JohnD

EXCELLENT! Thank you, Casper! Not only one of the best pics of SofS, but it shows the lovely wooded aspect of Crystal Palace. I have ordered my own copy. And yes, I forgot the pale blue TR4, but looking at all the other entrants, it's not a good turn out for Triumph. I chatted to many Triumph owners who visited the event, but none AFAIK, apart from Andy, who were members of this or any Triumph club. If I didn't live so far away, I'd join Sevenoaks, a most active motor club that organises many different events, in all motorsport diciplines: http://www.sevenoaksmotorclub.com/ If you keep an eye on their website, I'm sure that next years Motorsport at the Palace will come up. John

What a blast! Thanks for dropping by in the paddock, Andy - good to see you again! Mjit, Motorsport at the Palace has been happening annually since 2010, when Sevenoaks and District MC had the brilliant idea of reviving what remains if the old CP GP circuit as a sprint event. It's been so successful that SDMC has engaged a professional promotion company to run it this year - and very well too. If you think it is under publicised complain to them! For it was under entered by only two other Triumphs. Rob Welsh with his T2000 (with a BMW 2.5L engine!) and Clive Letherby's TR6, billed as having 4L, but no idea what, as the owner was never around when I visited. Both are members of 7Oaks, but not of this or any Marque club like this one. Which was sad, as no other Triumpheros shared this gorgeous event! Everyone got five runs a day, two practice and three that counted, or rather one of three, and the fastest was the important one. That may sound minimal, but it's once an hour, which is completely different from a race meeting where you may be active once in the AM and once in the PM. And how active! The course is short - about 700 meters - and I don't think I breath during a run, there so much else to do. Certainly, I arrive at the finish line, breathless and gasping. It's held in classic spring/hillclimb fashion. When called, you queue for the start line, where a valiant and hardworking team of marshals manhandle your car so that a 'timing strut', an upright strip on the bumper, just doesn't break a light beam. When the light goes green you start in your own time, breaking the beam and starting the clock, which is stopped again by a beam on the finish line. In between, there are acute bends, a hairpin, three straights and one of the hairiest corners, North Tower, in the country. Narrow, closely surrounded by trees and bushes, it has at least three apices, each of which must be hit just right to make best speed. It's not easy! I'm proud to have gained two seconds over the two days, down to 43.38. I have no pics as yet of SofS on track - Andy, please? John

Asbestosis (Lung fibrosis that stops you breathing) and mesothelioma (a lung cancer) are diseases we rarely see today. Like typhoid, whooping cough, Diphtheria and many other diseases that public health has almost abolished, they have lost their terror and people treat them as trivial. And so we get outbreaks of, say, measles, like the mini-epidemic in Swansea in 2013. Measles, you say, Pah! A trivial disease - and you are so wrong. It kills 2-3% of those who catch it, can cause blindness, swelling of the brain, deafness and pneumonia. In the Swansea outbreak a man did die, although he was already ill, and the lack of other deaths was due to good medical care. In the same way, the industrial diseases of asbestosis that were rife before the 1980s when laws were passed in many countries to control its use, have been forgotten - because public health has stopped them happening. You're not doomed, but you could be unlucky. Asbestosis is a disease that usually affects those who have used the stuff for a long time, but mesothelioma can occur after trivial exposure, and only occurs with asbestos. I know of a farmer who died of the tumour and his only traceable exposure was to build a barn roof with asbestos. To strive to use asbestos brake linings is perverse, when modern ones are so good,and to treat it as safe in small quantities just silly. John John

Or, you can ride the motorway with a friend counting the 100 meter posts. So many in a minute, or how long to pass, say ten, and then it's mere arithmetic. Sad to say the 100m pots are not well maintained, so test drive first to find a run of upright ones. It's all to get you out in your Triumph! John

A problem is that as soon as you have the plug out, a jet of oil spouts out, hits the chassis rail, splashes everywhere, and runs back ot forwards along the rail, making a mess. My solution? A piece of folded cardboard, that sits over the rail, catches the flood and directs it down into the bucket, bowl or dolly bathtub (I stole it from my daughter, twenty years ago) I hope this pic shows how the idea works. Any old card will standup even to hot oil for long enough to do the job, and then is of course thrown away. Cereal packets seem ideal! JOhn

Back to the subject. Road & Stage Motorsport, Morecambe can get rear brake shoes relined with Mintex. I'm on my tablet or I would post a link, but Google for them and give the lovely Julie a ring. John

Don't sell yourself short, Mish! How I tested those sensors was very simple. Camp stove on bench; battery set up to energise a sensor, gauge and volts regulator, with the sensor under test held in a water pan on the stove. Multimeter set up to measure sensor resistance. As it happened, the multimeter I had then had a temp probe of its own, so I could switch from Ohms to degrees C with a click of the rotary switch. As you say, an IR gun would do as well, but paint the inside of the pan black. Guns don't do well on a shiny surface. Pic below. John

Agree with Andy. Published this before, but anyway: Purple as it should be. Yellow and Blue, old,but I've seen this on three month old sensors. JOhn

That's the bunny! Glad to hear that they aren't rubbish. I might invest. I have a iPhone, so can't use that, but also a Kindle Fire that runs Android. Will that have "OTG Function" and connect via it's mini-USB port? John

Steve, Yes, the upper nut is the one to loosen, the lower is a fixed fitting in the filter housing. Those hoses are fairly standard for hydraulic applications, so should A/ be within their performance spec for leaks by about 99%! B/ easy to replace if needed, by finding a local hydraulics specialist. Try Yellow pages. John

Ah! Same as I do. I'm afraid your least option is head off inspect the bores. But I've seen borescopes now that yojh plug into you're mobile! For less than £20! Try that? They're only for Android phones so far, but a burner phone may not the the cost beyond reach. John

My current 2L six runs 10.5:1 Previously I've gone as far as 10.78 calculated), but that's the limit without higher octane fuel than current pump fuel. Your engineer friend is far too conservative. But I thought you said you built the engine? John

Impossible to tell without examining the pistons, rings and bores. Once apart, decide on need for rebore, or if new rings will be adequate. Did you rebuild it yourself? John

No, that's what causes it, as confirmed by two pistons with reduced compression. A leak test is redundant. John

With the engine warmed up and running, take off the oil filler cap. There should be the gentlest zephyr of a breeze coming out. If there is a mighty wind then your diagnosis is correct, but there are so many other causes of oil leaks, designed in by Triumph in the interest of corrosion protection. Where are they? John

There's collapsible and collapsing! That sliding joint might or might not stop the steering wheel bashing you in the chest in a frontal. Moderns will have a length of mesh tube, strong in rotation, weak longitudinally, or more likely two U/js, not the one in the Triumph. Then, the column folds up in a frontal. This design is also dictated by the short front and distance from axle to steering wheel in many moderns, but is most effective. John

Clive, Is that as big as you can get with the actual airbox? The objective should be to allow the air to slow down as much as possible at the intake, because of Bernouille. Fast moving air is low pressure air, and that moving through your 3" (?) intake tube may be going at 60mph at 7K! Allow it to enter a much large chamber, and it will slow down, its pressure will rise and so it can be more easily drawn into the bores. John

It's them garage pixies, petrolheads the lot of 'em. Leave bowl of milk out. Or buy an electric fuel pump. John

Glad you all went well, except for doug. Sorry, doug, but cool is all. John (TSSC's Style guru. I'm even saying, "Cool!")

I assume this is a mechanical rev counter? With a cable from the dizzie? Those use a magnet, spinning in the gauge on the end of the cable, with an aluminium disc close to it but not touching. There is a needle on the disc. As the magnet spins it induces an eddy current drag on the disc pulling round against a spring to indicate revs on the gauge. If the spinning magnet touches the disc,then it would drag it all the way round, but this would also need the stops at each end of the dial range to be broken. Sounds like a major breakdown. Might be repairable if you took the gauge apart, or send it to a gauge repairer like Speedy Cables. John

TSSC Lancs -contact Kevin Makin kev.makin@hotmail.co.uk "We are joining in with a run that’s organised for the Pilling car club By Paul Wilson…..As follows. Meeting like last year at Booths car park. GARSTANG PR3 1EF 10am for 10.15 start £5 entry for air ambulance funds the trip approx 108 m with 2 options to shorten the run a little? your choice on the day , intended finish in Garstang" TRR Red Rose Group have a 'posher' run: See: http://www.tr-register.co.uk/group/red-rose/social-report/2016/03/0199/Drive-It-Day-Bunny-Run John

Had this on Silverback, Pi throttle bodies. Stuck, wide open. Finished the race on the FIA cut-out; ON for the straights, OFF for the bends. Worked, but could not get back to the paddock, as feathering the clutch was also either full speed ahead or the engine heading for MaxRevs oblivion. Needed new throttle spindles, but I've also added three return springs and it's been fine since. JOhn

How deep in the cam shaft boss are the broken-off stubs? They shouldn't be tight in there as they would have been tightened (or Not! were they not torqued down? and loose so the sprocket rattled araound and broke the heads off?) onto the sprocket. Without the heads, they should come outeasily. If reachable, then a fine, pointed drift to tap them around with a light hammer might turn them until you can grip with pliers. OR, is this one case in a million where an "Easyout" will actually work? When they do come out, some close inspection of the threads in the boss, as they will have taken a beating from a loose sprocket? John

Certainly, it is not true that "All Triumphs have poor brakes" but many have poorly adjusted or maintained brakes. Not your's, necessarily, Freyasgrandad! If you can lock-up your wheels, the brakes are good, and the tyres are the final decider, anyway. There are several types of "cast iron", some termed "ductile" or "malleable" that will bend under strain, when classically brittle cast iron will break before it will bend. I would think that Triumph would use the first for such an application, rather than the second. But I wonder if the seized piston was the result of the bend, not the cause. The constant off-centre pressure would have distorted the piston seal and maybe allowed water in. What bent the mount brackets, Gok! Kerbing?? Which way were the both brackets bent? and which piston was seized? John

Haggis, Just noticed that the TR Register shop has a sale on and is selling four-hole, duplex can sprockets for £29.50 (from £44) and Vernier sprockets for £89.50(from £120). No idea if they will extend the discount to non-members, but why not try? Ask info@trshop.co.UK John