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!