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Bfg

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Bfg last won the day on October 7 2023

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About Bfg

  • Birthday 01/09/1956

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Ipswich, Suffolk, England
  • Cars Owned
    Of Triumphs : Herald, Spitfire, TR3 (small mouth), TR4, TR6. And now after too many years away from the fold I'm coming back by buying a total project TR4A. I also used to make the fibreglass panels for Burlington.

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  1. yes I've otherwise been told so. I like it because it retains the original horn button.
  2. ^ great photo Doug My TR4A has a wooden rimmed steering wheel, but having driven others I think it is much the same dimensions as standard. . . Outside diameter is a tad shy of 15" (around about 14-7/8 to 15/16") and as you can see in the second photo the rim is about 3/4". I wouldn't want much less diameter for car-park manoeuvring running on 28psi tyre pressures and 165/80-15 tyres. Harder pressure is lighter but you feel it in the car's ride. I've set my car's steering geometry to be responsive. I wouldn't want it any more so. Indeed I'll soon be checking and readjusting it.. to lessen the car's presently slight vagueness at motorways speeds. Do bear in mind, when you try a different sizes of steering wheel ; your reach to the column switches as well as visibility to both major and minor gauges. I'm 6'-5" and a little too broad for a TR4 but the diameter of this size of steering wheel and it's relatively shallow dish are not a problem for me either when driving or when getting in and out. Mind you I have discarded the H-frame so i have more room for my knee over the gearbox cover. I did modify the rear wheel arches to move the seats much further back, so my legs are straighter than with the standard geometry, and I'm now sitting in leather TR6 (tilt backrest) seats with good diaphragms and foam. They offer better under-thigh support (are higher in the squab) than the Mazda Mx5 seats I had until recently. Hope that helps. Pete
  3. I was at our TSSC local meet yesterday evening, in Katie my TR ..which in the car park was accompanied by Mike's GT6 ( used daily) and Russell's Stag with Rover V8 motive power. Brian also came in his Spit-6 special which again he uses all year around. ..out of the 20 or so bod's, I'm not sure if anyone else came out in their Triumph. At one point, we at one end of the table were discussing the repaint of the Daimler 250 I'd recently bought. Repeatedly I was confronted with comments regarding my plans change the car from original, but as I said - I have no family, and very few life-friends interested in my cars or old bikes ..should they inherit any one of those upon my demise. The cars I have are not rare like a Bugatti ..they are cheap production cars that I choose to drive. So, I'll have what I enjoy owning, and like to drive. None too precious to be driven at this time of year, nor to be parked unattended when i go into a shop or restaurant. . If I want a sunroof, simply because I like driving through an autumnal avenue of trees with the roof open ..then I'll fit one. And if i don't like this or that detail of the car's original design (for example that car's lack of front under-valance panel, the style of half spats over the rear wheels, or even the heavy looking Daimler grille) then I'll change them. Likewise if I want a non-standard colour, then that's fine too ..My car is not a museum piece to be preserved until the apocalypse. Put another way, as per my footnote on the Autoshite forum "..its a bloody motor car ..not a Fabergé egg. ! " The pertinent point is ; I'm driving my cars because I want to. I don't go to shows for my car to be admired ..I go to see other cars and to enjoy a little time with their owners. It really doesn't matter whether others like my choice of car, nor agree with what I've done with it. I'm driving it even when the roads are wet and the weather is cold. On Sunday I was driving in the pixxing rain, and while stopped for petrol a complete stranger in 'a modern' took the time to politely comment on Katie ..saying how he really liked her bumper-less look. Colin, are you not old enough to do what you want, and to enjoy what you like.? Do that ..and others with like-minds will hone in ..and those who don't - well that's no real issue nor concern to you. There a huge number of people who will be admiring your cars, in part because of their good looks or perhaps in nostalgia of good friends and past family, or for an era which was somehow more personable than it has become. Most will not say anything, but using your Triumphs do make others happy, and surely all the hard work is worth it because of that.?
  4. What does it matter if others are moving away from Triumphs, I've been into quite a few different classic cars and motorcycles and still enjoy a natter and a beer with anyone who's into older and more interesting cars, even those who are in a financial league that I might only have once dreamt of. I'm presently burnt out with working on my TR, but this Thursday expect to be taking the second engine in to be checked and reassembled by someone else. This is the engine I bought while still trying to buy a project TR4 from America. That purchase didn't happen, and I never got that engine back together because I was unhappy about the machining / crank balancing I'd had done. I was just about to have the work independently checked when covid happened. And then I was forced to move home into a studio apartment, so everything I could pack away went into a storage container. I've moved home twice more since ..and now it's time (I'm ready) for it to be dealt with (whatever the verdict on the work already done). I've got too many other things to do over the next 12 months that I've finally conceded to pay someone else to put it together for me. Better that than my friends inheriting a pile of bits which they don't understand so just take down to the council skip. My bottom line is that.., classic car chaps, particularly those with the more modest marques like Triumphs, are a good bunch to have a beer with even if they drive something else, and my Triumph and its parts can hang around until I'm in the right frame of mind to get on with it. During winter things slow down anyway, because work spaces tend to be flipping cold and too small. In the meantime my focus is on studying c.12th English history, as research for a book I'm writing. I'm otherwise gathering the necessaries for the Daimler 250 I've recently bought, and trying to choose a colour for its respray. I also have a boat, a trailer tent, and two motorcycles in the background just waiting for me to decide what to do with them. Do I allocate time and resources to doing them, or do I cut my losses and give up on those dreams. ! ? Take cheer Colin, wiring is easy to check for smoke ..just leave the battery clamp loose in case it needs to come off again - very quickly ! ..and then turning on just one thing at a time to check the circuit ..starting off with the lowest power items like side lights, before working your way up to ignition on and checking the gauges, and brake lights. Only after horn and lights do you crank the engine ..by hand first to feel and listen. Then crank the motor with plugs out, and also out of gear ..and with blocks in front of the wheels in case the clutch is seized on ! Crank the engine and check for oil circulation to top-end ..and non on the garage floor. Crank the engine and check for sparks at the plugs. All common sense and easy, even before you turn the fuel on or put the plugs back in. By which time oil has been pumped into and around all the engine's galleries, and any big, hard &/or sharp bits have flushed through and are settled comfortably in the bottom of the sump. Remember to look hard into the mirror and 20 times say "This is Fun ". Do that before the men in white coats turn up with their nice n cosy jacket and some sleepy medicines. p.
  5. End of Season opportunity to enjoy clearer roads as yesterday I went back across to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, Suffolk, NR35 1NZ(which at this time of year is opened only on Sundays). From where I live it's some 35 across country miles away but, since moving home a few months ago, the route is different. I love this museum because it’s a local one and that makes it unpretentious. It might be noted that it’s a volunteer-run museum charity, and lacking the glamorous and glossy exhibits of well funded museums, but perhaps because of that - it is fascinating. In many ways it’s more like an old workshop packed with minute details. East Anglia was of course dotted with airfields throughout the 2nd WW, and the memorabilia and photographs reflects the true grit of it. More depth is found in the stories relayed by airmen, farm workers (who witnessed aircraft crashes of both friend n' foe) and of the air-sea rescued. These do take a time to read, but there’s humanity in there which isn’t reflected in the glossy paint of a restored museum exhibit, however awesome an aircraft style &/or its specs may be. My visiting on Sunday 12th, the day of the National Service of Remembrance, was poignant. ^ far right, yes behind the curtain in the anson is the ..... With so many artefacts found in gardens, along the coastline & esturies, and farmland across East Anglian counties - it may to the uninitiated seem to be filled with mangled pieces of metal, cloth or whatever, but to an engineering mind - those same objects are like cutaway illustrations ..or rather sculptures, revealing in life-scale the guts and the craftsmanship in engineering. Pete
  6. I relate to that with my TR4A ..it's a fun car for a countryside blast, but sometimes one simply wants something a bit more relaxing, which is why . . . ^ mine's the one on the right. The link to Triumph (cars) is a little tenuous though, which is why she's not appeared in these pages before. Pete
  7. Very nice too, Alan. I've long been harbouring a fancy to get a Moggy Traveller ..as a second car just for around town, but finally decided against it as I already have three cars and two old motorcycles, and now pay a premium for storage space. Aside from going to a supermarket every other week, I rarely go into town anyway ..other than to pass through to the other side and head off somewhere. The final decision was made, not to, when I discovered its interior width (48-1/2") was not much more than my Triumph, which is a little too tight for me. Relative to your Spitfire it does look quite big ..but a whole lot of that is in those gloriously bulbous wings and proud bonnet. Nevertheless, the Minor is a really wonderful step back in time, to what to me seems a nicer age, and if I had the space I'd have one anyway. 👍 Pete
  8. Thanks Peter, I now understand.. rotor arm. I'd guess your father soon found out ..but realising you had the noddle at 14 to work out his deterrant and fix it, thought you were probably wise enough to go for a spin anyway.
  9. Thanks.. I'd forgotten they had those, and I bought the Autolok secondhand so didn't get the collar. I'll have to make one, as otherwise the argument of removing it by just unscrewing the gearknob is almost valid. As it is with the gear lever pushed forward - the angle up from the handbrake is not enough to get the lock off. Pete
  10. Not much happening this week (aside from our local TSSC club meeting tonight at the Sorrel Horse, Barham, IP6 0PG and a breakfast meeting with the TR group at the weekend) but with classic cars it’s impossible not to notice how very insecure they are, so in addition to my everyday Autolok handbrake to gearbox lock ..for when the car is being left unattended in a more vulnerable location - I've just bought one of these. . . This steering wheel immobiliser is the higher security Pro model of the Stoplock range, which gets good reviews (NB. their Elite model of the same device has a deep offset for fatter steering wheels). After looking on-line, including for a second-hand one, I bought this new (with 2 keys) from Halfords. They presently have them with a £10 off RRP, and then another 10% off when buying on-line and free postage over certain order value. In total it cost just a few pence under £35 delivered. Either or both is of course only a deterrent, especially when steering wheels on classic cars may be wood rimmed with easily snipped through aluminium spokes, but it is quick n' easy to use, and an obvious nuisance to would be joy-riders, even though you may otherwise have an ignition immobiliser. ^ It's universal fitment also means that I can use it on other cars. And who knows I might even configure it around the frame and through the spokes of my motorcycle. Food for thought perhaps ..and a great price from Halfords. Pete p.s. I’m not telling the insurance company because they’ll insist it’s always on the car when parked.
  11. Unless you can barely see out of the windscreen., the headrests on the TR6 seats are too low to serve their intended function anyway. Cosmetically I feel they add a little robotic humour to a car with a Surrey-top backlight ..but any car with its soft-top down (depending on one's preferences) may look better without them. Pete
  12. t'other seat done today. . . ^ I also twisted / moved the driver's seat 1/2" further forward on its left side and up by 1/4" in the same front corner .. That may not seem much but first (static) impressions are that it's improved lateral support on the left side as well as a tad more support under that thigh. The task was easily done, but equally I think.. well worth doing. That doesn't look too shabby
  13. "Boing ! " said Zebedee .. Children should look away because this week's episode sees Zebedee squeezing tightly into his black leather seats Magic roundabout music plays joyfully out of tune. "Once upon a time . . . Katie had really quite ugly and uncomfortable TR4A seats in sweaty black plastic, but then a giant came along and uplifted those into ebay space and replaced them with Mazda seats. Now said big friendly giant found these seats very much better, and relished the extra legroom he'd made for himself and equally the tilt backrest ('reclining' is a misnomer when there's no tilt space behind the seats). But to be honest he found then rather too firm and really not such good lateral support as he had hoped. But then along came a fine upstanding gentleman name Martin, who was offering to all the world a very nice pair of black leather TR6 seats. They are not quite standard insomuch as they had been professionally recovered with beautifully supple leather and their diaphragms and foam had also been replaced. Alas, as the tale tells us.. it seemed as if very few others really appreciated them. But then came along the most amicable Bfg ..who carried them away and took them home to his Katie . . . However before installing them, he had a few things to sort out, not least was whether they would fit as far back as the Mazda seats and equally if not more importantly whether the Bfg would still be able to get his big fat head into the car. . . Aide memoire, you can see from the headrest just how far back these seats are placed. A measurement from the clutch pedal records 42-1/2". ^ Side by side the TR6 seat look rather diminutive in comparison to those from the Mazda MX5 but, with a squarer backs, their width is very tight when pushed rearwards. Katie doesn't have the fibreglass cover over her drive-shaft tunnel but still it was all a little too tight for her., not least because the TR seat has a pokie-out-the-side tilt-locking mechanism. On the runners its also sat high in the car, and the headroom already offered nothing to spare when occupied by a Bfg. This was another one of those five minute jobs that wasn't going to be quite so quick.. Things would have to be re-thought. ^ Firstly these seats tilt's locking mechanism would have to go - the TR4A never had such extravagances anyway. And the seat runners too ..to lower the seat by an inch or more. ^^ That's better, over an inch further back, and now the Bfg can just about get his head in under the backlight frame. There's such difference in style between the Triumph and Madza seats. I do think the Mazda seats look fabulous, but on the other hand I'm content with the look of these TR6 seats in a 1967 sports car. It's not everyone's choice, but for my use of the car ; adequate driver support together with a comfortable ride outweigh the styling. ^ because Katie's chassis has additional structure (a cross beam aligned to the gearbox mount), which coincided with where I needed a seat fastening, I drilled and tapped into that beam's flange. And on the underside of the flange I was still able to fit a nut. The fixed brackets are very simple 90-degree upturned zinc plated steel plate, which allow the seat to pivot forward for easier access to the rear space than the Mazda seats offered. That was a useful bonus because Katie's Surrey top lid is usually stowed back there. Another worthwhile advantage is the far easier access for cleaning alongside and under the seat. Those snozzcumber pips get everywhere. ! ^ Job done, on the driver's side anyway. The TR seat measures, from clutch-pedal to seat back, about 1" less than the Mazda MX5 seat, but its cushion gives that much more - so overall my way-back seating position is the same. For my long legs, the TR seat gives a little better under-thigh support. Dimensionally its front squab is just 1" higher but, perhaps because that support is further back, it seems more ..and more comfortable to sit in. Lateral support feels very much better in the TR seat ..perhaps again because I'm now sitting into the upholstery rather than on it. Getting in and out feels much the same but the 4" more space in front of the seat gives me more room to pull my size twelves back. - - - I've just been for a short test drive, avoiding on my way out dozens of little devils and all sorts of ghouls ..out in the evening air searching for tears of the timid and tooth-rotting substances, and found the driver's seat to be comfortable, less draughty around the small of my back, and offering better support when going fast around a broad roundabout. The door padding offers all the bracing I need on that side but a little more on left side, for right handers, might be welcome. So I'll try swinging the seat's left side mounting forward by half-an-inch and also up a little. As hoped the TR's ride / comfort is improved through the seat's softer suspension (diaphragm) ..which is of course the way Triumph designed the car, but to my mind was compromised when I fitted the firmer MX5 seats. Mx5 seats may be better than sliced white bread but I prefer crusty doorsteps of wholegrain. Everyone to their own eh ? I'll let you know again, after a hundred miles or so, how I get on.. Knowing me, I'm just as likely to swap 'em back again. Bidding you all a peaceful evening, Bfg p.s. for a further bonus point ; Both in leather, the Maxda seat weighs in at 17kg whereas the Tr6 seats (without runners) is just 11.5kg. Times this weight saving by two seats and its the same as a full week of scrumdiddlyumptious breakfasts at Buckingham Palace
  14. 👍 That looks very much better to my old and rather conservative eyes Ed. Perhaps just a little heavier typeface ..but still a worthy echo of the car's badging. . .
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