Saturday 22nd August. A run out for the Pi.

I can't believe I've not written anything here since April! What have I been doing with myself? 

Well, not a lot, is the answer to that one. Work has been manic and a serious back issue and a trapped nerve has sidelined me for a number of weeks now unfortunately. 

However, with the back issue now almost gone I decided to give the Pi it's first long run out in my ownership. 

I took the car to work on Friday for a bit of a shake down only to find that it decided to drop down to 5 cylinders on the way home. (This was the first time it had done this since I'd had the injectors refurbished in June.) Anyway, with no.5 injector removed and unblocked, it then ran as it should and all was well.

Early Saturday morning saw me heading for the M25 and M11 and making the long journey up to Wisbech in Norfolk. The car managed to behave itself and I eventually made the show ground at around 9am.

 Lee Godfrey was already there and before long we were joined by Peter Jackson in his Mk2 estate with his 2 door Mk2 saloon on a trailer. 

It was a classic car and tractor day and the line up of Triumphs was quite impressive. It was also a blistering hot day and long spells of it were spent under a tree, in the shade consuming tea, coffee and cake. Very nice. :)

I decided to make tracks just after five and again the Pi provided me with a trouble free run home. It was only when I parked the car on the drive, open the gates to the back garden, then started it up to drive the car in that it dropped down onto to 5 cylinders again! My exact thought was 'bugger it, it can wait until morning now'. 

Here's some more pics from the day. 

April 18th & 19th Club Triumph Historic Counties Rally.

After a long week of working on Gertie every night after work and installing a new complete clutch, alternator, and giving her an oil and filter change, she was now ready to take part in the 2015 HCR. I collected my co-drivers Saturday morning and we had an enjoyable breakfast in Collier Row near Romford, before leaving for the first start location at Stourbridge. (Although my choice of vegetarian fried breakfast probably wasn't the best choice for a long journey and left the car smelling very herbal at times!) 

We arrived at VeeBee Filteration for around 14.45 where we took part in a very short Gymkhana event before moving onto the Wagon and Horses for a quite un-spectacular dinner. Eventually we received our clue sheets, plotted our route and left the pub at 18.40. 

Our plotted route took us back up towards Stourbridge, then we headed for North Wales picking up the counties of Shropshire, Denbighshire, Gwynedd, Conwy, and Flintshire.(Anglesey was on the optional list, but we decided that would be a bridge too far.) We then headed for Cheshire, a Cheese factory in Macclesfield before heading over to Derbyshire. This was the last last county on the list, but on returning to the car after  gaining the obligatory photo evidence of the county sign, we found that our eta for the check in Control at Corley services was 12.59 hrs. This was ok, but the control closed at 01.00 and penalty points would be awarded for lateness after that time. However, some err... spirited driving saw us arrive at the control at 12.47am. Spot on!

After our enforced one hour break we had plotted the second part of our run which then took us to Northamptonshire, a bedding supplier in Bedfordshire, Essex, a hospital in Hertfordshire, Stansted Airport, the imperial War museum in Duxford, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, and a pork pie producer in Melton Mowbray. (yes, really!)

We then headed further north to collect a county sign for Nottingham before heading for breakfast and the finish location in Leicestershire. 

After a hearty breakfast and a chat with the other crews it was time for the results. We were quite chuffed to find that we had finished in fourth place. Quite pleasing for a car who's gearbox was still on the garage floor Tuesday night!  

When you looked at the route we had taken throughout the run, we had almost covered a massive figure of eight shape across the country. That will be why the event was sub-titled 'Loop the loop then! :) 

11th & 12th April. Bending things and breaking things.

A trip to Normandy in France this weekend with a few mates provided a fantastic laugh and a great time. However, it was slightly tainted by a couple of unfortunate issues.

The first was when we stopped to let an old lady cross the road on a Zebra crossing and a French white van man decided to drive into the back of us! The crash caused damage to the inner and outer rear valance and bootlid. Thanks to help from some of the crowd we were with, we managed to pull some of it out and get the boot opening and closing properly again. 

before...

after....

The second issue was worse on the 'going home' part of the run. The clutch had been getting quite difficult to operate smoothly. In fact, sometimes, the pedal seemed to stick and wouldn't  release at the biting point when it needed to. Luckily, we managed to get the car home ok, and the following morning the gearbox and clutch was removed for inspection. 

Investigation revealed that the fingers on the pressure plate were badly worn and also not quite in line in places. 

Even more investigation also revealed a broken engine mount. I suspect this was caused by the amount of 'jolty' pulling away we had had to do with the awkward clutch. 

So, a replacement engine mount has been fitted and a new clutch has been ordered. Hopefully, it will arrive in the next few days and all being well Gertie will be back in action on the HCR this weekend. 

       It's just a pity just this will now be two years running that she has had to compete with accident damage! 

January 24th 2015. What colour Pi would you like?

I have to be honest, I've not much to report on the work front what with Christmas and freezing cold weather getting in the way. Oh!, and the National Grid replacing a gas main outside my house and digging a large hole across my drive and stopping me from getting cars in or out of my garage or even allowing me to park on my own driveway!

The weekend that they did this I decided to take a run up to the Heritage Centre for the HRCR (Historic Rally Car Register) open day. It was a good day out despite getting battered by the strong winds on the way up there and having to divert across to the M1 on the way back due to an accident on the M40.

There was some nice cars up there and I was lucky enough to purchase Bill Price's book 'The BMC/BL competitions department'. The lady who's stall I bought it from said to me 'If you turn round and ask that man standing behind you nicely, he might even sign it for you'. So, Bill Price's autograph was duly obtained for the inside cover. (Well, you never know it could double the price in years to come!)  :)

Some cars from the HRCR open day....

With regards to the Pi, all I've really managed to do is repair the driver side B post and start fitting the replacement panels that I bought for her, although for some reason the off side rear door doesn't seem want to line up properly no matter how much adjustment you make on it! Colin Wake has got another one I can try, so hopefully that one will be better. The front passenger door was a better fit and the bonnet and bootlid fit ok too. (The bootlid still needs a bit more lining up when time permits)

The repaired drivers door looked good when I collected it, but now fitted to the car isn't that clever. So I am on the search for either another door, or replacement skin. 

So, with all of it's new panels the Pi is now looking somewhat Multi-Coloured! Progress is slow, but it's getting there.