ShaunW

I've just had a measure for you and I'm making it about + 3.25" .... Wait a min I'm wrong.

Please don't take this as political posturing because this obviously isn't the place for it, but if the ineptitude of the way this simple change has been implemented is anything to go by, you can see why universal credit has left so many people in such dire straits. Red, blue or yellow they're all equally useless. This change is about as easy as they come, and heaven help us when they're back in control of everything. Rant over.

Oh yes please yorkshire that would be great. I've looked around and all I've seen is 'no longer available'. I'm not quite sure of the procedure now but if you email me, I can reply with my address and if you've got a PayPal account, put it in the mail too and then I can get squared up with you to cover the postage and what you want for it? My email is shaunwhite and that's @btinternet. com.

FYI I didn't have an MOT when I taxed it, and I was offered the tick box. All of which seems to confirm what's been said here.

Is that an odometer trip reset knob near your parcel shelf? That another thing mine's lost on her journey to me. Not having one is far more annoying than you'd think especially as I've got the standard issue ify fuel gauge.

Yep that's it. By the way, when can I change my birth certificate to 'Historic'? Rather than being exempt from checkups I seem to be having more and more.

Mranrtell, I don't see how at the stage they're at how you could be turned down. There was just a box to tick. Which I did and that was that. The only tricky scenario I can think of is if you tick exempt, don't get an mot, and then by some twist of fate such as a serious accident that was investigated, it was found that you didn't qualify for an exemption. Whether mine is exempt is maybe a grey area and ticking exempt might have been the wrong thing to do strictly speaking, but I'd hope that having got an mot, the man on the Clapham omnibus (aka common sense) would show that there was no deliberate attempt to deceive. Yes I could have just ticked not exempt and got the mot, belt and braces. But like you, I felt it would just give me a little leeway at mot time should I need it, particularly with police ANPR. I'll get a nice little green light even if I am a few cc's and a (very) few horsepower over factory spec, good luck figuring that one out with a camera. Do you get the feeling there's a lot of overthinkers on here ?

Thanks, that's answered my questions. I know that feeling anglefire. You see things in photos that you hadn't noticed before or looked OK in the flesh but look a bit dodgy in a super high res photo. I blame my permanently slightly greasy and fingerprinty glasses.

I meant it's the mot I whip out, not an exemption. I'm not planning on getting away with having an unsafe car but instead surprising someone (ie plod) that I've actually got one when the assumption might be that I haven't. It's all hypothetical Colin, and just a result of the psychological scars left by being pulled over every 5 minutes in my youth. I grew up in a small town and being 'that lad with the fancy car', I got more than my fair share of unwanted attention. I don't expect anyone to understand and it probably doesn't make sense but that's how I'm wired.

Yeah I think I have a piece missing and an extra piece I don't need. It's over a year since I took it off shortly after getting it, and typically have a photo of everything but. If it doesn't go back then c'est la vie.

Only me.... Again. OK I'm trying to reinstall the driver's parcel shelf. It must be the only part I don't have a before photo of and I'm a bit stuck. I've got the cardboard bit. And I've got a 8"ish boomerang shaped bit. That's it. When I look at the drawings there needs to be a smallish straight support like the passenger side one, and the boomerangy bit goes above the shelf to trim the dash. Thing is I've already got one there. Would someone be kind enough to post a photo of their driver's parcel shelf so I can get a clue. Cheers.

If you're got to keep the car mot'ed anyway then it won't be a problem. If they don't ask you to state exemption then it's because they already have you down as exempt? If in doubt give them a call. Things like this are why I always try to sync my tax mot and insurance. Makes a dear month but 364 days clear ahead.

I detected a certain amount of respect for the fact I was having an MOT when for all they knew, I didnt have to have one. Perhaps they realised that if they gave me a hard time it might be the last time they see me. I think it's also the case that they can figure out pretty quickly if you're the sort of person who wants things right (and will do it themselves) rather than a chancer who's trying to swerve the rules somehow or someone clueless who isn't aware of the risks. I know it's a bit devious, but I always wear my blue oily overalls when I go to the garage and my dusty green ones when I go to the woodyard. I'd certainly never wear my smarts. First impressions count eh? Mrs Me thinks I'm like Mr Benn, dressing up as a different profession every day. I don't find much use for the suit of armour though or the diving gear. If you don't know who Mr Benn is then that last bit will be very confusing. Yorkshire : I forgot to thank you for the offer of the rad fittings. I'll bear it in mind. Cheers.

Thanks Dave. If something's there when you're put on the spot you have half chance. When something might be missing it's different. I felt obliged (out of a certain degree of professional respect) to wonder if he was right. Another case of confidence I guess, I'd been through those drawings with a fine toothed comb when I'd been ordering parts, I knew really. Besides if you had a stop there you'd be in a heck of a position before it was used! Yep, another venerable Triumph rolls on for another year. I'm not claiming to have recovered a basket case, she was never that, but it does feel good knowing it'll be a lot of years before anything important needs doing again . (touch wood) hehe had to laugh, her little wheels were so snuggled into the rollers she couldn't get out...I think he left a quid's worth of rubber on the garage floor having a little spin. She had to be helped out with some little ramps....ahhhh. Brake balance 179/172 front, 152/145 back, just for reference.

You're right NM (unless I'm wrong again). The stuff he knew wasn't necessarily the stuff I needed him to know. Close but no cigar.

He was referring to something that goes in here. I was a bit dizzy with excitement about passing but the more I think about it......

I've seen them on ebay yorkshire for 102. Seems fairly reasonable but I haven't looked around much yet. Frame? Mines just held on by 2 bolts at the bottom and the hoses! I bought an old frame from ebay for a fiver ages ago but it didn't fit the rad I've got because it's tall and extends below the chassis, maybe it will work with a wide rad? Angel, I was like that about the mot, but I decided my fragile ego needed the boost more than I needed to prove a point. I'm also quite looking forward to the day someone official turns his nose up at something and I have my 'ta da!' moment and whip out my unexpected official doc. Oh one last thing they spotted, missing bump stops on the front susp upper arms (he knew his stuff), it's getting to be quite a list for something that sailed through eh. But to be fair I didn't even know they should be there so it's been a useful exercise in knowing my limits.

Cheers yorkshire, I am a little bit actually. Turned out that the lad they had test it for me owns an MG. No wonder he was impressed with the general high quality of engineering ? I saw more MGs on the road this weekend than I thought they'd ever made, another reason I love my Triumph.

Mot this morning.... And she passed! Couple of advisories that we decided were just an advisor-me. Fuel pipe runs a bit too close to the half shaft. Trunion bolt needs a pound or two extra tightening. Left headlight a tad high. They did an emissions test, 76 is a crossover year. 294/1200 on the HC (so she's not burning oil). 9.09%/4.5% on the CO which he thought was near enough and a tune should bring it down? I'm pretty clueless about su's so for a screwdriver and guesswork job I feel reasonably happy. For me just being a driveway mechanic, I've done a lot on this car, all new suspension, brakes etc etc so I'm a happy boy. Brake balance was almost perfect. (annoying weep from the freshly installed gearbox and but hey ho, sun's shining so I'm not going to let it get me down.) I think a new wide rad is needed though. She got a bit hot ticking over on the ramp and the temp needle was straining a bit driving a couple of miles back though town. Job done. (ish)

That's funny Doug. And very familiar.

hehe I wasn't planning on that bit of clingfilm getting away was I ...I know the form and finish on that saddle isn't very special, but I found it quite difficult to work with. It's like concrete but if you apply enough friction to make any progress, it'll melt. sorry the pics are so huge but they came straight off my phone. It would look a lot better in a lot worse photo. With hindsight maybe a simple flat plate would look smarter.

On one of those meanders through the interweb that started somewhere completely different, I came across this and thought, "I know some lads who might find it interesting!" They sure can make small stuff these days. The second pic is an electrode array for implanting in your brain so that paralysed people might be able to control robot hands etc. What an absolutely beautiful piece of machining! It was from here http://www.viteris.com/microEDM.html

Well I've installed my temporary solution and I must say it's worked really well. I thought I had a whole host of rattles but now the bonnet isn't flapping about they've all gone. Great improvement in the general feeling of confidence in the old girl. Now.... I'm not saying that my mod would sail through any concourse d'elegance and the stunning work some of you guys do does make me slightly nervous about bringing my work to the show-and-tell but here goes. I'm harbouring a small concern about stress taking its toll on the louvres but it doesn't seem too bad and although the paint looks OK in photos, I'm planning some proper refitting and maybe a blow over next winter so this will do for now. The aerodynamically aligned wingnut was best thing I had in the spares dept, maybe a giant clock key would have people guessing about her eco credentials. If you use the diy plastic, don't forget to oil the cling film otherwise it just sticks to the plastic (D'oh). Good stuff actually, starts as a paste, turns to a putty, then sets rock hard and I've made a few small things with it.

Speaking of rivets, just lately mine have been breaking off leaving about 1/8" of viciously sharp shank sticking out. Poor rivets, poor tool or poor technique? The shanks have been getting stuck in the gun too which was a problem I had with an old gun I'd been given and why I got a new one. I don't use one often so I broke my own rules about cheap tools when I saw one in a retirement sale at my local hardware shop (sad loss).

Could be a faulty switch on your gearstick. Mine failed gradually. I also had a situation where the continuity tested OK throughout the circuit but it still didn't work. I remade a scruffy looking connection half way down the dark green +ve that comes in from the engine bay and it worked. Looks like it was connected enough to read zero ohms but was failing when it needed a burst of 20amps to kick the solenoid.