That was a year that was..

[Bfg]

Travel-log - 12th february :

I hope all those selling and equally those shopping at Stoneleigh had a great day of it.  I didn't go but instead went across to Sutton Hoo, which for those who don't know is the burial ground of an Anglo-Saxon king, along with his long ship and precious artifacts which he would undoubtedly need in the afterlife.

^ The weather was dry and still aired, but dull and with 10/10th cloud cover all day. Katie's  steering seemed to be tracking much better around Suffolk's B-roads subsequent to the shimmed suspension adjustments I made to her front left corner.

Sutton Hoo is strange for a museum insomuch as the exhibits are mostly reproductions of those now in the hands of the British museum.  Many years ago I visited the Viking Ship museum in Oslo, which houses (I think 3 ?) magnificent longboats (..well the original timbers and most of the frames supported into their correct shape) which you can walk around to admire their incredible lines and stature.  I've also visited the museum on the shore of Galilee, which houses the timber remains of a first century A.D. fishing boat (..colloquially known as the Jesus boat), so coming here - I guess I'd hoped to see something of the original ship &/or the archeological diggings, perhaps showing its imprint in the soil.  Alas not . . .

   

The notice explains and illustrates the position of the burial mounds, which actually doesn't make much sense as the large one illustrated on the plan (partly over the track to the right) is "the Great ship Burial - the King's mound burial chamber is inside the ship" but then the large mound (2) at the bottom of the site plan is "Ship Burial - burial chamber underneath the ship. Robbed about 1600 and 1860. Excavated in 1938 and 1988. Reconstructed to original size" (my photo right).  Seven of the 18 mounds are "Un-excavated, Probably robbed", another was "thought to be a burial mound, but this is now in doubt"

Each have been robbed, probably robbed, or unsuccessfully robbed.  And most are little more than undulations in the coarse grass, where . . .

^ odd looking sheep graze freely over the burial grounds. 

^ There's a pretty impressive sculpture in the car-park depicting (at many times the scale) the buried king's helmet.  And also a tubular-steel full-sized depiction of a long-ship's frames. Unfortunately they are broadly spaced and so don't really give a clear impression of the ship's lines or its stature. There was no model of the ship in the museum, nor a model of the burial site Disappointingly then, this museum is not even a dim shadow of those in Norway and Israel.  For the National-Trust's gate price I had expected more.

Still, even on a dull February day - it is a very pleasant park to walk around. . .

   

   

 

^ easy to walk paths in pleasant countryside. I liked their stylish idea of a garden seat, and the views over the Deben to Woodbridge.

I took the long way around to get there, and with so very little traffic it was a pleasant open-aired drive.  An hour or so's walk was a little Sunday afternoon exercise and I bought what I hope will be an interesting book 'the Red Prince - John of Gaunt' by Helen Carr, in the museum's second-hand book store.  

All in all a pleasant afternoon to drive out and have a walk around. 

Bidding you a good evening,

Pete.

 

   

[Bfg]

13th february :

  

On 2/13/2023 at 7:57 AM, Mk2 Chopper said:

I was planning to go and see this place. There was a recent film about the 1938/9 excavation, which it revealed the ship was just an impression left in the soil, still amazing to see, but covered up again into the mound and of course the artifacts that are housed at the British museum. 

So I didn't know what I would actually get to see, so I'm glad you got round to going here. I may well go elsewhere now.

Gareth

It saddens me to give a poor review of places I've been to (..or services I use) but this is one of those cases where the entry cost ..presently £15 / adult, unless you're a member of the National Trust..  is not (imo) balanced with good value.  There are plenty of lovely places to walk around Suffolk that don't cost anything (..sometime perhaps a modest parking fee). 

However, to be fair - I have to confess that I went into the site's museum building, into the shop and cafe, into the building which housed the used book store, and I walked around the park for over an hour, but I didn't know to go into Tranmer House, former home of Edith Pretty, built in 1910.  I'm not particularly interest in country houses and didn't know who Edith Pretty was (Wiki says she was Yorkshire born, landowner, benefactor, magistrate). 

Apparently she owned the land ..the Sutton Hoo ship burial was discovered on, and hired Basil Brown (a local excavator and amateur archeologist) to find out what, if anything, lay beneath the mounds on her property.  I've subsequently read that her former home 'displays exploring the archaeological work that has taken place at Sutton Hoo'.  How interesting that display is I cannot say

Current Archeology did a review in 2019 < here > of the site and their visit to Sutton Hoo.  I didn't see any photograph or detailed model of the ship or the burial in the museum but perhaps there were some in Tanmer house.  The heritage of this site was corrupted by pillagers and then dug by "local excavator and amateur archeologist "  The article I linked to further says the "gardener who (together with the gamekeeper, William Spooner) had been enlisted to help with the digging". 

And then "With the outbreak of the Second World War, digging had to cease. The ship burial was covered with a protective layer of bracken, and its grave goods were spirited away to London where they waited out the war deep in the (now-defunct) Aldwych tube station. Even so, this did not prevent the site from being damaged by military action – by our own forces. Throughout the war, Sutton Hoo was used as a military training ground, with the mounds brought into service to practice tank manoeuvres : to this day, the site still bears the scars of their tracks, and of anti-glider trenches. Excavations would not return to Sutton Hoo until 1965." 

As I read it ; the tanks used the mounds and the archeologist's trench and ship remains, covered with bracken, to practice tank maneuvers.

I'm left with the impression that Sutton Hoo was a travesty of greed (repeated grave robbers) and then egocentric archeologists (amateurish and still never completed), and that the military were total plonkers (there are thousands of others sites that might otherwise have been used for training).  What really is the point of a country fighting a world war when we don't try to preserve the history and the culture of its people ? 

Now Sutton Hoo is a just a park, albeit with a poignant recent history.  

but it could have been so much more . . . .

  

^ Sutton Hoo before it was trampled over by British tanks and later filled in again - versus - The Viking Ship Museum, Oslo.

- - -

 

If and when you do come up this way Gareth, do drop me a line.. The kettle's on.  

and < here's >  a link to a local town's website listing local attractions.

Pete

[Bfg]

2nd March :

Carrying on with my adjustments of the front-left suspension's castor and camber, c. 9th February, the measured results were not quite as much as my sketched geometry had implied they would be.  I suspect that when making the drawing - I must have pick & mixed TR4 versus TR4A wishbone and chassis mount dimensions from the workshop manual.  In short I got it wrong and had to re-do the work again ..in my own time and without pay . . .

 

^ the LHS of this drawing shows my revised sketch (for TR4A and later models) versus the previous sketch (RHS of this drawing) which is much closer in configuration to the TR4.  I hadn't realised the front suspension changed so much between models, but perhaps a clue was in their spec'ing a 2-deg positive camber angle (static laden) for the TR4, versus the TR4A being 0-degrees camber. 

The most notable differences between the above drawings is where the bottom outer-fulcrum pin attaches to the upright (steering trunnion) and the relative position of the ball joint of the top wishbones (which I'd roughly guessed at before but later found clearer information to work from).  With the suspension's  unequal wishbone lengths and different chassis mounts - the swing in geometry is mostly seen the angle of the lower wishbones, and of course that different geometry alters the results of adjustments made.

Bottom line, is that (according to the earlier geometry sketch) - fitting x3 (5mm) of shim (..behind just the front) lower fulcrum bracket should have altered the camber by -1.29° / 2 = -0.645°  but (when measured) it adjusted by just 0.43°.   The camber was (without the shims) +0.94° and with those shims it measured at +0.51°. 

As it was Katie's  LHS wheel leaned out and the RHS wheel camber leaned in, albeit each (now) by just a tad.  The RHS measured as -0.22° which is fine. The W.S.Manual specifies  0° +/- 0.5°  so the result was very close to tolerance, but I'd prefer both wheels to each have a slightly negative camber of -0.5° to -1°.   This preference is founded on what Stuart and Marco have said, and again what seems right to me ..insomuch as I'd prefer to lessen wheel tuck-under in cornering. 

The car's overall stance is not helped by the rear wheel's cambers.. which on this car measured at -0.15° on the rear LHS and -1.31° on the RHS.  so again the LHS wheel is very close to vertical whereas the RHS rear wheel leans in.

For the IRS TR4A, for the rear wheels camber ; the book specifies  -1 +/- 0.5°.   So again Katie's  rear RHS is correct and the LHS would benefit from another degree of negative camber.  As set up (both front and rear wheel cambers) the car ought to handle slightly better around left rather than right handed corners    ..not that I, or any other average driver, might actually notice the difference.  But, perhaps like with the brakes ~ being slightly out of adjustment is barely noticeable in normal use ..but in an emergency situation, that little bit of fine adjustment may make all the difference.  Aside from that ..as I'm a retired engineer I'm 'having fun' with my hobby.

So.., and from what (I thought) I'd read from Marco, reversing the top fulcrum pin would take that inwards by 2.5mm. . . 

  

^ removing the upper wishbones was done without taking the spring and damper off.  As the lower wishbone is sprung against the chassis, the top wishbones only provide the location for the top of the upright.. ie., the upright and steering trunnion., so with the chassis on blocks, the trolley jack was used to support the hub and raise the wishbone arms to level.   The two top arms have a different offset ..which facilitates the steering's castor angle, and so when the upper fulcrum pin is reversed (to alter their offset relative to the mounting bolt holes) the arms also have to be swapped around.      

^^ I had issues with the screw threads of the upper fulcrum pin into the chassis when I had the suspension off before. I cleaned out the threads with a tap, and it did go back together again - but was not happy when the thread in one of the rear fastenings bound up tight.  While the top wishbone was off again, I chose to correct that previously crossed and now part stripped thread by tapping the hole out for the next size of bolt.  In this case I succumbed to using an M8 .  That is the very next size up and was used because it avoids needing to enlarge the hole through the fulcrum pin's casting.  I've deliberately used an Allen headed set screw in that hole to differentiate it, and I've marked the chassis next to it with 'M8' so it's obviously different to whomever next takes this suspension apart. 

Job done.  However according to my revised sketch and the 2.5mm change in offset of those pins - this should have altered that front-left camber from +0.94° to -0.03°.   Whereas doing so resulted in the camber to change to -1.31° ..way too much !   Either the top fulcrum pin's offset was different to what I'd understood from Marco (who perhaps meant 2.5mm from a centre between the bolt holes),   &/or my drawing's geometry,  &/or my measurements were in error.  Things were now becoming a little more frustrating.  

Back to the drawing board . . .

  

^ from the W.S.manual, the axis of the upright (vertical link) ie. between the bottom steering trunnion and the top ball joint, is notated to be 9° from the vertical.  You'll note that the top wishbones are shown horizontal. In engineering draughting, unless otherwise stated, it is usual practice to draw such assemblies in their designed working / static load condition.. and this situation is confirmed to be the case by the hub's axis also being shown horizontal ..which in turn corresponds to the wheel camber's specification of 0 +/- 0.5°.

But that drawing's horizontal top wishbone does not match what i see on the car, so revising my ACAD drawing again - I've tried to 'reverse engineer' the overall geometry to reflect the 0.94° positive camber measured at this wheel.  As the angle between the wheel (the hub spindle) and the upright us fixed - I started by swinging the wheel and its hub to the measured wheel camber. This swung the upright's axis to 8.06° from the vertical. 

And then the only way the rest of the given dimensions (ie., the wishbone lengths and the positions of the mounts on the chassis) link together was to drop the wheel (which is the same as raising the suspension's ride height).  The drawing reveals the ride height is much higher than designed, and as a consequence the top wishbone swings down from the horizontal to about 11° , and the bottom wishbone swings down by 7.4° (..because of their different length).   Naturally this ride height is seen when looking at the car, and yes.. the car has been high since the chassis change and although it's now a little lower than it was, there's (vertically) still 3-1/2" (88mm) between the top of the tyre and the underside of the lip of the wheel-arch. 

The difference in geometry between my first and last drawing permutations is obvious, and of course any changes made by shimming, &/or reversing the upper fulcrum pin, would show different results from each.  I've now taken one of the three shims out from under the bottom wishbone's inner fulcrum bracket. Now there's x2 under that polybush bracket, and non under the rear wishbone bracket ..which instead has a repair / reinforcing plate on it. 

I've not rechecked the car yet with the 150lb (68kg) load in each seat, but I have roughly reset the toe-in and then driven the car another 100 miles or so ..to settle things, and today checked this front wheel's camber (unloaded).  It presently reads -0.44°  ..which I am happy with.

NOTE : Unequal wishbone lengths - when cornering and when the suspension is compressed ...

With Katie's  suspension sitting too high at the front ; the upper wishbones are not horizontal, so when the suspension is compressed the upper ball joint swings through an arc outwards by 5.24mm, until it is horizontal with the inner fulcrum pins. The bottom wishbones raised by the same distance as the suspension is compressed, and the outer fulcrum pins swing through their arc outwards by 9.94mm. In terms of effecting camber ; the sum of these changes are (9.94 - 5.24mm 😃 4.5mm ..This would similar to 3 more shims under the bottom wishbone brackets) to alter the camber angle towards negative.

However, if the ride height were correct (ie. lower ) ..so that the upper wishbone started off horizontal (as shown in the W.S.manual) then the upper ball joint would swing inwards by 2.97mm, for the same amount of vertical travel cited above.  The bottom wishbone's outer fulcrum pin (still not horizontal with the inner polybushes) would swing outwards by  4.38mm.. The sum of change is (2.97mm + 4.38 😃 7.35mm to alter the camber angle towards negative even more. This when cornering hard would angle the wheel and tyre out at the bottom

It'll do for the time being ..but I really ought to try again to lower Katie's  front suspension ride height.   That said, checking the effect of lowering the front of the car by 20mm, and it seems that it would be much the same as if I fitted just one extra shim behind the bottom wishbone brackets.  so it's really not worth the effort.

- - -

As is said above "The car's overall stance is not helped by the rear wheel's cambers.. which on this car measured at -0.15° on the rear LHS and -1.31° on the RHS.  so again the LHS wheel is very close to vertical whereas the RHS rear wheel leans in. "

This wheel also had a slight toe-out, by 0.29°. The resolution of each was to swap out the outer bracket and remove one of the two shims between it and the chassis . . .  

 

^ This bracket was also swapped out without removing the spring. With the hub supported on the trolley jack and the front of the trailing arm resting on blocks, the bolt pulled out smoothly to the inside, and with that out, and the arm pulled back a bit to get the spanner onto the top through-chassis bolts, those were undone and the bracket could then swing downwards and be pulled off the polybush. NB. The inside bracket's chassis-through-bolts were loosened just a little to give a little free movement of the arm, so that the bracket could more easily be pulled out and be replaced. 

^ Referencing the chart I'd used before - I swapped this outer bracket from 2D (two notches facing down) to 1U (one notch up). This raised that outer polybush by 1/8" ..to tilt the trailing arm and the hub, and therefore the wheel inwards at top.  According to the chart (bottom LH corner) this ought to alter the wheel camber from -1.02° to -1.63°   ..or 0.61°.  And as it was -0.15° then that should result in the wheel camber now being -0.76° ..which is within the specified tolerance of -1 +/-0.5°.   Again I have not yet checked this with the car loaded, but am confident that it's now better than it was.

Removing the shim corrected this wheel's toe-out tracking. 

Job done.  

The front of the car is still sitting an inch higher than I would like.. but I think the body is high at the front on the chassis by half an inch, as the chassis has just 1/2" greater ground-clearance than it should have.  The softer (standard) front springs can be noticed though..  as being better balanced with the standard rear springs.  

I felt beforehand that the car's rear quarter would squat down around corners whereas the front did not, and that felt uneasy / a little unpredictable.  Now the front and rear spring rates feel much better matched with less load on the steering and the tail end feeling less squidgy.  Quite probably the car rolls a tad more but that's much better than the tail end going down and feeling as its rolling under.  I'll need to wait until my sprained wrist has healed before I push my luck around corners and find myself drifting, but Katie  already feels safer.  For me, the effort has been worth it.  These are just my impressions of course and a better driver or another person following might see how things might still be improved.

Pete 

 

[Bfg]

3rd March :

Another task which I've been wanting to do for some time..  was to swap out Katie's  carburettors.  I'd bought a set complete with linkages and manifold way back when, and had them refurbished by Glen Watson, down in Chelmsford, ready for the engine I was rebuilding ..in anticipation of buying the American project TR4A 'Chance'  from Arkansas.   Glen's invoice is from 22nd March 2020, so they've been sitting boxed-up and in storage for almost two years now.  Mid February seemed a good as any time to get my butt out into the cold and to get on with the task. . .

  

^ as they were.  Note if you will - the choke arrangement, which was similar to when I bought the car but for my changing the cable run from over to under the carbs. I did that simply because I don't like cables and pipes flaying around the engine bay, but otherwise it worked well enough despite a knackered cable. 

^ the old n' tired versus the newly restored.   I'll let you guess which is which. 

I honestly don't know how Glen does such a brilliant job ..his restored carbs look like new.  

You might note that the rear carb of each is where the fuel pipe to the float bowl is fitted.  That's something I prefer as again it tidies and better secures the fuel pipe from the pump situated on the rear LH side of the engine. Originally it was around the front of the engine uncomfortably close to the fan belt, and then dangling across space to the front carb.   Glen also obligingly removed the triangular blocks that are cast into the top of the inlet manifold's balance tube.  I couldn't find a reason for them to be there and so chose to go for the smoother look.  At some point I'll probably polish the top of that pipe just for the sake of  * bling *

  

^ I removed the nuts of the lower clamping studs as I removed the old manifolds, but then very loosely refitted them before offering the new carbs up. As you might gather from the second photo, having a start on those threads is much easier than trying to get my fat fingers in between those manifolds.   I also removed the studs protruding from the underside of the inlet manifold, which go into the exhaust manifold, so that the inlet could be pushed onto the studs from the cylinder head.  The bottom studs weren't fitted to the old carbs and they seemed to have managed well enough without, so I guess I'll leave them off this set. 

This car's unusual choke mechanism was the biggest nuisance in fitting these . . .

  

^ Below the cable's brass ferrule, through the flange next to the dash-pot, is the choke cable's lever.  Shown in the above photos in its 'off ' and then 'choke on' positions - the cable out is fixed but the bottom cable connector swivels in the hole in that lever.  As the lever on the one carb is pulled up, the cross rod is then turned and the choke lever on the other carb is activated. There's a bit of play between each and so that needs to be adjusted out if you want both chokes to open at the same time and by the same amount. 

^ the old carb's choke cable was from the plate between the carb's dash-pot flanges (blue arrow) and the choke's cross-rod. The latter has a plate welded on for the purpose (red arrow). Unfortunately the refurbished carbs did not have this plate and so I tried to make one which clamped on. . .

     

^ sophisticated and well equipped machine shop - not !  I drilled and roughed out the clamp-on bracket, together with a swiveling ferrule for the cable's outer.

^ shaped and fitted onto the replacement carburettor's cross rod.    The design theory was fine but.. using sheet aluminium for the bracket didn't work. I couldn't get sufficient clamping onto the round rod, even when I fitted it with two screws. The aluminium edge buckled.  But what a great opportunity to do it again !  

  

^ this time using a piece of steel (up-cycled of course) and using the aluminium prototype as a template. 

^ OK., this bracket works well. And with just one screw it clamps onto the cross rod securely. The outer cable's pivoting ferrule can just be seen. It's fitted with a metal cross tube for its hinge (rather relying on the set screw) and the cable inner is into its usual bowden-cable clamp, which also pivots in its own bracket.  

It's reasonably neat ..without cables flaying around over the carbs, and it works ..but not so well because of the old cable. . .

^ the old bowden cable is passed its best-used-by date, and the replacement inner cable (with the solid wire) that I bought at Ambergate, is way too short. 

The old cable works until I get or make a replacement.  How MUCH for a new choke cable ! ??

^ Task done (but for replacing the 41" cable inner).  The fuel feed is again around the back of the engine.   

When I started the car with these carbs the engine coughed and spluttered, seemingly struggling to cope on two cylinders. The engine breather tube was into the manifold, and when I blocked that off ..taking the breather pipe into a pot next to the radiator's expansion bottle, the carbs worked.  I had issues with debris in the fuel pipe ..seemingly bits of rubber - so I'll soon need to check and replace the flexi fuel pipes from the tank. In the meantime I've cleaned out the pump's glass bowl and the pipes to the carbs, and have added an in-line fuel filter.  That seems to have sorted the issue out ..for the time being. 

The breather pipe has been to the atmosphere since I got the car, and only clear water is in the pot.  The big black pipe is ugly though, so I'll review it sometime.

The carb's throttle operating rod from the throttle pedal goes to a quadrant plate (on brackets under the carbs) which turns the throttle's rod motion through 90-degrees, from forward n' backwards to up n' down.  That quadrant plate was not as tight as I like and so twisted a little - so I've fitted a wavy-spring-washer (of shim thickness) behind it.  I've greased the connectors with lithium and so they all works nice and smoothly now.  

The carb's linkages were not accurately synchronised, so I've adjusted those to pick up on both carbs evenly.  Subsequently I've driven the car to our TR group's monthly meeting and again to their breakfast meeting.. and my first impression was GREAT -  I've gained another 20bhp !        The engine's response, which was hesitant to pick up and overall 'saloon-car mellow' is now instant and the engine's power has noticeably more gusto throughout the rev range (..up to motorway-plus speeds).  The car's annoying vibration at 65mph has halved - and that's now tolerable, even though it seems to have moved up to about 68mph.

When I turned up at the breakfast meeting, my friend Rich noted that the car's exhaust smelt like a TR6,  ie., she is running rich, and that seems to be the case.  I've subsequently wound each SU's underside nuts up by two flats (to lessen fuel richness).  I'll now run the car like that before settling down to more accurately tuning them.

In short, another job (mostly) done and the results are pleasing. The car now feels more sporting.  In short - it's the best money ..in terms of noticeable effect, I've yet spent on the car.

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

Travel Log - 4th March ;

Last Saturday the East Saxons group of the TR Register had a get together breakfast at Poplar Nursery ~ Marks Tey, nr Colchester. Thanks to a few like Rich and Ron always making newcomers feel welcome, the groups successfully attracts a good turnout. Thirty or more members and guests is not unusual. . . 

 

^ Although a cool and later damp day (25th February) we had eight Triumphs and a number of other interesting cars in the car-park.  Mat & I took the opportunity to look at his 4A's surrey-top back-light, with regard to its distance from the windscreen header rail. Lucky so n' so has an aluminium one but the holes have been elongated forward, so we tried half of my own roof on his car to compare dimensions.  I'd taken a mould off an original steel lid and mouldings off the windscreen header rail and back-light.  The fit of Katie's  lid suggests his back-light was some 10 -12mm further back than mine. In the middle the lid's overhang is quite generous, but the distance from the top corner of the windscreen back to the top corner of the back-light was clearly greater. 

Katie's  back-light is also fibreglass (an after-market one) but its glass is original - so I'm guessing its grp top-rail isn't that far out. I also have mine pushed back with the rigid T-bar middle section.  Mat's car's door gaps are just a little more than mine but look good (Katie's are just a little tight) and the positioning of his car's windscreen also seems to be good, with the angles matching the door glasses on both sides.  It's still a mystery why his surrey-top dimensions are different, and so why a prior owner felt it necessary to elongate the surrey-top frame holes in the backlight forward.

Of course just as we were deliberating the peculiarities of Triumphs ..and how the cars may have been restored over the past 55 years, the very fine drizzle became heavier. . .

  

^ I borrowed my car's half-roof back ..and Matt reverted to his alternative. 

It was a good breakfast meeting and the weather soon dried up again as cars headed for home, or wherever.   As for myself and Katie  ..with her new carburettors and more fun performance - we took the opportunity to go for a good drive . . .

 

^ heading north and then west from Little Tey are some of the best Suffolk country drives, I was heading to Clare but first stopped off at the East Anglian Railway Museum < www.EARM.co.uk > to pick up a schedule of their 2023 events.  in brief I'd like to visit when they have a steam day. Aside from their static museum they also have Diesel days, but tbh that just doesn't float my boat.   I then passed, and again stopped at the Colne Valley Railway for their schedule.  Next up I was driving through Earls Colne and noticed an unusual church tower . . .  

^ St Andrews, Earls Colne.  Unfortunately the doors were closed so i could see inside, but still around and about it was quite extra-ordinary in detail as well as stature. . .

  

^ one of the first things I noticed as I got out of the car were cast iron gravestones...  "In 1824 Robert Hunt, a millwright from Soham in Cambridgeshire, settled in Earls Colne and set up a millwrighting and wheelwrighting shop and smithy at what was to become the Atlas Works."    ..Even I had heard of the Atlas works

"The business soon gained a local reputation for making general agricultural equipment and after exhibiting products at the Royal Agricultural Show in 1851 the company's products gained a country-wide recognition."   "..by 1900 employing approximately half of the male working population of the village"  "When Sir R. H. Hunt, the founder's grandson, died in 1970, the firm was still the village's chief employer with some 300 employees and works covering 10 acres"

It's a great tribute to that family that they remembered the people who worked to build their company's fortunes and excellent reputation  ..unlike my own (all too frequent) experience of being made redundant and getting nothing or at best the minimum in pay. 

Perhaps because there is a strong small town / family heritage here (..I spoke with an old gent who kindly shared that his family was one of the oldest names in the village)  the church is so well preserved . . .

        

   

^ It's so unusual to see intact carvings that have not been defaced  ..and those shown are mostly within hand reach.  Of course a huge amount of church and religious image destruction happened during the years of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, priories, convents and friaries ..in the c.16th - but vandalism and acid-rain erosion has long since also taken its toll. 

Among two and three hundred year old stone gravestone was a wooden cross  ..I think cut from a plank 2" thick oak.  Its engraving, or perhaps hand painted inscription, has long gone - but I do wonder how old it is, and who was worthy of such a unique remembrance ..perhaps the village carpenter ?

 

^ The detail on the gate post carving is still exquisite (click on the image to enlarge it) and you can clearly see the carving of the acorn kernels.

By the bottom gate, opposite a primary school, is a recent memorial, a sapling has been planted with snowdrops and spring bulbs around it as a kindly thought to those in village who have affected by covid.  I cannot remember the wording exactly, but the impression I'm left with was.. compassion for the volunteers, key workers, the businesses, and the families and friends of those in the village who suffered and/or died.

^^    And this wall plaque, inbetween the church's two main door is also rather special, not because it dates from almost 200 years ago.. but because it's not so much a remembrance stone as an affection, expressed by neighbours.  It is not for a lord, an aristocrat, war veterans, nor even a member of the clergy but for a man who was a servant & gamekeeper. Wow !   I'll be soon dead and gone and my family will not even notice I've gone, let alone express such an epitaph. 

This church is humbling, not at all because of the grandiose tower which first attracted my attention, but in the details that the community has valued enough to preserve.

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

moving on (also posted on 4th March) ..

My intent was to revisit Clare, a historic market town on the north bank of the River Stour in Suffolk, that I'd come across and briefly stopped at on the way back from a very hot n' dried grass Saffron Walden 'Car Show on the Common' on Sunday 14th July 2022  (blogged on August 23 '22). 

 

I had only visited the church of St Peter & St Paul when I was here last July, but had otherwise noted the abundance of listed buildings, and I'd also been recommended to visit the priory sometime. And so (last Saturday afternoon) that's what I hoped to do.  Rather than just quaint old buildings - Clare was more interesting that I'd imagined. . .

  

it seems to be a town on the way to n' from nowhere, but its history (which interests me) goes back to the old stone age (paleolithic era) with flints and stone axe heads of the neolithic period also found within Clare Priory's grounds.  Apparently, and supported by archeological finds, it was occupied and fortified by the Romans. The Domesday Book records it as 'always a market (town) of 43 burgesses' (free-man possibly aristocrats). This is from a period when many if not most Suffolk towns & villages had no free men.  It records that the lands around Clare belonged to a Saxon Thane. William the Conqueror re-granted the land to one of his closest supporters Richard fitz Gilbert, who in turn made Clare Castle the capult of his feudal barony (ie. his administrative centre). Clare castle, I didn't even know about but it is first recorded in 1090. . .

  

There's not much left of the castle ..but the motte and curtain wall embankments are still very impressive. To the left of the first photo is the River Stour, diverted to drive mills, and to the right (inside this section of curtain wall) is a moat.  This castle and this town's defenses were taken serious ..Just imagine trying to cross rivers and marsh beds, and then scaling up those slopes in full armour under a heavy and continuous downpour of long-bow armour-piercing broad-head arrows.

 

The influential links and support of religious fraternities began before the Norman conquest, and the titled Earls thereafter related to this town and its surround rich arable land read as a medieval who's who of courtiers, Earls & Barons.  In short, it was a power house and very prosperous seat ..sometimes fighting for and with the crown, and at other times trying to keep the King in check.  Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hereford, and his son Gilbert were two of the 25 barons appointed as guardians to the Magna Carta of 1215.  Political marriages and their leverage, wealth and sheer military might, were benchmarks of the power held by these feudal Lords. And religious piety was sought ..and bought by means of founding as supporting priories. 

And after all the battles and the bickering - those names, the riches and their power are mostly lost ..to anyone but the history buff. 

Still, the town, castle ruins and the river embankment are wonderful. ..which are well worth a visit should you be passing by in your TR.  The town and citizens of Clare maintain them both as a historic and as a nature park, complete with its Stour Valley line's station (and coffee shop) of the Great Eastern Railway

  

^ Katie  parked behind the old goods-shed, which I think is now partly a museum. Behind her you can see the River Stour.  There is excellent signposting throughout the town, up on the castle, and through the park.  Car parking was just £1 per hour, which I was happy to pay as the castle and park was otherwise free.  

^ Motte embankment to the castle left, with the diverted River Stour serving as a moat.    It's nice here.

^ the carved wooden sheep are clearly popular with the children, but probably confound the Welsh.  Bearing in mind that wool was the most valuable export in the Medieval days of Chaucer.. these little sheep are a fun monument to the wealth of Clare's former residents.  The wool was of course used for clothing and bedding, as well as for tapestry screens and wall hangs, multiple layers packed under chain-mail and armour, and mutton was an important meat. The bits inside were also food and 'skins' for carrying fluids &/or for for villagers to kick around the field. The oil from the sheep's wool was valuable, and the skin was soft leather. Even the bones were boiled to make glue, used for implements, and otherwise shaved into thin wafers before glass became commonplace.  And apparently around ten sheep produce much the same amount of milk as a single cow.  Not many people know that !

With access from the car-park, but not really obvious, is a path to the priory . . .

    

^ although the gardens and the church is open to the public Clare Priory is still a priory occupied by the religious order of Augustinian.. They live in the house and they now have a beautiful modern extension to the old church which is open for respectful contemplation and prayer. Most of the ancient priory buildings and its walls have gone and what used to be the cloisters is a now a walled garden.

    

^ Even the gates are pretty old, although judging by their shape being different to the arch in the wall I suspect they may be have previously been elsewhere. 

  

^ Within the walled garden, formerly the cloisters (which would have been partly covered) there is this stone plaque.  On the other side of the wall is the easier to read, but somewhat sanitized version. The priory and its gardens are also the last resting place of its patrons.

    

And so with a rain shower stretching across the skies as a vibrant rainbow, it was time for me to close the gate and go home.  The drive home, about 30 miles was good, the evening was fresh but clearing, and Katie's  new carburettors added a spring to our step ..after-all my breakfast with TR friends was great, the unscheduled stop at Earls Colne an unexpected pleasure, and my afternoon in and around Clare - rather exceptional.  It's only sad to think that some people had to go shopping on Saturday ! 

. . .

Bidding you a good evening and a pleasant weekend

Pete

  

[Bfg]

9th March ;

  

 

Happy Anniversary to Katie  this week. 

It was during a brief gap between covid restrictions  ..start again...   It was on a bright and sunny day  (although it rained during our test drive) two years ago, on the 5th March 2001 (..which also happened to be the anniversary of my Dad's birthday) I'd driven across to Bury St Edmunds to view and agree to buy Katie  < posted about here > from Bob & Pat Bell.   And then, on the 8th March, my new TR register friend Rich C-R and I went  across to collect her ..and we only broke down once or was that thrice on the way back.

 

  

 

Although we've seen just 3410 miles on the clock since then, it's been a long journey with many up n' downs in that time.  

     

   

 

And so we've she's  had to make some changes . . .

   

       

   

    

      

    

   

      

         

    

 

  

^ ^ ^  to cite but just a few !  

      ...but Katie and I are still together and I'm sure things are all the better for it.  And thankfully we've recently been seeing more ups than downs . . .

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

.... and so on ..

Happy Anniversary to Katie  ..who I think now looks younger than she did   ...and an especially BIG THANK YOU to all who supported and helped us get this far.

Pete.

 

p.s. hopefully these piccies will encourage others who, with their Triumph, are on such a journey.

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Bfg

[Bfg]

That's it with the updates, copied across from the TR Register's forum ..which I can still access with my old computer which uses Windows XP.  

I'm sorry to anyone ..who might have otherwise been interested, that I haven't been participating on this forum, but until I get my mind around, and my fingers to work with the HP computer and its operating system - it really is a chore.  And a chore is not a pleasure.  And what is not a pleasure - when mojo is low and weather and health niggles leaves you uncomfortanble almost every day - is perhaps best avoided.

I wish you well though, and look forward to spring sunshine on our backs.

Best regards, Pete

Edited March 21, 2023 by Bfg

[Pete Lewis]

keep it coming Pete    always a good read 

drive her as much as you can ...  

Pete

[Pimp my Vit]

Pleased to see you back Pete, missed your detailed descriptions of works done...

[Jase1969]

That was superb.

[Bfg]

This passed Sunday I went for a drive to go for a walk (..not least because I've been getting unfit and fat these past couple of months). And so looking on the map I opted to drive across to the River Alde (as in Aldeburgh), Suffolk.  The Alde, I'm guessing, used to flow directly into the sea, but that river's mouth was eventually closed off by a shingle beach - which is now Orford Ness.  In doing so, the bottom end of that river's name changed to become the Ore, on which there was a shallow crossing and a small fishing village called Orford. This in turn is where Henry II had a castle built and developed the village into a port.  

Up the river Alde there was of course a bridge (..for many centuries just a crossing ) and a small village of Snape - which, according to the doomsday of 1085 book, records 49 men, and a church standing 8 acres valued at 16d (old pence).  A thousand years before that though - this place had a settlement and there was a Roman site for salt production. Later on the Saxons favoured Snape as a burial ground. And then the small port from Snape bridge shipped coke, as well as corn and other grains like barley, around to London ..on thames barges.  And then (c. 1846, I gather), the malting house was built.  Within just a few years they were shipping 17,000 quarters of barley a year from Snape.  However by the 1960's - the malting process at Snape had come to its end, and by coincidence the nearby and fashionable port-town of Aldeburgh's music festival was outgrowing their Jubilee Hall.  The composer, a chap called Benjamin Britten, had the vision to see the largest of the now unused malt-houses, which literally overlooks the saltings (the salt marshes and the River Alde) as a possible site for a concert hall.  In 1967 HRH Elizabeth II formally opened Snape Maltings as the now internationally famous concert hall.

Well, although I did drop in there for a cuppa, I actually wanted to go to Iken, and to walk along the river path. . .

Iken Church is at the end of a one track lane to nowhere and yet is rather special, insomuch as although it looks very similar to so many Norman churches, this one traces it's history back some 400 years earlier to Anglo-Saxon times. The chronicle for the year 654 records " in this year Anna (the Christian king of the East Angles) was slain and Botwulf (Botolph) began to minister at Icanhoh"  . Although other sites lay claim to this, it is widely believed that 'Icanhoh'  is now Iken, and where he built his minister. This makes Iken one of the earliest centres of Christian activity in East Anglia and one of the pioneer Benedictine religious communities in England.  It was a nucleus of worship, witness and learning for a wide area with a community of monks or priests from which missionaries traveled to spread the faith and establish satellite churches. The seventy-five or so English churches which bear (or have once borne) St.Botolph's name may give some clue to the extent of their missionary.  These include sixteen in Norfolk, four in Essex, and six in Suff0lk.  Botolph apparently traveled broadly but then remained Abbot until his death c.680.

In 870 invading Danes destroyed the monastery, and it is believed that shortly afterwards, the faithful marked the site with a stone memorial cross, part of which may be still be seen inside the church (see photo below ). Although the timber church was probably rebuilt around 900AD,  later, c.1070-1110 it too was rebuilt in stone. The existing, early Norman flint-rubble nave (in the photo above) has plastered walls - over which is there is still a thatched roof (although that was renewed after a fire in the 1960's).  The small slit windows of those walls were in part replaced or enlarged with larger windows.  At the back of the church the wall shows one of these (now closed off) slit windows and also a closed-off arched door.  In the mid c.15th the western tower was built and three of the four bells were cast c.1465 with the forth around 1507.   The porch was also built and the present font installed. . . 

    

The remains of stone memorial cross, which may be still be seen inside the church, dates back to 870 - 900 AD.  It was originally twice as long (some 9-foot tall).  And the beautifully carved but much later (late c.15th) Christening font. 

   

  

The benches were given by to St.Botolph by the cathedral of Bury St.Edmunds. They were designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott for the cathedral restoration in 1865-69.  The altar carved from English-oak dates back to just 1959 and it's reredos are based on Leonardo de Vinci's painting of 'The Last Supper'.     second photo is looking back towards the open bell tower.

It's a modestly sized but beautifully presented building, with the exposed stonework and architectural features of the early Norman period retained, but still very much a contemporary church that serves the community as a spiritual home and with regular services. On the walls are brass plaques to the fallen and in the church yard are both ancient and very recent gravestones, and a simple wooden cross (for two persons, died 1998 & 2016) . . .

   

- - -

 

^ Katie with 'The Sandings' and the River Alde in the background.  Although said to be 12-deg.c. and forecast to be dry but overcast all day - it was not too busy to make finding a parking spot difficult.

   

Suffolk coast and AONB (areas of outstanding natural beauty), and protected habitat .. a veritable haven for sandpipers, oyster catchers and host of other coastal wildlife ..and a great place to just go for a quiet walk.

 

All in all, a very pleasant afternoon out..,  a little spiritual reflectiveness for the soul, a whole lot of history for the mind, and some exercise for the body too.

Hope you had a good weekend out with your Triumph this, almost spring time ?, weekend ...before the roads become overly busy with holiday traffic.

Pete 

 

p.s.  Katie  & I are booked into. . .

• Hedingham Castle Spring Joust (Knights of Middle England) on Sunday 9th and Monday (Bank Holiday) 10th April.
• the Ipswich to Felixstowe classic vehicle run on May 7th 
• MG & Triumph 100, Silverstone on 10th and 11th of June
• The Adventure Travel Film Festival,  Hatherop Castle, GL7 3NB, in the Cotswolds, on the 11th – 13th August
• IWM Duxford - All Triumph Day  on September 10th

We'd be glad to see you there.

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Bfg

[mark powell]

Odd looking sheep is a Herdwick, championed by Beatrix Potter.    I think.

[Bfg]

Not much happening this weekend for Katie  & I,  but during the week I replaced the polytunnel's end flap ..a sheet of heavy duty black plastic, which I folded and clipped up every time I pulled the car out and put it back in again.  It was tiresome but tolerable, however the wind and it flapping around for the past two years had taken its toll and it was falling apart and generally looking pretty crappy. 

^ As this is rental apartment and whatever I do is, at best, temporary, and at worse unacceptable to the landlord - I opted to make the replacement doors out of plywood. . .   

^ crude but for the time being quite efficient (ie., they were quick to make, cheap, and they work !). However if I were to leave them like that, then within weeks of spring showers they would soon look stained with black mould.  I needed to seal them, and because they look like exactly what they are, I thought to pretty them up.  I spent a good amount of background thought, regarding painting on what would look like a nice garage door frame, but in the end decided - that too would look just like it would have been   .. pseudo timber garage doors made out of cheap plywood.

So I'd just to paint them. In the back of my mind I'd decided on a colour so when out and bought some cheap paint. Actually although it was inexpensive it's Ronseal Fence-life plus, which recons on +5years before the wood turns to look like something found in the bottom of a muddy lagoon.  After an afternoon of thought,  helped formulate thanks to a bit of internet inspiration, together with the backside of an old boat drawing - i started by removing "the garage doors" to turn them to face inward (ie., out of the wind and rain).. And then began painting . . .   

^ 6-30pm   ..well I only had a small paint brush ! 

^ 6-47pm   Ah ha, some dark secret is coming out of the woodwork.

^ 7-45pm   close of play ..working by extension lamp lighting wasn't brilliant and I was getting cold. 

Being an old fart of a single fella., Sunday morning is a time to either get out and go somewhere in the Triumph, or else to just have a lazy morning in bed - with leisurely time to drink good coffee and read an inspiring book.  This Sunday morning was dribbling with rain, that being neither drizzle nor rain per se ..just miserable consistent dribbling.  So i opted for ground coffee and set dpwn to reading The Hobbit  for my first time.

But then when I was ready - I reviewed the design.  And it very much came down to one of life eternal questions . .   Yin or Yang  ..or not ?    

^ After much deliberation I went for yin or yang, and inverted my makeshift template . . .

 

^ 2-30pm    There's a lot of symbolism in this drawing ..which was just beginning to take root 

^ 3-38pm   Woah, how much work have I let myself in for ?  ..the tree-of-life was reaching new depths.  It's all downhill from here.

 

^ 6-pm today..   I don't yet know if this design will work but it's been an interestingly creative weekend, and something I've never done before. 

There's a whole long way to go still  ..with outside / surround and background colour to be added (timber/fence sealant), and the tree ..a twisted willow (stylistically of course) is presently just in a light wash.  So I don't know if the idea will even work .. but we'll see.  And if it doesn't then I'll just paint over it, with nothing but a few days of my retirement years lost in an enjoyable experiment.  Btw., The golden colour is yacht varnish, which I happened to have on a bottom shelf.  I'm hoping it has soaked into the plywood and will dispel / shine through the back-ground wash.

That's it for today. I hope you've also had an enjoyable weekend and I bid you good evening, 

Pete

 

p.s. please disregard the TR4 estate car under wraps in the first photo. you didn't see that !

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Bfg

[Bfg]

My apologies for not posting more on this forum. I'm that mostly comes down to not liking the computer or the windows operating sytem that this website requires I use.  Nevertheless in case it is of interest I'll copy across some of what I've been doing in the past month. . .

27th March ;

Exceptional spring weather today, such a contrast to yesterday, and so I was pleased to make noticeable progress. . .

^ The surround, in cornflower blue-grey is quite like the Royal-Air-force blue I grew up with. This fence/shed preservative took three coats (with a roller) to cover, but I guess that was deliberate by the manufacturer to encourage users to apply three coats for protection as well as looks.  

^ just starting to fill in the background colour around the roots.  Assuming three coats to cover, cutting in the edges is going to be rather time consuming.

 

^ I finished (at this stage) soon after 5pm today.  My neighbour came home from work and started talking. He's a nice chap but.. I'd have otherwise filled in the background around the roots on the Rhs. 

The mural's design is now very apparent, and it might at least be a topic of conversation &/or critique   ..and I'm certain not to everybody's refined taste. 

Still, imo much better than broad expanse of cheap plywood, whether painted or not. 

I suspect with this painted on.. people will now like or else dislike it ..but they'll not even notice the plywood it's been painted onto. 

Pete

[Bfg]

2nd April ;

Final Tolkienian doors update . . .

 

^ Today the sun was glorious but still there's a cold northerly breeze, and so I've swung the Chrysler around to divert the wind as I sealed the end grain of the plywood with thinned boat-varnish.

^ rehung, albeit with just one screw in each hinge. The side door, which when closed just looks like a fixed panel - I've repainted blue (because rain water poured down it last week) and have given it two coats of thinned varnish to help seal the wood. That door is useful though.. because when the Chrysler is parked back in place, the two muralled doors cannot be opened. 

Because the doors edges were still tacky-wet with varnish, I'll do their finally adjustment and add other screws to the hinges next week.  In the meantime the neighbours are beginning to notice, but no one has complained yet.!

Pete

Edited April 24, 2023 by Bfg

[Bfg]

2nd April ;

Katie  suffered an electrical affliction on Sunday morning, insomuch as soon after I drove off to go to Hedingham Castle - a fuse blew. The first I knew of it was that Tom-Tom's power was cut and a screen notice came up asking if I wanted it to shut down or resume. I then noticed that the fuel gauge read zero, despite the tank being filled the previous day, and also the temperature gauge read zero.  I then discovered the indicators didn't work and nor did the overdrive   ..and yes, I did check the power lead connection into Tom-Tom 

Ooh, this was annoying, not least insomuch as I was booked in (read ; pre-paid) to an jousting event at the castle (an hour's drive away) rather than my usual day out in the sunshine of getting in the car to go somewhere where I'd pay on the door.  Naturally, the main event was going to happen at midday whether or not I was late.  In addition, I was faced with a car that worked but which without instruments and indicators wasn't roadworthy.  One cannot blame Katie  for this, it must have been something the plonker (me) who checked the wiring didn't do right.

I pulled into a filling station and checked.  Yes, it was the fuse for green wires (..ignition switched-on power). There was no wire obviously shorting out to be seen under the dashboard, so perhaps it was just an iffy fuse that had blown. I had two spare.  I replaced the fuse and all seemed fine

Now, with with just one fuse as a spare - any diagnostics would require a methodical approach..  A fuse blows when the component draws too much power too quickly or else when the wiring circuit shorts out to earth.  The latter is more usual, particularly on a car that had been reliable for the passed 2000 miles in six months.  So., with the new fuse in and the engine started . . .

• The fuel gauge was now working, as was the temperature gauge.
• I had not used the wipers, the screen wash (converted to an electric pump on this car), nor the heater's blower.  So the blown fuse was unlikely to have been caused by an overload through any of those circuits. 
• The indicators flashed ..all is good so far !
• I put the car into second gear (foot on the clutch) and even though were were still parked I could hear the overdrive's solenoid click to activate.  So that too was OK. 
• I touched my foot onto the brake pedal and the new fuse blew.  The fault, by deduction my dear Watson, was somewhere to be found in the brake-light circuit. 

Following this simple but systematic approach - I very quickly knew where to start looking for the fault ..it was going to be somewhere in the brake-light circuit.

Because i was still nearby, and although I had the tools in the car - I drove home to sort it out ..and to replenish the car's spare fuses . . .

^ This photo (turned on its RHS because it seems clearer that way around) shows the ex-motorcycle brake light switch I'd fitted in Katie's  footwell, not far from the fuse box which along with the voltage regulator is now also under there.  This switch is a very simple pull-the-rod ..connected, via a spring, to the brake pedal, to bridge the electrical contacts.  The green wire to the right (middle of photo) into the switch, is the green switched-power from the fuse lead.  That was not going to be at fault ..because the fuse doesn't blow until the switch is activated ..so the fault must be in the switch itself, or anywhere thereafter ..all the way back to each brake-light bulb (which btw are now low-amperage / high luminosity LED's on this car). 

The switch's bracket attachment of the brake-light-switch had fluff in the screw hole (centre of photo), which at first I thought must be fine wire filaments that would short from the electrical connection to the screw / to the bracket / on the underside of the bulkhead / to the car's body / to earth.

My screwdriver's blade attracted the fine filament, which again implied magnetic.  However when pulling the filaments out I found that they broke, and were mostly trapped under the screw head.. They were probably filaments of the felt underlay, I'd used over the gearbox tunnel, and were most likely attracted to the screwdriver blade by static rather than magnetic.  Even when pulled out and the surrounding area wiped clean (..of Vaseline smeared into the wiring connections), the next fuse I tried also blew.  The fault was not there then !   

I pulled the switch and visually inspected it, ensured that its body was clean and not cracked (..which can cause electrical tracking). I refitted it and tried again.  Another fuse blown, so the fault was not there then either.  Nevertheless, the methodical approach of working my way along the circuit made good sense, if only in eliminating the power feed wire and the switch itself from being at fault. 

Nevertheless, although I'd just traced the wires between the fuse holder and the brake light switch ..for obvious sign of fault, I checked them again.  Satisfied with my logic, I proceeded to check the wiring, wrapped as part of the loom, as it drops down the front corner of the bulkhead and then back along the inside sill corner of the floor (under the carpet).  No fault could be identified in that stretch of the circuit either. 

Thereafter the wires disappear up behind the B-post's trim panel.  The wiring harness is next seen is within the top corners of the boot space, as it leads from behind the fuel tank covering board to the rear lights.  Again all looked fine.

I then pulled each rear light bulb to check for anything obvious (like a bulb that had half fallen out or otherwise blown to bits ..and those bits were shorting against the bulb holder).  But no each were very clean, and the bulb holders lightly smeared with Vaseline to minimise corrosion.  There was no tell-tale sign of anything having arced an electrical short. 

The one connection I couldn't see was that hidden by the boot / fuel tank covering board.  This is a double-bullet-connector which splits the brake light circuit to both left and right hand rear lamps of the car.  So out with my overnight bag and the car cover (which I take to hide the car under when I'm parking overnight away from home) to unscrew that end of the covering board. With that pulled forward on just that one side I could, ease the wiring connector into the boot space. 

I had replaced & Vaselined that double-connector just last year and it looked fine.  I made sure that each of its three bullets were thoroughly pushed into the connector and refastened the lining board, but this time with the connector still inside the boot space, rather than hidden behind the board. 

When checked the brake lights now worked again ..without blowing the fuse.  Success  ..but I still don't know for certain where the fault was.  It may have been one of the bullets into that rear double-connector was just touching / shorting against the angled bracing under the rear deck ..in there besides the full of petrol fuel tank ~ which on reflection is not at all a happy prospect.!  Or was it that in pulling the rear section of the car's wiring loom out of the corners, and twisting it to inspect all around its insulation for a fault, that it was shorting in some other place.  I cannot be certain.

I'll sometime revisit this wiring. in the meantime I wanted to get to the Spring Joust at Hedingham Castle.  I was almost 2-1/2 hours late and so just missed the first bout of jousting, but still in good time to see the castle, and other attractions before the second bout of the day.     

- - -

Although long-winded, I've written this episode out - in the hope that it may be helpful to those who are less-than-comfortable with vehicle electrics &/or those of us who can generally fix things ..if only they can find  / identifying the fault or faults (ie., what to fix).

Methodical approach ..checking one thing at a time in order, and then as required changing and retest before moving on.  It may seem slow and laborious but in the end it's inevitably quicker and less frustrating. So ; 

• When several things are not working - what's the common factor to those ?  - in this instance ; it was the power feed that came from the same source  ..one fuse
• in looking for the fault - start by looking for where there was not  a fault.  ie., eliminate what you can, so then you can hone-in on where the issue is.  In this example ; the things least likely circuit to draw heavy electrical current, and also the least likely to be faulty, were the instruments.  With a new fuse, turn the ignition on and start the engine ..with nothing else turned on, and check the gauges worked.  No fault there then. 
• You can also mentally eliminate (check off ) those things that were not being used (in this instance ; the screen-washer pump, the wipers, and the heater blower). 
• Then systematically try other things...    Indicators = check.    Overdrive solenoid clicking in = check.     Brake lights = FAIL.
• Acknowledge that the brake lights caused the fuse to blow only after  the brake pedal's switch was activated.  So the fault was not before the switch ..otherwise the fuse would have blown when the ignition was turned on. 
• So - after the wire, which feeds power to the brake light switch, comes the switch itself.  I checked this and then checked again to see if the fuse still blew when the brake lights were switch. They did = FAIL     ..the fluff seen in the screw hole by to the wires terminal-connector was my chasing a rabbit down a blind hole  ..It happens.  But take heart ..not finding a fault is progress, as it eliminates that component. 
• I then methodically followed the wires and any connectors, looking for any sign of fault (cracked, slit or otherwise broken or chafed insulation) or perhaps signs of arcing (very localised burn marks on adjacent metal) ..all the way back to the bulb holders and the bulbs themselves.
• I couldn't find any sign of fault, and so I retraced the route back to the one connector I couldn't see, without first undoing pulling it out from behind the boot's trim panel.
• Had I not found the fault then I would have gone back to the start and gone through the process again, perhaps with better lighting &/or with my reading spectacles, to see what I'd missed.

If you are not intimately familiar with your car's wiring, then please do carry a diagram ..that you've previously checked is accurate to that particular car.  Note ; having a diagram doesn't tell you the route of the loom as it runs through the car, so have a look beforehand and then also recognise that certain coloured wires only go to certain places.

Lucas tracer-colour wiring codes are particularly easy to work with, and it's worth becoming familiar with those colours ; for your own car's primary earth and live wires, for each of the different light & indicator circuits, and for the horn.  Any of the others can be looked up, if and when you need to know what they are.  In the meantime those tracer-colours you are familiar will allow you to say, " it's not that wire because it's an earth wire, or for the headlamps, for the side-lamps, the horn, the indicators " which immediately eliminates 50% of the wires in the loom.

A compact torch is necessary to see clearly in the footwells, under the dashboard, and into darker corners. I keep a small (waterproof) flat but adjustably bright rechargeable  LED one (..a beanie-hat head-torch) for such purposes in my car's tool kit.

A lesson I learnt - was to carry lots of spare fuses (..of the right type for your car).  Although a multi-meter (which I do carry with me) can be helpful to trace faults (in this instance ; it would be used across the fuse holder to see if there is an excessive spike in power when different things are switched on, when the fuse blows).  I'd say that fuses are easier, cheap, small to pack into a corner of the car for touring ...and absolutely definitive.

When this happened, I immediately kicked myself that I hadn't fitted a multiple fuse holder, allowing one for each circuit.  But then I thought, well if the Tom-Tom's power hadn't been lost, and then I'd been alerted to the instruments not working, then how would I know that the brake lights had stopped working ?  Or the windscreen wipers ?  ..which I mostly I use when it's miserable weather ..and not a time time when I'm happy to trace a wiring fault.  

As it was - I was alerted to something being wrong within half-a-mile, when Tom-Tom didn't (audibly) tell me which way to go.  Surely that's an aid to road safety.?  

Isolating each circuit with a separate fuse wouldn't have done that.

It's useful to note ;  that had I been unable to trace the fault, to get back on the road - then I could simply have pulled the wiring connector to that particular circuit off the fuse box.  In this instance ; I would have had no brake-lights, but everything else would still work, to continue the journey &/or until I was in a better situation (perhaps in an illuminated service station if it had been at night) to trace the fault.   

So I now ask myself - Are more than just three standard fuses such a good thing ?  Perhaps yes.. I think..  If so is it best to add more fuses, for individually fused circuits, after the existing main fuse holder (which has a 10amp fuse in it). ? 

Katie's  wiring has (deliberately on my part) not been complicated with additional relays.  She now has just one horn (and it's loud) so no relay is necessary for that (the original one I've removed along with a few meters of wiring and their x-number of connections).  I think now, only overdrive solenoid has a relay in the circuit.

- - -

Katie  has driven a hundred miles since this incidence, including some pretty horridly wet weather where the instruments, brake-lights, indicators and wipers were all on at the same time ..from that single 10amp fuse - and it hasn't blown again.  Unfortunately since however the overdrive has stopped working, despite the relay or solenoid clicking. That's on the menu as the next job-of-the-day.

Hope the above notes are useful to some,

Wishing you happy and reliable motoring, 

Pete

- - -

 

[Bfg]

11th April ;

This Easter weekend Katie and I visited Hedingham Castle, Halstead, Essex - built around about 1140 by Aubrey De Vere, the eldest son of a good buddy of the former Duke of Normandy, aka  William the Conquer. The property remains the home of one of his ancestors (..well he, his wife and three children live in the somewhat more comfortable mansion house built c.1719, within the grounds. They don't actually reside in the castle's keep).  The above photo was taken on Monday afternoon, belying the reality that the morning was miserably wet & quite chilly weather (hence the other half of the roof also being on).

Nevertheless..,  it was a great day out, and I met some other chaps there who were celebrating their Triumph ..

           

^ Spring Joust  with Knights of Middle England

[Bfg]

My post of 16th April on the TR Register forum - prompted more than a few owners to share their 'multiple fuse solution' to not having to do those first steps of switching one thing on at a time diagnostics, which I did to hone in on the brake light circuit.   One chap has now 17 fuses and five relays on his TR6, and yet if his brake lights failed he still wouldn't know about it.   A couple of responses said that their and my opinion was that the wiring loom's three fuses were inadequate.  To which I replied . . .

Semantics perhaps, but I never said that the original wiring design was inadequate, I simply said "Are more than just three standard fuses such a good thing ?  Perhaps yes.. I think.. "

In my mind, anything which has served well for 55+ years, on tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of vehicles of all marques, and which has generally been neglected from maintenance, cannot honestly be said to be inadequate.  Could it be improved ?  .."perhaps".   But then one might possibly say that about any aspect of any vehicle ever built.  My Sunbeam motorcycle has just one fuse from the battery, and 70 years on it still starts easily, is remarkably reliable, and in a worse case scenario is usually easy to fix at the side of the road, as was Katie when this fault occurred.

I did go home to fix it, but only because we were just a few miles away and I was carrying an inadequate number of spare fuses with me.  My objective with the car was to make it as reliable for touring - as economically and time-invested practical.  But then to be prepared for roadside repairs for those other niggles.  i failed in the latter respect, as that type of fuse is no longer stocked by most filling stations (on a bank holiday Sunday). 

As an aside ; other things like fat tyre valves, the wide fan belt, and a selection of bulbs, all need to be carried - if even minor roadside / modern garage repairs are to be made.

I look at Nigel's and Rob's, very neatly done, eight fuses and think of the latter - where's one or two for the lights ? - it or they must be on yet other fuses.  And then I think what is the real benefit of having that many fuses ?   If your own car's brake light fuse blows - then would you even know about it ?   This is surely a deficit to be balanced against the benefit of it not having effected other circuits.  So., could those multiple fuse wiring systems be improved ?   " perhaps "  

The benefit of multiple fuses it seems - is in isolating and therefore in tracing the fault to a particular circuit.  Seems a lot of effort to save me putting a new fuse in and then trying one switch at a time ?  That is after all - all the diagnostics came down to ..in tracking the fault to the brake light circuit. And if I hadn't found the fault - then I could simply have pulled the brake-light's wiring connection off  ..then all the other circuits still worked fine.  

What am I missing ? 

- - -

This then prompted the comment that "ALL modern cars have multiple fuses ..so it must be right". 

- - -

I replied to that with a long list of electrics that even my 2002 Chrysler Voyager has ; with engine management and fuel injection, fault sensors on all sorts of things, and limp-mode, electric windows, mirrors, fobbed central locking, electric side and tailgate doors, six interior light plus one under the bonnet and another two in the boot, plus rear screen wash and wipe, and two dozen other things, which account for its addition fuses ..and a host of diagnostic fault codes  - None of which I want on my Triumph.

- - -

Nevertheless the conversation carried on and I did learn that the Triumph lighting fuse did not actually include the headlamps ..which remain unfused. That to me is unacceptable so I will add a fuse for those, and I'll use a lower rated fuse for the sidelights.  I'll not add the headlamps to the side-lamp's fuse because I wouldn't want to loose all lights at the same time.

On reflection ..because I do actually listen to other people's opinions,  I looked at how this car's wiring was protected and how it would be a nuisance if for example the brake-light fuse blew which stopped the windscreen wipers from working, or vice versa. 

Still, I liked the fact that within just half-a-mile, my Tom-Tom turning off alerted me to a fault (my brake lights not working), but things like the indicator / hazard warning light might easily be on a separately fused circuit - because they do of course have their own tell-tale light. . 

I'm presently thinking . . .

• I don't want a voice activated or any other diagnostic computer telling me, or the car, what to do   Nor do i want more complication than absolutely necessary.  I like NASA's philosophy of KISS.
• my car's headlamp wiring and its switches are not fuse protected. That to me is unacceptable.  But it'll be best not to have the headlamps on the same fuse as the side lights, as I'd not like to loose all the lights at once,
• The side-lamp's fuse (presently 35A) is way too high for this car, which now has LED bulbs. 
• I also think it would be prudent to have the brake lights and indicators / hazard warning lights on different fuses.  As the indicators have their own tell-tale then it seems logical to leave the brake lights on the same fuse as the instruments, because those instruments not working would alert me to the likelihood of brake light failure.
• The Indicators / hazards can have their own fuse, which again because of the LED bulbs can be a low rating.
• Having the screen wash, wipers, heater blower and cigarette lighter (aux power to Tom-Tom and phone charging) all on the same fuse as 'safety items' ..like brake-lights and hazard warning light, also doesn't make good sense to me.  I think it would be worthwhile to fit another two fuses for those four circuits.  probably screen wash and heater blower on one, and wipers and auxiliary chargers on the other ..as Tom-Tom will alert me to any problem in the wiper's circuit ..even when they are not turned on. .

So, I must admit that I've moved to think that perhaps six to eight fuses might be wiser.  Katie  already has three and so a block of just four more would not be difficult to fit in.

Pete

[Bfg]

16th April ;

On another note ... Overdrive not working.

Professionally rebuilt just last year / 2000 miles ago, I don't know what's wrong.  It was working fine until last weekend when I had the fuse blow due to a fault in the brake light circuit. Since then, although the solenoid clicks and seemingly operates fine, I have no over-drive in any gear.

Following previous advice to other owners having the same or similar issues - I've checked the gearbox oil level, and it took a topping up of between 30 and 40ml. The oil is Dynolite Gear 40  non-hypoid & non-friction modified gear oil.

I've also check the solenoid's operation (audio and then visually only. I have not made any adjustment to it).  It seemed to be working fine.  and while driving I can just about hear it disengaging and reengaging as I change gear.

^ peekabo for overdrive perverts

  

  ^ off  and..   activated ^^

Note.  I can hear this, and could see it from underneath the car,  but I've lifted the rear half of my gearbox cover off,  because i wanted to visually check what-was-what under there now, and to access the operating valve.    

  

^ Following the suggestions in the workshop manual - I've  removed the valve operating cover (the top of which is painted red, centre of this photo), pulled and checked the spring, it plunger and ball.   As expected of it having been professional restored, the ball's condition looks brand new.  The spring wasn't broken, nor did it appear to be unduly weak. 

With the ignition on, but the car not started ; I engaged a higher gear and clicked on the overdrive switch. The ball lifted (against a 1/4"-drive-socket screwdriver) as prescribed.  I haven't measured it but it seemed more like 1/16" to me rather than the 1/32" specified in the book.  

Is too much travel an issue ?  or perhaps the solenoid's lever arm needs to taken down a bit ??

 

 

^ To test the operation of the pump, which is inside the overdrive unit  ..with the rear wheels of the car lifted  (timber blocks under the trailing arms) and the front wheels chocked,  I started the engine and engaged 4th gear at engine tick-over speeds.  When the overdrive switch was operated..  oil very quickly welled up to fill and overflow the valve cover flange.  According to the book, only if this doesn't happen the pump is at fault.

However, I did note a ring of small air bubbles inside the hole's oil. Perhaps there was air in the pump and/or the valve that has stopped the overdrive unit from working ??

That's as far as I've got.  I have not subsequently driven the car to see if the overdrive is now working or not ..but aside from letting those air bubbles out, I can't see that I've actually done anything.  The car is still up on the blocks with the rear wheels lifted 1/2" off the ground.  

And I'm very much open to advice as to what to check next.

Thanks, Pete

[Bfg]

16th April ;

Stuart, on the TR Register forum pointed out the thge A-type overdrives can otherwise be actiavted by the 'setting lever' on the RHS.

I replied . . .

Thanks Stuart,  

Might this happen after a couple of thousand miles ? or would the gearbox oil level being that bit low, possibly be a factor ?  

Yes, I can see the lever on the RHS.  It's retaining dowel-pin can be seen in the photo showing the operating valve cover.  The lever is inclined to about 45 degrees, and I can easily reach it with my finger to push its forward-end forward and down.  Statically it seems to move just 1/8".  Does it need to go further than that ? 

As there appears to not be an electrical problem with the solenoid, would you think it reasonable to presume that the brake's electrical fault / fuse blowing and the overdrive not working is just a coincidence ?   Or would an electrical power cut, while it was engaged, contribute to the problem ? 

As always, we all very much appreciate your prompt advice,

Pete

he replied ;

Just try when your driving with the cover off and overdrive engaged to just push that lever slightly forwards and see if the overdrive does engage. Obviously oil levels do affect overdrive operation but it wasnt down that far was it?

Stuart.

And the following day I in replied to him ;

Hi Stuart, thank you again.  No the gearbox oil level was a little down but only by 30 or 40 ml, measured with a family size syringe. 

As you suggest I've tried pushing forward on the operating lever, but with the back wheels off the ground rather than when driving down the road.

I tried this in each of the three upper gears, pushing hard forward with a screwdriver blade on the operating lever, but the overdrive did not seem to operate. There was no suggestion of the drive-shaft rotating at a different rate and although the speedo was only reading 10mph, there was no sign of rev's dropping when overdrive solenoid was activated.  

Having read of an air-lock, but having not yet identified what an accumulator, nor where a choked air bleed might be  ..in must be the worse workshop manual I've ever used, I've subsequently tried to bleed the bubbles out of the operating valve hole.  If only because I reason that anything hydraulically operated doesn't work very well with air bubbles in the system ...

 

Without the ball valve in place, I've been running the engine at tick-over speeds in forth gear, with and without the overdrive switched in.  The book tells me that it is correct that oil wells out of this hole if the pump is working.  Using the syringe I've been pulling out what comes up.

After doing that three times I tried the overdrive again, with the ball valve, plunger, spring and cap back in place ..but still Katie's overdrive doesn't appear to be working.

Lifting those components out again, I started and engaged overdrive in forth and clearly are still bubbles in there. Surely that means there are bubbles within the closed hydraulics from the pump, &/or else the pump is sucking in air ? . . .

^ mostly the bubbles are smaller than these, but any bubbles don't seem right to me. 

Admittedly I might be on the wrong track so I'll now try reading the Haynes manual.  Perhaps that's written in clearer English than Triumph's own WSM.  I'll also do a search through this websites pages and see what else I can find.   The link I saw to Buckeye  threw my old computer into a right wobbly (..opened numerous tabs), so I'll need to dig out the horrid HP with its later windows version on it before I try that link again.

I don't know anything about overdrive units, or how they work, so please excuse me if I'm not asking the right questions or otherwise seeing the obvious. 

Pete

[Bfg]

17th April ;

Tom Chatterly-Cox piped up with suggestions, to which I replied . . .

"Hi Tom,

what is, and where is the accumulator.  I cannot see it listed in the exploded parts diagram, so I assume it to be a number of components which when assembled go by that name. ?

The lever is the one on the RHS of the overdrive. I appears to have about 1/8" movement against light pressure and then it doesn't move any further. 

Doing this while looking over the gearbox to the solenoid - it's clear that this RHS lever is directly connected to the lever activated by the solenoid.  Although I've not adjusted the LHS / solenoids lever - it's now making sense, as it's this RH one which aligns with the 3/16" hole.   So when pushed forward on the RHS lever it duplicates the action of the solenoid's lever and then cannot come any further because of the solenoid unit itself.   Understanding this helps me make sense of what Stuart said about the solenoid's gasket being left out.   There appears to be no  gasket under the solenoid on this overdrive unit.  But it had been working great for the past six months.

cheers, Pete"

Peter-W also posted a with a link to Buckley Triumphs webpage,

https://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=69372

https://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=69371

 

[Bfg]

17th April  (..later in the day) ;

I've just had a good conversation with Tom Chatterley-Cox, who was very patient with me and helpful in his explanations of the operation of these overdrive unit. He's explained that the hydraulics are not wholly a closed pressure system and as excessive pressure is shed by the valve - it would not be unusual for bubbles to come out from it. 

Still he has suggested that it would OK to pump more oil out of that valve's hole, and we spoke of a clear pipe inserted into the threaded hole to pump through perhaps 1/4 litre of gearbox oil in case any debris was causing or contributing to the problem.

Furthermore and encouragingly, he's suggested the issue may simply be that the solenoid lever may have slipped around on the shaft just a tad, and so although the electrics and hydraulics are good - the lever simply isn't moving quite as far as it should.  This of course corresponds with what Stuart was saying about the gasket under the solenoid effecting the adjustment.   He, Tom, has recommended I undo the solenoid's operating lever and then to test the overdrive's operation by pushing forward on the LHS operating lever.  This can be done with the rear wheels off the ground. If the overdrive works again, then it would just be a matter of readjusting that lever.     The solenoid not having a gasket under it is not a problem, and may only have been there as a shock absorber, perhaps noise insulation so that owner's didn't hear the clunk of engaging.

Anyway I'll try what's been suggested and let you know.

cheers, Pete

and then ...

Tried that and the overdrive is still not working.

When pushing the RHS lever forward, one can feel a little free play (light spring load) and then firmer pressure. The lever moved very much further than with the solenoid's lever connected, which was stopping against the bottom of the solenoid.

Tom had also talked about a circlip inside, possibly having come out of its groove. I guess looking at the exploded diagram this might be either of those retaining the trust race.   Must admit - I was hoping that whatever the issue was.. it wouldn't have involved pulling the gearbox out yet again.

I'll try pumping oil out via the valve hole in the hope that it may help. And then I'll try the overdrive at road speeds to see if tick-over speeds isn't enough oil-pump pressure. And I'll read what Buckeye suggests ..but otherwise I'm wide open to options right now.

Thank you,

Pete

 

[Bfg]

18th April ;  Nigel C piped up with the suggestion ;

"have to say I thought tick over might be a problem for pressure....but I only have limited knowledge of A types boxes anyway "

 

..as did Charlie C ;

"When I first tried my overdrive after a 40 year rebuild it did not work. I removed the filter, cleaned it up and it worked for a bit and then stopped again.

In frustration I just switched the switch up and down like a madman for 30 seconds while driving along and it sprung into action, and has worked ever since.

However, after only 2000 miles it seems unlikely that a clogged filter is your problem. But you never know.

Charlie"

 

Later in the day I replied ;

Thank you Nigel and Charlie, and again to Stuart and Peter, to my friend Rich who phoned me in support, and especially to Tom Cox who I called again today for a second round of advice.   GREAT NEWS is that the overdrive now appears to be working, albeit spinning away inside a breeze shaken and quite chilly poly-tunnel rather than yet tested on the road.

Today, Following clearer advice in the Haynes manual, I fished the operating valve out with a bent piece of wire . . .

  

^ That to me is an odd looking valve, but I'm sure there's good reason for that. The bottom end, of the plain shanked length, is closed off but the drilling inside this tube otherwise goes all the way to the bottom. You'll see the small hole by my index finger which needs to be clear.  After blowing through that, and it appeared to be clear, I washed it out inside and out in petrol.  It is possible that a tiny flake of something was laying across the inside of that hole, but I cannot say for sure.  

 

^ While that was out, I found a length of clear pipe with a sleeve of rubber pipe on the valve-cap-hole's end to seal it, and ran the car up to speed in top gear.  Fine bubbles came out but surprising little trickle of oil, even at 2500rpm  ..I was getting braver doing that sort of speed (50mph) in such a confined space with a garden seat and brick wall in front of me. 

This is when I phone Tom again.  He reassured me that ; oil coming out showed the pumps was working, and they tend to work or not. And that the slow rate did  seem rather slow but it was pressure rather than flow which counts.   Next, if it didn't work.. would be to find a pressure gauge and check what it read. Above 100psi and it should just about work, 200psi would be much better.  And if the pressure was Ok then things pointed to a mechanical fault ..and most likely the circlip (item 21 in the parts manual, page 2-302) on the thrust race which has failed or come out.   Without that - the thrust ring assembly (item 19) can move rather than it engaging the overdrive. 

It's so helpful when a kind man explains what should be happening and why it may not.  Thank you Tom.  I'm close to the end of my tether after a catalogues of 'experiences' with this car.

I'm surprised at the dirty state of the oil after just 2000 or so miles, so I'll order some more and change it very soon.

In the meantime, I reassembled the operating valve and tried it again ..using the lever on the RHS, and with the solenoid lever still disconnected, the overdrive engaged..  and although the revs didn't drop (because there's no load on the spinning rear wheels) the speedometer showed a marked increase.  As you might imagine I was delighted.

So what was the issue ? . . .

• I get the impression that the solenoid's operating lever was not moving far enough, just a tad out of adjustment, perhaps having slipped on the cross shaft.
• One of the solenoid's two mounting screws was a little loose. It tightened up, by screwdriver, more than 1/2 a turn. 
• I'm not sure where it came from or if it were part of the problem, but I caught a fleeting glimpse of a tiny metallic flake inside the operating valve, when I was flushing it out in petrol. 
• I think Nigel's observation that tick-over rev's might not give sufficient pressure (to overcome the eight springs on the thrust ring assembly) might be right.  Taking the engine up to 2000 rpm, in top gear - clearly registered the overdrive engagement on the speedo.

I'll now reset the solenoid's lever and try the car on the road.  I need to shop for groceries anyway.  In case that lever needs slight adjusting, I'll just rest the rear half of the gearbox cover in place while I do that. 

My gratitude to those who supported and educated me through this episode.  A tid-bit of information from here and there and between us we got the hoped for result !

Thank You. Pete

- - -

Postscript :  the overdrive now works again on the road.  According to the Haynes Manual one might have checked the current across the solenoid to ensure that when switches the current reduces to a 2amps holding current, rather than 15 - 20 amps as the solenoid is activated.  I don't know how to do that measurement, but the ammeter is not showing a discernible discharge when the overdrive is engage ..which I would expect it to if there were 15 or 20 being drawn, so I guess then the solenoid's lever arm is now adjusted OK.  

[Bfg]

That brings this forum pretty much up to date with my activities.  To be honest I've very much lost enthusiasm or even stubborn motivation for working on the car.  Although I've never been good with cold n' damp weather, this year it seems to have effected me more than before.  Next winter I'm determined to go abroad for a few months, as it seems that life is now way too short to be hibernating in a small apartment for four months of each year.

Most likely I'll just park-up the car and get on with life for a while without it but i must admit that I've again been wondering whether it's time to cut my losses and give up on classic cars altogether.?  As they say in american movies "I'm getting too old for this sh..."  

Yesterday was awful weather here. i hadn't booked us into any drive-it day so we didn't venture out.  My mood was not helped by the clear polythene sheet of the polytunnel succumbing to UV light and tearing apart in the wind, and the rain running in.

Despite Mathew very kindly lending me his carburettor flow meter, and my getting Katie's  low speed running a little better, I'm far from happy with this engine. There's a distinct tappin' and more condensation inside the engine than I feel there should be ..although the water level only very rarely needs any topping up.   Anyway this afternoon, I dragged myself outside and retorqued the head yet again, and adjusted the tappets. As that took me to rush hour I decided not to try the car, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

Pete