Top Gear - Boating challenge

I just watched Top Gear boating challenge and I haven't laughed so much in ages. The sight of the Toybota going under the waves was hilarious. Jeremy Clarkson thought he had the challenge under his belt when his car sunk only to see James May float into view in his converted Triumph Herald sailboat. When James sailed upto the slipway everyone was amazed when the car engine started and blew Jeremy's effort out of the water! I have to say I think the James herald sailcar was a whole lot more stylish than either Jeremy's Toybota - Toyota hilux with a large outboard engine strapped to the back or Richard Hammonds Damper van - a camper van wrapped in a narrow boat.
It just goes to show how adaptable Triumph cars can be one day the king of the road and the next king of the reservior.
Top Gear gets better every week with the outrageous challenges and topical car chat.

Updates to Blog

Since it has been raining pretty much all day today I thought I would do a bit of tidying up on the Blog. I have added a section on the side bar for links to non triumph traders, mainly accessory dealers anything from racing cams to fasteners. I have also made the links open in a new window, so no more having to navigate back to my blog. If anyone would like me to add a link to their website please email me the link and I will add it. I have also added a link to email me directly, so any comments there's no excuse I have all the base's covered - guestbook, email, and comments below each blog entry.

Spitfire repairs

I finished work at a reasonable time today so thought I would take the opportunity to do some work on the Spitfire. The first job was to fit the petrol filter I bought last week. I put the filter in the flexible tube before the fuel pump. No real issues in fitting the filter. The second job was to fit a new exhaust gasket, to cure the exhaust leak that's been driving me mad for ages. I removed the carburetor and the inlet manifold, which is quite badly corroded around the water pipe connections. I may have a go at drilling the old pipe out and replacing it with a stainless pipe, I've seen these advertised on eBay so it can't be that difficult to do. The exhaust manifold had enough movement to allow me to slip the old gasket off the cylinder head. I will put it all back together tomorrow after I have cleaned the carbs and had a go at drilling the water pipe.

Battlesbridge show and other work

I went along to the Battlesbridge classic car show today with Club Triumph Eastern. There was a great turnout of cars, the most I have seen. Although we didn't have a club stand we did manage to park together in the classic car parking area. On the way into the show the spitfire started to idle roughly and there was a strong smell of petrol, it could only be one thing the float chambers had overflowed again. I lifted the bonnet and as expected there was petrol coming from the overflow hole on the float chamber lid. I took the lid off and cleaned the needle valve, when I put the lid back the gasket had stretched and I couldn't get it to fit, so it was a quick look around the autojumble to see if I could find a spare and luckily I found a overhaul kit for a £1. After fitting the new gasket it was all running fine again. I'm still suffering from letting the tank run too low, I'll have to get around to fitting the petrol filter I bought last week. I also picked up a couple of carb overhaul kits for afriendd in work who had asked me keep an eye out for a couple of float chamber gaskets.
I also got some gearbox oil for the TR4A as I had taken the interior topiecess yesterday to get the gearbox tunnel off in search of the reason the overdrive had stopped working, I found a wire disconnected to the overdrive solenoid but while I had the gearbox cover off I topped up the oil as well. I managed to put the car back together this afternoon and took it for a test drive and the overdrive is back working.
I also run into a friend who happened to have a pair of re-conditioned brake calipers for a Spitfire for £20 each and as I was planning to overhaul the front end of the Spitfire this year they were just the ticket.
I also got some good news that my friends wife had a baby boy yesterday and both mother and baby are doing well. So congratulations to Jon and Heather and their new baby.

A couple of Spitfires at Battlesbridge show

The re-conditioned calipers I bought at Battlesbridge

The gearbox cover off the TR4A - looking for the overdrive problem

Jamie's Spitfire

A friend of mine Jamie came over this morning with his 1500 Spitfire so we could have a look at the carburettors. He was experiencing slight idling problems and lack of power. After checking the normal things ignition timing, spark plugs, points, etc we put the colourtune on the engine and it looked pretty good for the mixture. The timing was a couple of degrees out so we reset that to 10 degrees btdc and regapped the points. We took the car out for a spin and Jamie thought the car was running a little better. Time will tell if the changes are for the better. If that doesn't improve the situation we may have a closer look at the carbs, re-bush the butterfly spindles and balance and tune them. Overall the condition of Jamie's car is very good, the bodywork looks very tidy and in the sunshine this morning it looked really nice.

TSSC south of England meet

We went along to the TSSC south of England meet yesterday in the Mk3 Spitfire. It was a good turnout of Triumphs as you can see in the photos below. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very kind in the afternoon, the rain came down to dampen the proceedings but we made the most of the morning. There was an area for tuning up cars run by 3 mobile tune up company's. They seemed to be doing a good trade as they were always full. I had the trunnions oiled on the Spitfire and the front suspension checked out. The mechanic noticed some wear in the lower wishbone trunnion mounting hole so thats another job to attend too. I also bought a technical publications CD for the spitfire and fuel filter from the TSSC shop.

A tale of two car nights

I went along to two very different car related nights in the last couple of days, the first was the executioners spring riot at the Ace cafe in London and the second was the Club Triumph Eastern club night at Ramsden Bellhouse.

The Ace cafe was absolutely packed out, there cars parked all over the place, every available space seemed to be filled with American cars or Hot rod's. The pictures below show some of the cars that were there.

What ever your views are on taking an old car and changing it beyond recognition you have to admire the work and skills needed to create these cars. The engines are pure works of art in many case's as are the body work and interiors.

The second night was the regular Club Triumph Eastern club night at the White Horse pub in Ramsden Bellhouse. There was a good turnout as normal and the car park displayed a good number of Triumph's, there was a particularly good show of Spitfires along with Heralds, Vitesse's, TR4A, Austin Healy 3000 amongst others. The night was its usual blend of good food, discussion, the customary quiz and raffle. It was an altogether more civilised occasion than the previous night, but they were both enjoyable in their different ways.

Not a lot happening

I have just been pottering around the last few days. I have tidied up the wiring for the electric fan and fitted the new oil pressure switch on the spitfire, apart form that there's really not a lot to report.

I have added a calendar to my weblog side bar, in it are some dates for events I would like to attend. You can set the calendar to send an email to remind you of a certain event (please check dates with the website listed - I have been known to make the odd mistake!). Please feel free to have a look and don't forget to use my guest book to send me a friendly message or maybe details of an event I have not listed.