Stevep's Triumphs

Spit and Stag update

2011-10-29T20:55:00.003+01:00

Good news on the Spitfire, took it for its MOT this week to a new classic friendly garage in the Hildenborough area. Initially it failed on the emissions but with a little tweaking that was resolved. So I now have a brand new style MOT and the car has been put back in the garage until the end of January when the Stag's Tax runs out. I'll then put the Spitfire on the road and leave the Stag on SORN until March.

Speaking of the Stag, post 10CR the idle has been a little lumpy and sometimes cuts out when idling in Drive. Decided to have a look today - found the central bolt holding the carbs onto the O'ring was loose and the carbs were moving. A quick spanner job and the car now idles perfectly.

Took a drive up to Faversham Classics in the Stag, Trevor had rung me to say he'd got one of the heads off my old engine at last and did I want to see the condition.
Suffice to say it was well stuck - only one head bolt came out and he had to spend a number of days jacking up the head so that he could cut through all the studs. No way could that have been done in the car! So my decision to go for a newly built engine was clearly the right one. Apparently he thinks the original engine was a Tony Hart Rebuild.

Two Weeks later

2011-10-18T18:05:00.004+01:00

Two weeks ago I started preparing the Spitfire for its forthcoming MOT. I am pleased to say it is now as ready as it will ever be. I (together with my neighbour Andy's help and advice) have ground, drilled, patched and welded parts of the floor to sill joints, primed and painted the interior and exterior floor sections and repainted the outer sills.

Unfortunately the existing Inca Yellow does not match the paint I bought. So once the car has been MOT'd (fingers crossed) I will be taking the car to a local paint supplier to get a better match, then I'll respray the sills in primer and start again!

One of the other decisions I made during this process was to refit the original seats, replacing the MX5 ones that I fitted for my attempts at the 10 Countries Runs in 2007 and 2009.

The original seats are in a quite good condition having spent the last 4 years in the garage loft with only a small split in the drivers seat. I have also replaced the rear brakes and adjusted them, replaced plugs, adjusted points and generally serviced the car. It still seems to be running a bit rich, so a bit more tuning is needed before the MOT. I even bunged some Redex into the Tank!

The MX5 seats are probably going to be tried out in Andy's Toledo to provide a bit of extra comfort for next years Round Britain run. We have already measured them and it looks like they will only need some minor fettling on the runners.

Spitfire Rust Removal

2011-09-30T20:53:00.003+01:00

With the 10CR well and truly behind me , my attention has now focussed on getting the Spitfire back on the road. It has been on SORN for a couple of months now since both the tax and MOT expired. At last years MOT my tame tester (now retired unfortunately)remarked on the crustiness of the sills.

Having recently gone 'thirds' in a new gasless MIG welder with my neighbour Andy (car 48 in the 10CR) and his son in law I decided to make a start on getting the Spitfire ready for its MOT, which is planned for the end of October. A garage local to my area TSSC meeting point is opening up on our club night to show us how the MOT is carried out and the Spitfire is planned to be one of the guinea pigs!

Andy and I started on the car this week, the offside sill was not too bad, and only one patch was needed on the floor. I decided to strip the paint off the sill completely as it had suffered from brake fluid spills in the past.

The nearside sill/floor is much worse and as I write this has been prepared for 3 large patches to be welded in during the next week.

It has been a steep learning curve for me, never having touched a welder before, Andy is a good teacher and I managed some quite good plug welds today, but my seam welding leaves a lot to be desired!

Ideally, the correct course of action would be to put in a complete floor panel, and new inner and outer sills, and this may happen in a couple of years if I keep the car, in the meantime I have taken the decision to do some more 'minor' surgery to keep costs down.

10CR CAR 12

2011-09-25T19:56:00.004+01:00

On the 8^th September, my brother Richard and I embarked on our third attempt at completing the bi-annual Ten Countries Run. This year we used my 1978 registered Triumph Stag V8 – on the previous two occasions we had attempted the run (2007 &2009) in my 1976 Spitfire 1500, only to abandon them due to breakdowns.

The Stag was well prepared and I was carrying all sorts of spares including Alternator, Power Steering Pump, Fuel Pump, Electronic Ignition module, oils, water etc.

We departed from my home near Maidstone at 6.30am, accompanied by my neighbour Andy in his Toledo 1300 - a first timer on this run, although like me he had successfully completed the Round Britain Reliability Run last year. We arrived at The Plough, Crews Hill where we just managed to squeeze in a bacon sandwich before turning around and retracing our steps going back past Maidstone to Dover to catch the 12.15 ferry to Calais.

Our first stop should have been Steenvoorde, but we missed it and carried on to the 2^nd stop at Charleville Meziere,we met up with Andy there and had a coffee break and rest for an hour. At our next stop Bartenheim, we parked in a large car park by a Kart Circuit where we attempted to get a couple of hours kip only to be woken by low flying jets at 5am!

At 5.15 having made sure our Swiss Vignette was firmly stuck to the windscreen and proceeded to Basel where we were stopped at the border and questioned by the guard who wanted to know if there was a rally on as there had been a lot of old cars going through!

The route book then took us up the Brunig, Grimsel and Furka Passes. These were magnificent roads with fantastic views and hairpins, which the Stag took in its stride, although being an auto it did tend to stay in 2^nd and 1^st gears most of the time! Andy was following in his Toledo and we pulled over occasionally to wait for him and his wife Di to catch up. We missed the Gotthard Pass, trying to be clever we decided to use the St Gotthard Tunnel not realising the Control Stop was at the start of the Pass above us! Rather than retrace our steps we continued to the next Control Stop at San Bernardino using the old road, again a lovely road with lots of hairpins through the tree line. We were supposed to approach the Stelvio Pass through the Bernina Pass and Livigno, but decided to make up time going on through St Moritz to Zernez and approached through the Umbrail and Ofen Passes. The car struggled up the last part of Stelvio, I suspect due to the altitude, some power was lost and it was getting very hot, so we had a long break at the top having a superb sausage roll from one of the street vendors there. We continued down Stelvio to our overnight hotel stop near Cavalese in Castello Di Fiemme where a number of other teams were also staying. Having stuffed ourselves with the ‘Stelvio sausage’ we didn’t have dinner, just beer!

The following morning we had a superb continental breakfast accompanied by a lovely Apfelstrudel in the hotel and departed for our Saturday start point at Passo di Lavaze. After climbing the pass and descending down it we used the old route to Vipitano which took us alongside the busy and congested autoroute with little delay. On the way to Vipitano we picked up a third car for our little convoy, Sam Shattock and Keith Bennett in their TR4a which was suffering from overheating problems and appreciated our leisurely pace! Halfway up the Jaufen Pass we stopped in a lay-by and Andy brewed up the kettle on his stove for coffees and teas. It was a typically English scene enhanced by Andy & Di producing picnic chairs from their car boot! After climbing to the top we started our climb up the Timmelsjoch (2509m) – an arduous but far more enjoyable run than Stelvio. We stopped halfway up to give the cars a breather but it was well worth the climb

The descent from the Timmelsjoch was as enjoyable as the climb up and we descended through the skiing resorts of Obergurgl and Solden to join the Innsbruck to Bregenz autoroute collecting an Austrian Vignette from a BP Station on the way to Liechtenstein,

We let the Sat Nav find our way out of Liechtenstein and continued on towards our next overnight Hotel stop in Lautrach, Germany We arrived at the hotel at around 7pm, where we had a very welcome beer or two followed by an excellent dinner and early night. Richard and I had our photo taken by Ellis Stokes next to the Stag as this was the furthest we had achieved so far in a Ten Countries Run!

Up at the crack of dawn – to be met by a welcome cup of tea brewed by Andy as we were sharing a 2 bed roomed apartment with him and Di. After a welcome shower I went down to do the usual car check, Oil, Water, Tyres, Food etc. Whilst down there I loaned the use of my Compressor to fellow entrant Steve Radley as one of his tyres was low and his spare was already punctured. After a while it was apparent no more air was going into the tyre, the valve had split and this now left him in an even worse predicament. I was pleased to hear from him later in the run that he managed to borrow two rear wheels from a couple of donor’s for his Mk1 2000.

After another excellent breakfast we left for the Sunday start point at Aichstetten, only a few miles away from our hotel, which gave us a nice early start for the day’s run up to the final overnight stop and finish at Rolduc. We had a good run up through this part of Germany with the hood down until we reached the next control point at Pirmasens. Where we refuelled both ourselves and the car, we left on the next leg to Spa. On the way we were hit by torrential rain for the next half hour or so, reducing our speed to a necessary crawl. I was told later that some of our fellow travellers were not so lucky and got caught with their hoods down.

On entering Belgium we let the Sat Nav lead us to the next control point – Spa – so I chose the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps from the Sat Nav menu and it lead us off at an earlier junction than the Road Book suggested, taking us along some very quiet straight roads to a rear entrance for the circuit where we could take a suitable picture of the cars and listen to Porsche cars racing on the circuit.

Our final leg took us back into Germany through some heavy traffic, only to find that the road we were supposed to take was closed, again, Sat Nav came to our rescue taking us along some nice country roads into Kerkrade, the Netherlands, THE FINAL COUNTRY!!, and our final destination for the day and the official end of the run.

The car was pretty much faultless given the treatment it received in the Alpine Passes, it proved to be remarkably economical for a Triumph V8 Auto returning 27.5mpg average, confirming that the car does indeed have a 3.41 ratio Diff which also accounts for the 7% inaccuracy in the speedo and odometer.

The car required no top ups of oil, auto or power steering fluids and the tyres kept their pressures, which was a surprise as at home, they regularly need a bit of air each week. The car did use a half litre of coolant, but this was more likely the result of me stupidly leaving the expansion bottle cap off whilst checking the level in the radiator causing the bottle to fill rapidly and overspill. – Stag owners take note!

After an excellent buffet meal, lots of the local beer and a good night’s sleep we had a reasonable back to Calais. After stopping at a local wine store to fill up the back seat we arrived in time for our 2.15 ferry home. The Ferry departure was delayed for a couple of hours, and once near Dover the ship had to ‘heave to’ for an hour until a berth came free for it to dock. We remained in the restaurant having ‘eaten’ our way across the channel. We made the trip home to Maidstone up the A2 in record time!

Overall this was a great run, was great fun and gave us a great sense of achievement, our thanks go to the organisers Ellis Stokes,Andy Flexney, Paul Darbyshire and Rob Southern for all their hard work in making the 2011 run such a great success.

Nice Shiny Wheels

2011-08-02T20:04:00.003+01:00

Spent the afternoon today polishing the Stags alloy wheels, they were in a sorry state with ingrained brake dust and tarnished alloy. After copious amounts of Brasso and Autosol they came up a real treat. I finished them off with a couple of coats of polish.

My father in Law recently sold his car having decided to give up driving, so I volunteered to dispose of all his car related bits which was basically dried up bottles of polish, old brake fluid and lots of unused cloths. Rummaging around the cardboard box I'd retreived a few weeks ago were these gems - a box of unused Picnic Tables still wrapped in Tissue paper!

So I had to try them out! - Should come in handy on the 10CR!

£30 Well spent!

2011-07-25T12:30:00.002+01:00

What a difference the outlay of £30 has made to the Stags ride!

For some time now the car has been plauged by a vibration between 55 and 80 mph, not just through the steering, but also through the 'seat of the pants'. I have tried on a couple of occasions to remedy this by going to well known tyre suppliers to have the wheels balanced. Each time, some small improvement has been gained.

In a final attempt before looking further into potential prop shaft balancing I used a local garage that has a reputation for handling classics in a sympathetic way.

On Saturday they took the car in and balanced each wheel for me, one of which, the spare , was found to be very difficult to get a balance on due to a possible misshapen wheel. and they also found the existing weights on the rears were far in excess of what was needed.

Having been out in the car this morning, testing it along the A21 Dual carriageway at varied speeds up to 85ish (sorry officer!) the ride is now as it should be, nice and smooth with no trace of vibration front or rear.

The car is now just about ready for the 10CR, just need to fit the backup Kenlowe fan and change the oil for some VR1 closer to the date.

The cost of the balancing? - £30 cash - best value money spent so far this year on the Stag!

Showtime!

2011-07-18T09:29:00.003+01:00

This weekend saw the annual Darling Buds Classic Car Show near Bethersden in Kent at the farm where a lot of filming took place for that classic TV show with David Jason and Catherine Zeta Jones. The owner of the farm is a former Chairman of the P5 Alive club and puts on this show every year in aid of the Kent Air Ambulance Trust. I have been to this show a number of times before and it is always guaranteed to have a good turnout, last year was particualrly good with over 1000 cars, this year the turnout was down a bit, probably due to the weather which was a typical english summers day, wet and windy with the odd sunshine break!

This was the first time I'd experienced a change in the way they organise the cars, when I'd been previously they'd been organised by Manufacturer, this year it was by period, so I found myself initially sandwiched between a W reg Fiesta and V Reg Mercedes Saloon in the 1976 to 1980 Class in my 77 Stag. Fortunately a fellow TSSC member turned up in his 78 Sptfire and I moved next to him. All together there were 5 of us from our local area but we were dotted around the show field - must get a Club Stand next time!

My Wife, Daughter, Son in law and Grand Daughter were due to join me during the morning for a picnic, but they elected to stay at home until the early afternoon due to the poor weather. Consequently very few photo's were taken until they arrived, so I have posted some of my Grand Daughter Maia whom as you can see is already taking some interest in Classic Cars!

Ahh - This must be Grandpa's Triumph Stag

Now there's the Handbrake and Gear Lever - where are the pedals?

When can I have a go Grandpa?

Now this is much better, I can reach the pedals!

I know it rained a lot, but this is ridiculous!

The Stag ran well there and back in the rain - the windscreen wipers worked, it didn't leak - but the cigarette lighter socket has now stopped working. I suspect this may be something to do with taking out the carpeting last week to vacuum it out as the interior was getting a bit crabby.

So when the rain stops I'll get this sorted ready for the multitude of chargers need for the 10 Countries Run! I also fitted a Mountney 15" Leather steering wheel I won on the bay last week which is a great improvement over the standard wheel and more comfortable than the 13" one I'd transferred from the Spitfire.

Next job is to mount a backup Kenlowe fan currently winging it's way to me from a fellow TSSC/CT member. This will be fitted with a manual switch rather than a thermostatic one for the moment as the main fan is on a newish Viscous Coupling and does a good job in hot weather (when we have it!).

Other than that the car is pretty much ready for the 10CR pending fluid checks - I have have some VR1 Oil coming my way courtesy of a very good July offer in Eurocarparts so will do an oil change nearer the departure date.

Recent Travels

2011-06-06T22:54:00.002+01:00

Not a lot on the Triumph front recently, this was because we've been away on a holiday in the South of France and Italy. We started off flying to Nice for a couple of days before we joined our Cruise ship, the Azamara Journey for a short 4 day cruise that took in Portofino, Italy where we visited the Cinque Terre villages, Saint Tropez, and finally arriving in Monaco at 8.00am on the day of the Grand Prix. This is me having lunch on board overlooking the harbour.

We spent the morning walking around the 'Old Town' of Monaco soaking up the atmosphere, our ears being assaulted by the sound of the support races bouncing around the old buildings. We had decided not to purchase tickets for the GP given their exorbitant price (400+ euro for a grandstand seat) and instead to watch/listen from onboard ship. We could just see the cars entering the tunnel from the Sun Deck. I elected to return to our cabin and watch the GP on the TV (BBC of course!) with the real sound of the cars coming in through the open patio doors. At one point I had to close the doors as I couldn't here the commentary on the TV!

I was glad we didn't purchase tickets as the last 6 laps were a farce following its restart and the front runners changing their tyres!

After returning to Nice the next day we had a very nice couple of days in the villages above Nice, staying in a nice Hotel in Vence and driving a Fiat 500 up some very interesting roads. Practice for the 10CR!!

On our return home, I had my Birthday Present which was a drive around Goodwood in an Aston Martin Vanquish - what can I say? - I want one!!! Forget all those Ferrari Cars that people want, the Aston is THE car to have, superb drive, no idea how fast I went, too busy looking out for braking and turn-in points, all I can say it was bloody quick and 80mph along the A27 later in the day seemed slow! Yes, that is me in the pic below, you can't see my big grin behind my hand unfortunately.

Had the Spitfire out over the weekend, still going well, must get the welding done before the MOT next month. I have a part share in a brand new MIG welder so my only excuse is now to learn how to use it.

Spare Wiring!

2011-05-09T15:43:00.003+01:00

It all started with changing a blown bulb in the courtesy lamp on the centre console of the Stag. Having bought some spare bulbs at the TSSC South Eastern Meet yesterday I decided to replace the bulb on the passenger footwell which has not worked for some time, for good reason as when I took the cover off the existing bulb was nowhere to be seen.

I knew there was one in there as I'd replaced it a couple of years ago, so off came the parcel shelf and sure enough, the bulb had simply dropped out and was nestling safely between the centre console and carpet. No need for a new one, this time I made sure it was securely fitted.

Whilst I had the parcel shelf out I decided to see why the radio would not sit right back in its slot, so out that came, I then noticed for the first time a small toggle switch cunningly hidden away behing the dashboard, clearly a previous owner had an alarm of some kind which had latterly been replaced by a Clifford immobiliser.

After checking with a multimeter that none of the wires were powered with the ignition on or off I traced the wires back through the centre console behind the radio , some to the relay board and some to the engine compartment. Fortunately, this is where they terminated behind the sound deadening on the bulkhead, being blanked off with insulating tape.

After some careful extraction, removing scotch lock connectors from the loom, the picture below shows just how much there was. And the radio? - well it now sits properly fully back in its slot.

Triumphs Update and Drive It Day

2011-04-20T21:14:00.002+01:00

I didn't realise that I last updated this blog at the beginning of February, OK so we've been on Holiday and dealing with parents and grandchidren that have kept me a bit busy with little on the car front until a few weeks ago. One thing I did do 2 months ago was advertise the Spitfire for sale, I had come to the conclusion that I really can only afford to run one Classic - the expensive one!

Luckily so far the Spitfire remains in my garage, a few nibbles but nothing conclusive - but then I didn't advertise it as well as I could have! During this time, the MOT on the Stag crept up on me unnoticed, I thought it was later in the year to coincide with the anniversary of the new engine in August , so having organised a run out for my local TSSC area I found myself relying on the trusty Spitfire.

This was a lovely run a couple of weeks ago from our base in Hildenborough to the Dering Arms in Pluckley that has a 'Classic car Sunday' every 2nd Sunday of the month. 3 Spitfires, 2 Vitesse and 2 Gentry's did the run and we arrived amongst some very exotic and specialist cars in the station car park!

The following week I had organised another run, this time on Drive It Day to Brooklands, again 3 Spitfires but with 1 Vitesse and 1 13/60 Herald convertible. Brooklands as always is a fascinating place and there were plenty of Classics there as well. An added bonus is Mercedes World next door and amongst all the modern machinery there is a small display of classic cars as well. They also serve excellent coffee!

And what of the Stag, she has passed her MOT just needing two new anti rollbar links and a handbrake brake adjustment. She has also had a full service and two new silencers in readiness for the Ten Countries Run in September.

The pictures from the Dering Arms Run and Brooklands Run can be found here: http://tssc-west-kent.webs.com/apps/photos/

Stag and Spitfire update

2011-02-09T15:31:00.003Z

A few weeks ago the battery sensing wire on the alternator loom of the stag broke for the second time, looking closely at the wires it was clear that they had hardened and become brittle through age. So I ordered a new cable from EJ Wards - my Stag has a relocated alternator to the nearside so an extended cable was needed, and this is what was ordered.

When it arrived I went to put the new cable on, only to discover that although it was long enough to reach the alternator from the junction connector on the offside wing, it was much shorter than the originally extended part-loom. So, after some head scratching, I thought as a temporary fix as it was cold outside I ran the cable over the top of the engine (see pic).

Yesterday I decided to do a proper job, so thinking it would be a simple job to remove the old cables, which by this time lay disconnected in the engine bay I proceeded to trace their route, only to discover that they seemed to go in front of the radiator. after much tugging, swearing, taking off the radiator grille, I gave up trying to get them out and cut off the visible ends. The remainder of the cable will be a surprise for whoever takes the radiator out next!

After this fruitless task I turned my attention to a better routing for the new cable and determined that the easiest solution was to cable tie it the front anti roll bar, keeping it away from the front nearside downpipe.

One of the most frustrating parts of the process was screwing back the radiator grille which hadn't needed to come off in the first place!

Today I turned my attention to the Spitfire, I have decided to sell this and concentrate all my efforts (and finances) on the moneypit (Stag) As it hadn't turned over since well before Christmas the battery needed a good overnight charge, but I am pleased to say she started easily once the fuel had got through. Only problem now as I've sorned it I can't give it a good run, so I ran it up and down the Close I live in a couple of times to make sure nothing was sticking (brakes, clutch) and that everything works. I also took the radio out to put in the Stag as its a more modern MP3 one. The next decision is whether to sell it with the MX5 seatsthat I fitted a couple of years ago or put the originals back in which I still have and ebay the MX5's.

Apart from that it just needs a good clean inside and out, some photo's taken and then advertised.

More Stag news

2010-11-01T19:52:00.003Z

The Stag is safely back from Faversham Classics having had its second head torque and oil change following clocking up over 1000 miles on its new engine. According to the engine builder, Trevor, I am now allowed to extend the engine rev's gradually above the previous 3000 limit. I can now report that this engine is very sweet and smooth at 4500! and accelerates very nicely. Really need to get on a rolling road to see what its really putting out!

One adverse effect is that the new engine seems to have found the weaknesses in the silencers, I knew they were a bit marginal at the last MOT and had to have some welding up, well now they will definitely need replacing before the next one!

At long last I have taken the RBRR stickers off the Spitfire and have been using that car a bit, it seems to have developed a few new rattles since the RBRR so some light winter restoration is needed. Still runs well though there seems to be a constant smell of fuel coming from somewhere, the top of the float chambers seem to slightly wet with fuel so will start the investigation there.

That probably explains the comment from my Co Driver Grahams wife when we returned from the RBRR that we stank of petrol, I thought at the time it was because I spilt some fuel over the rear deck at The Plough when topping up the tank from the fuel cans that were carried unused for over 2000 miles- clearly not the case!

Stag update and a bit of history!

2010-10-14T22:57:00.003+01:00

I've been using the Stag a fair bit over the last couple of weeks, mainly to put mileage on the new engine so that I can put it in for the next oil change and head torque. Consequently its now booked in next week having reached the requisite 1000 mile mark. This new engine just gets sweeter as the miles go on and its getting increasingly difficult to keep to the 3000 rpm limit - only 4 more days to go!

One thing I did notice recently was a bit of driveline vibration between 50 and 60, so today I took the car into my local National Tyres for the wheel balance to be checked. I have good experience of this tyre supplier having bought tyres for my Skoda, Spitfire and the wifes Ka through tyreshopper.co.uk for fitment there.

They balanced them all, but pointed out that the offside rear was very difficult to balance as it was slightly buckled, this is strange as looking at the wheel it seems to be in better condition than the rest. Anyway, they did get a good balance on it in the end and I took it for a good run up the M20 - admittedly at a slightly greater speed than the legal limit and more than the 3000rpm for just a few minutes, what a difference - the vibration had gone completely. Just need to sort out the slow puncture in the spare now and swap the wheel.

On a slighly different topic - still Triumph related in a way, I have been scanning in some old 35mm slides on a new slide scanner I bought from Maplin and came across some photo's of my first Triumph Herald a 1966 1200 convertible taken during a holiday in Cornwall in 1973 with my then Fiancee Rose (now wife) - hence the strange photo of me pointing to an appropriately named road! You can see from the photo that this was my Hippy look!

The next photo was taken outside the holiday cottage we had rented - I seem to holding the local cat!
The last photo is taken in the driveway of Rose's parents back in Kent. I remember that we had to stop on the way home at Heathrow to wire up the exhaust rear box as it started dragging along the ground whilst travelling along the M4!

RBRR 2010 - A long awaited result!

2010-10-04T11:56:00.010+01:00

After 2 failed CT 10CR events in the Spitfire I can now hold my head high and say 'YES - We've done it!' My friend Graham and I reached The Plough last night after 2000 odd miles in the Spitfire on this years Round Britain Reliability Run.

We were exhausted, the car was exhausted (but running) and elated as we went to get that final signature in the roadbook, certainly a new experience for me! Roll on the 2011 10CR!

The beginning of the run was very wet and we were stuffing rags around the most leaky parts of the hood for the first couple of hours and then it eased off the further north we went, By the first stop at Blyth we were actually beginning to dry out. The car was running well, although I was a little concerned that it had started to show some slight rattling under hard acceleration from the bottom end but decided to ignore it - I was determined to get to the end!

We had a good run though the night rolling in to Edinburgh Airport in the 2nd half of the pack, having been passed by the faster cars on the way up. Dawn was breaking as we reached the next control at Skiach which made for a lovely run up the coast to John O Groats and breakfast! After a very welcome meal at was off to take the obligatory photo as proof of our adventure so far. It was then time to depart off to drive the great roads, in particular the B871/B873 by Strath Naver down to Altnaharra. This was the first time we took the hood down as it was warm and sunny. We had a great time on this road, following a 2000 at a decent speed.Our next stop was at Conon Bridge - more food and coffee!. We departed in the sun to drive down past Loch Ness and up through Glencoe (nice clean toilets at the Glencoe Visitor Centre). By this time, the rain had started again so the hood went back up. By this time we were about an hour behind schedule and arrived at the Stirling stop (Morrisons Garage) for coffee and very nice Scotch Pies.

The next part of the journey was the run down to Lancaster Services past Glasgow, this was another damp and somewhat boring run as it was the M80/M73/A74/M6 during which we had to stop to change drivers - sleep deprivation was beginning to show its effect.

After Lancaster we headed towards Wales stopping at Gledrig for fuel, and refreshments. After this was a nice drive down to the Sugar Loaf Picnic Area passage control. in the early hours of Sunday morning. As there was limited space here we travelled on after getting the roadbook signed and stopped by the side of the road to change drivers. At this point we were approached by a friendly policeman who pulled alongside as asked if we were OK - after explaining we were changing drivers he asked if there was a special rally on as there seemed to a lot of cars around, so the next 5 minutes were spent explaining what we doing - they were suitably impressed!

Following this we travelled down to Monmouth where admittedly we took a deviation from the route and took a quicker route to the M4 to pickup some time. As I got out of the car at Gordano Services on the M5 I noticed that the ignition light was glowing and the Battery Condition Gauge was only registering 11.5 volts - I hadn't noticed this earlier as the steering wheel boss hides the light. A quick diagnosis confirmed the alternator was not charging.

Fortunately, before the run, my neighbour Andy in Car 98 (Toledo 1300) had discussed spares and he agreed to carry his old alternator as a spare, so once he arrived at the services I put it on my car and we were back in action. The rain started halfway through this process and continued with high winds until well into Cornwall making the drive very arduous at this point.

We were about an hour behind schedule when we got to Lands End and saw many fellow Triumphers going in the opposite direction to the breakfast stop at Scorrier
The breakfast was excellent and plentiful, after adding another half-litre of VR1 to the car we headed off for the next stop at Bude, an easy run and more coffee and cakes! The sun was out so again the hood came down for the run across to the Badgers Holt Control Point at Dartmeet. I have to confess that this time I plugged the destination into the Sat Nav to let Graham get some sleep as a consequence we used a longer but quicker route to get there.

After Badgers Holt was a quick run to Pimperne Village Hall, Graham knew most of this road well so we swapped driving and I catnapped until we got near. I still can't work out how Graham manages to sleep so soundly in a Spitfire! At Pimperne we were greeted with lots more Tea/Coffee and excellent homemade cakes. From here was the trip to the final control stop at the TR Register Offices at Didcot, again we decided beforehand to let the Sat Nav do the directions and take the quickest route there - we wanted to get back to The Plough as quickly as we could as we were now over an hour behind our schedule. Having successfully got our roadbook signed and used the TR Registers loos we followed the roadbook instructions back to The Plough. This was entertaining and at a few points we questioned the wisdom of following them until we saw the ques on the M40 when we passed over it. Eventually we joined a traffic free A41 and a similarly quietish M25 for the final trip to The Plough.

After being greeted on our return, getting the roadbook signed at the finish we settled down to a pint of Shandy and food.

We had a great time, and the car performed almost faultlessly, I even started ignoring the rumbling bottom end bearings during Sunday afternoon as the realisation that we were going to make the end finally dawned on me.

There are many people to thank for making this a successful event, My great friend Graham for agreeing to do the event with me, Andy for donating the alternator, the organisers, Tim, Jason, Nigel and the many others who helped them.

My 3rd and most successful CT event - roll on the 2011 10 Countries Run!

Stag Auto Box seal replacement

2010-09-25T00:07:00.003+01:00

Had a very interesting day today. For the past couple of weeks my Stag has been leaking auto fluid from the Torque converter area following the installation of its new engine, so today I took it up to Faversham Classics where one of the owners, Trevor and I were to jointly remove the box and replace the seal. This was an education for me, I had never been in the position before where I could work on one of my cars in a properly equipped garage with Lift and all the right tools.

It was also a great help having Trevor to show me how to do it with all his knowledge and shortcuts. We started at 10.00am, had the box out by 11.30 having removed exhausts, propshaft, starter motor, gearbox mountings to name but a few of the items. The culprit was found to be the seal between the Torque Converter and gearbox, there was also a weep from the gearbox rear seal, so both these were replaced. I was surprised how warm the Torque Converter still was despite having 'rested' the car for 2.5hrs following my drive there(35miles)

Following a break for lunch, the car was ready for the drive back home by 3pm. I now know the value of having the right tools for such a job! I also have discovered muscles I didn't know I had in my arms and hands!

Yet again the people at Faversham Classics cannot be praised enough for the way they look after their customers, Trevor was very fair when it came to discussing the bill and very few bits of the folding stuff was needed.

Car 97 RBRR - Drivers Meeting Gaydon

2010-09-19T21:56:00.002+01:00

Made the journey from Kent to Gaydon today for the Driver's meeting for the RBRR in the Spitfire. - see above picture taken outside the entrance where I parked with some other CT cars. This is the first time its been so far north of London in my hands although it's seen plenty of service on the continent! It ran pretty much faultlessly all the way there and back, the exception being the loss of tickover at idle which was a bit entertaining on the M40 Sunday evening jam. So a swift visit to Sainsbo's in Staines to refuel and adjust the idle screw made for an easy final 60 miles home on the M25. Luckily, having worked in The Causeway in Staines for a number of years, I was able to bypass the usual Sunday evening crawl past the M3 junction by using my old route home via Thorpe Park and Chertsey.

I was pleased with the way the car ran overall, according to my Satnav the total journey was 280 miles with an average moving speed of 54mph and the fuel consumption worked out at 42mpg, if I can achieve that on the RBRR I will be very happy! The oil pressure tailed off a bit on the way home, not drastically so, but enough to suggest changing the oil to the VR1 20/50 that I bought last week may be prudent.

The Driver's briefing was good, ably performed by Tim, Nigel, Jason and a couple of lovely girls from MIND whose name I forget. Even managed to meet up briefly with my brother who has lived locally to Gaydon for 20 odd years but never been there before. He was my co-driver on the last two 10CR's but declined to do the RBRR, probably because its his birthday on 1st October and has better things to do! He is willing to do the next 10CR though, but only if we do it in my Stag, I think he wants a bit more comfort!!!

RBRR Preparation Car 97

2010-09-17T17:10:00.003+01:00

When should one stop fiddling (fettling?) the car for the RBRR - I seem to have reached that point where I am seeking things to do to the Spitfire whereas in reality its ready to go.

Yesterday on a whim I decided to take the lovely sounding GT twin pipe back box off, and put the bog standard rear silencer on, I reasoned that it was just too noisy with the sports box on at cruising speed (60-65mph). It is now a bit more civilised although it did have an effect on the idle, it is now much smoother. A good run today meant I could hear all the rattles and clonks now!

I have now decided to give her a run to Gaydon on Sunday, I honestly can't think of anything else to do, just do an oil change after Gaydon and top up the gearbox, Final drive and general check over the rest of the car - the front pads are fine, they are greenstuff ones that I fitted for the 10CR last year and have plenty of life left in them (I have a set of spares in the boot anyway)

Next week, my neighbour Andy and I and our respective co drivers are having our own driver's meeting as Andy can't make it to Gaydon - he is at Goodwood this weekend.

I must remeber to put some black sacks in the car - that pesky hood just will not stay watertight in rainy weather, got a very wet right knee yesterday in a downpour !

My thoughts now are to the route we are taking I have highlighted all the controls stops in my map book and will be putting them into my sat nav, probably one of the most essential items as the speedo is somewhat innaccurate - today I was allegedly doing 80 down the A21 when in reality it is 69mph according to Mr Garmin - honest officer!

I was planning on using the Stag to drive to Gaydon, however that has developed an auto gearbox fluid leak and its not going in until next Thursday to be sorted. It seems to be coming from the Torque Converter which means a gearbox out job which I shall be helping Trevor at Faversham Classics to do. Should be an interesting day working with the professionals.

Stag & Spitfire update

2010-08-24T10:17:00.003+01:00

Thought I ought to do an update on both cars.

The Stag as everyone will recall has had a 'new' engine fitted courtesy of Faversham Classics. I have been using this more or less every day since its return in order to get it to the required 500 mile oil change and head torque. I achieved this last weekend following a couple of appointments to 'celebrate' weddings.

I have to say that the engine is running very sweetly and I found it increasingly difficult to restrict myself to the 2500 rpm maximum during this period. The car is now booked in for this service next week, following which I will be allowed to increase the engine rpm to the heady heights of 3000rpm for the next 500 miles.

I am tempted to use this to go to the driver's meeting for the RBRR at Gaydon next month to put the miles on.

Whist talking of the Round Britain Reliability Run, I have now managed to set up a Virgin Money Giving page for our attempt this year. It can be found here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/RBRRCar97

I am planning to use the Spitfire on the RBRR, it is now running well and just needs some final adjustments to the mixture and fluid levels topping up. I have been using this fairly frequently since I put the engine back together, there is still a small leak where the new sports exhaust manifold meets the old pipe that runs below the car, but this should be easily sorted unlike the problems experienced with the standard manifold on last year's 10CR. I also need to empty the car of some of the rubbish accumulated on the 10CR - better late than never, the crisps are not so crispy now!

The Stag returns!

2010-08-03T14:43:00.004+01:00

At long last the Stag has returned from it's heart transplant! I collected her today from Faversham with a fully reconditioned Triumph V8 courtesy of Faversham Classics.

I have been given strict running in instructions from their engine builder, Trevor, thus: No more than 2500 rpm for first 500 miles, then return her for an oil change and head torque, and keep away from constant rev driving such as motorways and dual carriageways. Then 3000 revs for the next 500 miles followed by another oil change. So no chance of using this on the RBRR unless I can put on over 1000 miles between now and 1st October!

Car is much quieter at the front and has a real Stag burble at the back. To keep costs down I opted to return to the standard exhaust manifold setup as the mild steel tubulars I had on it previously were well worn.

The engine has been rebuilt from the ground up with recon heads and block + 20 thou with new conrods, valves, guides and valve seats. The Crank has been hardened, recon oil pump and water pump.
Here are a few pictures of the 'new' engine - note I have retained my alternator bracket that moves it to a more accessible position, the carbs and distributor are from my old engine - so far I am very pleased with it. The car also had one new driveshaft fitted and a rear hub bearing replaced under warranty by SOC Parts as it had failed by dumping grease all over the shoes. They were also kind enough to supply a set of shoes FOC.

Spitfire MOT

2010-07-23T22:41:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, the Spitfire went for it's MOT, having been off the road since it's return from France last September following it's breakdown near Grenoble on the 10 Countries Run. I now have two Endeavor Awards for this event - must do better next year!

Since then, over the Winter, well Spring really it was too cold during the winter, I have taken the head off, de-coked it, put a new Payen head gasket on, fitted new tubular manifold and new jets to the carbs - got rid of those waxstats at long last. I took the car around to my local classic friendly mechanic, explaining the work I'd done and that she may be running a bit rich as sometimes the jets don't go back fully when the choke is pushed in, followed by those immortal words, 'if anything needs doing to pass the test, please do it!'.

As she was going to be done during the morning, I waited at home for the inevitable phone call, when none arrived by 11.45 I rang Clive the mechanic who gave me the good news, she passed with no formal advisories at all, so I must be doing something right after all!

He did however point out that the sill edges are getting a bit crumbly suggesting the inner sills may need some attention in the future but were not significant enough to warrant a formal advisory. Don't you just love 'old style' classic friendly MOT testers!

So today, I taxed her and gave her a good thrashing as a special treat up the M20 to Halfrauds for a bulb for my modern car - the second headlight bulb to fail in the space of 2 months. I have a theory that these full time driving lamps on modern cars wear out the bulbs quicker. I am tempted to buy a pair of Osram UltraLife H7's for £18.99 a pair as they come with a 3 year guarantee, but Halfrauds don't stock them, so settled for Bosch at £10.99 a bulb!

No real Stag news at the moment other than I had a phone call last week to say the rebuilt engine is ready and that they (Favershams) should be extracting the old one by Friday.

Currently mulling over whether to put the Aley Roll Bar back on the Spitfire for the Round Britain Reliability Run, I took it off for the 10CR to afford us a bit more recline on the seats, but I'm a bit wary of night driving around the Scottish Highlands and Wales in potentially wet weather and feel it may be prudent to have the extra safety, I must be getting old! I'll see what my co-driver thinks.

The Spitfire Lives!!

2010-06-18T20:42:00.002+01:00

At last, the Spitfire lives again following it's last outing on the 10CR. I didn't do too much to it over the winter, largely due to the cold weather.

As spring came, I finally sprung into action (??), off came the head to show very coked up combustion chambers and pistons which I duly cleaned, the bores seemed fine, as did the valves, but the headgasket did show some signs of leakage, which may have been the problem for the breakdown near Grenoble and the resultant low compression on the cylinders.

A new Payen head gasket was sought courtesy of Wins, together with other assorted gaskets needed for the various ancilliaries. The sports manifold was fitted, the head and valves cleaned and reassembled.

I then had a brainwave, why not refill the block cooling system through the thermostat housing before I sealed it up, so all went well on that score until I stupidly decided to fill the rad as well, the result?----- water flowed out of the thermostat housing over the head, down the push rods and into the sump!! Oh well, the oil needed changing anyway!

Whilst reassembling the HS4's I noticed one of the waxstats had cracked, so decided to change the jets with a conversion , again courtesy of Wins, all assembled correctly (eventually- bloody springs!!!) and the carbs were refitted. One oddity that needs sorting is very stiff chokes on both carbs which seem to be caused by the fuel pipe to the float chambers, disconnect it and they run very free!

Tonight was the first time it really fired up in 9 months, a bit tappety and rich but she goes! And the new exhaust is rattling against the chassis - a small but annoying job to be done on the ramps methinks. Also just need to get the tune right and then it'll be off for the MOT and retaxing in time for the RBRR.

Also a bit of news on the Stag front - I have a date to take her to Favershams for the rebuilt engine early next month - things are looking up in my world of Triumphs at last!

Late Christmas Presents!

2010-01-12T22:02:00.003Z

A couple of new late Christmas presents arrived this week. The first was a compression test kit, initially to be used on the Spitfire before I spend some time fitting the new sports manifold I won off Ebay just before Christmas. Thought it may be prudent to test each cylinder before I fit it just in case I have to take the head off. I could have borrowed one, but this kit seemed a good buy at £9.95 postage free! Hope its accurate!

The other pressy was a bit of an impulse buy last week and I picked it up yesterday - a 6 month old Skoda Superb Greenline - the one that has very low emissions and unbelievable fuel economy. We've (or rather I!) have been thinking of changing our 5 year old Mk1 Superb for a while, and had persuaded my wife to look at Octavia's as they were VAT free during January, so off we went to the showroom to look at them. As she often sits in the back of the car when ferrying her aged father around - he always sits in the front - the Octavia didn't pass muster as compared to the 'old' Superb it simply is too small !

After a week of searching I found this ex demo car in East London and having had a good test drive up the M11 negotiated a fair price (given the dents and scratches)for my old one settled on a good deal.

Picked it up yesterday - Candy White - not the best colour for this time of year - and drove it home - average economy for the 65 mile journey - 68mpg!!!! and its only £120 Tax for the year as well. It achieves this economy by lowering the suspension, different front and rear spoiler, remapped 1.9TDI and revised ratio's in the 5 (yes 5!!) speed box. I estimate that 4th is like the old 5th and 5th is a true overdrive, pulling only 1800 rev's at 70mph.

Have to say, the ride is incredibly smooth and quiet and I don't notice the slightly slower acceleration time against my old car

The only problem with this purchase is that his dented the money I had set aside to have the heads done on the Stag, so these will have to wait a while until funds have recovered!

Stag & Spitfire Adventures

2009-12-14T12:05:00.003Z

Well, I thought it time to do an update on both cars, so let's start with the positive bits first.

Last night I joined members of the Stag Forum on their yearly Christmas run through London. I had arranged to meet some others from Kent and London at a convenient point (McDonalds, Billingsgate) prior to travelling to The Ace Cafe for the start at 4pm. Having safely got to Billingsgatefor 2pm, and having had a coffee the local members suggested using the A406 North Circular to get to the Ace Cafe, this was fine for a short while, then we hit horrendous traffic queues, resulting in us arriving at 4pm - 1.5 hrs to do 18 miles!

After a quick loo visit and coffee to sustain us we chased after the main pack that had left before us (29 Stags in total). The deigned route was to take us down the Westway, Shaftesbury Avenue, Regent Street, Picadilly, Trafalgar Square and across to the London Eye for the first stop. Unfortunately again due to traffic I lost the tail of the pack and missed Shaftesbury Avenue, so I went around Park Lane, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Birdcage Walk, Trafalgar Square and ended up at The London Eye before everyone else!

Luckily, some others had similar problems and there was a small group of us waiting the arrival of the main pack. By this time, some had fallen by the wayside for various reasons!

After a short break, we left for the City aiming to end up at Canary Wharf, I followed a Stag that suddenly darted up a side turning off The Aldwych, assuming he knew a shortcut around the raffic - no such luck it was a dead end - he simply turned off to adjust his sat-nav! After a 4 point turn as the road was very narrow, we resumed our course into The City. This is where my problems with the car started - the steering was getting very heavy, so I assumed that the power steering pump either needed fluid, or was knackered, having stopped by the roadside in Southwark Bridge Road to investigate further I noticed the front left tyre was very low on pressure - not wishing to grope around changing the wheel in the middle of roadworks, I used the Holts Liquid Tyre repair I had and abandoned the run and headed home.

Having investigated this morning - theres a nail in the rim so a tyre swap is need. The car also needed 2.5 litres of water adding to the system - further evidence that one of the heads needs a new gasket - it is booked into Favershams next month for this and its annual MOT/Service.

Spitfire - still not running - but there is a reason - I have a tubular exhaust manifold recently acquired from Ebay to fit - finally, I am getting rid of that pesky exhaust joint!

watch this space for further news!

Spitfire in pieces

2009-10-16T08:32:00.002+01:00

Well, got the Spitfire back at last, new fuel pump fitted, fuel lines cleared and a tank of fresh Super Unleaded. Took her out for a good spin around the country lanes Monday evening - all seemed well with no recurrence of the problems encountered on the 10CR. So...... come Tuesday morning decided to take her into town, got about half a mile down the road and everything went wrong - misfiring, wouldn't accelerate and could only limp home with full choke.

Checked timing, changed coil and condenser, checked points and plugs - all OK - put it in garage and left there until last night when I finally got around to looking at the carbs. First thing I noticed was a lot of gunge in the float chambers so I whipped the carbs off and gave them a clean, then checked the fuel jet O'ring seals - one had perished and seemed to be leaking, so a couple of fresh ones together with new float chamber gaskets are on order with Canley's. May replace the waxstats with the penny mod while I've got them off. See here for explanation: http://www.nireland.com/gd.triumph/waxstats.htm

Whilst checking all the inlet and exhaust manifold nuts noticed one of the large clamps and nuts was missing - presumably left somewhere in the continent! - another order on Canleys! This may be the cause of the lack of acceleration and poor running - will have to see when everything is reassembled. Watch this space!

Car 9 Update!

2009-09-28T19:52:00.002+01:00

Just come back from a nice break on the Spanish Costa Tropical expecting to see my stricken Spitfire in the local garage following its recovery from Grenoble. No such luck!

Rang the yellow van man this morning, nice chap in France called Alain - said he'd ring the recovery people and get back to me to see where the car is. 15 mins later came the call back - apologising most profusely, seems the paperwork to the recovery people had gone astray and they knew nothing about it and the car is still in the garage near Grenoble!! It is now being treated as a priority recovery case. I just want it back!!!!

Whilst this inaction was going on I and my wife and daughters had a very relaxing time in a villa near Alumnecar with lots of sun and wine! It was so nice lazing around that we only managed one trip out which was to Granada to see the Alhambra, having booked the tickets before we went. A very impressive and extensive collection of buildings.

The drive back was even more impressive, I decided against using the autoroute to travel back and took the 'old' route along the A4050 - this was an excellent choice somewhat reminiscent of some 10CR routes whereby the road started out as a good two line highway for about 20kms, then became a contour hugging 1.5 lane hairpin route for about another 30 kms before returning to a 2 lane route just before Almunecar. It was great fun for the driver (me) - not so much fun for the passengers - well I was driving a Renault Scenic and it did roll a bit, and those seats are a bit unsupportive!

Does make me think about driving the Spitfire (or Stag) down here next September instead of flying

A Few 10CR Pictures

2009-09-18T18:22:00.004+01:00

Thanks for the Pizza Ellis!

2009-09-17T14:33:00.002+01:00

OK - so the title of this update to my blog may seem a little strange, for those of you who have been following my recent antics with the Spitfire, you will know that I embarked on CT's 10 Countries Run a week ago today (Thursday 10th September). A lot of preparation was done to the car, including a good secondhand exhaust manifold to replace the existing one. As many of you will know, the 1500 Spitfire manifold is a crap design and I spent hours putting the replacement one on. The good news was, it held together quite well up to the start at The Plough in Enfield, by Dover, it sounded like a Tractor again!

Anyway, my brother Richard and I decided to soldier on with it until the first overnight stop at Beziers on the south coast of France. So we left Calais and motored down to the control stop at Le Manswhere a bit more Gun Gum was plastered on to little effect. It wasn't so bad on the autoroutes when a light throttle was being used, but when we came to the Control Stop at Condom I fear we may have woken up the assembled drivers in their Triumphs as we arrived about an hour later than them having rested near Bordeaux a couple of hours earlier.

A bit more Gun Gum, then we left for the run up into Spain and Andorra. The road into Spain was great, although the car did suffer a bit from low oil pressure and fuel vaporisation during the long hot climb up the mountains. When we got near to Andorra we were turned around by other 10CR participants as it was effectively closed due to the volume of traffic. We sought out a new route to get us to Beziers, taking us down a very windy road to Perpignan where we could join the Autoroute to get us to our hotel at Beziers. I decided to take the carbs off, lose the heatshield as it was getting in the way of fixing the manifold/downpipe joint and join it together using plenty of Firegum (I had come prepared - but forgotten to pack the downpipe gasket!)

After evening dinner and a welcome sleep in a comfortable bed, I put everything back together, we had breakfast and left for the Millau Control Stop about an hour late. The car was running great now, so quiet we could hear the CD Player - what luxury!

After taking the obligatory photo's and video of the bridge we departed on the great journey to Italy and Switzerland, taking in a detour through the Ardeche to Montelimar to avoid some taxing hill climbs and give the exhaust joint an easy time. All was going well until the motorway services on the Auto route near Grenoble. Having fuelled the car, cleaned it's windscreen, we pulled out onto the motorway, when all of a sudden the engine started rattling badly and we lost power, so we limped along to the next exit, got onto the normal roads and called the AA.

To cut a long story short, the car was recovered to a local garage, we were put up in a local hotel - excellent food - to await a hire car the next day (Sunday) Morning came and the AA confirmed that a hire car had been arranged and a very nice young french lady taxi driver drove us at great speed to the outskirts of Grenoble where we collected a Peugeot Partner Teepee diesel. By this time it was 11.00am, so we decided to skip Italy and Switzerland and head straight for the next overnight stop at Kerkrade in the Netherlands - we made it by 8.00pm, went through Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands , but missed dinner. However Ellis Stokes, the organiser, kindly got a couple of Pizza's brought in which we eagerly devoured whilst having a great evening talking to fellow participants Paul and David Lonsdale.
The next morning (Monday)we rose early and motored through Belgium back to Calais where we swapped the French car for a British registered Toyota which was duly returned to the Tonbridge depot by 5.00pm that evening.

The latest news from the AA? The french garage has reported that the fuel pump has gone and the car is running on 3 cylinders, and the car is being repatriated some time in the next week or so to my local garage who will give me a quick diagnosis of the problem.

Will we attempt it a third time? Ask me in a few month's time when I've sorted the car, we did enjoy this 10CR, we got a lot further than last time - maybe 3rd time lucky?

Anyway - here is a link to video's that Richard took:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrRichski

10 Countries Run 2009

2009-09-08T19:58:00.003+01:00

It's Tuesday evening - 2 more sleeps before the early morning run on Thursday up to The Plough at Crews Hill for the start. Been monitoring the early morning M25 traffic on the Traffic Cams and it seems as if we shall have an easy run up there, fingers crossed!

Gave the Spitfire a final check over today and a quick blast round the country lanes to sort out any minor niggles. I have even put silicon sealant around the headlight cowls to stop them rattling!

Thought I had a strange burning smell at one point until I remembered that I put some silencer bandage around the pesky manifold to exhaust joint which always conspires to leak after a hard run despite my best efforts with a good secondhand manifold recently.

My co driver (and brother) Rich will be coming down by train from Solihull tomorrow evening as his modern BMW engined Freelander has let him down - time for him to get a Triumph methinks.

Just created a couple of MP3 discs of music to play on the brand spanking new CD Radio from Halfrauds - 45 watts through some ex-midi system speakers behind the seats - should drown out the leaky exhaust manifold, Diff whine, dash rattle etc!

Anyway, thats all for now folks - an update will be given next week - if you want to follow our antics, we will be posting updates to the Club Triumph message board whilst we are away
at http://club.triumph.org.uk/10crnews

We are Car Number 9

Galleria Ferrari, 10 Cr Prep and other things

2009-08-11T16:22:00.002+01:00

I haven't updated my blog for a while, so here goes - whats been happening since Drive it Day, well, firstly my wife and I went for a cruise around Italy in July, very nice ship - Azamara Quest - lots of good food and some great sights, not least the Galleria Ferrari at Maranello. Yes I was let off my leash and allowed to go on my own on a ships excursion to see the museum near the Ferrari factory. Strange that most of the people on this trip were men, whilst their ther halves were sunning themselves on board ship!

I was very impressed by the museum which is a homage to a both sports and F1 cars. My favourite was the David Piper Le Mans racer which still had its historic tax disc on!

In all the journeying around Italy, the only soft top cars I saw were Ferrari and Aston Martin - came back to England and they're everywhere! - All the usual classics from our own Triumph stable and the myriad of modern ones, particularly MX5's, and those tin tops that are nopw so common - give me canvas(vinyl) anyday!

A couple of Sundays ago my Father and I set off early to travel down to Goodwood for their Softop Sunday in the Stag - breakfast was a bit pricey - but where else do you get such a good display of cars for free. The Stag performed faultlessly although it does seem to hold pressure in the cooling system for a long time - I think this winter will see some new headgaskets being fitted. We also went out for a picnic in it last Sunday to Ashdown Forest with our Daughter and her husband.

Lastly - the Spitfire is being prepared for the forthcoming 10CR - just finished changing the oil, oiling the trunions, setting the ignition timing and treating her to new plugs.

Roll on the 10th September - lets hope we get further than 2 counties on this attempt.

Drive it Day and other things

2009-04-28T14:14:00.006+01:00

Well a lots happened since my last entry, my wife and I have been away on a cruise around the West Indies, The Spitfire passed its MOT with Flying Colours and we've had our Drive it Day run. Before I get onto that, as a Stag owner, I was pleasantly surprised by this sign in St Kitts. And I thought when driving a Stag, any hour was happy hour! Anyway, onto last Sundays excursion, as it was Drive it Day, our local TSSC area, West Kent had a run out in support of it.

Our start point was our regular monthly meeting place at the Cock Horse in Hildenborough, 13 cars in total turned up, a Stag, Hurricane, GT6, Bond Equipe convertible, 4 Vitesses, 3 Spitfires and 2 Herald 13/60’s. A quiz was handed out requiring an element of observation through the day to complete.

We started out at about 10.15, and were videoed leaving the pub by a friend of one of our members – these have now been put on Youtube at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RAB35N0cjI

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAxWOvxvOw&feature=related

We proceeded to our first stop at the Yalding Organic Gardens for a brief coffee and comfort break.

After about 30 minutes we left and started on the biggest leg of our journey to the Bodiam Castle Inn where some members had a pub lunch whilst others tucked into their picnics.

The run to Bodiam was along some lovely roads taking in the Kent orchards, currently in full bloom. – we were late arriving there due to traffic, roadworks etc, which meant we would miss meeting the Canterbury Area at our next stop, Chapel Down Vineyard at Smallhythe. The ride to here was great fun with some nice fast sweeping corners for the adventurous ones. A short stop ensued whilst some members bought some of the fine wines and produce for sale here.

A short drive then brought us to Biddenden Vineyard, a well known producer of Cider and wines, and more importantly, free sampling! More purchases were made, and then it was off to Headcorn Airfield for our final stop, where we managed to park up in a nice orderly row of fine examples of Triumph’s best!

Apparently we missed our Canterbury Area colleagues by about 30 minutes – they had gone to a pub half a mile away but we didn’t find out until the following day.

Overall the weather was excellent, all the cars performed faultlessly and everyone enjoyed it, the quiz was a tight finish with Steve and Tina Gordon winning first prize, second was Alan and Carol Beal, and Malcolm Wing and his wife came in Third.

For the technically minded this is what my Sat Nav recorded

65 miles total run
Max Speed 50.4mph
Moving average speed 29.5mph
Moving time 2 hrs 12 mins
Total Journey time 5 hrs 1 min, - this meant before we got to Headcorn, we were stopped for 2 hrs 49 minutes

And now the icing on the cake, I've just booked the ferry for Club Triumphs 10 Countries Run in September!

Such a nice day - shame about the leaky hose!

2009-03-16T18:14:00.003Z

It was such a lovely day again today that I took the father-in-law out in the Stag for a run at lunchtime - his comment during the drive was ' isn't the car running nicely?' - full of confidence I replied, yes its been running really well since its service last month.

FOOL!!!!!

Got home, parked up to get a few things before going out again when I noticed a pool of coolant under the car - a cursory examination confirmed it wasn't from the expansion bottle overflow - damn - as I was pushed for time, put it in the garage and went out in the Superb.

Just had a better look at the engine and after 5 mins running the water issued forth from a pinhole leak in the angled hose that connects to the water pump - phew - I was imagining all sorts of water pump problems.

New Tyres!

2009-03-05T08:52:00.002Z

What a difference new tyres make!

As part of the preparation for the 10CR I decided to renew the tyres on the Spitfire, although not old, I had two Goodyears, one India and one Pirelli on the car, all 155/80 X13's on standard rims (although the spare was 145/80!) so putting the best 155/80 in the boot I trawled the internet for a good offer.

I eventually concluded after much research that the Avon CR322 was a good choice (after all they fit them to the Caterham Classic), and the best deal I found was at Tyreshopper.com, £20 cheaper than National Tyres who have a BOGOF offer at the moment - and the price included valves, balancing and fitting at National Tyres.

I had them fitted yesterday, the difference in ride and handling is amazing - much lighter steering as well, and the back no longer kicks out at my favourite roundabout under accelleratation.

They are also a low rolling resistance tyre, so it will be interesting to see what effect this has on fuel consumption on the 10CR

So my recommendation : Use Tyreshopper.com and consider Avon CR322's if you're looking for a standard replacement tyre.

http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/article.asp?id=160&title=Avon-CR322

Drive It Day 2009 Preparation

2009-02-11T20:49:00.004Z

Had an interesting time today, went out in the Stag with Del Holman, the AO for West Kent TSSC to survey the route for this year's Drive It Day Run.

The theme this year will be visit places of interest throughout the Weald of Kent with a short trip into East Sussex, ending up at Headcorn Airfield

We couldn't visit our first port of call, the Yalding Organic Gardens as the village was flooded yesterday, we also had to modify our initial run south today because of ice!

We headed south through Hawkhurst to Bodiam which will be the second stop for either a lunch stop in the Castle Inn, or a visit to Bodiam Castle, whichever people prefer. our route then took us briefly into East Sussex before stopping at the Morgan Motor Museum. See photo's, a private collection of Morgan 3 Wheelers - unfortunately this will not be open on Drive it Day - but it made for a very interesting diversion.

see http://www.morganmuseum.org.uk for more info.

We then drove up through Tenterden to the next planned stop at Tenterden Vineyards, home to Chapel Down Wine where we had to sample the excellent champagne! - Del even bought two bottles.

Our next stop was Biddenden Vineyards where we had some coffee to soak up the champagne! A very nice gentlemen showed us the process of refining apple juice for bottling.

Our final leg took us to Headcorn Airfield which will be our final stop for a picnic and a tour of the wartime Air Museum there.

See http://www.1940.co.uk/activ/visit/lashend/lash.htm

Whilst on this journey an interesting problem arose with the Stag, on occasions the engine would not turn over and the voltage gauge read very low. Subsequent investigation and research when home suggests this may the battery, so guess what I'm doing tomorrow!

A Year Goes By

2009-01-20T16:49:00.002Z

It's almost a year since I was reunited with the Stag since it's enforced rebuild last year., and it's been immortalised in 3 august publications, firstly the SOC magazine, followed by the TSSC Courier magazine, and this month was featured in Club Triumphs Club Torque, yet despite my scatter gun approach with the article, the only recipient not to publish was Triumph World - still 3 out of 4 isn't bad!

The Stag has just come back from Faversham Classics again, this time, only for the MOT and a service to sort out a curious misfire above 3500 revs under load. Despite my own attempts I couldn't find the cause of this, FC did - it was the electronic ignition sensor which was slightly loose - how did I miss that. All was well with the car bar a little welding on the front exhaust boxes for the MOT, a bit of brake adjusting and wheel bearing tweaking, so I now have a 13month MOT (it was a bit early)

There is one slight (but potentially expensive) caution on the invoice - the dreaded words 'possible early sign of headgasket failure' - referring to a tendency to spill coolant out of the overflow when hot and run hard. As a precaution, I have ordered a new radiator cap and put some trusty K-Seal in the coolant system to see whether this resolves the problem. Failing that I shall have to start saving up!

The real question is - do I want to change my entry into the 10CR from my trusty Spitfire and take the Stag instead - more comfort at the cost of less economy, hmm I think I need to satisfy myself that the head gasket is OK first before I do anything on that front. Stoneleigh is coming up soon, so that should be a good test for the car.

Brooklands New Years Day 2009

2009-01-01T20:03:00.004Z

Had a great time today, went to the New Years Day Classic show at Brooklands in the Stag. There were 5 of us Stags there in close proximity thanks to the arrangements made by a certain V.Mad of the Stag Owners Club Forum (informally known as Chris!). So in some respects it was an SOC Forum meet, something that happens fairly regularly, the last being a night run through London just before Christmas - I couldn't make that one
.

Not only was it nice to meet them, it was also good to put some faces to forum names, anyway, back to the show, lots of great cars there including a really immaculate Triumph 2000 which also impressed the Stag boys.

My own car seemed to relish the light traffic on the run up the M26 and M25 to Brooklands, sitting quite happily at 75 ish most of the way - it now makes me think about running this in the 10CR rather than the Spitfire as currently entered. Any way, enough of these ramblings, here are some pictures

We're In!

2008-11-25T11:51:00.002Z

Craig beat me to this!

We're in the 2009 10CR - Car number 9, lets hope it's a better number than last time(33) - this time all wheel bearings will be new, don't plan to exit early this time!

If anyone remembers, my brother and I had to retire early in last years event due to a seriously knackered rear wheel bearing - Mr Pearson kindly supplied me with a nice exchange unit following the cars return to Blighty. This time, I plan to replace the other rear wheel bearing during the winter, check the front ones and replace if necessary, and I'm considering changing the front uprights to Caterham style.

Apart from these updates and the normal annual checks, I need to sort out the exhaust manifold which is leaking (again!) - would be nice to pickup a sports one at a decent price, and some K&N's to replace the tatty pancakes that are on the car at the moment.

Then there is the front numberplate - badly cracked from a French towrope last year - good excuse to get some Euro GB ones, and replace the spotlight I dropped a couple of months ago whilst replacing the front valences.

Why am I not using the Stag for this trip? - mmmm 20mpg max against 35 to 40 from the Spitfire might have something to do with it!

Triumph-Less!

2008-09-20T16:36:00.002+01:00

Well, its only temporary really, I started changing the front quarter panels on the Spitfire about 3 weeks ago for some second hand steel ones that I sourced from ebay in excellent condition, sprayed them up and dismantled the front end of the Spit to fit them. This is where the problems started - hadn't noticed the replacement ones had no capture nuts. This meant some devious fitting of them to the chassis using new nuts, bolts and gaffer tape to hold the nuts in place until I could tighten them up. Now have to fit the indicators, using 'modern' plastic screw inserts and the bumper etc.

One minor self inflicted injury - I dropped one of the driving lamps and broke the lens, as they only cost me £5 at Stoneleigh last year, I have decided not to fit them back on as they didn't seem to improve on the excellent halogen headlights anyway. - So that is where the Spitfire currently is - awaiting half a days fitting together hopefully this week.

The other tale regards the Stag - it was such a nice day yesterday that I decided to take it to Penshurst where I was officiating at a wedding - got mostly there when after rounding a particularly bumpy bend that was a loud knock from the o/s rear - this was followed by a regular knocking sound of metal against metal for the next mile or so until I got to Penshurst.

Didn't have time to investigate before the wedding - very impressive, bride landed by helicopter andt he guests were treated to a display by a real Spitfire over the grounds after the ceremony (TA 805 if anyones interested - one of the Duxford few I believe)

Limped home afterwards and after a cursory examination it appears the bottom part of the Shock absorber spindle has sheared off. So in this lovely weather I am Triumph-Less!!

Showtime and other bits 'n bobs

2008-07-21T10:35:00.007+01:00

The last month since my last Blog entry has been interesting - firstly was a holiday to Alaska, not expecting to see any British classics there when I was surprised to see an immaculate Moggy 1000 motoring along in Anchorage! This was followed by spotting the following in Vancouver on the way home, MGB, TR3 and Healy 3000! One of the many highlights of this trip was a memorable ride in a 1960's De Havilland Beaver Floatplane over the Alaskan Fjords, described by the pilot as the Cadillac of Floatplanes.

Anyway, back to the plot - I've been to two shows recently, the Kent Classic Car & Transport Show at Boughton, which was basically a washout, it started off quite well although the high winds destroyed my local TSSC areas Gazebo, Still we did manage 10 cars on our stand with the help of Essex area.

The next show was much better and one I always enjoy going to, the Darling Buds of May show which is held on the farm where they did a lot of outside filming. No club stand here, it's a well organised show covering all makes of cars organised by the P5 Alive club. The weather was excellent and I introduced my daughter and her husband to the delights of classic cars.

At both shows I took the Stag which is now becoming a bit of a celebrity having had my enforced restoration story printed in both the TSSC and SOC club magazines. On my return home from the Buds of May I noticed that the slight coolant link from the heater matrix had got a lot worse and the carpet was very wet on the drivers side, subsequent investigation identified the heater valve as a source of the leak with a continual drip.

After much research on the subject, mainly from the SOC forum I decided to bite the bullet and tackle the problem. Not wanting to drain down the whole system, I joined the heater inlet and outlet hoses together with some copper pipe so that I could also continue to use the car, then followed the workshop manual to remove the heater valve. Despite some worrying experiences relayed by other Stag owners concerning seized valve, mine came out very easily - the source of the leak was a perished O ring. So a new one has been ordered (£1.75!) which hopefully will arrive in the next day or so.

As an aside, another reason for the delay in updating this blog is that I have also been busy creating a website for our local TSSC area on Freewebs, a marvellous free website resource if you don't want anything too fancy. see http://www.freewebs.com/tssc-west-kent/

Radiator Fitted

2008-06-05T21:05:00.003+01:00

Just realised I'm not the only one on the CT web site fitting a radiator - Alan Chatterton has done the same to his Stag.

Anyway, the full width rad has now been fitted to the Spitfire, resplendent in its new coating of Matt Black Barbeque paint! I also moved the electric fan to the rear of the rad and as a sucker rather than blower as there is more room to do this on the wider rad. It's a Davies Craig fan, and managed to get some purpose designed plastic fixings that attach through the rad. The fan is insulated from the fins by rubber washers on the fan side and foam pads on the front where the fixings tie down

I had to move the temperature control and air horn compressor as these were mounted on the metal panels either side of the standard radiator.

Using the car today, the temperature stays lower on the Temp Gauge, and the fan does not come on so often now. What is even more impressive is that I now know this rad was recored over 20 years ago, hasn't been used for most of those and has no leaks!

Radiator Testing

2008-05-30T20:15:00.003+01:00

Checked the radiator today - hooked up the hose, closed off all the outlets - no leaks, at least at mains water pressure.

Just need to paint it now, after a bit of research on the TSSC forum, off I went looking for heat resistant spray paints and found this: Hammerite barbeque paint in our local DIY store. Just need to arrange some sort of grill on top of the radiator to hold the steaks!!!!

Also ordered some new Pacet fan ties from fleabay to secure the electric fan.

Radiator painting

2008-05-29T15:59:00.002+01:00

No, nothing to do with DIY around the house, I happened to casually mention to a neighbour that I was thinking of replacing the standard radiator in my Spitfire 1500 as the existing one has sprung a slight leak on the header tank, when he said 'why not try the full width one I used to use in my Mk 2 Spit'

Not being one to ignore a gifthorse, I bit his hand off and away he went rummaging around under his workbench and lo and behold, an original Stanpart badged (Coventry Radiators) full width radiator emerged, somewhat dusty and grubby following a 15 year or so storage.

Incidentally, his Mk 2 Spitfire, currently in pieces since his son decided to restore it some 15 years ago will shortly be appearing on Ebay, having been replaced recently by a very low mileage Toledo 1300 in excellent condition.

Next steps are to test the radiator for soundness, - it was OK 15 years ago!, paint it as it is very grubby - see photo, and then install it in the Spitfire.

Stag Weekend

2008-05-12T13:56:00.006+01:00

Well, not what you're all thinking - this was a weekend of using the Stag. I had an opportunity to join the beginning of the European Stag weekend organised by the SOC on Friday. This was a train ride from Tenterden to Bodiam on a specially chartered Steam train, appropriately titled the Stag Express.

It was a great start to the weekend, a nice leisurely drive down to Tenterden to join approx 50 other Stags in the Station car park, a leisurely ride through the Kent and Sussex countryside on the train followed by local beer (Shepherd Neame Spitfire of course) and beer battered Haddock and Chips at the Castle Inn on the sun terrace, leaving a short time to stroll around Bodiam castle before the ride back to Tenterden.

Returning to the car park to see 50+ Stags parked there was very impressive.

Saturday I was working so used the Spitfire on this occasion, parking it in the registry office car park whilst undertaking my duties there. When I came out to go home, I was confronted with the Bride and Bridesmaids of the wedding adorning themselves over the car!

Sunday was a Stag day again, met up with a couple of local TSSC members in their Vitesse convertible and Bond Equipe and convoyed along the M20/26/25 to Leatherhead for the SEM there making sure we blatted past any MG's we came across!

The SEM was a good turnout, unlike last year although there was little in the way of autojumble. Met up with TSSC Canterbury area and had a good day with them

Whe the time came to go home, Chris (Vitesse) and I decided to go home across country, as I used to work in Dorking some years ago I led the way down some very nice leafy lanes skirting Dorking, Gatwick, Lingfield and Tunbridge Wells arriving home about 1.5 hours later - great run. Only problem on this route is that all the nice leafy lanes I used to use are now 40 limited!

Stag went very well on both days, just getting a bit of misfire on kickdown at approx 4000 revs, but otherwise it is running very well indeed.

Bits 'n Bobs

2008-04-24T15:48:00.004+01:00

Sundays run out to Manston was great - 38 Cars in total from TSSC, CT, SOC and the TR Register, covering all models of the marque (except Toledo/Dolomites). Just goes to show that we can all 'club' together when needed!

After the journey home, as the brakes on the Spit were feeling a bit spongy, I decided to jack up the rear and give them a bleed before the MOT Monday only to be confronted by a puddle of oil from the nearside rear shock. Monday morning came, cancelled MOT appointment as I knew I couldn't fix it that day, rushed out in the afternoon and bought a couple of cheap bog standard County items to get it through the test. Fitted them Wednesday, passed the Test first time today - Yay!!
And yes, I did bleed the brakes. I'll replace them with better items when funds allow, or, more likely, when one of them breaks!

I also did a small mod to the Stag this week, I now have illuminated heater controls!. A thread on the SOC forum was discussing how to acheive this, so whilst in Halfords I bought a couple of small LED lights for a Tenner. A simple fit, currently powered by a switchable plug in the cigar lighter, but will be wired into the dash lights soon. I would have preferred a red glow, but the blue light given off does complement my Blaupunkt Stereo!

West Kent TSSC Drive it Day Pictures

2008-04-20T19:57:00.004+01:00

The pictures say the words- Great Day - 37 Cars at Manston

TSSC West Kent Area Drive it Day Update

2008-04-14T11:33:00.001+01:00

An update on the applications received so far:

15 Confirmed and paid up - models covered are Spitfire Mk 3/4/1500, Herald 1200, 13/60, TR4,5,6, Bond Equipe, Hurricane, Stag.

Support from other Clubs is very encouraging as well with members from SOC, CT and the TR Register joining us, and the possibility of 5 or 6 additional Stags arriving in Convoy from South London. Members from Canterbury Area will also be joining us at the musuem, so it looks like we will have a good turnout - just hope the rain stays off!

MOT on the Spitfire runs out on the 21st so it's booked in for that day as its the day after the run!

A Triumph Break!

2008-04-07T14:54:00.006+01:00

Nothing to do with Triumphs, although Land Rover are mentioned! - we've just come back from a Safari in Kenya, our fourth time there so we're a bit addicted to it. This time we took our daughter and her husband with us and for the first time had a 'real' safari vehicle a Land Rover Defender instead of the usual Nissan/Toyota safari vans. This was a great improvement, particularly because there had been some significant rainfall this year and the Defender went where no mere Nissan.Toyota dare, we even had to pull two Toyota Landcruisers out of the mud! (I say we loosely, it was actually our driver Gimo who performed the feat, we merely provided additional weight in the van!)

In short we had a great time, travelled through the Great Rift Valley, visited Samburu, Sweetwaters and the Masai Mara and saw lots of game. It was actually very quiet as so many tourists had either been put off by the recent troubles there or had had their holidays cancelled which is a great shame for the local tourist industry. We saw no sign of any troubles there and everyone we met were as friendly as they ever were. At one hotel we stayed in on Mount Kenya, we were the only 5 people for dinner and breakfast, clearly outnumbered by the staff there.

Anyway, here are a few pics we took there, the odd looking land rover was a 70's British Army one used to transport us to our balloon ride over the Mara, finished off by breakfast in the bush - great time.

Wind Deflector Part Two

2008-03-10T22:18:00.004Z

Spent some time last week finishing off the wind deflector on the Stag. Took it up to South East Trimmers near Faversham where the owner matched up a piece of vinyl to the Stags Beige Trim, which is now commonly referred to as Biscuit apparantly.

Only cost £15 - what a bargain! - the next stop was B&Q for some aluminium strip and Evo Stick (new fangled solvent free white stuff!) This was followed by a quick trip to our local 'Grace Brothers' department store for some elastic, eyelets and velcro.

Whilst I was at the trimmers, he had a tonneau already made up so he drew the profile on the back of the material for me - this made it much easier.

Once home, the material was cut, edges glued and one of the ally strips embedded in the front edge, this was then bolted to the other ally strip sandwiching the plastic window. Eyelets were added and elastic attached. I needed to put two small bolts through the rear hood tonneau seal channel to take two of the elastic ties.

First Test Run had to wait until Sunday morning due to the weather - very impressed with the result.

And now for the bad news - I have had to withdraw our entry from CT's HCR due to a clash of dates - my nephews wedding is on the same day and I'd already promised to video it for him - Damn, was looking forward to the HCR!

Adding a wind deflector

2008-03-03T11:38:00.003Z

I've been meaning to do something to make journeys on cold days a little more comfortable in the Stag and add a wind deflector to it. I did this with the Spitfire some time ago and the difference on that was huge.

Anyway, at the recent Ally Pally show I spied a Stag on the Club Triumph Eastern stand that had such an arrangement, what appealed to me was its simplicity - velcro fixings at the top and gate latch strikers at the bottom.

So late last week, I fashioned a cardboard template and went to a local glazer that also provides acrylic windows for saloon racing cars - he did all the required cutting and shaping leaving me to add the gate latches. Finished it this morning and tested it - great improvement - just awaiting some rubber door seal to edge it with and stop the acylic squeaking. The next step will be to make up a tonneau to go over the rear seats which will be attached to the bottom of the acrylic screen using aluminium strip.

Some samples of material arrived from Woolies today, but I'm not that happy with the match to the existing Beige (code74) trim, so have arranged to go to South East Trimming tommorrow who have some the right colour (I hope)

Total cost so far £45 - a lot cheaper than Bosscreen!

It's Sunny again!

2008-02-20T12:04:00.002Z

The sun has just broken through the fog again today, over the last couple of days it has been so nice in the afternoon that I have been out each day for a blast around the countryside, top down in both the Spitfire and Stag - even collecting an 8ft tree from our local garden centre with the Stag.

The only mechanical tinkering carried out has been to replace a courtesy light switch on the Stag, all the interior lights now work!. I also keep finding little improvements following its return from Faversham - the heater fan now runs in 2 speeds, and the windscreen wipers now self park in the right position.

Noticed this morning a couple of deep gouges in the front left quarter of the bumper which are clearly a result of last years accident - must keep an eye out for a cheap replacement as its the only thing thats slightly marring its appearance.

Completed the SOC Agreed Valuation forms today and sent them off to Stuart at SOCTFL so that I can get a true value of the car to update the insurance - wonder what impact my accident will have on the premium renewal?

Must remember to take the camera out with me when I go out next time.

Tickets for Ally Pally turned up in the post today - taking my 85 year old Father there on Sunday - one of our annual outings. ALso spoke to the local (Kent) organiser of the TR Register this morning who is interested in promoting our local TSSC's Drive it Day run to Ramsgate. The more the merrier!

Stag is Home

2008-02-13T14:08:00.004Z

Just got back from Faversham with the Stag, had to wait until I got back to take pictures as it was very foggy over there, was held up for 30 minutes on the M2 - passed 3 nose to tail accidents, know just how they feel!

The finish on the car is superb, I have to hand it to the guys at Faversham Classics, they certainly know their Stags - I recommend anyone that needs some work done on their Stags to consider using them, whether it is bodywork or mechanical, and their rates are resonable too.

Gave the car a good run back on the M2 (Fog had lifted), performed brilliantly - inside the speed limit of course, at least thats what the speedo said, I think it under reads by about 10mph!

Engine seems much quieter - were the timing chains that bad before? Temperature stayed spot on between quarter and half, but then it has had a new radiator to replace last years new one! Viscous coupling was new last year as well.

Stag twitch seems to have all but dissapeared although only one driveshaft has been replaced, there is some steering vibration at 60+ at the moment which was not there before the accident, I put this down to wheel imbalance, will get that checked in the near future when my funds have recovered!

Just need to give her a couple of coats of polish to protect the new paint (advised by Kevin), her next real outing will be on the Historic Counties Run with CT

She's Coming Home

2008-02-12T19:32:00.000Z

Had a phone call today - the Stag is ready for collection, so tommorrow morning is the big day!

Over the last week she has had some additional painting down the sides to blend in the new paint - there were three layers of coach lines on her! I decided to have the timing chains replaced whilst the bonnet and radiator were out - Trevor at FC reported that they were well due for a change as the tensioners had a large gap to take up. I also elected to replace a driveshaft/hub assembly as the MOT man issued an advisory last year, so today she passed the test first time!

Can't wait to see the finished product with all those eBay bits fitted, new headlights and a nice shiny secondhand Stag badge picked up at Stoneleigh for a fiver last Sunday.

Will post pictures when she's home

Spot the difference

2008-02-04T21:42:00.000Z

Had my weekly visit to FC today to see the progress. Kevin has polished the resprayed area now and it is looking very nice, the finish is excellent. The only problem is my photo's don't show this difference - Photo 1 was taken last week and appears earlier in the Blog, just after the paint was applied.

Photo 2 was taken today - both photo's were taken in daylight corrected flourescent light with no flash.

Had a discussion about the rear wings as the paint applied during an earlier repair is lighter, so depending upon the look when the doors are fitted it may be neccessary to flat back the existing paint and spray on a layer of the new. I am leaving this decision in Kevins hands as he is the expert!

Chocolate Stag?

2008-01-30T15:18:00.000Z

Well, thats what my wife said when she saw the photos of todays visit to FC. Went in the Spitfire as the carbs are now nicely balanced - just need to check the timing/mixture as she's pinking a bit under load.

Had a very nice run across country on part of the route I've planned for the TSSC Run to Manston, bit bumpy in places - didn't notice that when I drove it last week in the Superb, wonder why?

Found a lovely piece of road just out of Ashford on the way to Faversham past the Chilston Park Hotel, they have this high brick wall that echoes the sports exhaust for about 1/4 mile!

Any way, here are the photos of a chocolate Stag (Actually Russet Brown)

The colour match is actually very good, next time I see the car the paint will have been flattened and polished, and the doors put on.

What a Plonker!

2008-01-29T20:45:00.000Z

I've just spent the last 3 days trying to balance the carbs on the Spitfire - even bought a colortune today as a last resort as it was evident 3&4 were running rich. Plugged it in - good spark but no real fire!.

In frustration I decided to dissemble the carbs to get at the inlet manifold nuts just in case they needed tightening, took the heatshield off to find the gasket between it and the rear inlet manifold had missed the bottom bolt and was obscuring the inlet - what a plonker!!!

Put it all back together this evening, running really sweet now - just need to check the balance and mixture tomorrow

Stag in Primer

2008-01-28T13:13:00.000Z

Had an early morning visit to Faversham as Kevin told me on Friday that the Stag would be spayed in Primer at the weekend, so I went down to look at her and take some photo's. He is hoping to spray her today/tommorrow in 2 pack, so the next visit will be even more interesting!

He has managed to get some excellent panel joins which are far better than she had when she went in there, notwithstanding the accident damage of course, I remain very impressed with his standard of workmanship.

Drive it Day 20th April

2008-01-26T22:10:00.000Z

Spent Friday with a mate visiting the Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum at Manston, Kent to sort out arrangements for the West Kent Area of the TSSC's proposed run out on the FBHVC Drive it Day. The run will be approx 50 miles from its start which is coincidentally in my home village!

The museum events coordinator is arranging for us to have a special parking area on a taxiway and the public will be invited to view the cars - naturally we are hoping for a significant number of Spitfires to join us and at least one Hurricane, although all Triumphs are welcome. I shall be there in my Spitfire - always assuming I've got the blessed carbs balanced properly!

The museum itself is fascinating, small, but unique in its history due to its close proximity to France during WW2

Carbs back on

2008-01-23T08:25:00.000Z

Just finished reassembling the carbs on the Spitfire and linking everything together, although I do seem to have one throttle return spring left! Must check the manual/parts diagrams.

Started her up - sounds very throaty as I also refitted the Sports exhaust I had changed last year before the 10CR - the standard system was quieter! She is running a bit rough at the moment and refuses to idle off the choke, so I need to spend some time checking and balancing the carbs - I have printed out James Carruthers excellent guide on his website (see link) to follow, hopefully later today if work allows.

http://www.mintylamb.co.uk/?page=sutune.htm

Lots of smoke off the manifold when I first started her up - I guess this was a combination of WD40, 3 in 1 penetrating spray and firegum jointing paste burning off!

Getting There!

2008-01-21T21:33:00.000Z

Went up to Faversham today - all the important bits have now been welded on - probably be painted this week and may even be ready next week!

I have also asked for the timing chains to be renewed as these are an unknown quantity and as I've entered Club Triumphs Historic Counties Run with the Stag I would prefer to be safe in the knowledge that at least that part of the car won't fail!

Also being MOT'd and a new nearside driveshaft and hub bearing fitted - this was an advisory on the last MOT

She's beginning to look like a car again!

On a different note I have been battling with the dreaded exhaust manifold to downpipe joint on my Spitfire 1500 over the last few days as its been leaking since the 10CR. One of the joint studs was stripped, so this has been drilled out and replaced by a bolt. At the same time, two of the lower manifold studs came out with their nuts seized on them, I managed to free one of them, but when trying to do the second, it snapped the stud!

Again - Faversham Classics to the rescue! - Trevor gave me a suitable UNF bolt that I have removed the head from and used to refit the manifold this evening. Thanks all to those friends on the CT and TSSC forums on advice on getting more easily to the lower bolts I am now the proud owner of some shiny 3/8 wobble bars and sockets that have made life much less stressful.

Tomorrow the carbs go back on - fingers crossed the leak is solved.

Stag Repair Update

2008-01-14T20:50:00.001Z

Had a visit to Faversham Classics today to review the work carried out so far - took a few pictures

This is the secondhand headlight assembly in place with a new radiator support panel welded in. Another view of the headlamp support panel
The nearside wing ready for welding
Another view of the headlight assembly showing the nearside wing and new front valence
This was the unexpected repair - replacement nearside sill

Another unexpected repair - nearside rain gutter
And this is a view of the radiator support panel that replaced the original that was beyond repair

Overall progress is very encouraging and she is now beginning to look like a Stag again! I have to commend Trevor and Kevin the Proprietors of FC for their diligence in ensuring everything is put together correctly and ensuring all the panel gaps are correct.

Roofs Finished - Spitfires back!

2008-01-06T20:24:00.000Z

At long last the Spitfire has returned from its enforced holiday at my fathers whilst the Garage roof was being replaced. Running a little rough at the moment as she doesn't want to tickover evenly in traffic, but I will get down to sorting that out now she's back under cover. Also have an Aldon Ignitor to fit.

Garage roof is finally in place, just waiting for my builder to return to install the brand new roller door which arrived just before christmas. Don't envy him the job - 14ft wide - weighs a ton!

Not much movement on Stag repairs - Christmas and New Year got in the way

TSSC Christmas Open day

2007-12-10T11:02:00.000Z

Had a very good run up to Lubenham yesterday for the annual Christmas open day at the TSSC HQ - this was a trip I'd been promising myself for a long time as I wanted to see the museum there, so it coincided with their Christmas celebrations.

I took the Spitfire on this 300 mile round trip, about time it had a good run and I have to say it ran very well, just a small issue with tickover when stationery that I'll sort out when I finally get it back in my garage after Christmas. Given the weather yesterday - I was surprised that I only had a few drips from the header rail that were soon stemmed with a suitably placed cloth behind the sun visor - Rain-X worked very well also!

Gave it a treat on the way up - Shell Optimax - maybe it was my imagination, but it certainly ran well.

The 3 hours I spent here was very enjoyable, bit like a large monthly meet really, with some very nice cars - good to see some fellow 10CRer's, Messrs Rochfort and Wake. One particularly interesting 'Triumph' there was Vins Diesel!(Green Metro with large Triumph Logo!)

Managed to pickup a bargain - Aldon Ignitor for the Spitfire - £10 from Bernie's bazaar

There was a very nice Macao replica in the museum, put together by Bernie Robinson - particularly liked the Tiger tail!

No Stag - No Spitfire!

2007-12-03T10:12:00.000Z

Well, the title isn't all doom and golom, it just means the Spitfire is on holiday under my fathers carport whilst our garage roof is being replaced and the Stag is still with Faversham Classics.

The existing roof is (was as of today) a 40 year old leaky, drippy corrugated one which is from today consigned to oblivion - to be replaced by a nice new pitched roof with proper roof tiles. At last providing a dry environment for the cars and additional storage space above.

The picture shows the current state, the JCB behind is another reason for the pitched roof, we used to have some large leylandii trees behind shielding our house from a commercial yard - these have now been removed by builders who are putting up houses there, so the new roof will also afford us some privacy.

Now I'm debating whether to replace the up and over door with a nice roller type. although the existing one works OK, its just a bit long in the tooth!

No further news on the Stag as yet, hopefully they will be able to start properly this week on the reasssembly!

Thinking about going up to the TSSC Christmas open day at Lubenham on Sunday in the Spitfire (weather permitting) - time it had a good long run - last one was on the 10CR - and we all know how that ended!

Barefaced Stag!!!

2007-11-22T22:44:00.000Z

Went up to Faversham Classics today to see what work has been carried out on the Stag so far.

Trevor showed me the dismantling and preparation work that he'd done this week, all the front end has now been removed - it has not been possible to straighten the headlamp support panels, so a good secondhand one has been sourced from E J Wards.

The other panels have arrived and are awaiting fitting up when the headlamp panel arrives.

One area that was unexpected is the condition of the nearside outer sill which was disguised by the stainless steel oversill. At some point in its life a very poor repair had been carried out and there is significant rust in this area - so a new sill has been added to the list! At least it's better doing it now before the wings are fitted.

So, next steps - sometime in the next couple of weeks the reassembly should begin!

Where has my Stag been?

2007-11-14T11:59:00.000Z

I thought it about time I documented what I know about my Stag, after going through all the DVLA documents I received last year I have now made sense of it all

Originally supplied on 1st Jan 1978 by Halls of Finchley its first two owners were companies:

1. ATH Alden Ltd, London W1
2. Anders Electronics, London NW1 17.9.78
3. BW Read, London SW11 23.9.87
4. John Harvey Collection Ltd, Tring 29.4.89
5. D McGiffen, Bexhill 1.3.90
6. DR Waters, Whitstable 6.5.95
7. MD Brennan, Ashford 30.9.03

and finally I aquired it on 25th May 2006. So looking at all the data it has in fact been a 'South Eastern' car for most of its life, with some owners holding onto it for some time, during which it has clearly undergone some restoration. This includes new wings (shortly to be renewed again!) rear wing repair panels, reupholstery and carpeting. It also has electric door mirrors which look like a 70's Jaguar type to me.

The engine has also been rebuilt according to some letters in the history file which make reference to some work being carried out by 'Harringtons' - I assume this to be Harringtons of Hove as the car was in Bexhill at the time, and it this point tubular manifolds were fitted and the alternator moved to the nearside of the engine. I am told by Trevor at Faversham Classics that these are no longer made in this configuration and that the offside bank now has its outlet towards the rear so that the alternator doesn't require moving. Personally, I prefer it on the nearside as its easier to get to.

The car was also known to Faversham Classics when it was owned by Mr Waters and they carried out servicing, repairs and fitted the Clifford Immobiliser/Alarm system to it during his tenure.

Anyway, as you can see, I've been doodling in MS Paint and put little Brown Stags on a map of the South East - you can tell I was waiting in for the post this morning!

Parts Delivered

2007-11-12T15:45:00.000Z

Just a quick update, obtained front chromework, radiator grill and indicator repeater today from Orchard Classic Cars, the eBay seller near Paddock Wood inKent (5 miles from home) - all bits were in very good condition - £70 the lot which I think was a good price given that the centre part of the grill alone retails at £83 secondhand from Rimmers!

Have delivered all the bits including the bonnet to Faversham Classics today - they are a great couple of guys there, spent an hour over a cup of coffee whilst they were having their lunch talking WW2 airplanes, museums etc rather than cars. They hope to start on my car in the next couple of weeks once they've finished the one they're currently working on.

Looking at the work they do, I have every confidence in their ability.

No pics I'm afraid - forgot to take some

NEC Classic Car Show Photos

2007-11-11T16:05:00.000Z

Just a few pictures from an excellent day at the NEC Classic car show. Couldn't resist a picture of Tim Hunts TR4 - last time I saw this car was queing behind it to get on the Ferry at Dover at the start of Club Triumphs Ten Countries Run

The Rochdale (top left) was very interesting - Glass fibre monocoque handbuilt in very dubious working conditions! Apparantly the rear suspension is bolted direct to the glass shell!

First collection of parts

2007-11-10T20:16:00.000Z

Well, I collected the first of the secondhand spares to help in the rebirth of the Stag. I got this bonnet and nearside indicator/light unit off eBay from a chap breaking a Stag only 5 miles away!

Have left him looking for the horsehoes and top and bottom Chrome trims and the complete radiator grill - will ring him on monday to see if he's been successful

The bonnet is in very good condition - just the wrong colour!

Stag woes

2007-11-08T19:56:00.000Z

This is what the Stag currently looks like, the list of parts currently goes like this:

Bonnet - got one from eBay today
Nearside indicator/sidelight - ditto

2 new wings, top panel, lower valence, L/H repair panel, headlights and bowls. - all on order from SOC parts to be supplied direct to Faversham Classics - on my credit card!

I also need radiator grilles and chrome trim - the place I sourced the bonnet from are looking through their parts box for these as I type! The radiator, new in Feb this year, needs to be sent away to be repaired or recored as the fanblades impacted on it, thankfully the engine is OK.

The bumper will be reused, it only has a slight 'ding' which you can just see behind the 'R' of the Triumph in the photo above.

In discussion with Trevor at Faversham Classics this morning, he is hoping to pull out the headlight assembly to avoid the need for purchasing a new one (big expense) - I have to say he and Kevin are very helpful and are mindful of the limited funds I have available to put her back on the road. One of the bigger decisions to take is whether to have only the repaired areas painted, or go for a complete respray, and if I do go for the respray, do I change the colour? I was going to have the timing chains changed at the next service in Feb 08 so this may have a bearing on my paint decision, and I also know the nearside rear hub bearing needs changing before the MOT!

Tommorrow is a visit to the NEC Classic Car Show - so I will probably looking for a few bits there as well!

First Post

2007-11-08T15:24:00.000Z

This is actually my second blog, my first one was called 76Spit, but i haven't updated it for some time - 2 years- and I can't remember the passwords, so have decided to start afresh. particularly as I want to record the repairs to my Stag somewhere other than the usual forums.

Anyway - a bit of history first, I have two Trumps, a 1976 Spitfire 1500 in Inca Yellow and a 1978 Stag Auto in Russett Brown. I entered Club Triumphs 10 Countries Run this year in the Spitfire with my brother - we had the ignominy of the first to breakdown on foreign soil requiring the repatriation of the car using the AA. The cause of this was a disintegrated rear wheel bearing, easily remedied by replacing the rear driveshaft and hub once it was home.

Th Stag is a different story, being in good condition and wanting to seperate the annual tax renewal anniversary from the Spitfires, this year I decided to Sorn it for a few months from the end of October. As we had a couple of particularly nice days in the last week of the month, I decided to give her a last outing. To cut a long story short I was following a Tesco Direct delivery van that stopped quicker than I did resulting in contact (my fault - can't deny that!)

The car is now with Faversham Classics, the insurance has paid out 75% of the value and I am beginning to spend on the credit card! - more later!