Thursday 25th April - Bumper improvement programme!

I received a phone call today saying that my Cortina bumper was ready for collection....again! It had had some chrome treatment a little while ago, but unfortunately for some reason it had reacted and started to peel. 

 So, it was sent back to the guy who did it for me and he resolved to make it right. It looked good when I collected it, so it was quickly fitted to my Cortina before the rain came down. Hopefully, it will last this time. 

With this done, I turned my attention to the front bumper on my Triumph. Since looking at Richards Mk1 Triumph on the HCR I decided that the Mk1's look a lot better at the front with the overriders removed from the bumper. The headlights, front grille and bumper all sit horizontally, so the vertical overriders don't quite sync.

I removed the overriders from my bumper, but it left tell tale marks where they had been and I wasn't happy with that. 

So, I found another bumper in my stores shed that wasn't perfect, but was a lot better than the existing one. After a bit of spannering and polishing, I had the replacement bumper fitted. I think it improves the look no end, so it will stay like this for the time being. 

Tuesday 23rd April - Engine removal complete!

 I had some assistance in the form of Gavin this morning, so I had a saved some of the jobs that were easier with two men until now. 

The first job was to remove the bonnet and lay it on the roof of the car. Next on the agenda was to remove the cylinder head. (I can do this on my own, but it's bloody heavy!) We then removed the starter motor and slave cylinder, the last few remaining bellhousing bolts and the engine was then ready to come out. 

After setting the engine crane up, I supported the gearbox with a trolly jack and then got to lifting the engine. It came out quite easily to be honest. With the engine out of the car, I then removed the crankshaft pulley, clutch, flywheel and rear engine plate. 

The last job was to drain all of the oil from it and then move it to the side of the garage. I left the engine crane set up as I'm going up to HarveyTune on Saturday to collect my new engine, so I'll need the crane to unload it from my car. With everything done, we cleaned up and went out for ham, egg and chips at Addy's cafe. very nice it was too. Another successful day!

Monday 22nd April - Engine removal started!

 I had a few things to do on Monday morning and never got home until 2.15pm, so I started quite late on the engine removal process. However, with the warm weather and the company of greatest hits radio, I got stuck in and just cracked on. 

First thing was to drain all the water out of the radiator and while this was draining I undid and removed all heater hoses and fuel hoses. I then moved on the nearside of the engine and removed the distributor and alternator before moving across the front of the engine and removing the water pump. I then removed the air filter, twin carburettors and inlet manifold. 

My next task was remove my additional brake vacuum tank (Especially good for providing better braking efficiency on the long mountain passes in Europe) and my expansion bottle, so that I could get access to the radiator bolts and remove the radiator.

I then undid the bellhousing bolts around the top half of the engine and removed the rocker gear and push rods and undid all the cylinder head bolts in readiness for the head to be removed in the morning. (Gavin was coming round to provide a bit of assistance)

By the time I had cleaned the tools and put them away, it was close on 6pm, so I decided to call it a day and go indoors for some much earned tea. Quite a successful afternoon! 

Sunday 21st April - I finally get around to moving cars about.

After being badly ill since Tuesday I had finally managed to persuade my Doctor to prescribe me some Antibiotics so I could get better. (I had to do it by phone, trying to get a face to face appointment is an absolute joke these days!)  Anyway, today I finally felt well enough to venture outside and move some cars around. 

I had to move the Triumph into the garage in readiness for its engine removal and dissection which meant moving both Cortina's out onto the driveway for a while. 

I then reversed the Triumph into the garage and found that my carbon monoxide alarm works just fine when it started bleeping like a lunatic! I left both doors open for the next 30 minutes to make sure all the fumes had cleared. 

So, today mission was a success and the engine removal will start shortly. 

Wednesday 17th April - The Cortina Starter Motor saga continues

 Unexpectedly, the starter motor that I had sent away to be modified, (That should have taken a week) suddenly arrived back with me on Tuesday 16th April. I quickly fitted it only to find that this time it was just clicking and doing nothing else. I rang the supplier again and after a lengthy discussion we decided to try a different model number. With his usual fantastic service this replacement model arrived Wednesday afternoon. 

Unfortunately, I'd become quite ill on Tuesday afternoon and I was starting to feel quite poorly this afternoon as well. (I think it was a reaction from a hospital procedure I'd had on Monday afternoon) Luckily, I have a fantastic mate, Andy, who's a mad petrol head and very much into classic cars as well. He called round after work for a catch up, and then insisted on fitting the starter motor for me! What a great guy he is! 

Unfortunately, the new model was significantly bigger and just wouldn't fit properly. Well it would, but you then couldn't get the top bolts in to hold it in place securely. Sadly, poor Andy then not only had to remove it, but also had to fit the original inertia one for me so that the car was kept mobile. (I just stood there shivering and freezing cold and holding the torch for him) 

With this done, we retired to my nice warm house and ordered a Chinese takeaway. (Which I hardly ate any of because I was feeling so rough!) As soon as Andy left, I promptly went to bed and slept for about 14 hours and most of the following two days as well!!!

Monday 15th April - More engine pics from Harveytune Derby.

 After the clamp on Dave Harvey's dial gauge broke after timing the camshaft, he wanted to make sure he was double sure it was right before sealing it off. So it was nice to receive pics today showing that the Camshaft timing was complete and double checked and he'd bought himself a new DTI gauge as well. 

All it needs now is the oil pump, sump pan and timing chain cover fitting and then it's complete and finished. I need to start getting on with moving the Triumph into the garage now and start getting the existing engine removed before this one suddenly turns up on the doorstep! 😕

Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th April. Club Triumph Historic Counties Rally.

Due to engine problems, I had to retire from this event last year not far from the start, so hopefully this year there wouldn't be any such issues. 

My co-driver for the event, Mike Bishop was on holiday in Scotland with his family, so the plan was for him to get dropped off at the start an meet me there. Although I have known Mike for around 16 years, this would be the first major event I have done with him. We are also doing the 10 countries rally in September, so this would give us a good idea of how we would get on while being stuck in a car with each other for many long hours. 

I set off around 12pm for the long drive up to the start at Belper in Derbyshire. Colin Wake and Mark Rutter were taking part in Colin's Mk2 Triumph and would be leaving Cambridge and heading across the A14 which is the way that I would be going, so with some good timing, we met up around the Lutterworth area and then completed the rest of the journey together. 

About half hour after arriving at the start, fellow Team Spotlight member Richard Warr and his Co-driver Enzo arrived, so we got the two cars together for a quick photo shoot and then went for our evening meal.

With food and coffee consumed we were given our clue sheets and started working out our route. This event is more like a treasure hunt than a rally and you are given a list of counties that you must pass through while getting photographs of points of interest from a pre-prepared list. Some locations on the a list are worth more points than others, so the idea is to work out an optimum route to gain the most points. 

We had decided to treat this event as a chilled out weekend and just run together and have a laugh rather than try and win it. I've done this event many times before and have never done any good anyway, so why change the habit of a life time! 

We plotted a route that took us over the peak district, then to Macclesfield, through Manchester City centre, up towards Preston, then our final stop at Blackpool Tower before heading to the halfway point at Killington Lake services in Cumbria. 

After our mandatory 30 minute break, we set off again and took the A685 through Kirby Stephen and then the A66 to Barnard Castle. We then cut down through the Yorkshire Dales national park before heading south and onto the A1M. We took a short break at Wetherby services as by now our sleepless night was catching up with us all. 

Slightly refreshed we set off again and headed east on the M62 before crossing  the impressive Humber Bridge over the River Humber. 

After a few short diversions to pick up a few more points, we then headed to the breakfast point and finish point at Lincoln. Luckily, when reading out the results, they only announced the top three places, so we didn't have to hear how rubbish we'd been. Colin and Mark did well though finishing in third place. 

After a nice breakfast and a few coffees (we were needing the caffeine by now!) we set off for home. It was a lovely sunny day and we also had a trouble free drive home. (always a bonus these days) I dropped Mike off at Chelmsford service where his wife and daughters collected him and then headed home. By the time I put the car away and covered it over and got indoors, it was 1pm. Just over 24 hours after setting out on the Saturday. Time for sleep! 

This is now the last event that this car will do with its existing engine. (This event definitely confirmed how tired this engine is) The new engine is nearly finished, so over the next few weeks I will start removing the old one in readiness for the new one to arrive. Good timing really because I haven't got any Club Triumph events until June now, so I've got a good few weeks to get the engine swap completed. 

Wednesday 10th April. Back to the starter motor issues!

After waiting over a week for the new starter solenoid to arrive I was finally able to get it fitted and see if it cured the problems with the new starter motor. To my dismay it didn't 

I got in touch with the supplier again who then asked me to record some measurements. I had to measure the distance of the trigger cog on the starter motor while retracted and also with the trigger cog while projected. I then had to measure from the ring gear on the flywheel to the mounting face of the starter motor on the engine block. I also had to count the amount of teeth on the ring gear. 

Counting the teeth would have been impossible to do on my own, but luckily Colin Wake had stopped by for a cuppa, so he was pressed ganged into action and made to turn the engine over by hand while I laid underneath and counted the teeth. 

The following measurements were recorded, (I don't expect anyone to understand it!) and supplied to the manufacturer.

The upshot of it all is that the starter motor was returned to the supplier so that he can modify it to work properly with the set up I have on the car. (1600 Xflow engine and Ford Sierra Type 9 5 speed gearbox) Unfortunately this will take a couple of weeks, so I refitted the original inertia starter motor as I need to keep the car mobile at present. 

Saturday 6th April. Camshaft dialled in!

 Another text message today from HarveyTune informing that the camshaft has now been dialled in. Brilliant news! Not long now......

I'm really looking forward to getting this engine into the car. However, it will have to wait as there is the small matter of the Club Triumph Historic Counties Rally first on the weekend of the 13th & 14th April. The engine in the car at present isn't in the best condition, but it should be strong enough to cope with a good few more miles yet. After this event I will be putting the Triumph in the garage and start removing the engine. 

Wednesday 3rd April. A quick update from Derby!

 Another quick text today from HarveyTune at Derby to inform me that the reground cross drilled crankshaft had been fitted to my Triumph engine and also the Piper Camshaft had been installed as well. 

The next stage in the process was fitting the brand new plus 40 thou pistons and that was being done today. I'm happy with the way its all coming together and it shouldn't be that much longer that this engine will be completed and ready to go in the car. Great stuff! Cant wait! 

Monday 25th March - New starter motor.

 Following starter motor issues with the inertia starter motor on my Green Cortina, I had purchased (some time ago) a hi-torque pre-engaged starter motor to replace it. With the warmer weather now starting to appear, I decided to finally get round to fitting it. 

With the new starter motor fitted I was disappointed to find that the trigger cog was whirring, but not engaging. On the rare occasions that it did work properly, the trigger cog was then not releasing properly either. I then rang the company who supplied the starter motor who said that it sounded like the original separate starter solenoid on the inner wing could be causing the problem. So, I then set about removing it and found an additional issue when the main battery cable separated from its connector! 

I'd had enough at this stage, so I called it a day and went indoors until I could order a new solenoid and get the battery lead repaired. 

Saturday 23rd March. A bit of a snag on the Triumph engine.

I received a text message from Dave Harvey this morning. he was a bit miffed as today was to be the day he was going to fit the pistons onto the con rods on my engine that he's rebuilding. 

Unfortunately, the company that supplied the pistons had sent the wrong size circlips! So that was it for the day. Plans aborted and a request to the company on Monday to send the correct ones! 

Wednesday 13th March - News from HarveyTune at Derby.

 Good friend Dave Harvey is currently building an engine for my Mk1 Triumph as my old 2.6 litre engine  is getting a bit knackered now. The 2.6 engine is now in its third car and has been raced and rallied since 2011. I commissioned Dave to do the job because I've seen his work and it is absolutely meticulous. 

Dave had put the block into Bate's Engineering at Derby to be rebored and for the crank to be reground. With the block back from them, the cleaning process then started. Brand new plus 40 thou pistons have been purchased and also some good quality con rods as the original ones weren't up to the job. 

I also ordered some new ARP big end bolts (Not cheap!) and some other bits and pieces that left me £138 shorter. It's certainly not cheap having an engine built these days. 

Sunday 28th January. The Essex winter rally.

 The Triumph finally came out to play today as it was booked on a Club Triumph 12 car rally. Good friend Richard Warr had arrived the day before and was playing the role of my navigator. We had a few drinks on the Saturday night, but not too many as I had to drive and Richard had to concentrate on the maps. 

The start was at D's Diner at Hatfield Peverel and after some breakfast we plotted our route from the first set of clues and got going. 

We encountered some seriously muddy roads and also some very deep Fords. One of them left me with water coming out through my centre console! We reached the first check point and were surprised to learn we were the first car to arrive. All was going to plan and we thought that we were doing well, but on opening the envelope for the last set of clues, nothing was making sense. We lost a lot of time trying to make the clues fit the map, but we just couldn't get it. We even tried working backwards from where we thought the finish would be, but none of it was coming together. (The organisers had decided to not tell us the name of the pub where we were finishing, only that it was a pub in Hatfield Peverel-There's about five pubs in Hatfield Peverel!)

Feeling deflated, we picked a route that we 'thought' might be right and headed back to Hatfield Peverel to look for a pub that had other Triumphs in the car park. 

Once we arrived at the pub, we discovered that the first clue on the instructions for the last section were wrong and two digits and been printed the wrong way round! No wonder we couldn't make it work! Apparently, one of the other crews had managed to guess that it was wrong and plotted the correct route. (Hmm......) They also ended up winning. 

The results were announced and we had finished a lowly 6th place out 8 starters. Although we'd had a good weekend Richard and I have decided we're not going to bother with anymore Club Triumph 12 car rallies. These are supposed to be fun days out, but we just seem to come home feeling deflated and frustrated. There seems to have been a lot of 'mistakes' that affect the results over the years and twice in the past ten years, me and a navigator have won or been placed highly, only for the results to be changed on the Monday night and our position demoted. It's got to the stage where we feel that we the fun has gone out of it now, so it's time to give it a rest. 

Saturday 20th January. Washer bottle electrics

 Since my Zetec Cortina had come back from Redline Racing, my windscreen washers hadn't worked. So Saturday morning, Gavin and I started going through the process of finding out why. 

We first suspected a faulty flick switch, but this turned out to be working fine. The washer motor itself was next on the agenda, but again that also turned out to be fine. There's a lot of wiring that I'm not happy with on this car and the wiring for the washers just disappears into the loom and goes God knows where just like most of the other things electrical. 

With this in mind I decided to create a new loom for the washers and just start from scratch. With this in place and all connected up the washers started working as they should. While I was running the new loom, I delved behind the passenger side glove box and found the wiring for the washers. I also discovered the real reason the washers had stopped working. Redline Racing had lopped off the live wire for the washers and used it for something else! Not impressed!!!

Despite discovering this, I continued to run the new loom as it would look a lot tidier and neater anyway. This was also the first day I had worked in the garage with the new diesel heater running. I have to say its turned to be a good investment. I mean, it wasn't T-shirt weather in there, but we certainly never felt cold. All in all, a successful day. 

Wednesday January 3rd - Another Rolling road session!

 Since fitting the new Weber carb on the Green Cortina I'd been meaning to arrange a rolling road session just make sure that the car is running as it should. So, I rang Atspeed Racing in early December and got booked in and put on their waiting list. (very popular this place)

My booking date was January 3rd, so after moving cars around I got the Cortina out and had a leisurely drive down to them. 

I left it with them and walked back home and then went to work. Later that afternoon they rang me to say my car was done and ready for collection. They said all it need was a different Idle jet and an accelerator pump jet. The carburettor was brand new, but carburettors ideally need to be tuned to suit your engine. Just bolting on a brand new carb wont always cure your issues. 

I collected the car next day and as usual, they had done a great job and the car now runs smoother and feels quicker. Another job off the list and a good start to the year! 

Thursday December 21st. An early Christmas present-for me, from me!

 I hadn't been looking to replace my every day car, the trusty Renault Clio, but a car came up for sale at a very good price and looked a very good option for me. There's nothing seriously wrong with the Clio, but it is getting on now and has also covered over 200,000 miles! 

The car in question was a Peugeot 308 Diesel 1.6 HDI estate. It's been very well looked after and drove very nicely on the test drive. It has lots of creature comforts that the Clio doesn't have, built in satnav, automatic handbrake, separate driver and passenger heating controls, air conditioning, digital radio, cruise control and even a speed limiter! (That will come in handy on that bloody A127) etc. It also has a 6 speed gearbox which makes it very economical. 

So, I'm very pleased with my new purchase and think I've got a good deal.  One of the things that used to bug me about the Clio was that the AM band on the stereo never worked, so I could never listen to the footy. The new Peugeot has a digital radio and an AM band as well, so my footy days are restored!

 

I will soon be doing a couple of small jobs on the Clio and then putting it up for sale. It's been a good servant, and been very reliable, but I'm afraid it's time for it to move on. 

Saturday December 16th - A bit of heat for the garage.

 After considering different options of types of heaters for the garage I decided on a diesel heater. I've tried various heaters in past, such as space heaters (too damn noisy) and fan heaters (too damn expensive) so this time I thought I'd try something else. 

A guy at work has been using a diesel heater in his garage for years and highly recommended one. So after looking at different models I put in an order for one and to my surprise it was delivered the next day. I set it up on the work bench first just to perform a test run and then figured out where in the garage would be the best place for it. Eventually I decided it was going to sit on the floor next to workbench, although this meant extending the exhaust to the other side of the garage and exiting it through the outside wall. 

Now, due to the fact that this heater obviously runs on diesel and has an exhaust I am well aware of the potential problems should anything go wrong that might lead to fumes building up in the garage while I'm in there. So, I took the precaution of buying a carbon monoxide detector and alarm and have mounted it on a shelf in close proximity of the heater so that should any leaks occur, I'll quickly know about it. 

At present, the weather has been fairly mild, so I've not really used it yet, but I'm sure that will change in January!