Final Push

I’ve spoken to Watermill Carriage Co today as I’m heading down there at the end of the week to have a look at the car prior to picking it up. There are a few more things to report in terms of the work carried out to the car.

The reason the windscreen was loose was because the sealing rubber was missing. However, on fitting the replacement seal it appeared the old screen wouldn’t fit with the new rubber in place. It turns out the screen was 8mm thick rather than the correct 6mm. This has meant fitting a new screen. I must make a mental note to order a Triplex sticker for the windscreen.

In addition to the boot carpet a new cover panel kit has been fitted to the boot to hide the fuel tank.

The door handles were indeed upside down so these have been corrected which is a relief as I looked at hundreds of photos and wondered if I was going mad.

I have at last found the decals I bought for the air cleaners (which have now been painted and fitted) so I can take these down with me. In addition, I also found the brass manifold nuts I bought at great expense (well, it seemed expensive for a few nuts anyway). These should dress the manifold a bit and they are the correct type rather than the steel ones currently fitted.

I’ve also ordered a new 48 spoke 4J spoked wheel for the spare wheel compartment which will be fitted with a 155/15 tyre so it fits properly. Along with this, I’ve also ordered some new double eared knock on/off spinners to replace the current ones that have seen better days. I’ve also ordered the leather strap kit for the spare wheel compartment for the wheel and tool kit. I need to order a jack now and find somewhere to store the hide and copper mallet I’ve bought.

The engine is running now apparently and news is it sounds very sweet. The erratic idle has been resolved (an air leak). There are a couple of small causes for concern that need resolving.

• The overdrive isn’t engaging properly even though the solenoid is activating. Thoughts are that this is an alignment issue and “should” be simple to cure. On the basis nothing has been simple on this car I’m not holding out any hope of a simple fix.
• The starter motor is being troublesome and is not throwing 100% of the time. If can’t easily be fixed I’ve suggested to Watermill that they source an original type as the one fitted is a high torque type and they don’t sound great although they are a common upgrade.

So the plan is to head down to Watermill on Friday to have a look over the car and make sure any loose ends are tied up, then get the car MOT’d and collect it next week somehow. I’m still in two minds whether to try to drive it back (with all the issues of getting to Cornwall without driving somehow) or wait a further week and get it collected.

Classic Le Mans 2016

I really fancy going to Le Mans to watch some racing. Previously, that meant the Le Mans 24 hours but over recent years, Le Mans have brought back classic car racing.

Having enjoyed Goodwood Revival on several occasions now, Le Mans seems the obvious next place to go. Fortunately, my normal partner in crime for this sort of occasion is of a like mind and so we set off at Goodwood to see what sort of tours were on offer that would allow us to make the most of this event without spending too much time trying to find our way around.

There were several companies at Goodwood offering tours but the first one we stumbled upon seemed to offer exactly what we were looking for. Classic Car Tours International is run by Brian Thorley and offer a couple of options for Le Mans. However, they were the only company to actually accompany the tour. What this means is that you can fall back on Brians years of experience and find all the best places to watch and travel to. If you have a question, Brian is there to ask rather than phoning England, or worse, waiting for an email to be answered. 

Getting there!

Lots of progress which is perhaps difficult to tell from some of the photos but lots of jobs have been done over the past couple of weeks.

Most importantly, the doors have been refitted, gapped and painted. The missing door trims have been retrimmed in the correct vinyl (see previous post) and fitted.

The NOS Adjustable Steering Wheel has been fitted so the car is truly a right hand drive car now with the correct wheel. The new control head has also been fitted so I should now have self cancelling indicators. The choke cable has also been fitted to the dashboard. The rearview mirror has been fitted and I notice the footwells have been painted. I can also see a button for the windscreen washer under the dashboard now.

The door handles were broken so a new handle set has been purchased and fitted which means the car now works off a single key. I have to admit a little concern in that the door handles look fitted back to front but I’m assuming there is an explanation for that and all will be well once I collect the car.

Behind the scenes, or at least under the chassis/bonnet lots of work has been done to the running gear. New UJ’s have been fitted to the prop shaft and the diff has been removed and reconditioned with new shims and bearings. Apparently there was a lot of backlash in the diff and it was leaking like a sieve (despite new gaskets from Southern Triumph). All oil tight now though. The old fuel line from the front to the back of the car has been replaced as the old one was rotten. The fuel tank has been taken out so the boot floor can be welded and you can see in the photo below the missing boot carpet has been replaced. The solid and flexible brake lines have been replaced at the rear of the car as these were shot. The back box for the exhaust has also been replaced.

At the moment, the chassis looks a mess because it’s got 50 years of old Waxoyl on it. New Waxoyl will be applied last when the car is finished and this will tidy the underneat considerably.

In terms of trim, the badly damaged rear trim panels have been repaired as best as possible at the moment. A complete retrim might be on the cards one day but generally the trim is in excellent condition.

A few little additional jobs will be done next week. The ugly rear luggage rack isn’t worth saving so it’s being removed and the holes welded up. Then the boot lid will be painted. The new tonneau arrives next week so this is being fitted along with the hood and sidescreens. Honestly, I can’t wait for this to happen as these were the first big ticket items I bought.

I dithered about seat belts for a while but it looks like Stuart has gone ahead and ordered some which means the decision has been taken out of my hands. I think this is a good thing because my reasons for not fitting them (I didn’t legally need to) would crumble in the first head on collision along with my ribcage. But most importantly, perhaps my kids can get a little more involved with the car as I wouldn’t let them in it without seat belts.

Last decision is whether to fit new chrome wire wheels or not. I’m going to head to Cornwall to see the car next week with luck and I’ll make my decision then based on how close to mint the rest of the car looks. There has been a lot of paint and restoration work done to the car over the last six months but this was always first and foremost a mechanical restoration rather than a visual one.

On the Road

I’ve just found an image of JSK on the road during summer last year. While this might not be interesting to most, this is the only image I have of me driving her!

On the way back to Bournemouth, we had an Italian in a 1970’s Alfa pull up alongside with a guy shouting “cool car” loudly and explaining to us that he owned a TR3 before the Alfa. All of this in a national speed limit. Crazy Italians!