Mum came down in the mad Subaru, we took the Brumby and Ella's Dad came on his motorbike. He has one of these BMW semi off-road type bikes and loves going on the tracks, so he turned up caked head-to-toe in dirt. I must say it looks like fun!
On the Sunday we went Bush-walking. I figured it would be a short drive up the coast, park up and go for a decent walk. Instead we took both cars a good hour and a half of fast back-roads and excellent dirt roads (it had been raining decently!), then we parked the Brumby at the end of the walk and shot off in the Forrester for another half an hour up more dirt roads. Then we walked to Wandi Waterhole (great Aussie name) where we ate lunch, swam and discussed whether it was a Billabong or not (!). Check it out below!
At the end of the walk, I drove Ella's Dad back to collect the Forrester, then followed him back, which was the highlight of the day! We were blasting down these great dirt roads with both diffs working overtime and going about twice the speed of the few Landcruisers that were around. Penance was paid the next morning though, as we had to fit new gaskets on the downpipes on the Brumby having bashed them out on the rocks!
Otherwise, I'm still investigating the idea of shipping the GT6 over ... there's some serious paperwork to do if I go ahead.
I've spotted some more Triumphs, too, but never whilst the camera is handy.
1 Herald (with Vitesse bonnet as is the Aussie way) on the highway.
1 Spitfire (with the corporate back ... is that a 1500?) whilst I was playing football!
1 Dolomite Sprint (right outside work!)
The occasional big six.
I've also seen an interesting looking Rover 3500 twice in Brisbane, it looked to have a different wheel-arch styling to the UK version, which gave it a more sporty appeal.
There seem to be plenty of old Jags around, too. I've seen a very nice white Mk2 twice near work.
Anyway ... I will be back as and when I have any news!
Much time has been taken up with wedding planning (how exciting!), but there has been some fun driving. Most notable was the weekend trip up the Sunshine Coast. The "in-laws-to-be" won a weekend at a beachside apartment, and Ella and I joined them.
We met up on the Saturday. Ella's Mum came down in the mad Subaru, we took the Brumby and Ella's Dad came on his motorbike. He has one of these BMW semi off-road type bikes and loves going on the tracks, so he turned up caked head-to-toe in dirt. I must say it looks like fun!
On the Sunday we went Bush-walking. I figured it would be a short drive up the coast, park up and go for a decent walk. Instead we took both cars a good hour and a half of fast back-roads and excellent dirt roads (it had been raining decently!), then we parked the Brumby at the end of the walk and shot off in the Forrester for another half an hour up more dirt roads. Then we walked to Wandi Waterhole (great Aussie name) where we ate lunch, swam and discussed whether it was a Billabong or not (!). Check it out below!
At the end of the walk, I drove Ella's Dad back to collect the Forrester, then followed him back, which was the highlight of the day! We were blasting down these great dirt roads with both diffs working overtime and going about twice the speed of the few Landcruisers that were around. Penance was paid the next morning though, as we had to fit new gaskets on the downpipes on the Brumby having bashed them out on the rocks!
Otherwise, I'm still investigating the idea of shipping the GT6 over ... there's some serious paperwork to do if I go ahead.
I've spotted some more Triumphs, too, but never whilst the camera is handy.
1 Herald (with Vitesse bonnet as is the Aussie way) on the highway.
1 Spitfire (with the corporate back ... is that a 1500?) whilst I was playing football!
1 Dolomite Sprint (right outside work!)
The occasional big six.
I've also seen an interesting looking Rover 3500 twice in Brisbane, it looked to have a different wheel-arch styling to the UK version, which gave it a more sporty appeal.
There seem to be plenty of old Jags around, too. I've seen a very nice white Mk2 twice near work.
Anyway ... I will be back as and when I have any news!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
A little announcement:
I'm engaged ... yes, to be married!
Wonderful stuff! We're both a bit unsure how to do these things, having never been married to each other before, let alone anybody else. But to keep things Triumph related, as you probably aren't interested in hearing about my dress, it means that the GT6 will have to be shipped over here to try out life down under! Marvellous pies!
Chartering unknown territories seems to be the flavour of the day, doesn't it? Never been married before, never shipped a car half way 'round the world before, neither.
Anyone with expert knowledge of the cheapest and best ways of doing this kind of thing (the car not the marriage, please!) drop me a line or whatever.
I'm engaged ... yes, to be married!
Wonderful stuff! We're both a bit unsure how to do these things, having never been married to each other before, let alone anybody else. But to keep things Triumph related, as you probably aren't interested in hearing about my dress, it means that the GT6 will have to be shipped over here to try out life down under! Marvellous pies!
Chartering unknown territories seems to be the flavour of the day, doesn't it? Never been married before, never shipped a car half way 'round the world before, neither.
Anyone with expert knowledge of the cheapest and best ways of doing this kind of thing (the car not the marriage, please!) drop me a line or whatever.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
What goes on 'Outback'
Not much Triumphy going on at the moment ... but had some 'interesting' driving experiences last weekend regardless.
Ella's Mum lent us her nutter turbo Forrester to drive out of Brisbane to meet the family for a picnic. We needed a four-seater to get Ella's sisters to the rendezvous and her mum took the Brumby. Great, I thought, on the big open roads we can get a bit more speed up, and overtaking will be a doddle. And it was, even with slushbox it is fun when kickdown operates and the whole car bucks and just takes off, accompanied by a whine from the turbo that sounds like a police siren. Ahem, unfortunately eventually it actually was the siren and not the turbo. Despite repeated warnings from all and sundry about the revenue collection attitude of the Maryborough police, Greeksy knew best didn't he? Erm, no, he didn't, and as we rounded a gentle curve doing a trifling 117 kmph (according to the constabularies' equipment) the 50s were coming the other way. "Whoops!" I said in a 2-pack metallic colourful tone. The most annoying thing about it was that after I'd been booked by one of the rozzers the Ella recognised that the other one was a guy she'd been at Uni. with, and when he realised he said it was too late to let us off as the ticket was being written. Oh well, I guess it was about time. Doesn't half make driving a powerful car boring though!
When we met up with the rest of Ella's family, her Dad was on BMW motorbike and Mum and Uncle were in the Brumby ready for a bit of 4x4 action into the 'Bush'. a good 10km of 2nd gear creek crossing commenced ... and for some reason I was allowed to drive the Forrester, dinging the bumper on a big rock only once. Ella and I camped in the woods for a couple of nights doing some bush walking, climbing and swimming in a fantastic waterhole, and experiencing 50p sized hailstones in a mad storm, before driving back out, this time in the Brumby. Witness the mighty Brumby below as it crosses another dried up creek! There were a lot of loose rocks around and it was a good thing the diff. has a cage. It was rougher than the Targa Rusticana! I don't think even a TR7 would have had much joy on this one, not so much because we needed the 4wd but because in places the ground clearance was virtually zero.
Ella's Mum lent us her nutter turbo Forrester to drive out of Brisbane to meet the family for a picnic. We needed a four-seater to get Ella's sisters to the rendezvous and her mum took the Brumby. Great, I thought, on the big open roads we can get a bit more speed up, and overtaking will be a doddle. And it was, even with slushbox it is fun when kickdown operates and the whole car bucks and just takes off, accompanied by a whine from the turbo that sounds like a police siren. Ahem, unfortunately eventually it actually was the siren and not the turbo. Despite repeated warnings from all and sundry about the revenue collection attitude of the Maryborough police, Greeksy knew best didn't he? Erm, no, he didn't, and as we rounded a gentle curve doing a trifling 117 kmph (according to the constabularies' equipment) the 50s were coming the other way. "Whoops!" I said in a 2-pack metallic colourful tone. The most annoying thing about it was that after I'd been booked by one of the rozzers the Ella recognised that the other one was a guy she'd been at Uni. with, and when he realised he said it was too late to let us off as the ticket was being written. Oh well, I guess it was about time. Doesn't half make driving a powerful car boring though!
When we met up with the rest of Ella's family, her Dad was on BMW motorbike and Mum and Uncle were in the Brumby ready for a bit of 4x4 action into the 'Bush'. a good 10km of 2nd gear creek crossing commenced ... and for some reason I was allowed to drive the Forrester, dinging the bumper on a big rock only once. Ella and I camped in the woods for a couple of nights doing some bush walking, climbing and swimming in a fantastic waterhole, and experiencing 50p sized hailstones in a mad storm, before driving back out, this time in the Brumby. Witness the mighty Brumby below as it crosses another dried up creek! There were a lot of loose rocks around and it was a good thing the diff. has a cage. It was rougher than the Targa Rusticana! I don't think even a TR7 would have had much joy on this one, not so much because we needed the 4wd but because in places the ground clearance was virtually zero.
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