Richeee

Driving back from Goodwood today got in a bit of a pickle with my gearbox. Stuck in 3rd i thought but did not quite realise what was going on. As i drove on after a bit of brute force and ignorance ( goes with the moonraker terrority ) began to suspect that the gear lever was not sprung one way or the other. I.e. 1st 2nd or 3rd 4th. And i may have just been stirring porridge and confused it. Can any body remind / inform me if the spitfire 1500 gearbox has a location spring on the gearbox and should it be first 2nd or 3rd 4th. After i thought about it and made deliberate concious gear selection it seemed to be ok. Next job is to remove the tunnel anyway to sort out the speedo cable any way. So can have a butchers whilst there.

Hi. Just a few pics of Goodwood Breakfast Club meeting this morning. Best free Ticket around. Had to apply to display cars. My Spitfire and my son in Laws Caterham were both accepted. Supercars to Mokes. There are 3 more Goodwood Breakfast meetings. Viewing tickets are free but must be applied for on their website and is very popular. Free to show car but have to apply and upload photo / descrition of car. Also the Tyrrell shed has recently been saved and erected at Goodwood. Or is Our Bath. And yes i do like the xk120,s.

Not me. Im just a bit larger in height and girth. Fortnately roof was off.

Yesterday crammed myself into the passenger seat of my son in laws Caterham , introducing him to my classic friendly MOT tester. Laff that was at 6'3 19st. Then trussed up with a racing harness. Not a pretty sight. Any way mot achieved. Fog light needed a wiggle but all good. Got a bit of an advisory on front swivel. Ball joint on top and swivel to press into bottom wishbone. They will be done next week or so. Our garage is superb. Any advisory he advises we do straight away. Today my brother popped over with some of my nephew gear. My brother is emigrating to Cyprus to wind away his retirement round a pool with a beer. His boy is staying with me before moving into digs next week. Any way hes been clearing out his garage. So i aquired some of my own tools back again. Also one of those bucket grit bladters. Halfords 20 50 oil, grit blasting gun. And a gunsons gas tester. Happy days. Back to decorating. My spit is on show at Goodwood this weekend for the Breafast meeting along side my son in laws Caterham. Will have to get polish out. To be continued.

Drive it day today. So with my son in law in his Caterham poottled off to The Pride and Joy show at Exbury in the New Forest. Few photos. On the way home could hear a rumbling / knocking / soft rhythmical noise from rear offside. Could be nothing but could be looking at rear hub , driveshaft, uj overhaul. Oh well....... Triumph the gift that gives on giving. To be continued.

Sorry but no info on the bonnet catches. It was a year 2000 restoration and i purchased beginning of last year.

Been a bit quiet on Triumph front lately both with my Herald restoration and my 1500 Spitfire. Life, falling of platform in garden whilst headge cutting. Holiday. Man flu and doing the house up for listing has cramped my style. But in spring a mans thougts turn to ............ cars...... Last trip out my Spitfire popped its bonnet catches and no matter what i do to adust one of them still does. So time to fit bonnet catch locks. Canleys instructions followed. Love the bit 'shape the hole as dimensioned' . First off masking tape and mark up. First hole i drilled was a 3mm pilot folloed by 16mm drill. Problem was the drill was too course dragged itself into the hole and bent the edges of the hole a tad. Not to bad and rectifyable and resolved to use a stepped drill on other side. Eventually shaped the hole with a file and painted ecposed edges couple of times whilst drilled the other side. Applied plenty of grease as well and placed lock in place and tightened the backing nut. The other side hole with the stepped drill went a lot better. Finally finished off and look.and work fine. Also fitted a new battery. This was a story as ordered a Lucas classic for aesthetics. But the supplier just sent a standard branded one. I know that the basic battery is the same but wanted a lucas label. Took 7 emails to get the supplier to collect and refund. Anyway eventually got my ' Prince of darkness' labelled battery. To be continued.

Stanpart Trunnions on Stirling Moss's Coventry Climax. As photo'd at last years Goodwood revival.

Im liable to kill myself or create a defibrillator machine, but as they say theres no silly question although i may be stretching that point. Is it possible to connect these spot welder pliers to a arc welder and create a mini spotwelder. ? They say they will handle power for 2 layers of 1mm. Think they are meant for spot welding on batteries or similar. Thats my April fool question of the day..... I will now put on my hat and coat and leave the building.

I try where possible to use some of the major suppliers. With glossy websites and in the case of Rimmers catalogues as well. Some of these actually do invest a lot in our their stock levels for Triumphs and many other classic makes. And we are spoilt sometimes. If we were looking for bits for say an older Alfa etc we could be up the perverbial creek. But I do counter check prices. No point spending a tenner if a fiver will do perfectly well. Quality is a different issue. Some rubber coolant hoses i had from a major supplier were unreinforced and a new one split as i drove into the carpark for Goodwood Revial. So wont use them again for hoses. But live and learn. Regarding delivery Paddocks have never let me down. Always next working day even when not paid for it and that includes doorskins and wings. Just might give their top rad hoses a miss.

Just back from Breakfast meeting at Beaulieu. Run by vintage tyres. My spitfire behaved it self for first trip of the year. Had to remove ice from its outdoor cover first thing. Also dropped the top. Being very careful as last time dropped my Tr7 top when frozen i cracked the rear screen. Speedo not working. Bonnet catch sprung again. Will re adjust andfit locks, and even though the battery was charged it refused to start. But as soon as i jumped it it sprang to life instantly. New one of those required for this year. Went in a convoy with Son in laws Caterham. Different vehicles there. Just waiting fot it to cool a bit before washing arches. My lane is a muddy quagmire then let it dry before cover back on.

Been a while on this one. Getting ready for new season. Well in my mind and buying parts. To fix my speedo tunnel coming out. So whilst out new tunnel going in. Delivered today new shiny bits. 'My precious' Basically after advice from those who have done befor. Have read some threads but could do with thoughts. At the front is a return lipping. Presumably for strength. But is deeper than new seal. Does this need to come off so that the seal can be compressed or is it a mastic job To fill the gap. Ditto underneath lip. Although this might return either side of floor upstand. Dodo matting underneath or on top. Underneath would seem the better place , does it adhere in the long term. Half thinking of belt and braces and using blank pop rivets and washers as well for additional support. Whilst doing it will as previously suggested try and add cover plates for speedo drive. Oil filler and clutch bleeding.? Any other holes required. Wont be happening for a few weeks but trying to get prepared so fitting time will be as short as possible.

This happened to myself. Not sure if it was K Seal, Blue ,Pink or any other colour of the rainbow. if im not sure it all comes out to be replaced by one type. Once bitten.........

Been a couple of weeks. Had builders in and also undertaken some decorating. More to do, but did grab a couple of days on the doors. First off , the skin support bar, raided my stock of fixings for spire clips and self tapping screws. The hessian on the support bar was a bit gone after 50 odd years so used a bit of carpet that i was working on. Started to tap and fold over all the edges but then hit a problem or so i thought. Rather indecision. As the skin rolls round towards the quarter light the skin was not against the frame and stood too high. I could press it down and in but then was unsure as to what the dimension between the frame and skin should be for the quarterlight frame and window glass to fit in. I could get between 15 and 20 mm and it was all a bit vague , measured my parts car at a tad under 20mm. Asked a question on the forum as was a bit perplexed , and Johny stated the logical to me of measure the quarter light and seal, and ensure a snug fit. Thanks Johny. Delved in to the garage roof to get the relavent and decided on 18mm. So with a frame cramp and packer was able to maintain this gap and tacked the skin into place. Carried on fitting the skin. Made some cuts on the corners to aid the folding down. Not tapped 100% over , just left tight at present as the bottom of the door has a slight curve at one end and may well need the old 4x2 timber against the jamb to straighten and allign as Triumph's assembly instructions befor a few weld tacks. Both doors now ready for trial fitting and seeing how the rest of the panels allign. Getting their slowly. To be continued.

Thank you, lateral thinking. Into the garage roof to get a quarter light frame. Ta.

Hi. On my other thread some will know im restoring my Herald 13/60. Now fitting the door skin. All ok so far gently tapping the flange over. Working my way round using the swage lines as the reference point and these line up. As i get to the top front curve round to the quarterlight the panel is not touching the frame. Not a problem as it can be moved towards the frame. This closes the gap for the window and seals from 20mm to 15mm. On my spare parts car its 20mm or just under. Just wondering i if there is a set dimension between the frame and the skin for the window to fit with the seals. ? Maybe i should not worry. ? Any body who has fitted skins able to advise. ? Thanks

From Mike Costigan,s excellent book.

First classic and it was a classic then was A Volvo 122s. Purchased from the local garage on the day it was closing down. Grand sum of £100 in 1985. Just finished Uni and was off to work for Wimpey as an engineer. Great car. Wish i had it now. Twin su's 1800. Superb. Never needed any choke. Only had to touch the ignition key and it started. Always got looks even then. But rust was in it and so had for 1 year only. This was followed a year later by a tr7. With weird headlight conversion. This was a very early 76 model. 4 speed and with black cloth seats. Not check. Cost just under grand if i remember correctly but broke down so much and and cost a bomb. I was advised by my employers to get something more reliable. Hint taken, and that was replaced by a 2 year Ford Capri 1.6LS. That did exactly what it said on the tin. Super reliable and tbh good to drive. ( I was actually looking at an Alfa Romeo Arna at the same time. Head won over heart. Probably in retrospect the right decision.)

The advert refers to a single over head cam. Is there something im missing?

They look very good and yes did admire them at Stonleigh. Have been thinking along the same lines. Within a couple of years will be down sizing and fully retiring. Some think i have already retired. But to enjoy my hobby with aching bones the ability to maintain my cars over a longer period of retirement, and to keep me out of the pub or from watching Countdown etc would be paramount to me. These seem ideal. Yes, not cheap but if it means you can enjoy your hobby for longer then go for it. As you did. I expect you will not be the last buying these.

Thank you for the Coffee at the spares day stand today. Appreciated. And the biscuit. Over 2 hours travel each way but very good day and although i did not personally pick up alot apart from cutting discs and a 1m steel rule was inspired to carry on with my restoration. So for those working behind the scenes , thank you.

Spray gun arrived yesterday , along with an inline water trap and a new hose. The gun was a £21 cheapy . Tried it out on the door frames and skins where i had previously been hand brushing the cellulose , only to be thwarted then at how quick it dried. So decided to change tac and spray. In my inexperienced hands thought it sprayed ok. Produced a sensible fan shape after a little ajustment at 45psi which was what the instructions said. Probably more luck than judgement. The gun is better than its operator obviously. The skins already had brush marks on them from the zinc phosphate primer and the previous coat, but just sprayed over. Next will be fitting the skins to the frames. But not before a visit to the spares day. To be continued.

Yep, the club shop online. Should have said that.

Frustrating slow progress at present. Getting things wrong and waiting for stuff. Then finding out every day is a learning day. The paint arrived from the shop and like the colour. Valencia Blue. Funny how tastes change . The car was originally white, was going to do red and then ended up buying blue. At this stage am only doing a coat brushed on inside the doors or so i thought. But will now spray. First time with cellulose. Had sprayed some synthetic coach paint on a 2a Landrover i restored but not to the standard a whole Herald will require this time. This is probably old hat to a lot of you and i was expecting the cellulose to dry very quickly as i brushed but not that quickly. Almost as i finished a couple of strokes. First off neat. And then with a 50/50 mix. All i am trying to do at this stage is make the door insides Blue. I am not worried about surface finish. Its just so that if you look down through the glass channel its blue. Anyway i persevered and achieved this. But certainly used too much paint and too thick. Play is now suspended as awaiting a cheap Sealey 1.4mm spray gun , in line water filter and more importantly a new air line and fittings. My current one is patched with gaffa tape and hisses more than a snake, and my gun is 1.8. Also found that where i was brushing on the epoxy mastic in places, i believe caused by the thinners, that the primer was softening and basically mixing with the blue. All basic mistakes i suspect. Oh well. Have to spend the day wall paper stripping, while Mr Amazons wends his merry way. To be continued.

Thank you. Just bumbling along really. Somethings i know nothing about but read up watch youtube and give it a go.