Colin Lindsay

My local Chinese sells chicken balls. I've no idea why, they just break apart the first time you hit them.

There used to be an ad in either The Courier or Practical Classics for 'badgers'.... every month the advertiser listed tons of spares from broken Triumphs and there was always the bit 'Badgers £1' or thereabouts. I assume it was badges, but you never know...

At least you remembered to go. I was trying to remember what I spent £1.99 on in Tescos on Monday, you just reminded me.

You hit a ball. Gawd knows where. You spend ages looking for it, you find it and then... hit it away again.... And people earn millions letting others watch them do it??? Amazing.

Yes and yes although the latter isn't a legal requirement, but it's advisable given the number of idiots on the road these days who seem to think that revving their engines to make their cars backfire, or blasting their horns, as they pass is fun... Having seen the expense, the bother and furthermore the emissions I'll stick to cars.

Ops sorry guys.... blame the webpage layout... either that or old age. I came off the production line myself quite a while ago, you know....

Very effective if, like me, you sometimes let the tank run right down. Stranded two miles from home one night after a show, I remembered the reserve and while it may only be a pint or two more, it got me home. Just remember to keep the lever in the other position so it's always available if you need it.

Chicken and egg here; the problem was that young drivers, desperate to get on the road, bought classics for the reduced Insurance and then thrashed them, thereby tarring everybody with the same brush... My daughter's first insurance was twice the price of the car....

Very good starters for the 6 cylinder engine (sorry to shepherd the topic back again lol) BUT be careful - some of them have a drain hole which is meant to be underneath, but due to the chassis and limited space around the engine on our cars it ends up being at the top. You can just see it to the left of the red cable and below the steering column in this pic. Consequently water gets in (it's directly under the block drain tap) and the insides rust up solid over the Winter layup. Happened to me, I had to strip the motor down and clean / regrease. Easily enough done if you need to, but blocking the drain hole up, if it's at the top, will prevent this happening at all.

Isn't there a debate on this one? I remember a few years back that there were later cars came off the production line, or that owners found proof that their car was later in production than the one in the photo - factory workers writing on the inside of door trims that this was the last car off the line or something along those lines? (Here comes the thread drift - the paper shows the Matra Rancho - I remember being fascinated by those every time I saw one.... nowadays nearly everyone has a modern equivalent.)

That top one looks badly glazed... has it been slipping?

Got it sorted, thanks guys. I'm glad the computer remembers all these passwords for me, as I never will... I've also forgotten what it was I wanted to buy in the first place....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Autoleads-Narrow-Wing-Mount-Car-Aerial-Antenna-Stainless-Steel-Mast-Replacement/191522567035?epid=1423147925&hash=item2c97a2737b:g:VH4AAOSwx-9WxEdC This one looks fairly similar and it's supposed to be stainless, so shouldn't (!) rust as easily. The original one was a Kingavon Fully Automatic but as it's never been wired in, it doesn't really matter...

Data Protection has been the death of many things, including the old IVR scheme. It's just too costly to store a lot of information and train people in the proper access and handling, or more importantly dealing with the legal fallout if information is given to people for insufficiently important reasons. It's not the people who make the enquiries, but the people who don't want their information passed on to anyone else, that cause the difficulty, and as Richard's post above shows, "wanting to know" is not really enough of a reason to be allowed access to the information. Sign of the times, guys... BTW Mike, is that your garage in the top photo?

I like Ben's idea..... but Aidan's link has given me a good start for a search. Mine is symmetrical, sort of like this one (and in pretty much the same condition....) It needs to be suitable for a flat surface as it's going on the flat part of the rear wing, so no angle or slope to compensate for. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1956-Cadillac-Fleetwood-Antenna-Bezel-Nut-Trim/192366517304?hash=item2cc9f01c38:g:hssAAOSwO7haDhJr Here's mine in happier times ie probably newly fitted:

You know the shiny cup washer that goes around the base of the wing-mounted-type aerials? Mine is long past its' best but I don't really want to buy an entire new aerial. Does anyone have a source for new chrome ones or even stainless versions?

A mate has thrown me a low ball over the replacement of new ringgear onto my Herald flywheel. He says that when the old gear is removed I need to mark exactly where the teeth are, and replace the new gear accordingly, as the engine usually comes to rest in the same position and any movement of the flywheel teeth from the 'at rest' will play merry Hell with the starter motor Bendix. It's one of those little posers that I'm inclined to say is rubbish, as the teeth are so closely spaced that it will make hardly any difference, yet another part of me, having experienced a starter that used to lock into the ringgear and always had to be rocked back and forth to free, makes me want to ask - just to make sure. So: I'd say it doesn't matter. Any other views?

.... because you're putting too long a bolt into the blind hole - it's reaching the end of the opening and can't go any further, so it's rotating against the threads which have now stripped - hopefully only on the bolt but expect damage to both sets. The proper short bolt may yet be able to grip if you use a new one with perfect threads, and as Pete says clean the hole out thoroughly. As the guys have already posted, you can rethread, or else go for a S/H unit - there are plenty about. I've nipped out to my garage in the snow (December again!!) just to see if it's feasible to drill out the bottom of this side and use a long bolt with nut instead - but it appears I have three different types; two have open-ended bolts on both sides which would allow for a long bolt and nut, whilst the third has a blind hole which ends between the two blanked-off outlets on the side face. I suspect this last is like your Spitfire version?

If he can reach the ignition key whilst sitting on the front wheel... that's either some mod, or else he's got the arms of an orang-utan..

Two for the front and two for the rear? It may be that either the fronts, or the rears, require the centre to protrude further to clear the hub / grease cap or whatever. When I bought my GT6 Mk3 the owner advised me to keep the aftermarket alloy wheels in order as they were, as two had to be machined from the inside to permit clearance on the car.

Is this different to the forum log-in? I can't log in to the shop with the user name and password I use for the forum... are they separate areas and so require different log-ins or completely new registration?

That's a rather unsettling mental picture..... "left buttock down a bit.... right buttock down a bit.... stop!" Is there such a thing as 'bottom dead centre'?

I saw the most beautiful blue Toledo being driven in York at the start of November; twice on the same Saturday it appeared in the area of Blossom Street and Mickelgate. It was in absolutely immaculate condition - anyone know it?

I think we're all safe until the first road accident. THEN the Insurance Companies will query modifications, adjustments, non-standard equipment or probably general maintenance (are YOU legally qualified to fit your own brake pads? It may yet come to that, and with no MOT to prove it's been done properly... you may have an argument on your hands) Don't worry about HM Gov, or HMRC... worry about your first Insurance claim, and that will be at a time when you need it. I don't think your Policy will have a clause that says "It's on the TSSC forum, so it's ok"... As John says, they don't have the resources to look at everybody, so they'll just look at the ones who come to notice. End of doom and gloom for the day...

Any of the Triumphs from that era will do as a donor - large saloons such as the 2000 or smaller such as the Dolomites or Toledos. You'll probably find that postage on the unit will be higher than the cost price. Rewiring the control box is also very simple, let us know if you need the details.