Friday 30th June - Annoying!

 Today was a no rain day, so I was hoping to fit my new brake pads and discs to my Renault Clio. All was going well and I had the wheels, callipers and discs removed in about 20 minutes. However, when I went to fit the new discs, I found that they were too big. Obviously a different diameter to what I have on the car.

Annoyingly, I then had to put everything back together so I could drive to Euro Car Parts and swap over the wrong ones that they had delivered. I did fit the new brake pads, but its a pain that a job that I wanted to do today to save me time tomorrow has now got to be done tomorrow. You would have thought with all this wonderful modern technology we have, that mistakes like this wouldn't happen. Obviously not! 

Thursday 29th June. Zetec Cortina is mobile again

 To be honest, this mornings plan was to fit new brake pads and discs on my every day car, my Renault Clio. I was up early and was going to get an early start. However, with garage space currently taken up by my Zetec Cortina, I was going to have to do this on the driveway. As bad luck would have it, today was the day it decided to rain, thus thwarting my plans.

Seeing as I already had my overalls on I decided to go into the garage and try and get the Zetec finished off and mobile again. All I had to do was re-fit the slave cylinder and bleed the clutch, refit the propshaft, fill the newly rebuilt gearbox with oil, and put the bonnet back on. Everything went well and before I knew it I was done and playing musical cars, so I could get the troublesome Triumph into the garage. A very good morning. And it had stopped raining!

Wednesday 28th June. The fuel pump returns!

The fuel pump that I had sent away to KMI Petrol Injection to be refurbished had arrived the day before while I was at work. So today I decided to get it fitted so I could return the one I had borrowed to its rightful owner, Richard Warr. 

With the pump fitted I decided to drive the car a few times around the block. All seemed well until the 4th lap when all of a sudden the car 'coughed'. It only did it the once, but once was enough to dispel my thoughts of test driving it properly by taking it to work. 

As if to confirm my suspicions, the car then dropped onto to five cylinders which turned out to be a problem with no.1 injector. No amount of fiddling would make fuel come out of the injector, so God knows what gone wrong now. My work departure time was creeping up on me, so the Triumph was parked up and left. It really is fighting me all the way this car and to be honest I'm losing heart with it quite rapidly. 

Monday 26th June - Fuel Pump investigations.

 While trying to cure my Triumph issues at various different times on the event on the Sunday, we had all suspected the Lucas fuel to be faulty even though it had only been refurbished last year. (It was on loan from Richard Warr, as my one had been sent off to KMI petrol injection services for rebuild)

So the first thing to do was put a pressure gauge in-line to see what kind of pressure the pump was providing. The system needs around 105 psi  to allow the car to run and drive as it should. With the pressure gauge fitted I let the car idle for 5 minutes. 

As you can see in the above video, the pressure is only around 100psi and it's dipping in places as well. So, I left it running longer.........

Wow! As you can see, after 10 minutes, it's now seriously dipping in pressure. This will be enough to close the injectors and give the car the impression of cutting out. Which is exactly what it was doing. A lot!

The fact that it was dipping so badly though led me to wonder if there was a problem with the PRV. (pressure relief valve) Luckily, I had another one that I could try. So I fitted the other PRV and ran the car for 20 minutes.

The new PRV seemed to change the whole situation, so it must be the PRV causing the issues, not the fuel pump. Just my bad luck that I didn't take the spare one with me. Lesson learned!

While the car was on the back of the AA truck, the driver noticed that my nearside rear tyre was badly worn on the inside edge. This is really odd, because nothing was rubbing or getting caught on it and it hasn't worn all the way round, just in a couple of places. Rather than normal wear and tear, I think this is just a faulty carcass that has worn really unevenly. Oh well, time for a new tyre then. 

As soon as I get time I will take the Triumph out for a test drive, but I'm pretty sure that I have now finally got to the bottom of my long term issues. 

Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th June. The Club Triumph 2023 Coast to Coast Rally.

 Despite my recent issues with the Triumph, Colin Wake and I decided to press ahead with attempting the Club Triumph C2C. (This is an overnight event)

I had worked on the car on Friday and changed the rock hard polyurethane gearbox mount for a more flexible one in the hope that it cured the vibration that I was getting between 60 and 65mph. (It did!) I had also topped up the gearbox oil. 

So, Colin arrived at mine around 12pm Saturday and after working out a way to avoid the M11 around Harlow which was choked up with traffic, we headed across to Chelmsford, then Great Dunmow and joined the M11 at Stanstead. Our starting point for the event was Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire. Some 180 miles away from my house! 

We had a trouble free run up, with just a couple of 'coughs' which was enough to prove that I hadn't completely cleared the issues that have been plaguing this car lately. On arrival at Mablethorpe we met up with Richard and Roger whom we would be running with on the event. They were piloting Roger's Triumph Stag. We all enjoyed a carvery before the start and with the weather being so hot, we also took advantage of the ice cream stand nearby. (Cheers Richard!)

Suitably fed and watered, we set off around 7pm and would be heading across the country towards the Welsh Coast. (See below)

The weather was still very hot and it was so lovely to drive through the night with both front windows wide open. We had some fantastic drives across the Lincolnshire flats, before heading across to Chesterfield and then across the national parks in the Peak District. Our halfway point was planned for 1-2am and was at Stafford services on the M6 southbound where we refueled with coffee, but definitely not petrol due to the insane prices.

From Stafford we headed for Shrewsbury and then into mid Wales for some more excellent driving roads that eventually led into Snowdonia national park. It was still warm and before we knew it, the sun was starting to come up. It felt like it had hardly been dark at all. (But then we were close to the shortest night on the calendar)

Sunday morning around 6am and close to Aberystwyth was when we started having issues with the car. We were unsure whether it was ignition based problems or the Lucal fuel pump playing up.

We stopped numerous times and tried different fixes and bodges, but all to no avail. In the end though it did run well enough to get to the finish at Whitland in Carmarthenshire, so we did at least complete the event and pick up our finishers award. We also enjoyed a lovely fried  breakfast which went down very well after the nights exertions. 

With the car making it to the finish, we were hoping that we would be able to nurse it home, but alas it was not to be. By now the fuel pump was making horrendous noises and was obviously dropping pressure. Within ten minutes of leaving the finish location, we had pulled into a services and had to ring the AA for recovery. I've heard some real horror stories (and witnessed some through my work) about the AA and how long they can take to recover people home, and the fact that we were 267 miles away from where I live did not bode well. Oh well, at least we'd have time to catch up on sleep while we were waiting. Or so we thought. 

A patrol van arrived after 55 minutes and after confirming that there was nothing he could do to fix the car, he revealed that he had a spec lift on his van and could recover us to the Severn bridge area. The AA would then let us know what was happening after that. 

It took a while for him to get set up and secure the car, but we were soon on the move. It was a very slow drive as well due to traffic, plus the fact that they are only allowed to tow at 50mph. Colin and I were struggling for sleep by now, but with three of us in the cab, there was nowhere to stretch out and relax.

After what felt like a life time, we arrived at Magor Services on the M4 and he set about unloading us while Colin went and bought us some coffees. Before the AA driver left, he showed us a message that said that the next truck from the AA would be with us at 15.40, but he didn't know how far he would take us. 15.40 was ok though and only gave us an hours wait so that wasn't too bad. Even better was that the second guy actually arrived at 15.20 and said he had only just started his shift and should be able to take us all the way home. (Depending on traffic)

So with the car quickly loaded we set out. We did catch some traffic at Bristol and then again at Newbury. Colin and I were hoping for a bit of comfort and opted for the crew cab section, but these trucks are not built with passenger comfort in mind, so sleeping wasn't really an option.

Due to the traffic jams we encountered on the M4 and M25, the driver had to pull into South Mimms services to take a 45 minute tachograph break. I did ask him if would be dropping us here for another vehicle to complete the journey, but he replied 'No, I'll still have enough driving hours to get you home and get back to my base in Bristol, so we'll carry on after my break'. This was music to my ears as dropping us off at South Mimms would have definitely added another two hours at least onto our trip. (If you're in a service area with food, drink and toilet facilities, you are no longer a priority and will move to the back of the queue!)

After another coffee and a sandwich consumed (Breakfast was now a distant memory) we carried on and with no further traffic issues, we arrived at my house around 9.15pm. In total 11 hours from when we had first broken down and made the call. It sounds terrible, but this is pretty good for the AA. It's a sad thing to say, but they aren't the organisation that they used to be and long distance recoveries can now run into days. I'd even said to Colin when we first broke down, 'That's us not home until Monday now'. 

With the car unloaded the AA man set out on his return trip to Bristol and Colin had a quick cup of tea at mine before heading off home. It had been a very long weekend and both of us were dog tired. Wisely, I had booked Monday off of work, so could have a nice chilled day the next day.

It had been a disappointing end to the weekend, but I still wouldn't have missed it for the world. The driving had been great and being with my mates had been fantastic. Oh, and the weather was pretty good too. Despite the issues of this event, I'm still looking forward to the next one already! You can't keep a good man down. 😉

Tuesday 20th- Back to the Cortina.

 The fact that I couldn't get the starter motor fitted back into the Zetec Cortina had been bugging me and playing on my mind, so early Tuesday morning I donned my overalls and ventured out into the garage for another play. Another half hour of fiddling proved that it wasn't going to play ball no matter what, so I looked at my other options. 

The best option it seemed was to support the engine and remove the engine mount. This engine mount was a home made affair for the Zetec engine and looked something like Frankenstein's monster!

However, it had been built with strength in mind and is never going to flex or break under the power of the Zetec. It wasn't too bad to remove either, and once out of the way I was able to bolt the starter motor in its rightful place. Success! I then refitted the engine mount too and then called time as I had to go and get showered and get ready for work. A good morning's work and it wont be long now before this car is back on the road. 

Monday 19th June- Triumph Ignition coil

 After seeking out some other ignition coils, I decided to try a different one on the Triumph to see if I could cure my jerking problem. 

There was actually already a spare coil bolted in place next to the original one on the car. I had made up a bracket to hold two coils years ago so that if ever the coil packed up on a rally, I could just switch the wires to the spare one rather than lose time unbolting and re-bolting coils in place. 

I had also found another one in my shed, but it looks quite old and I'm not sure of its origin, so I'll leave that one for now until I can test it. It's got a test date on it of March 2009 so it's knocking on a bit!(See below)

Anyway, with the other spare one fitted I took the car to work, and I'm pleased to report that I had a totally trouble free drive there and back! So, hopefully, changing the coil had resolved the issue. 

This car will doing close on a 1000 miles this weekend on the Club Triumph Coast to Coast rally, so it needs to be right. It's 180 miles to the start and 280 miles home. That's without the actual event mileage. (I must need my head tested!) 

Sunday 18th June. Gearbox refitting.

 The previous Wednesday, I had made a trip to Baldock in Hertfordshire to collect my newly rebuilt gearbox. (Via a diversion to Cheshunt to take Dave Maton's battery back.)

Seeing as I had nothing better to do today I decided to fit it back into the Zetec Cortina. I started early as I wanted to try and at least get it in the car before the garage became too hot. It did put up a bit of a fight, I have to say, but eventually it went in. I have to say as well, my new transmission jack worked a treat and made the job a lot easier. Money well spent!

I then had an issue with the starter motor. I couldn't fit it through the gap between the gearbox and the engine mounting to fit it into the bellhousing. Because there is very little room in the engine bay it must need to go in a certain way to fit. After about an hour, I had lost patience and the garage was becoming hot, so I decided to leave it for another day. At least the gearbox is in place, so that was some kind of success! 

Saturday 17th June - Fuel pump and cutting out issues

 I had taken the car to work on Friday to give it another test run. I had no problems going to work, but on the way home the Lucas fuel pump in the boot started making some weird and wonderful noises. The car also started jerking violently as if someone was turning the ignition switch off and then back on again very quickly. Luckily I managed to get back home.

So, todays task was to change the Lucas fuel pump for starters and then see where we were. Luckily I still had Richard Warr's refurbished pump in my garage from when he was down at mine last and left it here by mistake. After gaining permission, I fitted it to my car so I could get my one sorted out. (I'll be sending my one to KMI Petrol Injection for rebuilding)

After fitting the fuel pump, Gavin and I took a drive out to the sticks to road test the car. We found that it still had a cutting out issue at high revs initially, but then on the drive back, it started doing what it had been doing on the Friday night. (This car is really testing me at the moment!) By the time we got back it had started raining, so the car was put away and left. 

Gavin rang me later that night to tell me to look up on Google the symptoms of an ignition coil breaking down as they were very similar to what I was experiencing. he was right, it certainly matched up with what I was getting. I would need to find some spare coils and give one a try. 

Saturday 10th June. A new Battery and spark plug check.

 After the embarrassment of the battery failing at my Mother's the night before I took it down to my local car shop to have it checked. Their readings revealed 0% efficiency and 1% charge! So it was definitely kaput! £86 then changed hands and I came home with a new one and promptly fitted it. To be honest, the old battery had served me well as I've had it so long I can't even remember buying it. I bought it originally for Gertie, so I reckon it had to be about eight years old at least!

Before I started the car up, I took all of the spark plugs out to see what colour they were. This gives an idea of whether the engine is in good tune or not. The front four were an ok colour, but the back two were a little bit sooty, so a bit more tuning will be required. I was quite knackered after my few days away and the long Friday, so once I had put the plugs back in I called it a day. 

Friday 9th June. A very long day!

 After pondering and discussing the issues with my car in the pub on Thursday night, we had decided to double check the metering unit timing this morning. It definitely feels like it's a fuel problem, so that seemed to be a good place to start. Under investigation, it look as though the metering unit timing was one tooth out, so it was adjusted to where it should be. 

We then went for a test drive and it drove a lot better. It's not 100%, but it's close. So at least we are making progress. To be honest, it's probably something that only a good rolling road session could cure now, so I'll look into that at some point in the near future. The distributor also hasn't been timed up absolutely spot on yet since it was fitted, so that may improve matters as well. (It's a programmable one, so I'll need my laptop to do that and I didn't have it with me)

With my car done, we then went out for a lovely drive in Dave's Mk2 Pi. I've driven this car before around Scotland and it's such a great car in every way. A Triumph saloon should be a lovely smooth drive and this car certainly is. It really is a pleasure to be in. 

With the time now at 3pm, I decided to make a move homewards. I decided on the M1, A14 and then the A1198 towards Godmanchester. This would link me up with the A10 at Royston and I could then head south on the A10 to Hoddesdon and call in and see my Mum for a cup of tea and a catch up.

After a lovely cup of tea and a chat I went to leave, but then my bloody car wouldn't start! The ignition lights were dimming when I tried to crank it and it just wouldn't spin the engine over. Bloody hell!

Luckily, another good friend, Dave Maton doesn't live far away from my Mum's, so after a quick phone call Dave came out in his Morris Minor with his multi-meter and a jump start booster pack. We quickly ascertained that my battery had died a death and after putting his Minor battery on my Triumph it started and burst into life. We then put my dead battery onto his Minor and jump started it. That started as well! Good news. (Dave's Minor engine is only four cylinder and isn't high compression like the Triumph, so the battery didn't need to work as hard.)

With both cars now running, I followed Dave back to his house where he took his Minor battery back and then lent me the bigger battery off of his Triumph so that I could get home.   

I'm lucky having such good friends and it's lovely knowing that they are there when I need them. I had no further issues and I eventually arrived home at 10pm!

Tomorrow's task........ buy a new battery for my Triumph!

Thursday 8th June. Work resumes.

 A very leisurely start this morning, as all we had to do was fit the newly refurbished cylinder head and hope that this would cure the rough running issues that the car has been suffering from. Dave had taken my original cylinder head back to Derby with him when the car was converted to injection and had had it rebuilt and refurbished by Bates engineering. It was now all finished and nice and shiny and ready to go back on the car.

To our disappointment, the refurbished head didn't make a lot of difference and we still had the same issues. In fact, we went out for a test drive and even managed to break down! It appeared that the electronic ignition distributor shorted out and died. Luckily, I had my spare one in the boot, so this was fitted and we managed to get back to Dave's. Once back at Dave's, we also fitted new spark plugs and HT leads just to eliminate them from the equation, but to be honest, it made little difference. 

Feeling quite deflated, we called it a day and headed off out for a carvery. Again, the traffic was busy in all areas due to about 90,000 people still trying to get into Donnington Park! The live bands were starting today and Metallica were headlining tonight, so they would have been a huge attraction. In fact, when we left Dave's local pub that night around half ten, we could hear the music coming from the festival and Dave lives eight miles away from Donnington Park! The wind was obviously carrying the sound, but wow! Eight miles away! That's loud! 

Wednesday 7th June. A trip up t'north!

 Good friend Dave Harvey and I had concocted a plan to get some work done on the newly injected Triumph Mk1 saloon. So, Wednesday morning saw me heading north up the M1 and heading to Dave's place in Derby to spend a few days up there and hopefully sort this damn car out. 

The drive up there was plain sailing until I reached the M1/M6 split when the overhead gantry signs started warning of long delays on the M1 at Junction 23A and 24. Of course they would, that's both of the the two junctions that I could have come off at to get to Dave's. I was also getting warnings of a 20 minute delay after Junction 23. Typical!

So, I pulled into Leicester Forest services and gave Dave a ring and explained the situation. He advised me to leave the M1 at junction 22 and head toward Coalville and then to Ashby and come into Derby from that side. I did this (along with lots of other people with the same idea) and eventually arrived at 13.30. Three and a half hours after I left leigh On Sea!

It turns out the reason for the delays was that the Download Festival at Donning park was celebrating its 20th Anniversary and had made it a five day event, starting on the Thursday. This traffic would get a lot worse over the next few days with reports of it taking people EIGHT HOURS to get in, traffic being grid locked in the area and people missing flights at the nearby East Midlands airport. The locals were not happy!

Anyway, after a quick cuppa, we decided to make a start to try and get ahead of ourselves and within a couple of hours, we had removed the cylinder head. 

That was enough for today. It was time for a wash up, a chinese takeaway, and few beers. 

Sunday 28th May - Battlesbridge Breakfast Meet.

 Another long bank holiday weekend and still not much to do as I'm still waiting for certain parts to be repaired. So I had a nice morning out at Battlesbridge. It was a lovely day and the sun was shining. I decided to take my Green four door Cortina for a run as it hadn't been out for a while. 

There was another Mk1 Cortina there as well, but I never got a chance to meet the owner. It was in a nice original colour and looked well. (Lagoon Blue I believe it's called) It was also powered by a Zetec engine the same as my two door Cortina, so it would been nice to meet the owner and compare notes on the two set ups. 

After a couple of hours looking at the other cars, I had seen all I could, so I made a move. It was a good show and I'm looking forward to the next one. 

Saturday 20th May - Electronic ignition

 Some time last year I bought a Pertronix electronic ignition kit for my Cortina estate, but due to various other tasks going on, I had never got round to fitting it. 

So, with the gearbox away for repairs for the Zetec Cortina and the cylinder head still being rebuilt for the Triumph, I had nothing else to do, so I finally fitted the ignition to the estate. It was different from normal as the Cortina estate is 1963 and still running a positive earth system. However, after double checking the wiring I had the car running well. A short test drive followed and adjustments were made to the distributor to make sure it was running spot on. Another job off the list!