Saturday June 18th (Part One) Bye bye Pi.

 With the recent addition of two Mk1 Cortina's space was becoming a premium and I decided that something had to give. 

I did a lot of thinking and after much deliberation, I decided to put my Mk1 Pi up for sale. However, with all the modifications I've done to it over the years, if it was going to go, it had to go for the right money. I wasn't going to be giving it away. 

A good friends of mine in the Triumph world always knows of cars for sale and people looking for cars, so he was given all the details and took up the challenge to find me a buyer. 

The first person he found for me seemed interested, but when it come down to it he just didn't want to pay the money and seemed to be stalling and hoping it didn't sell and wait for the price to come down. (Which it wouldn't have)

The second interested party was sent lot's of pics and the spec sheet for the car and within a few hours had paid a deposit through bank transfer. Early Saturday morning, they arrived with a car trailer, had a quick look around the car and paid the balance there and then. They were pleased with the car and I was pleased with the price, so everyone's a winner. 

I've had some great times with this car, but as of late, just haven't been getting the buzz from driving it anymore. So I've no regrets and I'm glad its going to a good home. 

Tuesday June 14th. A day out before work!

 I received a phone call from my good friend Colin on Monday morning asking how well I trusted the Cortina estate I had bought at the auction recently and if I was up for 'taking a chance'. I asked him why and he said that his first job in the morning was at Kings Lynn (Where I had won the Cortina in the auction) and he could give me a lift there if required and I could drive it back. I said I would think about it and get back to him. 

I also rang the transport company that the auction house uses and left a voicemail, but they didn't even call me back. I also put the job on the Shipley transport services website, but the cheapest quote I had was £209 and they couldn't say when they could do it. I only had until Friday 17th to collect the car and after that, I would have to pay storage charges. So, I rang Colin back and said 'ok, let's go for it'. 

Very early Tuesday morning saw me driving my blue Triumph up to Colin's. With my recent purchases I'm now up to 5 classic cars and have run out of room, so Colin is going to look after this one for me for a while. 

We left Colin's at 7am and ran into trouble straight away due to the A14 being closed! We bobbed and weaved across country and eventually managed to get back on our intended route. We finally reached Kings Lynn an hour later than planned. 

Once at the auction house I presented my receipt and we were led out to the Cortina. We checked the oil and water and then had to get it jump started. (not a surprise for a car that's been stored for some time and just shunted about occasionally) Colin and I both then went to Tesco's to fuel up and then went our separate ways. I had a 94 mile drive to work and I have to say, the Cortina estate handled it with no issues at all. I made good time, but the lost hour cost me and I arrived at work 40 minutes late.

The next morning the car received its first wash for some time and really came up well. I have to say, I'm very pleased with my purchase and think I have got a real bargain. It's also a very early car with a bench seat and column change gearbox and it drives really well. I can't wait to give it a proper check over and start using it for the shows. 

Saturday June 11th. Classic car auction

 I hadn't planned to go to this auction, but a friend of mine showed me a car that was due to be sold there and it captured my interest. There were also a few other items that I was interested in, so I decided to make a day of it. As it was a two day auction I rang the auction house the Thursday prior to the sale and asked what number lots they were covering on the Saturday. I was told it was numbers 1 to 366. The lot number I was mainly interested in was 364, so it was going to be a very long day! 

I set out at around 6.30am in the beautiful sunshine and made my way to Kings Lynn car auctions. I arrived at 9am and paid my £500 deposit and registered to bid. Coffee was the first thing on the agenda and after being refreshed I made my way outside and started looking round all the cars. 

The bidding started at 10am with the automobilia items, so I made sure I was back inside for that. I was interested in a set of TR6 steel wheels and my mate Dave was interested in a set of TR6 alloys and had asked me to bid for him. My wheels were up first, but the maximum price I had in mind was soon reached and advanced well above that. I hoped that wasn't the pattern for the rest of the day. Dave's wheels were up next and I did manage to get a bid in this time, but was outbid at £225. (Dave's limit was £200)  The buyers commission on automobilia was 15%, so the final price can escalate considerably. 

Although it wasn't the car I had come to bid on, I was interested to see what price a four door Mk1 Cortina GT would go for. I have to say, it looked a fantastic car on the auction website pictures and video, but in the flesh, it was a different story. (Who on earth came up with the saying 'the camera never lies'???)

The bidding started slowly, but then the price started to climb quite quickly. I also noticed that nobody in the room was bidding on it and it was internet bids only. (They hadn't had the advantage of seeing the car up front!) The bidding finally finished at £14,750. With the buyers commission (8% on cars) and vat on the the commission, this equated to a whopping £16,166. Very strong money for what it was. I also did an MOT history check on this car and there was no history recorded, meaning that its either been off the road since before 2006 (That's as far back as the records go) or, its been imported from another country. Either way, it was very strong money for what I thought wasn't a very good car!

I spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to entertain myself until finally, finally, it was time for lot number 364 to come through. I accosted the chap driving it into the auction room and asked him how it drove. I was pleased to hear that he himself had a Mk1 Cortina and a Corsair and he said this drove spot on. He said the clutch and brakes were fine and it runs lovely. All music to my ears. I had looked over the car several times throughout the day and it was obvious that this car had been very, very well looked after. The MOT history check showed that it has only covered 7000 miles since 2006. 

The bidding started at £4,200. Internet bids started coming in and then I got in on the act. I saw off the internet bidder at £6000, but then a telephone bidder had come in as well. Luckily he dropped out when we reached £6500. With my adrenalin racing it seemed like an eternity before the auctioneer said the magic words 'going for the third and final time......sold for £6500'. I had won what I had come here for. To be honest, I would have probably gone to £8000, so I was very pleased with £6500. (£7124 with commission and vat)

So, the object of my desire? 

A 1963 Mk1 Cortina 1500 de luxe estate. 14,000 miles, not warranted, (probably 114,000) but still a very good well cared for car. All I have to do now is find a way for getting it home from Kings Lynn.

Saturday 28th May. Outstanding Pi work.

 Now that I've completed a few trips and days out in the Pi, I reckon the engine has now covered enough mileage to be considered 'run in'. 

So, early Saturday morning I was out in the garage where the first job was to re-torque the cylinder head. I also took the opportunity to have a good check over the engine and components after its recent rebuild and pleasingly nothing appeared to be untoward. So with the tappets reset, the job was completed in good time. 

The next job was to re-attach the mirror that I had knocked off the previous Sunday and this time I made up some more sturdy fittings for it, so that they shouldn't come off again so easily. 

Another outstanding job was to try and cure the slight vibration that I get at high speeds. The diff has been built several times on this car, so that shouldn't have any problems. However the quill shaft bearing in the front part of the diff hasn't been replaced for a number of years now, so I decided to replace that. With the diff removed I then replaced the quill shaft bearing and went to fit a new seal in the diff. I removed the old seal (which has to be butchered to get them out) but when I went to fit the new seal, I found that the replacement was too small and therefore obviously incorrect. Bugger! I was really cracking on as well and it still wasn't even lunch time. I'd been hoping to at least have the diff mounted back in the car and maybe even finished by the afternoon. (Then I could play with the Cortina on the Sunday) I will now have to wait until the correct seal comes through the post before I can continue. A bad end to a good start!. 

Friday 27th May. A new addition to the fleet.

 I've been involved with Triumphs for 13 years now and I have to confess to feeling lately that things have felt a bit 'samey'. Going to the same shows, seeing the same cars, meeting the same people. (Not that there's anything wrong with the people-far from it!)

So, I had starting looking at something else to peak my interest. A car that I have always loved since I was a small child was a Cortina Mk1. My Dad had had a 2 door GT that I remember losing a wheel and forcing us into a ditch. (Funny the things that stick in your head when you're a kid!) 

Anyway, a few popped up on ebay and I went to look at a 2 door in Burnham on Crouch. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a full scale project that didn't even roll because the brakes were seized on. It wasn't as advertised so I walked away. 

I spent a few weeks scouring ebay and FB market place, but most were just total wrecks or stupidly overpriced. Then, one came up for sale on the Thursday night which I thought was a very good price and it was also fairly local. I knew that a car like this wouldn't hang around for long, so I made arrangements to go and view it that night after work. In fact, by the time I got over there, the seller had had 49 messages about it and one bloke from Wales had wanted to leave a deposit on it without even seeing it and wanted to collect it the next day!

So, after viewing the car and doing a deal which included delivery, the car was dropped off at mine Friday morning before I went to work. I've still got a few jobs to do on the Triumphs, so the Cortina will have to be put to one side for the time being until I can find time for it. I'm very pleased with my purchase though and can't wait to get my teeth into it. (It's not a Lotus by the way!) 

Saturday 21st May. Finishing touches to Gertie2

The gearbox and differential for Gertie2 had been stripped and rebuilt and collected a few weeks back, so I had refitted the diff myself and Gavin had come round the previous Saturday to help me re-fit the gearbox. (it's too heavy to do on my own)

Once the gearbox and diff were completed I then started on a brake upgrade. This car will be used on the Club Triumph 10 Countries Rally in September and we will be visiting a lot of alpine passes, so a decent braking system will be required. With this in mind I obtained a pair of Triumph Stag callipers and a brand new pair of Stag brake discs. I then rebuilt the callipers with new pistons and rubbers and set to work fitting them. I had a bit of trouble bleeding them, so had to wait until Tuesday morning when Gavin was free and came round and helped me. after a few false starts we then managed to get the last bit of air out of the system and finally had a decent brake pedal. 

Sunday 1st May - WCR+2 At Gaydon

 This World Cup & Marathon Rally car day was originally scheduled for two years ago. Obviously, the covid restrictions that forced everyone to stay indoors (while Boris and his mates attended parties!) prevented this from happening. So, at long  last a new date was organised and this brilliant event could finally take place. I had a car full of people organised, but various cancellations before the event meant I was making the 135 mile journey alone. 

My car of enforced choice for this event was the Mk1 Pi. This was due to the blue car still missing its gearbox and diff and the Mk1 estate still being in Norfolk awaiting welding. I had a trouble free run up to Gaydon other than stopping a couple of times to adjust the timing which hadn't got back to being quite right since the new engine was fitted.   

Once at the show I met up with good mates Dave Harvey and Richard Warr, plus many others that I hadn't seen for some time. The cars on display were fantastic and there was many interesting stories of previous rallies to be heard. 

One of the cars that had been in the  World Cup Rally was a Citroen DS that had travelled over from France. I have to say, it looked very good. 

There was also a Mini Clubman that took part that was also for sale. I deliberately didn't ask how much it was in case I was too tempted to buy it!

A World Cup Rally car that I would love to own is one of the Mk2 Triumph Pi's that took part, but these are now so sought after that even a basket case would set you back over £15k and then you'd probably have to spend at least that again to get it back to its former glory. You could use another Triumph shell I suppose, but then the car wouldn't be the genuine item, so it's unlikely that I'd ever own one. There were a few of them there though and as always, they looked fantastic. 

The only thing that blighted the day was the cold weather and the rain. So, by about 1pm after spending three hours in the damp, we'd all had enough and decided to leave. It had been a good day though and I enjoyed meeting up with Richard and Dave again. I left at 1.15pm and after another short stop to adjust the timing for a final time (it's spot on now) I arrived home at 3.35pm. The Pi had covered 272 miles door to door and hadn't missed a beat. What a great car!