Prescott Triumph Day

What a fabulous day that was!! Sun shone, loads of Triumph's and lots of tyre smoke going up the hill climb!

Sam & I took the Red PI and a picnic and had a very pleasant day. I had decided that I was not going to put my car on the hil climb........... that would be irresponsible..................

However, a good friend of mine had engine trouble at his hotel, and his TR6 was out of action, and he had 2 runs up the hill prebooked............ seemed rude to waste them!!

So, up we went, one gently, one a bit harder................great fun!! I want more!!

Above are some pictures, some of mine, some of others.......... and a link to 2 short video footage of mine going up the hill (Thanks to Lee Smart from the 2000 Register for those!)

http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff269/dallliiisss/?action=view&current=MOV00120.flv

http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff269/dallliiisss/?action=view&current=MOV00121.flv

Highlight of the day has to be being taken for a blast up the hill in Ken Bryants Triumph 2000 with a TVR 4.2l V8EFI beastie.................... you cannot imagine how fast that thing is!!

Crich Show

Just got back from the Crich show, what a fabulous day!! Really enjoyed it, loads of friends there (some I have never even met in person!!) and loads of Triumphs!

Really looking forward to next year.

Dave Marshall's Saffron 2000 and my PI, resting in the maintenance yard!


Triumph's Triumph's everywhere..........
Lee Godfrey's white MKI PI saloon, and in the background, Tim Picketts Jasmine MKI PI estate......... now how rare is that??? (I think there are only 2 on the road at the moment, 3rd on the way........) and its for sale!!! Offers over £5k I think......... well worth every penny.
Tony Edgeworth's stunning Inca Yellow 2500S Saloon............
David Guzzeta's TR5. Stunning does not do it justice. The panel gaps on this are the best I have EVER seen. Its not polished unused car, but a well used and abused car (how rare is that for a TR5??) but still simply stunning....................

What's the point (the condensed version.....)

What's the point, the condensed version....................hmmmmm.

Well, I finally got round to fitting electronic ignition to the PI..................(geddit!?!?!?)

I decided after finding quite alot of points scatter that this would be a good idea, plus I hate messing about with points and condensors.................I just don't see the point!!!!

Anyway, I bought one of the "discreet" kits which fits entirely inside the distributor. I chose the one by GEC which was advertised in the latest "Club Torque". Not that I am advertising here, but George Coombs (The man at GEC) is a wonderful bloke, very helpful, even when I managed to somehow order the wrong unit first time round.........oppps!

Anyway, fitted it in about 15 minutes, and that included using heat shrink tubes to hide the 2 wires on show (one to the coil, one to the ballast resistor) This is the unit inside the dizzy, replacing the points and the condensor........



Very neat, and even better is the picture below. Apart from one extra wire from the coil to the ballast resistor, you can't tell if is fitted (ideal for Concours cars!!)

I have not had chance to drive the car yet, but it did start much quicker and cleaner than before and the tickover is certainly much smoother..........I took the opportunity to put in new plugs and run them at 30 thou gap rather than 25 thou (stronger spark now!) and I'm looking forward to seeing how it drives on Sunday when we are taking it to the Marque day at Crich.

Anyway, a few pretty pictures for you, and no, I haven't polished it this week either!!

So, if anyone wants this excellent kit, go to http://www.gecelectronics.com or see the half page advert in the last "Club Torque" magazine.........

Quick Diff Change................

The diff in the PI was a bit noisy on overrun so today was a quick diff change!

I had a known good one, and during the week I cleaned and painted it and popped in some new seals just to be safe.

Took it for a test thrash and the difference is amazing, the rumbling on overrun has of course gone, but the whole car is much smoother than it was before.

Time well spent me thinks.

Gave the whole car a onece over, noitcied the front pads were getting low. Being as we're taking it on the 2000 Register trip to Bonn over Easter I decided it might be wise to change them. In went a set of EBC greenstuff I had in stock.........replaced the front flexihoses just in case.

Tomorrow I've just got to change the oil and filter, pack the boot with the "survuval kit" and we're ready for the off................

Now THATS a double garage!

Greetings Triumph people!

Today I'm going to talk about decorating and building!

When we first bought our house, the previous owners had extended the ground floor, including adding another single garage onto the side of the original single. One of the first jobs to do was to knock down the wall between the two to give a good sized double.

So, 6 years later and I've finally got round to it!

18ft Steel I beam (got a builder in to do this, wimped it!) and here we go.

But me, being me, couldn't just put the cars back in, so I decided to put a nice ceiling in, paint it, new lights, more sockets, paint the walls, paint the floor, paint the beam and generally get things nice.

So, one side is finished, Stag back in its new shiny home!





Its surprising how much brighter it is with 3 x 58w strip lights and the walls and ceilings painted white...............





So, just got to do the same to the other side now..........................

RBRR 2008

We're in! Team 15 for the 2008 RBRR will be Sam & I, in the Yellow 2500S Estate.

Can't wait!

I cannot believe that all 120 places went within a week! It just goes to show what a wonderful event this is.

The charity for this year (RNLI) is an excellent choice.........Lets see how much we can raise!

Bumble................................

As promised, this is the introduction to the Stag............or Bumble as she is called (don't blame I didn't name her, named by the previous owner!)

When I was about 6 years old (1978 ish) my Late God-father Les had an Emerald Green Stag. I remember blasting around Castle Bromwich in it and I vowed that one day I would have a Stag.

Fast forward 28 years later and in February 2007 I agreed to buy VML3M, a White 1974 Automatic Stag. Just goes to prove that somethings are worth waiting for!

It all happened at Stoneleigh at the Triumph show. I mentioned to Andy Roberts (well known CT member and President of the 2000 Register) that this year perhaps I might start looking for a Stag. He then mentioned to me that he was in the process of putting his Stag back together so that he could sell it to make way for the Stag Saloon "Janey" to come home from the bodyshop. Several short conversations later and I agreed to buy Bumble.

I went home, rang Sam at work, got shouted at for quite a long time, then she agreed to come to Reading the next night to look at Bumble and do the deal. Next night Sam agreed that it was the right thing to do.............Board Approval and budget application rubber-stamped!

Andy & I then spent the next 4 months finishing off trimming up and fixing the various problems to get it MOT'd and running. We had a huge saga with the Automatic gearbox (in and out 4 times before we got it right!) but eventually Bumble made the trip up to the Midlands in May.

Since then, I have been spending lots of time driving it, and doing the odd improvement here and there. The seats could do with a re-trim, the soft-top is in shreds and I really fancy one of the nice Burr Walnut Dashboards!

The main problem that I have is that being an Auto it revs quite high at speed (4000rpm at 75mph!) so I would really like one of the ZF 4 speed auto conversions. But, at £2k, it will have to wait!

In the meantime, I just loving driving Bumble.............like I said, it took 28 years to get one and it was worth the wait!