April 27th. Gertie's alive.............but poorly. :(

As reported in the last blog, my mate Dave was coming round to sort out some wiring for me. He adapted the starter motor wiring to suit the new pre-engaged high torque starter motor for me and also wired in the electric fuel pump. We originally decided to wire the electric fuel pump to the ignition, but have since decided it will be better going through a separate switch. I also ended up distracting him with some other small jobs, so we didn't manage to get everything done and another session was arranged.
A few nights later Dave returned and started work on wiring up the oil cooler temperature gauge and other items as well, so all is looking good in that department. However, when it came to getting Gertie started things didn't quite go to plan.

After trying various different methods of trying to get a spark at the plugs, we came to the conclusion that the sensor for the lumenition in the distributor had given out. God knows why, it was working fine in the yellow car, but for some reason it doesn't like Gertie!
So we stole the distributor out of Gertie's old engine and went back to points and condensor. We at least managed to get a spark now,  but Gertie still wouldn't fire. We also had petrol into the carbs, but she still wouldn't run. With time now getting on we called it a night and ventured indoors for a cuppa.

Friday night was the next time I managed to get to have a play and luckily another mate of mine (yes I do have two!) Andy called in on his way to work. (I bet he wished he hadn't) After much investigation and removal of the distributor again, we came to the conclusion that the drive cog that links the oil pump drive to the distributor drive (and runs off of the cam) wasn't quite in the right place. With this removed and refitted Gertie burst into life, albeit not particularly well. The engine was cut quickly to repair a split heater hose that was spraying water everywhere and then work resumed. Gertie was starting and running easy enough, but still not as it should be. I know with it's new highly tuned engine that it wont run as smooth as the old 2 litre unit (particularly on tickover) but she's definitely running far more erratically than she should be. Work will resume this weekend.
  

April 21st. Almost there!

A new contract at work meaning plenty of late nights and weekends has taken my focus off of Gertie somewhat over the past few weeks, so I haven't done as much as I hoped I would.
I was never going to rush it anyway as I didn't want to end up missing things or doing them twice over, plus there were certain modifications to do as well.
One of these things was the throttle set up. Gertie was on her original 'rod and linkage set up' for the stromberg carbs, whereas the new engine has twin SU's that are operated by cable. This means changing the actual pedal itself, buying an adptor plate and having to drill three holes in the bulk head to mount it all. (Two for the pedal, one for the cable)
The bolts have to be screwed into the pedal mount from the engine bay side and given the location, in the dip behind the inner wing and next to the servo, there's isn't a lot of room. (Especially with big clumsy sausage fingers like mine!)

The next modification was going away from a manual fuel pump to a facet electric item. With the other mods there isn't a great deal of room under the bonnet so I was a bit limited as to where I could mount it. I did think about mounting it in the boot, but with all the spares and tools I carry on rallies, I thought it would be at risk of being dislodged. In the end I decided on the inner wing on the passenger side and will just make sure that all of the wiring near it is tidied up and kept away from it. The main wiring that was there was for the starter solenoid, but the car now has a hi-torque pre-engaged one, so the original solenoid has been removed.

An oil cooler system with temperature sender and gauge have been fitted and also an oil pressure gauge kit as well. These two gauages have been mounted in the centre console area (temporarily) along with the stereo which was previously mounted on the parcel shelf on the passenger side! (Not practical at all!) 

Working on the car four nights after work this week has seen a fair bit completed. My navigator and mate Dave is coming round tomorrow to sort out some electrickery for me and after that, there's not much left to do. As soon as Gertie is finished, I can get the yellow car up and  as well, renew the MOT and put her on the dreaded Ebay. The start price will be high enough to hopefully keep the banger drivers away from wanting the car for the 'All Triumph' banger meeting in the summer. (I've nothing against banger racers, I just don't want the car to go down this route!)

Hopefully, it wont be long before Gertie is up and running again and I can start getting the new eingine run in ready for the International Auto Eccosse (Scottish Rally) at the end of May.

Friday 6th April- Gertie has a new heart.

With not having to work through the Easter break I had made plans to remove the standard 2 litre engine from Gertie and fit the newly rebuilt 2500 engine. My 'Round Britain' co-pilot 'Davemate' offered to help and this being something I would struggle to do alone, I took him up on his offer.

Dave arrived around 8am and we got straight into it and by about 10.40 Gertie's engine and gearbox was extracted. As previously advised, the front cross member was unbolted and the car 'bounced' on its springs to provide more space between the cross member and bulkhead. With this done, the engine and gearbox came out together.

This engine was to go back into the yellow car which will then be sold once up and running, ( I want to cut down to two cars eventually.) but for now the priority was to get the new one fitted in place. This didn't seem to want to go at first and was reluctant to even line up, but after a bit of cursing, swearing, jigery pokery and some more swearing she finally slotted in place. We then bolted the front cross member back down so that Gertie was sitting as she should.

Seeing as it was still early afternoon, we devoured some cheese sarnies and cold Pepsi max and then decided to get Gertie's old engine fitted into the yellow car. This was even easier than trying to fit the other engine and went in without even having to unbolt the cross member! Eh? How's that then? I had been told without unbolting the cross member, the sump wont drop down over the power steering rack. But it did. Result!

With both engine and gearboxes in, we still had time to get the strobe light out and have a play with the timing on Dave's Herald. (And also did my estate while we were at it). Dave even let me have a drive of his Herald and has what I thought was a really cool option. He has his overdrive switch fitted on the steering wheel. It's brilliant and helps make it a great car to drive.

Dave then helped me refit both bonnets to the cars and we then called it a day as we were now into the early evening. The next few days will be spent finishing Gertie off and fitting such luxuries as an oil cooler and oil pressure gauge.



31st March-1st April- Club Triumph Historic Counties Rally

After a lovely fish & chip supper, a freezing cold Saturday evening saw me driving Gertie round in circles and attempting to throw tennis balls into a plastic bucket while Dave operated the steering from the passenger seat. Third crew member Mark Thompson filmed the debacle on his phone. No, this wasn't one of my many bizarre dreams, this was part of the skills test at the start of the 2012 HCR. We didn't get any balls in the bucket but we did hit it three times.
The event hadn't started well and we managed to miss the start location due to some dodgy directions! To assist us once the rally started, some highly technical equipment was fitted to the dash board to aide Dave in his directional instructions!

With the theme of the rally being race circuits we set off in search of photographic evidence that we had visited these locations and whatever counties we could prove we'd been through as well. Our first stop was Bentwaters Park Sprint Course in Suffolk. We arrived there with others only to find the park closed and no access to the course. We settled for getting pics of the security guys van that had Bentwaters Park written on it.

 Next on our list was Snetterton Race Track in Norfolk and after leaving here we diverted off through Newmarket and managed to photograph the county sign of Cambridgeshire to add to our list. Rockingham Speedway in Northamptonshire was our next location although the satnav didn't agree with the road signs on this one, so a few twists and turns were made before finding it. 

The counties of Rutland and Leicestershire were snapped next and we even went up as far as Nottinghamshire before heading back to Donnington Park.

We were getting tight on time to make the halfway point deadline at Corley Services on the M6 in Warwickshire, so we made a quick a dash and managed to get there at 1.30am.

After a mandatory one hour break we started the second half and captured West Midlands and Worcestershire before eventually finding the Prescott Hill Climb Circuit in Gloucestershire.

Knackeredshire was suddenly a place that all three of us were familiar with, so a ten minute 'freshen up' break was taken in a deathly quiet and pitch black lay-by while drinking energy drink crap and looking up at the stars. Quite surreal really.

Our next port of call was Castle Combe in Wiltshire, before cutting across Hampshire to make Thruxton Race Circuit. By now it was starting to get light so the driving was a little easier. (So I'm told. Mark and Dave were upfront now and I was asleep on the back seat!)

After leaving Thruxton I jumped back in the hot seat and set off for the final circuit Goodwood in West Sussex. We managed to get to this before the crowds built up too much as there seemed to be some event going on there. Then it was off to the final location at The Greyhound Inn in 'Cocking' in West Sussex. (yes we've had all the jokes!)

Our time card was handed in, but then we had to skip breakfast and get on the move again. Dave's young son was taking part in an event at the Olympic Stadium and he understandably wanted to be there for it. So we rushed over to Gatwick airport so he could get the Gatwick Express to London, then the Tube over to Stratford.  

A brilliant time was had by all and our three man crew certainly had some laughs. I have to hand it to Gertie as well. That's yet another high mileage rally completed with no real issues to speak of. This was also her last event before her engine gets removed in favour of a rather 'tasty' one. It almost seems a shame to remove the standard 2 litre lump really because she goes so well, but she does bog down a bit on the climbs. Particularly with a three man crew, spares, tools, about 50 kilos of biscuits and apple pies and about four gallons of energy drinks!

  

Tuesday 27th March-Gertie's back on form!

The recent Chinese Rally (In Holland!) had left Gertie running a little bit sick. To be fair she wasn't running 100% when we arrived at our hotel on the Friday night, but she carried on regardless and was never really a cause for any concern. On high revs and motorway speeds she was fine, but on tickover and slow running speeds she had a constant misfire that I just couldn't get to the bottom of. After tinkering half of Saturday and until late last night and with time (and patience!) running out before the HCR this weekend, I dropped her off at Carlow engineering to let Gordon have a play and see what he could find.
When I collected the car from there tonight, Gordon revealed his diagnosis........I had blown the inlet manifold gasket on ports 1 & 2. Oh dear! Maybe we were trying a bit too hard in Holland then! While talking to Gordon, I also mentioned our issue of constantly blowing no.1 fuse and everything that it affected. Gordon suddenly said 'Oh! I might have cured that then. I've just bent a spare tab on the voltage stabiliser out of the way because it was touching the clutch master cylinder resevoir'. He then led me over to Gertie and opened the bonnet to show me what he meant.
On the bulkhead of the Mk1 is said voltage stabiliser. Close (in fact dangerously close) to the stabiliser is the reservoir for the master cylinder for the clutch. The reservoir should also have a bracket that holds it tight to the bulkhead. Mine is missing! So the reservoir was moving every now and then, and when it was, it was touching the spare tab on the voltage stabiliser and shorting it out and subsequently blowing the fuse ! As I was in the middle of trying to eliminate the problem, the temperature and fuel gauges were currently disconnected, so when I arrived home I reconnected them, (They are on the same wire on the fuse box) then bent the spare tab on the stabiliser back over towards the reservoir and then made the two contact. Sure enough there was an instant spark and the fuse blew again! So it looks highly likely that this was causing the 'blown fuses' issue in Holland. I then decided to move the voltage stabiliser away from the reservoir or any other 'loose' parts.  I also now need to look out for the bracket that holds the reservoir tight to the bulkhead.

Whilst tinkering with the car on Saturday, I decided to remove the bumpers. I love the 'bumper-less' look on  Mk1's but wasn't sure if it would work on Gertie with it being a darker colour. However, with Gertie now having a cream roof and cream wheels, maybe it might just work? In the end, I couldn't fight the urge anymore and bit the bullet and took them off. I have to say, I was pleased with the result and I think she looks good.
With the car now running well and sounding good, I'm looking forward to the overnight challenge of the Historic Counties Rally this weekend.

Friday 16th March-Going Dutch!

At long last the night rally in Holland was upon us. My Navigator for the event was Doug Foreman who arrived with me on the Friday morning an hour earlier than expected. This turned out to be a bonus (or so we thought) as the traffic in the area was pretty much at a standstill.
We battled our way through Essex and down to Dover hoping to catch the earlier Ferry. (Our booking was at 14.00 but there was one at 12.00) However, this was not to be as the 12.00 boat was in dry dock awaiting repairs, so we were faced with a lengthy delay. (As you can see by the bored looking Mr Foreman)

The two hour crossing to Dunkerque meant that it was 5pm local time when we left the Ferry, so we hiked it up to motorway speed travelling up through Gent, Antwerp, Breda, Tilburg and finally towards Beekbergen near Appledorn. While on route we stopped in a Belgium roadside cafe where Doug spotted something on the menu by the name of 'Cheesecrack'. I whispered to Doug that I might ask the waitress if I could see her 'cheesy crack' but thought better of it. In the end we both settled for Goulash and Frites.

After leaving the restaurant and while travelling at around erm....70mph-ish the revs increased for a second and then went back to normal again. It felt like the overdrive had dropped out momentarily. It was at the same time that we realised that we had no temperature or fuel gauges, indicators, wipers, washers or brake lights. The no.1 fuse had blown!

We managed to get to our hotel ok and decided to investigate our electrical issues in the morning as there was some decent alcohol in the bar to be consumed before bedtime.

Saturday morning saw replacing the fuse and also changing the points as Gertie had started running a little sick. Our search for petrol on Saturday morning found us a nice line up of Ford Transits. I can't remember the last time I saw one, let alone this many!

After finding some petrol we also found that Gertie was running worse with the new points and had also blown no.1 fuse again. So, we returned to the hotel and cleaned up refitted the old points. We had another look at the electrics and cleaned up the fuse box in the hope that that would do the trick.

Saturday afternoon saw us and the other CT British crews that had arrived head down to the Wok Chinese Restaurant for the buffet and event start. (This is why it's called the Chinese Rally) There were lots of other cars competing in this one and the competition looked good.

Our start time was 18.25 (CET) and thanks to my top class navigator we were soon picking off the routes and picking up plenty of code boards. We once again blew another fuse and trying to trace it decided to disconnect the brake light switch as we thought this might be causing it. This wasn't the case though as we still blew another fuse with this disconnected! We carried on regardless and managed to complete the first half of the rally. (This was the competitive half) However, with about 11kms left to go to the half way point the rain started coming down. With no windscreen wipers we headed to the halfway point very carefully and enjoyed coffee and cake while waiting for the rain to stop. Once it had, we decided to play safe and call it a day and head back to the finish.

Once at the finish we enjoyed a couple of small beers and then headed back to our hotel. The bar in our  hotel was closed so Doug and I retrieved some beers and crisps from Gertie's boot that had been purchased for just this kind of emergency!  I managed to find an English TV channel showing the days football and Doug later managed to find some euro channels involving naked ladies cavorting about! Maybe that's what the people in the room opposite ours was watching as there was certainly a lot of 'man grunting' coming from there! (but no female noises I hasten to add!)

Sunday morning saw us faffing about with the electrics again, although this time we managed to get the wipers, washers and brake lights working without blowing fuses. I also mistakenly thought our ferry crossing was at 4pm, but it turned out to be 2pm, so a high speed chase back to the port was the order of the day to make that deadline. I thought we did alright seeing as we were still in Beekbergen at 10.10am!

Another 2 hour crossing saw us depart Dover late Sunday afternoon and head into more rain before arriving home. (Good job we managed to get the wipers working!)

We had a memorable weekend away, met some great people, and drove some fantastic roads. Apart from her small issues Gertie performed well. So much so that I might postpone her engine change and use her on the HCR!

Sunday March 5th. HCR Prep

Seeing as my mate Dave had a free day today, he came round to finally finish fitting the headlight relays to the estate. He'd already done the full beam lights quite some time ago, so it was the dipped beam that now needed attention.

The car is lined up for the Historic Counties Rally at the end of March and as this rally is an all night one and the headlights will be on for most of it, we thought it best to get them finished.
While Dave was pulling wires about and playing with his multimeter, I was underneath splashing a bit of underseal on so the car looked good for the MOT tomorrow. Fingers crossed for that!