Both me and the website that is.
http://ofnofixedabode.wordpress.com
... see you again in 6 months (or more).
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Roll over BOB ... make way for The Bench
Oh lordy, it's confession time.
BOB's been a brilliant car, that I can't deny. In four years of ownership and about 30,000 miles (give or take some odometer error) of use he's not once caused a serious problem. Since the engine transplant a little over a year ago, he's taken us on a couple of epic fully-loaded trips - from Tassie up to our new home in Melbourne, west out to South Australia, north up to New South Wales, and on loads of day trips into the Victorian bush. In 15,000 miles he's required just one pint of oil!
But sadly, while BOB makes light work of highways, munches up the mountain roads and is pretty capable on the odd dirt track, satisfying as he is, there are some parts he just can't reach. And this is why he's being laid up to rest ... temporarily of course.
Ella and I have been planning a little outback adventure that requires a tad more ground clearance and a little extra space. So here's BOB's stablemate. A Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 with LPG and more bells buzzers than you could ring and buzz in an entire month of sunny Sundays.
Introducing, The Bench!
Anyway, there's another website in the making where you can find out the details of our adventure (and all the technical details on the heavily modified Bench) ... i'll post a link once it's worth viewing.
BOB drove north in convoy with The Bench last week. We travelled from Melbourne to Canberra to Sydney to Brisbane to Bundaberg visiting family along the way. BOB is now tucked up in the shed to be given the occasional run while we're away. I think it's going to be the longest I haven't driven a Triumph for in about seven years!
BOB's been a brilliant car, that I can't deny. In four years of ownership and about 30,000 miles (give or take some odometer error) of use he's not once caused a serious problem. Since the engine transplant a little over a year ago, he's taken us on a couple of epic fully-loaded trips - from Tassie up to our new home in Melbourne, west out to South Australia, north up to New South Wales, and on loads of day trips into the Victorian bush. In 15,000 miles he's required just one pint of oil!
But sadly, while BOB makes light work of highways, munches up the mountain roads and is pretty capable on the odd dirt track, satisfying as he is, there are some parts he just can't reach. And this is why he's being laid up to rest ... temporarily of course.
Ella and I have been planning a little outback adventure that requires a tad more ground clearance and a little extra space. So here's BOB's stablemate. A Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 with LPG and more bells buzzers than you could ring and buzz in an entire month of sunny Sundays.
Introducing, The Bench!
Anyway, there's another website in the making where you can find out the details of our adventure (and all the technical details on the heavily modified Bench) ... i'll post a link once it's worth viewing.
BOB drove north in convoy with The Bench last week. We travelled from Melbourne to Canberra to Sydney to Brisbane to Bundaberg visiting family along the way. BOB is now tucked up in the shed to be given the occasional run while we're away. I think it's going to be the longest I haven't driven a Triumph for in about seven years!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wee Irish fella blocking my route to work!
Bloody Bernie Ecclestone's mob are ruining my walk to work!
As I may have mentioned before I'm doing rather a lot of walking/running at the moment in preparation for a ***monster endurance event***.
Training includes walking to work through Albert Park, home of the Melbourne Grand Prix. Most of the year of course this is just a great big park with some curvy bits of road. There are cricket pitches, dogs, etc. The pit stop buildings are used as a sports halls (how Australian!).
The last couple of weeks it's been madness though, lorries coming and going. It's making walking to work relatively hazardous, but it is interesting to see just how much preparation goes into setting the venue up.
The Grand Prix is the same weekend i'm doing the 100km walk ... in about six weeks' time.
Anyway here's some (poor quality) phone photos of the preparation.
Not often you see a ticket maching next to the pit lane is it?
Or such slow
corners on a racetrack? (they're thinking about a Le Mans style start this year apparently...)
corners on a racetrack? (they're thinking about a Le Mans style start this year apparently...)
Here's the inside of the pit garages. If you look closely you can see a piece of Schumacher's old chewing gum on the floor.
This guy looked like he was a bit over the whole thing
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Chrome blind in the sunshine
It was a lovely sunny day today, perfect weather for a Triumph concours - if you like that sort of thing. I always get a bit bored looking at shiny cars, most of which never get dirty or red-lined, but I'd originally hoped to meet up with a CT forum member called Glen (or Cowman on the forum). However, he was called to Country Fire Authority duty fighting fires just north of Melbourne. I hope that's all going well for him.
So I went along anyway, even washing BOB first - that's twice this year already!
Unsurprisingly there were lots of shiny TRs and Stags, plus a Vitesse, 12/50 Herald a few Sptifires and GT6. There was a line up of competition cars, too:
I didn't hang around for the concours announcements but the car of the show IMHO was this TR Italia - nice:
There were quite a few saloons around, including an LPG with L plates, and this purple one! (not a big fan of colour-coding myself).
There was only one Mk1 that I noticed. It was white, like so many others, but had a rather unusual take on EFI under the hood...
After half an hour or so I was getting chrome blindness as usual and ready to head home. Then I met a fella called Fraser who was sheltering from the sun next to his standard tune Mk2 TC that he runs at hillclimbs all over the state.
Before I knew it we'd been waffling away for over an hour about all things Triumph and I was getting increasingly keen on the idea of a bit of hillclimbing/sprint action. I know I've been saying this for a while, but I've been put off by the assumption i'd need to cross and dot all kinds of scrutineering Ts and Is ... but Fraser's experience seems to have been quite simple: a licence, a helmet, a fire extinguisher (already in place anyway) and I'm certified to go and risk my own life as much as I like in time trial based tomfoolery... whyever not?
So I went along anyway, even washing BOB first - that's twice this year already!
Unsurprisingly there were lots of shiny TRs and Stags, plus a Vitesse, 12/50 Herald a few Sptifires and GT6. There was a line up of competition cars, too:
I didn't hang around for the concours announcements but the car of the show IMHO was this TR Italia - nice:
There were quite a few saloons around, including an LPG with L plates, and this purple one! (not a big fan of colour-coding myself).
There was only one Mk1 that I noticed. It was white, like so many others, but had a rather unusual take on EFI under the hood...
After half an hour or so I was getting chrome blindness as usual and ready to head home. Then I met a fella called Fraser who was sheltering from the sun next to his standard tune Mk2 TC that he runs at hillclimbs all over the state.
Before I knew it we'd been waffling away for over an hour about all things Triumph and I was getting increasingly keen on the idea of a bit of hillclimbing/sprint action. I know I've been saying this for a while, but I've been put off by the assumption i'd need to cross and dot all kinds of scrutineering Ts and Is ... but Fraser's experience seems to have been quite simple: a licence, a helmet, a fire extinguisher (already in place anyway) and I'm certified to go and risk my own life as much as I like in time trial based tomfoolery... whyever not?
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Strange goings on
You expect summer in Australia to be hot, but it's been ridiculous these past couple of weeks - the complete opposite of what's been going on in the UK.
Three days in a row last week it was over 40 centigrade. It stayed in the thirties for the next week. We didn't have a drop of rain in the whole of January. It's really stressing the flora and fauna. Leaves everywhere have been turning brown and leaping off trees, grass is crunching underfoot like snow, I've seen dead birds all over the place.
Today was mental. The mercury just tipped 50 this afternoon! Then a cool change came through and I even saw a couple of drops of rain outside. It's due to plummet to a chilly 23 tomorrow.
Stranger than the weather was seeing two TR6 on my way to work last Wednesday. I crossed Albert Park Road (of Melbourne Grand Prix fame) and saw the back of a red TR6 heading up the street. Thirty seconds later on a side road I saw another one. I know red TR6 are pretty common but this was spooky. I spoke to the owner of the second - turned out he'd literally just finished its restoration and he was in the process of posting the registration documents.
But there was nothing to prepare me for finding a familiar face hanging around at Flinder's Street Station in the centre of Melbourne. Young Paul Darbyshire (aka Burnerboy) the serial Triumphaholic and all-round nice guy. Even better was that he had a bag of Chris Witor springs to go with his cheeky smile.
Well, that deserved a beer ... or two! So we snuck off to the pub to launch the first ever Club Triumph Melbourne meeting. Paul won the points for travelling the furthest to attend, but I was in my 10CR 03 t-shirt so I think that makes it evens. He says he'll be back again some time for another meeting... I might have to think up some quiz questions.
Three days in a row last week it was over 40 centigrade. It stayed in the thirties for the next week. We didn't have a drop of rain in the whole of January. It's really stressing the flora and fauna. Leaves everywhere have been turning brown and leaping off trees, grass is crunching underfoot like snow, I've seen dead birds all over the place.
Today was mental. The mercury just tipped 50 this afternoon! Then a cool change came through and I even saw a couple of drops of rain outside. It's due to plummet to a chilly 23 tomorrow.
Stranger than the weather was seeing two TR6 on my way to work last Wednesday. I crossed Albert Park Road (of Melbourne Grand Prix fame) and saw the back of a red TR6 heading up the street. Thirty seconds later on a side road I saw another one. I know red TR6 are pretty common but this was spooky. I spoke to the owner of the second - turned out he'd literally just finished its restoration and he was in the process of posting the registration documents.
But there was nothing to prepare me for finding a familiar face hanging around at Flinder's Street Station in the centre of Melbourne. Young Paul Darbyshire (aka Burnerboy) the serial Triumphaholic and all-round nice guy. Even better was that he had a bag of Chris Witor springs to go with his cheeky smile.
Well, that deserved a beer ... or two! So we snuck off to the pub to launch the first ever Club Triumph Melbourne meeting. Paul won the points for travelling the furthest to attend, but I was in my 10CR 03 t-shirt so I think that makes it evens. He says he'll be back again some time for another meeting... I might have to think up some quiz questions.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Endurance Event
Back in 2008 when the RBRR was on and I was all sad about not being able to join in I made a commitment to sort out something similar but altogether more local.
The idea for the Round Victoria Reliability Run was born.
Sadly, bugger all has happened apart from me playing with Google Maps a bit and inviting a few other Triumph-heads to join in. I was thinking that March would be a good idea to do it as it's far enough after the heat of summer and before the moutain sections are likely to be snowy ....
... but then I got sidetracked by a completely different event which I hasten to add is not a relay.
The idea for the Round Victoria Reliability Run was born.
Sadly, bugger all has happened apart from me playing with Google Maps a bit and inviting a few other Triumph-heads to join in. I was thinking that March would be a good idea to do it as it's far enough after the heat of summer and before the moutain sections are likely to be snowy ....
... but then I got sidetracked by a completely different event which I hasten to add is not a relay.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Problems are just opportunities in work clothes
It was two weeks before Christmas and all through the car
A terrible clonking sound that stopped us driving too far...
One of KYB's finest shock absorbers gave up fairly dramatically by shearing at the base. So out with the credit card and on with the Konis just in time (literally) for our epic Christmas trip.
Great fun - up to NSW and all around the forests, some boring straight roads to get there, but we took back roads where practical ... which is very good fun. We got to drive some brilliant roads and camped in some amazing spots. Poor Ella suffered the embarrassment of attempting to overtake a police highway patrol car that was going under the speed limit just where the white line went solid and a fixed camera was installed. Fortunately she ducked back in just in time!
We did a fair amount of walking in the World Heritage Rainforests which were truly spectacular. There were lots of gorges and waterfalls and other nature stuff.
The car was heavily loaded and exhibited some 'interesting' camber on the rear wheels and meant the bum dragged a bit too much for my liking. I'm considering getting some airbag spring assisters when finances allow. They're easily adjustable so I can change the pressure depending on the load in the car.
My father-in-law was impressed by BOB's newfound power as he tried to keep up with us in his turbo diesel 4x4.
The last place we camped - Nymboi/Binderay National Park - to go on a whitewater rafting trip involved some really bumpy roads and a water crossing to get in. We made it in just, but in the morning I noticed a flat.
Given the state of the roads the best idea seemed to be to patch the tyre up - it was leaking from an old patch - to get back out to a tyre fitter and save the spare for an emergency. My father-in-law had all the kit needed and dived in to do it.
Unfortunately the tyre-fitters were utter numpties and managed to strip a couple of nuts on the wheels. That's easily done on S wheels, but I'd warned them of the problem and they hadn't even told me - we were 100km down the road when Ella complained of a wobble!
Worse still, the next morning - having driven 1,000km - I discovered that I had a flat tyre. The idiots had changed the wrong bloody tyre!!! Needless to say I'm getting a couple more free tyres from them now.
The only other problems on the trip were the two broken exhaust mounts - the rear join where the pipe goes through the trailing arm (I was able to bodge that) and the gearbox mount which needs further investigation. We've also developed a bit of a noise when decelerating and a crack in the back box. All this hard driving's taking its toll!
The Konis were magic though, a considerable improvement on the harsher KYBs and I'm sure they will have limited the damage.
All up we totalled 3,800km in two weeks, fuel economy looks to have been 10.6 l/100km or 27mpg, not bad considering the state of tune, the road types and the heavy load.
A terrible clonking sound that stopped us driving too far...
One of KYB's finest shock absorbers gave up fairly dramatically by shearing at the base. So out with the credit card and on with the Konis just in time (literally) for our epic Christmas trip.
Great fun - up to NSW and all around the forests, some boring straight roads to get there, but we took back roads where practical ... which is very good fun. We got to drive some brilliant roads and camped in some amazing spots. Poor Ella suffered the embarrassment of attempting to overtake a police highway patrol car that was going under the speed limit just where the white line went solid and a fixed camera was installed. Fortunately she ducked back in just in time!
We did a fair amount of walking in the World Heritage Rainforests which were truly spectacular. There were lots of gorges and waterfalls and other nature stuff.
The car was heavily loaded and exhibited some 'interesting' camber on the rear wheels and meant the bum dragged a bit too much for my liking. I'm considering getting some airbag spring assisters when finances allow. They're easily adjustable so I can change the pressure depending on the load in the car.
My father-in-law was impressed by BOB's newfound power as he tried to keep up with us in his turbo diesel 4x4.
The last place we camped - Nymboi/Binderay National Park - to go on a whitewater rafting trip involved some really bumpy roads and a water crossing to get in. We made it in just, but in the morning I noticed a flat.
Given the state of the roads the best idea seemed to be to patch the tyre up - it was leaking from an old patch - to get back out to a tyre fitter and save the spare for an emergency. My father-in-law had all the kit needed and dived in to do it.
Unfortunately the tyre-fitters were utter numpties and managed to strip a couple of nuts on the wheels. That's easily done on S wheels, but I'd warned them of the problem and they hadn't even told me - we were 100km down the road when Ella complained of a wobble!
Worse still, the next morning - having driven 1,000km - I discovered that I had a flat tyre. The idiots had changed the wrong bloody tyre!!! Needless to say I'm getting a couple more free tyres from them now.
The only other problems on the trip were the two broken exhaust mounts - the rear join where the pipe goes through the trailing arm (I was able to bodge that) and the gearbox mount which needs further investigation. We've also developed a bit of a noise when decelerating and a crack in the back box. All this hard driving's taking its toll!
The Konis were magic though, a considerable improvement on the harsher KYBs and I'm sure they will have limited the damage.
All up we totalled 3,800km in two weeks, fuel economy looks to have been 10.6 l/100km or 27mpg, not bad considering the state of tune, the road types and the heavy load.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
TSOA EMR...
BOB's been getting fairly typical usage recently - weekend trips out into the woods, mainly. We had a 'fun' incident the weekend before last, when an errant branch disconnected the fuel line underneath the car. Fortunately we were stopping 1km down the track anyway. Just as we pulled over the engine cut out... I thought it was something ignition related, but the stink of fuel and trickling noise gave the problem away. We didn't lose too much fuel. I guess the 30 year old fuel line clips are a bit brittle, so i've replaced some of them with cushion clamps now.
Last weekend we decided to try our first Triumph Sportscar Owners Australia (TSOA) Victoria EMR... the Sunday Early Morning Run. Having a quick checkover the car on Saturday night I noticed with some annoyance the almost complete lack of clutch fluid in the reservoir! Topped it right up and had a bit of a poke around and decided it was obviously a leaking slave cylinder seal ... but a very slow leak. It can wait.
Next morning it seems that the poking around had filled the bloody thing with air. Bleeding kit tucked away in some box somewhere or other, so a quick spanner to the nipple let some air out and the clutch was back to life. Phew ... made it to the start of the run 10 minutes late - but these things never run on time. The local Daimler club was at the same meeting point which added some confusion, but there were a lot of tasty looking Triumphs all just setting off. A kindly TR8 (4.3l) owner who was clearly hanging at the back said we could follow him - probably a bit concerned we might not be able to keep up.
So we headed off towards Ballarat on the highway behind three droptop TR8s and a Porsche 911 (?). I'm always a bit reticent about these sorts of runs, concerned that they'll be a bit tame and slow. First impressions were that speed limits were being treated with just enough respect (that's good) and we made reasonable time to the end of the highway stretch before heading north up the good roads. Lots of nice fast twisty stuff and the TR8s didn't hold us up even if they were a little slow up the hills :-)
A nice coffee stop in Daylesford was the first cha
nce to see just how many TR4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, Stags and even a GT6 (rare in Australia) had turned up. No sidescreens to be seen. I got talking to Barry (4a), Jim (Stag) and Geoff (7 in excruciatingly bright yellow). Barry is the first person i've ever met who unwittingly bought a car with overdrive. There was an unusual wiring set up and the seller didn't 
even know it was installed - it was only discovered on a rebuild (which has included some nice mods too).
Forgot the camera (again!) hence the dodgy phone shots.
Last weekend we decided to try our first Triumph Sportscar Owners Australia (TSOA) Victoria EMR... the Sunday Early Morning Run. Having a quick checkover the car on Saturday night I noticed with some annoyance the almost complete lack of clutch fluid in the reservoir! Topped it right up and had a bit of a poke around and decided it was obviously a leaking slave cylinder seal ... but a very slow leak. It can wait.
Next morning it seems that the poking around had filled the bloody thing with air. Bleeding kit tucked away in some box somewhere or other, so a quick spanner to the nipple let some air out and the clutch was back to life. Phew ... made it to the start of the run 10 minutes late - but these things never run on time. The local Daimler club was at the same meeting point which added some confusion, but there were a lot of tasty looking Triumphs all just setting off. A kindly TR8 (4.3l) owner who was clearly hanging at the back said we could follow him - probably a bit concerned we might not be able to keep up.
So we headed off towards Ballarat on the highway behind three droptop TR8s and a Porsche 911 (?). I'm always a bit reticent about these sorts of runs, concerned that they'll be a bit tame and slow. First impressions were that speed limits were being treated with just enough respect (that's good) and we made reasonable time to the end of the highway stretch before heading north up the good roads. Lots of nice fast twisty stuff and the TR8s didn't hold us up even if they were a little slow up the hills :-)
A nice coffee stop in Daylesford was the first cha
nce to see just how many TR4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, Stags and even a GT6 (rare in Australia) had turned up. No sidescreens to be seen. I got talking to Barry (4a), Jim (Stag) and Geoff (7 in excruciatingly bright yellow). Barry is the first person i've ever met who unwittingly bought a car with overdrive. There was an unusual wiring set up and the seller didn't 
even know it was installed - it was only discovered on a rebuild (which has included some nice mods too).Forgot the camera (again!) hence the dodgy phone shots.
The rest of the drive was less exciting, just the run into a festival at Ballarat. But it was interesting to see people's reaction to the Saloon - normally a bit looked down on as they're not 'sportscars', these guys seemed happy to see it, even if it was a bit scabbier than most of the TRs (yes even the wedges were 'pretty'). The TR8 owner was impressed by its 'go' and one of the owners said it sounded wonderful. I might have a crack at some sprints or regularities in the new year to see if I can soften them further on the saloon.
... and the slave cylinder seal held out and can be changed next weekend.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Beating the RBRR Blues
I can see this is going to be a biannual pattern - "watching" the RBRR message diary and wising I was there. The build up on the Club Triumph forum is agonising, although it's nice not to have to deal with the stress. Driving around Britain in 48 hours in an old car seems like a good old-fashioned thing to do. It pulls out some survival instincts even from the most unlikely people. You spend half of the time with all your senses strained listening and looking for bits falling off your car.
So, what could I do to replace the RBRR this year? Plan A was to go to my local pub's German beer festival. It starts at midday and goes on into the wee hours. A friend from Hobart was all set to fly up and join in. But he missed his flight. So to kill a few hours I thought I'd have a bit of a check over BOB and do a few little things I haven't got around to
1) Why is it the car takes a bit longer to start than it should? I've always meant to check the starter motor wiring out... and I did today. Bloody good thing I did too!
Three wires had badly cracked insulation - difficult to spot tucked away underneath the manifold. I patched them up and now the car starts immediately. I wish I'd checked that out 3 years ago.
2) Carb needles. I'd been recommended some different profile needles. Here's the chart I knocked up via James Carruther's SU Needle Compare-o-rama.
I was running on the BFG needles (the orange line on the chart) and finding things a bit lumpy. So I ordered some BFZ (the green line)... whacked them in this afternoon.
Instant improvement - smoother idle, better driving at low rpm and more refined acceleration. It used to "wharrrrrp" from 3k rpm up, but now it just pulls straight through to 6k with very little fuss. I must say it's a lot less hassle changing SU needles than the late 1.5 inch Strombergs I had on the GT6. Didn't even need to adjust the idle.
It's not easy for me to really try the car out where we live - it's a long way to the nearest fast road... so tomorrow's Sunday trip to the hills will be extra fun. I get to try out the needles on the fast road and the bushes on the dirt roads. Let's hope the rest of the day at the beer festival doesn't give me too much of a hangover!
So, what could I do to replace the RBRR this year? Plan A was to go to my local pub's German beer festival. It starts at midday and goes on into the wee hours. A friend from Hobart was all set to fly up and join in. But he missed his flight. So to kill a few hours I thought I'd have a bit of a check over BOB and do a few little things I haven't got around to
1) Why is it the car takes a bit longer to start than it should? I've always meant to check the starter motor wiring out... and I did today. Bloody good thing I did too!
Three wires had badly cracked insulation - difficult to spot tucked away underneath the manifold. I patched them up and now the car starts immediately. I wish I'd checked that out 3 years ago.
2) Carb needles. I'd been recommended some different profile needles. Here's the chart I knocked up via James Carruther's SU Needle Compare-o-rama.
I was running on the BFG needles (the orange line on the chart) and finding things a bit lumpy. So I ordered some BFZ (the green line)... whacked them in this afternoon.
Instant improvement - smoother idle, better driving at low rpm and more refined acceleration. It used to "wharrrrrp" from 3k rpm up, but now it just pulls straight through to 6k with very little fuss. I must say it's a lot less hassle changing SU needles than the late 1.5 inch Strombergs I had on the GT6. Didn't even need to adjust the idle.
It's not easy for me to really try the car out where we live - it's a long way to the nearest fast road... so tomorrow's Sunday trip to the hills will be extra fun. I get to try out the needles on the fast road and the bushes on the dirt roads. Let's hope the rest of the day at the beer festival doesn't give me too much of a hangover!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Bum Steer
Basically the passenger side rear tyre wears out quicker than it should, the car sits a bit wonky to that side, the springs bend in that direction, and there's a wicked oversteer in hard right hand corners which just lets go on dirt roads (Dave Sideways would pee his pants) ... there's only one thing left to change at the backend, or maybe two.
- New springs front and back - check
- Good dampers all round - check
- Polybushed rear end - check
- New driveshafts (Tri-Dats) - check
- Diff. mounting checked - check
So, I pulled my old sub-frame mounts off for a look-see and they're not perfect, and one is definitely worse than the other.
The reconditioned ones are considerably better looking!
Before I put them on I had to get the tape measure out, take a deep breath, cross my fingers, pray to the East (or North North West?) and hope that I'd not been driving around in a twisted orange monster for the last few years. The measurements said it was ok ... but I'm not convinced by the accuracy, so I chucked the new ones on, went for a quick test-drive (including sliding around a roundabout in 1st gear a few times). A few more drives to settle things down and I'll take another deep breath and some more measurements. Fingers crossed.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Oh, those crazy Aussies!
I used to think that the Aussie sense of humour was 'drizabone', and that this meant I was surrounding by sublime intentional wordplay and ironic references. But after a while I realised it's not an automatic cultural inheritance. There are those who get the jokes and those who are the jokes.
An embodiment of this is the road signs. There are some good intentional pisstakes, like this one from the south west coast of Victoria, spotted a couple of years ago:
Then there are the ones that I'd love to think are intentional, but somehow reckon just weren't really thought out...
Like this one in Landsborough, Queensland:
Or this in South Australia:
A common tactic is to use road signs to get you to stop and buy a coffee in out of the way towns ... but sometimes they employ some wit to get you to pull over (not sure what's so wrong with Galahs by the way):
They can get be a bit stern about it, too:
They're all budding Cub Scouts, really - Be Prepared and all that (sorry for reposting this one):
An embodiment of this is the road signs. There are some good intentional pisstakes, like this one from the south west coast of Victoria, spotted a couple of years ago:
Then there are the ones that I'd love to think are intentional, but somehow reckon just weren't really thought out...
Like this one in Landsborough, Queensland:
Or this in South Australia:
A common tactic is to use road signs to get you to stop and buy a coffee in out of the way towns ... but sometimes they employ some wit to get you to pull over (not sure what's so wrong with Galahs by the way):
They can get be a bit stern about it, too:
They can't think up their own names, though - lots of settlements are named after places in The Old Country.
They're all budding Cub Scouts, really - Be Prepared and all that (sorry for reposting this one):
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
New Brakes!
Check these out!
A bit lightweight for BOB of course... but it is time for some new brake shoes on the rear, so I got some of these ready to go. If it ever stops raining for long enough to get the wheels off I might get them fitted.
A bit lightweight for BOB of course... but it is time for some new brake shoes on the rear, so I got some of these ready to go. If it ever stops raining for long enough to get the wheels off I might get them fitted.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Big flat and dry
... that's South Australia apparently.
Actually there turned out to be a lot more to it.
We had terrible problems with the car, innumerable breakdowns and ended up sleeping in the car in the desert out of mobile range for a week waiting for someone to come by who could help us.
No, not really. We had a great time, BOB behaved immaculately, embarrassed lots of moderns and returned a reasonable 28mpg most of the time, despite being full to the gunwales.
We dropped in on Nick (G-Man on the CT forum) in Adelaide for a night, drank his beer, talked Triumphs and drank more of his beer. Nick's Saloon was having Pi surgery the day we visited and his Mk2 GT6 was hitched up for a bit of rear end attention as you can see.
He started it up for me anyway - sounded fantastic. This car features the coolest James Bond kill switch I've ever heard of... but I'll keep it secret I think.
BOB is now pulling like a train which is handy for overtaking road trains, actually:
Not all of our trip involved driving in BOB, though. We met up with the in-laws for a week, and ventured north into the dirt roads of the desert in their well-kitted out Navarra. Jacques let me have a few drives... good fun on some of the gnarlier roads.
A useful car to have when you've got road signs like this:
We did get off-road a bit in BOB when we were on our own, though... there were just a couple of bottom-scrapes, and some big mud splashes! I can think of a few Triumph owners who'd be devestated to see an engine bay looking like this.
That's it for now ... I'll put a bit more in to The Editor and see if it crops up in Club Torque at some point down the track.
Actually there turned out to be a lot more to it.
We had terrible problems with the car, innumerable breakdowns and ended up sleeping in the car in the desert out of mobile range for a week waiting for someone to come by who could help us.
No, not really. We had a great time, BOB behaved immaculately, embarrassed lots of moderns and returned a reasonable 28mpg most of the time, despite being full to the gunwales.
We dropped in on Nick (G-Man on the CT forum) in Adelaide for a night, drank his beer, talked Triumphs and drank more of his beer. Nick's Saloon was having Pi surgery the day we visited and his Mk2 GT6 was hitched up for a bit of rear end attention as you can see.
He started it up for me anyway - sounded fantastic. This car features the coolest James Bond kill switch I've ever heard of... but I'll keep it secret I think.
BOB is now pulling like a train which is handy for overtaking road trains, actually:
Not all of our trip involved driving in BOB, though. We met up with the in-laws for a week, and ventured north into the dirt roads of the desert in their well-kitted out Navarra. Jacques let me have a few drives... good fun on some of the gnarlier roads.
A useful car to have when you've got road signs like this:
We did get off-road a bit in BOB when we were on our own, though... there were just a couple of bottom-scrapes, and some big mud splashes! I can think of a few Triumph owners who'd be devestated to see an engine bay looking like this.
That's it for now ... I'll put a bit more in to The Editor and see if it crops up in Club Torque at some point down the track.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
BOB Rocket
BOB went in for its op. a couple of weeks ago now. The MK1 Pi engine was installed along with a recon. box and o/d and carbs were tweaked to account for the new set-up (BFGs for now).
When I picked the car up I was rather astonished by the lumpiness of the cam. I expected a bit of snorting, but it was shaking like a junky and barking like a dog. It wasn't just loud it was positively antisocial. I took it down to an exhaust place recommended by the engine builder (Graham Westwell) to have a resonator fitted (with a 25% parts discount) and some better brackets fitted, and was very happy with the result. A little less harsh, but plenty of presence.
Graham offered a 5,000km warranty on the engine if I adhere to his running in recommendations so I thought I better stick to that. We took BOB for a good run around the eastern side of the state over the next weekend, putting down 1200km whilst staying below 3,000rpm and seeing more amazing parts of Tassie... which is just as well as we're moving to Melbourne soon.
I was amazed that the fuel consumption stayed so reasonable, 28mpg on fairly mixed speeds - and the plugs were perfect.
The car has since been back to Graham to have the oil changed, head retorqued, tappets reset, cooling system flushed and coolant added, etc. It's even better now, getting smoother all the time. We can go up to 4,000rpm now ... and between 3-4k there's an incredible added "Whhhhaaaaaaaaaarp" noise. Ok the idle is still lumpy, but it's rarely ever going to idle if I can help it. There's shed loads of torque so 1st gear is virtually redundant, but it spins up nice and fast too ... I have to keep reigning myself in - can't wait to let it rip.
I picked up a replacement central console the other day off a mate (Russell), and fitted it. The old one had got brittle and cracked as they do, but Russell has a stack of perfect ones, including a very unusual one made of a thick firm plastic with a vinyl covering... sounds shonky I know, but the moulding was perfect and it fits perfectly too and looks exactly like the original. It really looks like it's factory made but Russell says he's never come across one before. Weird.
In a couple of weeks' time we're heading off on a big drive around South Australia via Melbourne. BOB's more fun than ever so I'm looking forward to putting down some k's. Should be great.
When I picked the car up I was rather astonished by the lumpiness of the cam. I expected a bit of snorting, but it was shaking like a junky and barking like a dog. It wasn't just loud it was positively antisocial. I took it down to an exhaust place recommended by the engine builder (Graham Westwell) to have a resonator fitted (with a 25% parts discount) and some better brackets fitted, and was very happy with the result. A little less harsh, but plenty of presence.
Graham offered a 5,000km warranty on the engine if I adhere to his running in recommendations so I thought I better stick to that. We took BOB for a good run around the eastern side of the state over the next weekend, putting down 1200km whilst staying below 3,000rpm and seeing more amazing parts of Tassie... which is just as well as we're moving to Melbourne soon.
I was amazed that the fuel consumption stayed so reasonable, 28mpg on fairly mixed speeds - and the plugs were perfect.
The car has since been back to Graham to have the oil changed, head retorqued, tappets reset, cooling system flushed and coolant added, etc. It's even better now, getting smoother all the time. We can go up to 4,000rpm now ... and between 3-4k there's an incredible added "Whhhhaaaaaaaaaarp" noise. Ok the idle is still lumpy, but it's rarely ever going to idle if I can help it. There's shed loads of torque so 1st gear is virtually redundant, but it spins up nice and fast too ... I have to keep reigning myself in - can't wait to let it rip.
I picked up a replacement central console the other day off a mate (Russell), and fitted it. The old one had got brittle and cracked as they do, but Russell has a stack of perfect ones, including a very unusual one made of a thick firm plastic with a vinyl covering... sounds shonky I know, but the moulding was perfect and it fits perfectly too and looks exactly like the original. It really looks like it's factory made but Russell says he's never come across one before. Weird.
In a couple of weeks' time we're heading off on a big drive around South Australia via Melbourne. BOB's more fun than ever so I'm looking forward to putting down some k's. Should be great.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Engine Rebuild Update
So, the camshaft's back from its regrind at Wade Cams of Victoria to 444C 105 degrees... and a load of other impressive sounding numbers which give it TR5 characteristics apparently. Refaced cam followers and a regrind cost a total of $181 ... 85 quid or thereabouts.
It certainly looks better, anyway.
I took it up to the guy who's building the engine and he rubbed his hands with glea. All the engine parts are with the machine shop to do their bits, and new old stock vandervell bearings have only to wait a few more days before they're put to work. It's shaping up that I'll be able to drop the car in and pick it up a few days later without even missing a weekend's driving... fingers crossed.
It certainly looks better, anyway.
I took it up to the guy who's building the engine and he rubbed his hands with glea. All the engine parts are with the machine shop to do their bits, and new old stock vandervell bearings have only to wait a few more days before they're put to work. It's shaping up that I'll be able to drop the car in and pick it up a few days later without even missing a weekend's driving... fingers crossed.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Transplant time
We're planning a trip over to South Australia for most of July, so I thought it might be a good idea to get BOB checked out. I put it into a mechanic I trust asking him to have a look at a few things that were bugging me (noisy tappets, rear brakes, etc).
It's thirty years old this year, and has turned 125,000 km on the clock, so perhaps I shouldn't be that surprised to get a less than glowing report on BOB's health. It turned out that compression on one cylinder was worryingly low, and was pointing to problems with piston rings. Given the age of the engine it seemed best to take the plunge and get the whole thing rebuilt, and throw in a reconditioned gearbox for good measure.
I've spent enough time reading about other people's rebuilds to be a bit daunted by the whole thing. I've had lots of nice ideas about how to upgrade things for a little more power, but wasn't really intending on doing it for a while - and then to spend a bit of time, research it and collect the right parts. But we don't have time for that if we want to take BOB around SA in 6 week's time. So the 2.7 pi with roller rockers, top notch exhaust manifold, blah de blah will have to wait for now... I'm only going for the easy and cheaper stuff, based around a Mk1 Pi block and head.
The engine was sourced from another Hobart Triumph guy - Glen Johnson - who had it spare. He'd been told it had done minimal kms since a rebuild before he took it out of a wreck, but he'd never opened it up to see what it was like inside. Seeing as it was a Mk1 block and head I was hoping it would pop in with a new headgasket and save me a small fortune. Head off revealed the "recent rebuild" was done by somebody who probably shouldn't have bothered. Glazed bores, heavily carbonised valves and pistons, some weird applications of araldite, damaged cam lobes and unfortunately not the most desirable crank.
Cam Lobes
I'd been agonising about what to go for in the new engine, but this kind of helped me decide priorities. The machine shop can give everything a good clean up, the cam reground (TR5 spec.) unleaded head conversion, bores honed, flywheel lightened. I would have like to have for balanced everything, too, but the budget will ony go so far.
We're still using BOB in the meantime (in fact I'm tempted to thrash the arse of the current engine before it comes out ... just to make sure). There's some great big Yankee ship in town (hello sailors!) at the moment, the USS Tarawa, so we had a peak from a good vantage point today - appropriately enough at the Hobart Cenotaph. According to the local rag "The 250m vessel carries 35 aircraft including AV-8B Harrier jets and Cobra, Hueys, Super Stallion and Sea Knight helicopters" ... and 3,000 American sailors, heaven forbid.
It's thirty years old this year, and has turned 125,000 km on the clock, so perhaps I shouldn't be that surprised to get a less than glowing report on BOB's health. It turned out that compression on one cylinder was worryingly low, and was pointing to problems with piston rings. Given the age of the engine it seemed best to take the plunge and get the whole thing rebuilt, and throw in a reconditioned gearbox for good measure.
I've spent enough time reading about other people's rebuilds to be a bit daunted by the whole thing. I've had lots of nice ideas about how to upgrade things for a little more power, but wasn't really intending on doing it for a while - and then to spend a bit of time, research it and collect the right parts. But we don't have time for that if we want to take BOB around SA in 6 week's time. So the 2.7 pi with roller rockers, top notch exhaust manifold, blah de blah will have to wait for now... I'm only going for the easy and cheaper stuff, based around a Mk1 Pi block and head.
The engine was sourced from another Hobart Triumph guy - Glen Johnson - who had it spare. He'd been told it had done minimal kms since a rebuild before he took it out of a wreck, but he'd never opened it up to see what it was like inside. Seeing as it was a Mk1 block and head I was hoping it would pop in with a new headgasket and save me a small fortune. Head off revealed the "recent rebuild" was done by somebody who probably shouldn't have bothered. Glazed bores, heavily carbonised valves and pistons, some weird applications of araldite, damaged cam lobes and unfortunately not the most desirable crank.
Cam Lobes
I'd been agonising about what to go for in the new engine, but this kind of helped me decide priorities. The machine shop can give everything a good clean up, the cam reground (TR5 spec.) unleaded head conversion, bores honed, flywheel lightened. I would have like to have for balanced everything, too, but the budget will ony go so far.
We're still using BOB in the meantime (in fact I'm tempted to thrash the arse of the current engine before it comes out ... just to make sure). There's some great big Yankee ship in town (hello sailors!) at the moment, the USS Tarawa, so we had a peak from a good vantage point today - appropriately enough at the Hobart Cenotaph. According to the local rag "The 250m vessel carries 35 aircraft including AV-8B Harrier jets and Cobra, Hueys, Super Stallion and Sea Knight helicopters" ... and 3,000 American sailors, heaven forbid.
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