John Bonnett

No I haven't Clive. Stephen very kindly sent me the photos when I was considering putting a two and a half in the Lightweight. I think he posted under another name. I'll have a hunt.

Not a MK3 Spitfire but hopefully these photos will show what needs to be done. (credit Stephen Attenborough) John

If you are determined to insure the Herald, the general opinion is to avoid all Firms who specialise in insuring classics. Go to mainstream companies who will give you the best deal. Insuring young drivers is completely beyond my comprehension. Our 17 year old grandson has just insured an 06 plated 140bhp Audi A4 S-Line Estate for less than he was offered on a 2000 1.4 Astra. How does that work?

One thing I'm sure of, is that the Government will bear in mind the multi billion pound classic vehicle industry that brings revenue into their coffers and I doubt there'll want to risk jeopardising any of that income by effectively killing off large parts of it by introducing more legislation. In addition, there's a huge number of classic car owners and I question whether they have resources to mail everyone with a questionnaire and send outsourced inspectors to look at each vehicle that has been in any way modified from standard. The 8 point rule has been in force since the '90s and when the dust has settled I have a feeling that not much will have changed and that that rule will still be the yardstick by which they judge what goes where. But let's wait and see.

I think I have a spring lifter somewhere and also a hub puller. These won't be needed now so if I can find them both are for sale.

Well, my suggestion Neil is next time you come down our way we take your car into Berrybrook Morgan in Exeter and they do the job while you wait. I found them very obliging when they balanced up my my wire wheels (before I changed to alloys)

Neil, have you thought of getting your local Morgan dealer to balance them up for you? They do wire wheels all the time on their cars and should have no problem with yours. regards John.

My recommendation would be to go direct to Owen Springs in Rotherham. They make them and you cannot do better than a Sheffield spring. In addition to the standard springs they will at no extra charge uprate to your specification. Nice people to deal with too.

Same as Dave, I've got a 1500 engine free to anyone who can collect it. A few GT6 bits as well.

Nice to hear from you Aaron, The GOC forum is closed to members but I am also writing up the G15 rebuild on Club Torque, the Club Triumph forum. It's in the Specials section. Anyone can read it. Seems odd to be Triumphless after quite a number of years but one thing is certain that I definitely will stay in touch with all the good friends I've made here. Best regards John

It certainly was a bit of a wrench Gully but I desperately need another major project. I don't have the resources to sustain two classics so the Lightweight had to make way for the next one. The G15 is an interesting exercise but being fibreglass it hasn't satisfied the need in me to make a body. It's early days yet and I haven't decided what the next move is going to be. In the meantime I can start assembling the suspension onto the G15 chassis for the final time which will be nice knowing I'm on the last lap.

I was delighted to hear from Steve (the new owner) that he and Tim had an enjoyable and uneventful drive home at a steady 70mph. The sound deadening exercise has clearly been a great success otherwise he would have he would have been totally deaf after sustaining that speed for over an hour. Great news and I'm so pleased the car is in such good hands.

I'm really looking forward to seeing you both tomorrow and I'm pleased to see that the forecast is for a very pleasant day. The car will be ready for you together with quite a few bits and pieces to go with it. I'm also looking forward to seeing your workshop and TRs when we come down to Heligan in the very near future. Safe journey. See you tomorrow. John

That brought tears to my eyes Adrian. Thank you so much and thank you too to everyone else for your interest and encouragement that I received during the highs and lows of the journey. Along the way, I have made some very good friends and been knocked over by the huge amount of help and advice so freely given by people far more knowledgeable than I.. There is a heading for non-Triumph cars on the forum so I'll write the next one up there. The G15 that I'm currently building is a pretty car and with BMW power should perform well. However, because there has been no metal shaping involved I've not found the project particularly satisfying and I intend to move it on as soon as it's finished. Very early stages yet but I'm thinking as my next project, building an aluminium bodied Sebring Sprite fixed head coupe. I'll pop a couple more photos on when the car leaves on Friday and we can shed a tear together

This week will mark the end of quite big chapter in my life with the departing of the GT6 Lightweight on Friday. It has been sold to two brothers who live in Cornwall; TR Register members who own a TR6 and a concours TR5. They run a classic car restoration business. Although it will be sad to see it go, I'm really happy that it's going to them. They appreciated the hours that had gone into the project but more than that they were blown away by the driving experience and that pleased me more than anything. For me, the project was hugely satisfying and the result surpassed my wildest dreams in every respect. There have been many high points with the car but perhaps the pinnacle was equalling the time of a 170bhp MK1 Lotus Cortina on the Coup Florio speed hill climb in Brittany in 2015. The next project will have to go some to surpass this one!

On a similar subject, I don't want to drill the bodywork for an aerial so I wondered if anyone has had good results with an interior aerial with an amplifier?

I was faced with the same problem. I jacked up the rear of the gearbox.The big problem is that you cannot see the lower fixing screw of the solenoid. The saving grace is that the screws are cheese head. Using a special tool I made I was able to locate the lower screw and remove it. The special tool was a sleeve that would accept the outside diameter of the screw with a slot head screwdriver inside. It was a bit of a fiddle but once the cheese head screw had been located and inserted into the tube removing it was easy. I hope that helps and that you manage the job okay. John

I really love your photos Roger. Another great trip.

Don't frighten him off Clive

We spend a lot of time in France and it is a lovely place to drive a classic car and soak up the wonderful hospitality that the French do so well. Park your car in any village or small town square and there is always a lot of interest and questions about the car(s). Dare I say it; considerably more interest than here in the UK. We have spent many holidays on our own but last year and again this year we organised small tours of Normandy and Brittany for three cars on one occasion and four on another. This worked very well and there is always a certain amount of comfort knowing that you are not alone in the event of a breakdown. The Triumph Club de France is well represented (I know two members in Brittany) and before you go you could make contact with the Club to find out if they could be of any help if you need assistance. As Clive said, most things are fixable on our cars providing you have the parts. Somebody said (I think it was Roger Guzzi) even if you cannot fit the part yourself, take it with you. I made a list of critical parts which if any one failed would be game over and I make sure I have them with me. I hope you sort out your insurance and have a great holiday. John

Peter James, with whom I am insured, within their cover offer European breakdown and recovery as standard in their Triumph classic policy. However, there is a limit of three thousand pounds. available for the payout. This can be used as you wish following a telephone call to the insurers, to pay for car hire, accommodation, travel home ,repatriation of the vehicle to a maximum of 3k. You can discuss with the insurers how you would like that money to be spent. In one case a year or so ago a Spitfire lost a wheel when on an event in Europe. Specialist equipment was needed to recover the car to a garage which swallowed a large chunk of the 3k meaning that repatriation was not possible. . However the owner got the insurers to agree to cover his costs in taking a trailer over and collecting the car himself. So, in conclusion, there is comfort in knowing that you car can be repatriated but worth bearing in mind the limitations.

Interestingly but disappointingly, none of the last lot of insulation has made any difference to the noise levels. The noisiest part of the car is near the roof which is not good news bearing in mind the amount of work needed to address the situation. It does have a layer of Dynamat but nothing else. Next highest are the footwells despite having a lot of attention and material applied. Overall, there has been a significant improvement in noise reduction but I am a bit disappointed that there hasn't been a bigger improvement. Not a huge cost; less than £150 for the materials but a lot of physical effort to apply them. I was hoping for a better return for my labours. In conclusion, throw everything at the roof, bulkhead, scuttle and gearbox cover and not worry too much about the rest of the car. I hope this write up and my experiences will be of interest to anyone contemplating doing the same job.

Definitely a win win Dave; heat and noise reduction in one hit. I'm on the last bit of the job now fitting the PeaceMat XL to the floor. I used a simple punch to make the holes for the seat mountings which works just as well on carpet. The punch is just a piece of tube sharpened on one end. Hit it with a mallet with a piece of wood underneath and it made a clean cut.