RBRR 2010.

Ok guys, car 59 its official.

I am now working hard at working out my niggles.

and there are lots.

I took the car out last week to Oulton Park and the carbs need setting up, the engine cut out on a few occassions which is down to the electrics! A fiddle with the ignition restored running.

Well a new fuse box will need to be fitted, new seals on the gearbox, a full set up on the carb will be needed. I have a load of other jobs like checking UJ's and changing the silicone to mineral!

I will as always try to keep this blog more updated than the other half of Team Insulated Shorts,

Steve Thomspon.

Keep an eye on the blog for regular updates.

Rob

BRUM BRUM

With a few hours work and assistance as always from Tiggrr (Steve Thompson) the Broken beasie is now running again.

I had the head apart for a clean and re seat the valves and building the engine back up again before a nice test drive. The carbs need a little balancing and the battery needs charging other than that all seems well.

Thanks again to Steve, owe you a few pints mate.

Knackered Gasket.

Well most of you know that I volunteered to compile the spares list for the 10CR.

Sorted a very good response from all who enabled me to compile a great big list for everyone.

I have learnt a few things one being to email everyone a list instead of printing them; it took an hour and over 1100 A4 pieces of paper.

Well being the spares man I was the first to break down on the run, once just outside the Plough (start) but that was I being a pillock not turning on the fuel pump! (In my defence the switch had just been fitted the day before). And the second time with an air box problem, which eventually led to my head gasket failure in France. (Thanks Don Cooke for the Tow and help)

So bugger the car was towed away and Neil and me waited for Footman James to decide if the car was to be recovered to the UK or not!

After 19 hours we had a hire car and were on the catch up to meet up with the 10CR crews at Bezier.

After catching up with the crews after a 1000km dash in 8 hours averaging a better 65mpg in the hire car, we met up with everyone for a beer before bed.

The next day was sublime as the French roads were superb up to Italy and Switzerland into Germany.

A brief stop at the Nurburgring (no laps in the hire car) and we were off again to carry on with the run.

Sticking with Steve and Gary (Car 8) we had a decent few days driving and a great night at Rouldec, Up early next day and a dash to the ferry where we dropped one hire car off and travelled over as foot passengers where we picked up another hire car and home. I would have liked to finish at the Plough but being totally miffed at the lack of Triumph decided to make our way back home which we did from Dover in 4 hours. I got the Spit back a week later and it did take me a fortnight to even lift the bonnet to see what was up with the engine, as I feared the worse.

Well on inspection it was just the Head Gasket, which miffed me a little more as I took a spare and a Torque wrench with me! Well you live and learn as they say.

One final note a BIG THANK TOU to Ellis Stokes and all involved in organising a great event, I look forward to 2012 but I hope there is more nights over and less motorway!

Ta ta for now Rob

All stickered up!!

Just a quick peek! I applied the stickers today and re-mapped the ignition, runs superb.

Now off to the P&P Meet.

New MOT and Stafford.

Well I took a week off work to carry out a bit of work on the car and some other jobs around the house!

Firstly I bought a new inlet/exhaust manifold gasket from Moss as the original item I had on was a little worse for ware! Well bugger me if the quality of gaskets have gone down the toilet! The new gasket was worse (new) than the one I had on! Paper thin! and only plated on one side! absolute rubbish and it will be returned to them on my next visit!

Well after a bit of hunting around I got the one I wanted from James Paddock! Superb service from them as always, providing two of the gaskets (ill keep one as a spare) That fitted with new gaskets for the carbs and brum brum the car starts better and now ticks over nicely!!

and with the new GB sticker and some headlight convertors I am almost ready for Europe!

Well a little bit of elbow grease and £50 later MOT in hand fresh for the 10CR.

So off for a test I drove to Stafford for the TSSC show! I met up with Neil in his Spit and we were joined by Steve Thompson and Marcus in their GT6's.

A nice steady run down to the show down the M6 doing a steady 70mph! With a few overtakes the car pulls well above 70 allowing easy overtaking. However I will be keeping the 10CR speeds to a steady smooth run!

I was a bit disappointed with Stafford £10 to get in (a bit steep in my opinion) and not the traders stands that they used to have! I think I will not be going next year! (I know tight giffer)

Well back to business, after Stafford I drove to Ilam which is nearby, where I enjoyed a walk with the missus and a cream tea! mmmmmmm.......

The car drove very nicely, however I have a new map for the Megajolt that should give a little more power at the top end and allow for better motorway cruising! (more on that this weekend when I trial the new map)

Well that is all for now! More updates soon!
Cheers Rob.

Heat Sheild!

The Spitfire did very well over the Camping weekend!

However I do need to change the inlet manifold gasket before the 10CR as the gasket has had it! I have also just fabricated a heat-sheild for the gearbox! Yes a bit overkill but the exhaust runs past the gearbox and is heating the casing causing the oil to heat up and run thin, this in turn was pushing the oil through the seals on the front input shaft!

On short runs and wet runs I do not have a problem with dropping oil, however on longer hotter runs she pees oil!

So hence the heat shield! A big thanks to Steve Thompson for supplying the Alloy plate! and a BIG FANKS to Neil McDonnell for the help in fabricating and fitting it! It looks very professional!.

Northern Camping Weekend and more work on the car.

A big thanks to all who came to the Northern Area Camping Weekend!

What a great time!
At the start of the weekend it rained! We got to the site on the Friday afternoon to put up a gazebo over bench seating, only to have a fellow camper come across and give us another Gazebo as he was leaving and thought we needed it! So with 2 Gazebos covering 2 banches we were set for the weekend. !

Well I thought the wet weather was in for the night so we all went to a pub in Kirkby Lonsdale were we enjoyed a few beers and a nice home cooked meal!


Back at the campsite we enjoyed a few beers and a chat until bed!

The Wigwams were excellent and all enjoyed a good night sleep!! Up early to enjoy a sausage Butty before heading off into the lakes and to the very welcome SUNSHINE!! Yes even the sun turned up!

We met up with Marcus at the foot of Woodhead pass before a convoy of Triumphs made our way over the pass! We called in to Haverthwaite Railway where the cars got some serious attention from some very nice Chinese tourists! I enjoyed a slice of cheese pie and salad! Before we all drove back to the site, where we were met by Ed and his family!

A few more beers and talking about the days drive and Marcus’s car received a lot of attention (and rightly so as it is a superb motor)

The evening BBQ went rather well if not for a brief shower, I think I can honestly say the weekend was a success! I am now looking at organising next years weekend festivities, but due to a massive demand! I will be booking the Wigwams early! In-fact I will be booking the Wigwams in the next few weeks as they already have paid bookings for next year! So please if you are interested please PM me through the Club’s Forum!

Thanks

Thanks to everyone on the CT Forum and Sideways Forum for the advice about the previous post!!

It turned out to be a flattened Manifold gasket that was causing all the problems! I cannot believe the noise the manifolds were making!

However I cannot complain, the engine has been in and out 3 times on that gasket so pretty good build quality!!

Car now running very well indeed!!

Thanks for all the advice.

Rob

Horrible wining noise.

Horrible wining noise.

I set the tappets today and did a bit of cosmetics in the car for the weekend.
I tried to start the car and again flattened the battery and then the battery pack.

I have no idea what is up, it will only start with the use of jump leads. So I started the car with the assistance of a modern motor and a set of jump leads, and she runs. BUT there is a horrible wining noise, it sounds like a dry bearing but not if you know what I mean?? It is coming from the carb side and goes a little quieter when you press down on the carbs? Any suggestions?

ThanksRob

A Puzzle solved.

Well after fearing the worst with the breakdown, I managed to get a look at the car today and the first thing I did was hook up the Laptop to the megajolt!

Sorted! the megajolt is working fine no problems what so ever. Next.

Spark plug spark test. No Problem! Next.

Next compression. Sorted all combustion chambers giving good and equal pressure!. Next.

Fuel pressure test. Fine no problems!. Next.

Where do I go from here everything checks out. So Jump leads on (as I flattened the bettery and the battery pack yesterday trying to start it when it stopped running)

Anyway turn the key. BROOM BROOM the engine runs and runs strongly. so full system check and guess what! the pick up from the trigger wheel for the megajolt was loose and could have moved during the test run. So I tightened the pick up and took the Spit for a test drive. Superb as strong as ever. and no oil leak.

I had loosened the pick up off to change the fan belt and not tightened it up! BUGGER indeed.

So I am now looking forward to doing the North Area Weekend which is next weekend. (17/18 July) PS anyone who wants to come for the day for a bit of drivin fun drop me a PM.

A releieved Rob.

BUGGER.

BUGGER AND BUGGER.

Forgive me for shouting! Everything sorted! had a slight glitch with the slave cylinder! I forgot to tighten up the new pipe causing it to splurge silicone fluid every time I pump the clutch eventually causing a non-existent clutch!
That sorted today (about 45 mins) I took the Spitfire for some fuel and a wash as it needed a clean after the LaCarrera Cannonball and all the greasy fingerprints on it from pulling the engine and box in and out! So there I am driving a clean and shiny Triumph on lane 3 of the M62 when pop the engine cuts out and loosing power before stopping all together!
I flattened a battery pack trying to get it started and at this time do not know why it has stopped and refused to start??? I know I have fuel to the carbs and oil in the engine but as for compression and spark?? I have no idea.

However there is a silver lining.
when the car came off the recovery truck it had not dropped any oil!

A very pissed off ROB.

Engine and Gearbox out and back in under a day!

Yes I am knackered! After a very long day fiddling with the spanners but with some very welcome help from a mate Neil! Without the help from Neil today! The car would still be in bits!
The engine and gearbox came out, a bracket for the clutch slave cylinder was fabricated and fitted, the gearbox was inspected and found to have been too full of oil! so no seal were replaced!
However with the many times that the gearbox has been out in the last twelve months the thread on the box had gone! This left it impossible to tighten up the conversion plate! so I welded some thread onto the box which has enabled the conversion place to be secured tightly! a nice job as well if I do say so myself
Well as you can see I added a breather tube for a breather pipe! This also helped me fill the gearbox with oil once I fitted it back in place and this was a superb idea as I filled the gearbox quite quickly and with no mess! It will also act as a breather and will be attached to a pipe and filter.


Well as per the previous post I did mention that the clutch slave bracket had broken causing a fair few difficulties selecting first gear as the clutch would not fully disengage! Well with a fresh pair of eyes Neil had a great idea and it took about half an hour to fabricate! What a difference! SOLID as a rock! I had to fabricate a new clutch pipe but I can confirm that it is now fitted and fully working and is a lot smoother than before!




Well the engine and box are back in I just need to fit the exhaust manifold and carbs + the bonnet and all should be well for the July Northern Area Weekend, which is only 14 days away!!







Bring on the Hard Knott pass!!!
Taa taa for now.
Rob

Scotland.

Sorry for the late update of the Blog! I have been away twice to Scotlandshire and then back to work.







Scotland on both trips was SUPERB. If it had not have been for the FlusterFu*k in the LaCarrer Caladonia being cancelled and then the crap that followed it would have been perfect. However I am now left thinking I should do the thing on my own steam every year and save some money for beers! I just hope next years event is organised by Club Triumph and nobody spits their dummy out over differences that could have been left until after the event.

Saying that the run up to Scotland formally known as the LaCarrera went well, Steve Thompson (other half of Team Shorts) and I had a superb time on superb scotish road.

I have attached a few pictures....














The only major problem I had with the car was YES you guessed it the gearbox! I am now a little fed up I went for the Type 9 and feeling I should have stayed with the 3 rail with Overdrive! I am sure all will be forgiven when I get the niggles sorted out.. Well I dropped about half a litre of gearbox oil on the run up to Scotland and the Gearbox/Engine come out this weekend for sorting. I think after all the trouble I have a blocked pressure relief pin? I will know more this weekend when the lot comes out again!!! I am replacing all seals and adding a pressure relief pipe to the gearbox. The other main problem I had with the gearbox was the slave cylinder mount had broken so when you pushed down on the clutch the clutch would only half disengage!! making first gear selection impossible, this did however lead to some very nice driving techniques by me and Steve and some very funny junction stops LOL. This too will be sorted for this weekend.

Any way the positive news is the new shox and springs on the car were great! The car has been transformed to a really nice handling motor, I thought it was good before hand but it is breathtaking how well the car handles now! (ask Steve) some very fast A road and B road driving proved the car can take the bends with ease. I cannot wait for the 10CR. I will have the July Camping weekend to shake down the car and then a few runs out to test prior to the 10 CR in September.

Other News!!

I took a good friend Neil McDonell (is doing the 10CR with me) to the South last Monday where he bought a very nice MKIII Spitfire from Craig Gingell's wife Sarah (think that was her name) a very nice car needing a little work to sort out. It was a nice run down and back and the little MKIII is a superb little car which is really lowered! Pics to follow. Anyhow Neil is now a CT member and hopefully be using the Spitfire for what it was made for!!! A bit of B road blasting!!

Been Busy.

I have been very busy re-fitting the engine and carrying out a few changes to the suspension.

(Before.)


















I had run the car to a few meets over winter and the salt on the roads have caused rusting on the front springs & a few other places.
A big thanks to Steve Thompson (other half of team shorts) who helped with some spannering!!
Due to another few days being more than under the weather and currently being off work sick I will not be doing any more work on the car untill I am 100%. Although all that is required to finish is to bolt the bonnet on and wire up the headlights.

. . . . . . .(After.)

Engine out and new seal fitted

Well after a bad leak on the Type 9 gearobx, I have pulled the engine out again and this time I know where the leak is coming from!!

The seal from the front cover was knackered! and the bottom boltholes go right through to the gearbox and the fluid was coming out of these threads

I sealed up with a new gearbox cover seal from Ford and PTFE liquid on all the bolts and fingers crossed this should do the trick!!

not long now and the engine will be back in and I should have the car sorted for the La Carrera & 10CR.

The Leak goes on

Well the gearbox is still leaking.
I have done a few tests and I can see it is coming from between the type 9 adaptor plate and the Triumph bell-housing.
So out with the engine again and this time I will not do it by halfs, cork gasket will be made and fitted, together with some liquid gasket.
Well this project has fought me all the way why should now be different.

I promise there will be photograpic rebuild as I take the engine out and re-fit after the box is sorted.

Then I will work on getting the car ready for this years events.

New Blog

Welcome to my New Blog.
This Blog will cover the trials and tribulations of me keeping my Triumph Spitfire on the road.
Upcoming events this year with Club Triumph are.

Pendle & Pennine Monthly meets

Show & Shine @ Pendle & Pennine June Meet.

La Carrera Caledonia

10 Countrys Run.

Please pop back for regular updates.