Catch Up

Catch up time then as I haven't reported much recently...

I reinstalled the carbs that Stu had kindly stripped for me and started her up. Things still not very good, but at least it started and sounded better than the last time. Since then, we have gone backwards again - it appears that backwards is the only direction that this s.o.c. likes to go in.

I now have a water leak. A collection of green is pooling on the inlet manifold gasket. There are no splits in any of the hoses so it was decided that the metal pipe (who designed this?!?!) that runs under the manifold must have split somewhere. Nope. Bugger all wrong with it. It's rusty but not poorly.

There was a lot of rusting around the end that goes to the heater so I decided to undo the two bolts. Snap! Coooocccckkkkk! The end of the bolt is now out. I am waiting for Rimmers to deliver a gasket and another bolt before attempting to reconnect the manifold. I am hoping that I have fixed the problem!

Et Voila!

Once again, a big thank you to Lionel as the black dashboard is now in. Doesn't it look pretty! There are no longer any wires sticking out, these are behind a switch. All is now black - the carpets and the plastic bits. The instrument panel must have been knocked during the proocess as none of the dials work. I am hoping that the big plug has fallen out. The finale is a quick vacuum, clean the dash properly and then seat installation. Unfortunately, the engine still wasn't playing very nicely. It would appear that I have a TR7 again as 4 of the cylinders were a bit shy. It was decided that one of the carbs was stuck so off they came to be destucked by Stewart/Stuart. A couple of pictures follow, including the pit crew having a piss take fag break!

Going backwards

Unfortunately, not the car. It was pushed out of the garage on Sunday for some more trmming and things. It took several hours for Lionel and I to cut chunks out of the rear backboard thing so as to fit the plastic hood cover things. This of course included removing the hood several times. They look nice though and have really helped to tart up the trim.

Lionel also helped in getting some more electricity things done which included putting in place an in line fuse for the fuel pump and fitting the fan to a proper TR switch in the centre switch panel. I now have the black centre consoles properly in place and they look great against the new carpet. The new fan on a switch is a "rear demist" switch out of the teabag, it looks much better than having wires sticking out of the dash.

Talking of dashboards, it's gotta come out now as everything else is black! Guru Ed promised that he would assist on this one as he has done this job several times before.

As for the engine, it might be time to call upon Master Guru Guy again as the bugger has stopped starting and started to stop! I had the plugs out (again) but to no avail. I really have no idea wtf is going on here. An MOT was iminent. Not any more. Bugger!

What no update?

Very very sorry to be so slack with regards to Beast updates over the last couple of weeks. It has started perfectly (until this last weekend where it wouldn't fecking start again). But fear not, as there has been some progress elsewhere. I'll let you work it out. To paraphrase the great Tony Hart, here is the gallery ...

You put the dashboard in...

... the dashboard out ... well, that was the plan. in fact the plan was quite ambitious this weekend. With Lionel's assistance, I was going to change the dash from grey to black, change the clocks at the same time, lay the speaker wires and fit all of the carpets!

The dash was unscrewed and the clocks came out(ish). It was decided that we would test the new (they are the ones salvaged from the Teabag!) speedo by bodging the cable in the back of the clocks and a quick burn/backfire up the road. It didn't work. It must be the speedo cable then.

As if by magic, Simon appears. As if by a little more magic, Paul appears. Paul then showed us where the speedo cable meets the gearbox. He accomplished this task by jacking one of the sides of the car very high. Whilst Simon (as he is the only member of the pit crew who can get under the car to undo the speedo to box holding screw thing, (maybe Lionel but he was still having fun and games with the dash)).

It was at this point that Paul noticed that the rear springs had popped out of their rubber mountings. he was not unduly concerned as he had obviously seen this sort of thing before. However, I was and I hadn't. Whilst worrying, we tested the speedos in both consoles to see what was going on. This involved fiddling with a drill, Artur Daley style. It was found that the "new" one worked fine. And thus, it was installed.

It was at this point that I realised for the first time, that BL had made slight changes to the console in the year between a fixed head V and a drop head W. It became clear that all was not well when the choke light illuminated when the hand brake was pulled and that the fuel light came on when the main beam was flashed. Even I managed to work out that this was not correct. If I recall correctly, Lionel called me something unpleasant and Simon buggered off for a tab.

But fear not. Paul came back to help fix the spring thing and Simon came back to retighten the box-speedo screw thing. The eventual solution was to remove the speedo from the "new" console and to swap it with the defunct one. Overall, another good day as I can now insure it and get it MOTd as the miles now go round. Not as much completed as planned though! However, I did manage to find the time to swap the grey door pillar edges for some black ones! Black really does look better than grey! [NB. Sorry Line, I know it is a difficult one but I still want to change the grey dashboard for the black one!]

No more funny winking

Very little was completed this weekend due to a quickly planned weekend away to sunny Clent. I managed to pop into the garage for a couple of hours, she started first time again, growling away nicely and adding another couple of tons of toxins to the ozone layer. Two small achievments: rewiring the OSF indicator and side wing light thing. All lights are now working except the reverse lights! I think I may need to do a "To Do List ii".

Whilst mooching through my boxes of teabag bits, I found nearly all of the black interior that is going to go in the Beast. I shall be short of the sun visors and may need to get onto eBay for some door card handles as the black ones haven't turned up yet. And whilst on the eBay subject, in anticipation of the arrival of lots of Birthday cash (hint hint!), a carpet set is on its way!

All is well

Whato. A quick update ... since Sunday I have started the Beast with no problems at all a massive two times! I have even taken it out of the garage and driven it up the drive. I have also cleaned it and Mer'd it and oh how she sparkles! The next step then is to get an MOT as soon as (after replacing/repairing the clocks so as to get the mileage proof for the insurance company). All is well in my classic Triumph world!

Thanks Be To Guy

I have been a member of the TR Drivers Club since I (stupidly) purchased the Teabag off Guru Ed back in 1989. Typically, I have received much ear with regards to the "Driver" part of the TRDC, wishing therefore that it was named TR Owners Club instead. I degress. Recently, now that I am an owner and almost a driver, I started to attend the local meetings again. It was there that I realised that several of the blokes there are also "Owners" as their TRs are in various stages of death and rebuild, and thus I should not feel bad that the Beast is temporarily deceased.

It was there I also met a bloke called Guy. Guy has had half a dozen TRs, several of which he has fully restored himself. His expertise happens to be V8 engines. He is also the club's Grinnall Registrar. I thus challenged him to give the Beast life! It was thus on Sunday 9th October that Guy and Mrs Guy popped around with an enormous toolbox and heads full of technical know how. An hour later and the Beast was reborn!

I have the points distibutor back in with the electronic one staying firmly on the shelf. Simon and Paul are taking bets on how long it will take me to cock it all up again! I am now on the hunt for another points distributor so that Paul can have his back. (I hope you are a little happier this morning BTW as you appeared not to be looking forward to the drive back down south). The white flag has gone; this bloke sums up the mood perfectly...

F F S

Why is it that just one week ago I can walk away from a car that starts only to return to a car that doesn't? To top it all, I have just watched Top Gear and it would appear that for the same amount of dough that I paid for this sack of steaming crap, I could have bought a Porsche 944 or a Nissan Z twin turbo something or other. Dungpie. Where did I put that white flag?

Don't speak too loudly

Somebody has! I have just been into the garage and the useless, hateful, dungy, badly made, hopelessly maintained sack of crap didn't start. If I win the lottery tonight (substantial obviously!), I am going to beat the hell out of it with a lumphammer and then cremate what is left.

Bloody Tesco

I have just spent 100 big ones to feed my lot for a week. I have no doubt that I have more than enough to last a week without any grub. Unfortunately though, the other Lammas' are of a normal size and thus the following "opportunity cost" is not available to me:

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Don't speak too loudly ... the Beast started again last night. That's twice in a row. Don't speak too loudly as she might hear. Seats will be in on Saturday. I might then be able to get it out of the garage for the first time snce October!

Another Step Forward

Another few hours during the weekend past was spent fannying in the garage. Where we left off the week before was a potentially dead wire/distributor/engine. Out came the Haynes manual straight to the "how to get the timing right" page. This involved fiddling with the pulley thing by the radiator to get it to 6 deg BTDC and then getting the rotor in the distributor pointing at #1 plug/cylinder.

Cock! I was determined to get this going. Equipped with a Simon and various sized spanners, out came the electronic distributor that may/may not be brown bread and in went Paul's points version. More fannying and fiddling and off she goes! I now know how to install a distributor! There also seems to be no sign of the paddling in unleaded "safety" feature either!

One concern is that something is sticking somewhere on cranking. It's almost as if the battery hasn't enough power to turn the engine over. It can't be the starter motor though as that's been done?

Mid week I intend to have another go at starting. What's the betting it be buggered again?!

One step forward ...

This weekend was going to be it. The Beast had started last week albeit with the points distributor. All I had to do was get the fuel pump fixed properly and the seats in. Then it was going to Phil's for an MOT. Groovy.

Or perhaps not so groovy. The fuel pump is in. It is not leaking and is pumping away. It's damned noisy though as I haven't fixed it on to a rubber mounting. It will need doing but not an important thing at the moment. There we are then - a "new" distributor, a new coil, a new fuel pump, lots of new wires, clamps and leads, a reconditioned starter motor - feck all happened! There was not a v8 burble anywhere - just the metallic noise of the fuel pump rattling at the rear bulkhead and a dying battery straining under the constant pressure of this dungheap never ever starting.

Then Stewart/Stuart arrived. Huzzah, I am saved! Or not as the case was as he had to run off. He has put the original electrical distributor in and has tested the wires. But still nout happened. Although it could now be the interior gubbins of the distributor. How do I know if these ones that were replaced last week actually work? Can I have my old gubbins back please?!

To top it all, there is now another problem. Whilst cranking and trying to start it, it obviously flooded. It was at this point that I could hear a trickling and smell fuel. It wasn't coming out of the bit that we (thanks to Simon for his fuel pump assistance and trips to B&Q) had changed. It was coming from the engine. It was coming from the carbs. It was pouring from a pipe from the carbs straight on to the block! This site suggests it is a safety measure. I would love to meet the bellend who designed that "safety" measure. Although in my case, it is perfectly safe as the engine never runs thus the block will never be hot enough to ignite the leaky fuel. The MG site has suggested that the needle is blocked with some dung (possible as I drained the fuel into a (cleanish) plastic bowl) or that one of the floats is buggered, which could be due to the fact that an engine has not been started for a while (no shit!).

Previously I had a car that wouldn't get up a very small hill as the fuel pump was no good. Now I am paddling in a lake of unleaded as the fuel pump is too good. Cock! In conclusion therefore, today and probably for the rest of the week, Rover v8's are dung, Harris Mann is a tosser, BL/Rover deserved to go bust and TR7s are the worst cars ever made. The white flag is raised once more.

Thanks be to Paul

Following various messages of encouragement on here and elsewhere, I decided to give the Beast a last chance. On Saturday, I approached Paul in the hope that he had a spare distributor lying around. He had, but it was one with points as opposed to electronic ignition. Fear not, a trip to Bewdley to his mate Pete was called for

Pete just happened to have a box of Lucas distributors lying around , all in various states of (dis)repair. We transferred the potentially buggered innards of my dis with those from one of the others. I also borrowed one of those ballast resistor box things too. 2 hours later, time to put the plan into action.

Cock! The gear on the oil pump had moved and the dis wouldn't go in. A temporary blip though as Paul created a oil pump mover tool thing from a huge bolt and an angle grinder. The dis was put in. The cables were recrimped and reconnected to the coil and resistor. all connected. The key was turned ... COOOOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! At this point, you may have worked out that all was not well. We waggled and pulled and disconnected and reconnected but to no avail. That's it then. The Beast is going back on eBay for as much as I can get.

It was at this point that Paul decided to fit the points dis ...

Lager! The Beast lives!

I Surrender

An update for all those of you who still bother to read this sorry tale: it's still fucked! I have tested the spark using some glow end cap things. I have sparks. I then tested the spark with a spark strength tester thing that looks a bit like a compass. The spark strength tester thing suggested the spark was too weak. So, what produces the spark? The coil. It can't be the distributor as that just distributes the spark surely? I purchased a new coil. Typically, it made fuck all difference. That was about 2 weeks ago. I have been nowhere near the sack of crap since. I can't be arsed. I loathe and detest it. No wonder TR7's are universally ridiculed. No wonder Rover went down the shitter. I raise the white flag in surrender.

Hammerite

The under arches and under body are now nicely Hammerited. It was very rusty in places. There was also alot of filler. I am getting a bit of deja vu from 20 years ago. I hope the MOT man doesn't poke the bottom too hard with his scredriver!

Waste of money?

In the last year, lots of people have suggested to me that I had wasted my money on the Beast. Well, to all of you doubters, it's a very useful way to dry groundsheets and caravan awnings.

The great tune up - my cock!

Hello all. No recent updates as it's fannied again. It's still the Rover part, nothing wrong with the Triumph bits at the moment. The engine has decided to play silly buggers again. Gary (rebuilding a TR7v8) popped over a couple of weekends ago to have a look at the positions of the water hoses on the engine. As he was there, and because he knows a bit about cars, I convinced him to have a "quick" look. 3 hours later, feck all difference - except that the new Facet fuel pump is in. When I say in, it's bodged in the engine bay with lots of jubilee clips and hose pipes rather than on the rear bulkhead where it belongs. I may just add a photo at some stage - if I can be arsed. Until then, here's the pump ...

Next stage then ... to finish off the under sealing. I did the passenger side. It looks quite good actually! Now with the car turned around (thanks to Gary and Simon!), I can get to the other side. As for the engine ... feck knows what to do. I don't think it will be on the road this summer. In fact, I have a nasty feeling that it will live in the garage for a decade before I sell it to Ed for the price of a curry. Cock!

Fiat Panda v Triumph TR8

Went into the garage over the weekend to put the seats in and fanny about with the chewed electrics. I thought I would just give it a test first, and listen to the burbling and popping for inspiration. Bastard!

If I hadn't just spent lots of dough on a Pajero, I would be making use of Coco's scrappage thing and doing this...

The great starting debacle pt 10

Never mind all of that sensible Frank stuff below! We have a breakthrough! last night, Ben (Who's Who) popped around to finish off his work. he was convinced that he had the answer. Last time he paid a visit, he had set a Top Dead Centre thing up which was incorrect apparently, as the piston is already at the top when at TDC and thus wouldn't ignite the mixture - or something like that. So, we removed the plugs (I am getting good at this bit!), he gapped them and I replaced them, except #1.

He then set the TDC thing which is somewhere at the front next to the fan, to 6 degrees. I really need to find out what all of this means! Whilst I turned the crank via the big nut on the alternator, he played with #1's hole. Following that, he shone a light somewhere around the distributor. It was at this point, and not for the first time, that he tried to explain what he was doing - it was something to do with checking the earth on the coil I think. I felt rather like a spotty GCSE kid asking a nuclear physician to quickly run through how to make a fission bomb.

Once all that was done, the cap and leads went back on. The Beast was a little desperate, and I could see the strain on Ben's face, but it eventually went. It was a fantastic - but not a very pretty noise. We are backfiring and popping even more so than before. But who cares ... the Beast lives! "The great starting debacle" is over. Raise a glass for the new series: "The great tune up".

Thought of the day

The current dilema .... sell or keep the V70?

Somebody not called Frank just said the following:

"You know what I think , you should no way have that TR. You are not (and never will be) in a position to look after it. Its a cash cow that just isn't worth the effort. Sorry for being frank. I think the V70 is a great car but if you are determined to get the TR working then you need money and the Volvo is the best way to get it quickly. As for the Mitsi didn't I say it would drink fuel and you ignored me! If it were me I would bin the TR, keep the Volvo and use this as a primary car, then leave the Mitsi for towing the plastic house you have!"

That is of course the correct action and something to very seriously ponder.

This week's Update

A regular reader has asked where this week's update is, so here goes ...

It's still in the garage and it's still fucked.

The great starting debacle pt 9

Cock. I think the Beast is dead. Thursday last, my old school mate Ben came round to try is hand at beast repair. Ben is a mechanic. Ben has been a mechanic for 20 years. Ben has got a big van with lots of big tools in it.

He tried the following: set the distributor via me turning the back wheel; tested electric currents in various wires; took out spark plus and sniffed them; tested sparks; sprayed fuel directly into the plug holes; sprayed fuel directly into the carbs; undid fuel pipes to check that fuel was being pumped; checked sparks; removed the rocker covers.

Cock. He was there for 2½ hours. He left with my SD1 manual, confused and a little miffed ... his professional pride dented by the Beast! I think it is terminal. Don't think that selling the V70 would be a good idea!

The Resprayerman

Martin The Resprayer man has got in touch. See Blue, green and a little black. Have a butchers at his site for the pictures. Don't suppose you do engines do you Martin?!

The great starting debacle pt 8

Even Lionel and his electric brain couldn't get it going this weekend. My borrowed spare box thing make chuff all difference. I don't even have a chuffin' spark now. Unfortunately for him, Ed happened to pop round. He tried to bypass the box straight to the coil. That didn't chuffin' work either. The rabbity wires are still rabbited. The coil might be chuffed. The box thing might be chuffed. The dizzy might be chuffed. And to top it all, the chuffin' sun has been out all chuffin' week. I should have purchased one of these...

Oryctolagus Cuniculus

Or to give it it's more common name: rabbit. We have one. He is quite sweet actually. Unfortunately he lives in the garden. More unfortunately the bastard thing eats everything in its path - a plague of locusts could not devour more. Unfortunately, dear Freddy has managed to get into the garage. And because he hates me, dear Freddy has decided, for reasons known only unto himself, to eat through the ensemble of wires hanging down from the replaced NSF headlight/fog light/indicators. I have a big enough pot. My life's work is now to catch it.

A letter from America

Well more a forum entry actually from Tom in the USA via the great www.triumphtr7.com. This is going to be the first port of call on the weekend. I am almost exited!

hi steve, here is how to check the ign power circuit.
part 1: you will find a solid white wire on the ballast resistor and also a white/yellow wire. check to see that the white wire has power at all times the key is on. the white/yellow wire will show some voltage, but less than battery volts in run. when in start, the white/yellow wire should have full battery volts to improve the spark for starting. this wire comes from the starter solenoid.

Part 2: if all this is happening, check at the coil + terminal for voltage with the key on and for higher voltage when cranking.

if part 1 is ok and part 2 is not, you have a fault in the resistor pack, if part 1 is ok as well as part 2, the symptoms you describe usually indicate a bad module in the distributor.

this applies to all factory tr8, with original dist and resistor pack.

Note to Fil: if you could pick the brains of the Lucas God that would be handy! I am getting a spark on one of the plugs when I turn the key. As soon as the key is in the "rest" position, bye bye spark. I am led to believe that it could be the ballast resistor, the distributor or the coil. The above forum posting may point to the problem. I now have a spare ballast resistor to check, but if your Dad has any further ideas, please let me know!

Which Ignition?

After asking on a forum, is it the electronic ignition or the ignition? Answers on a postcard please.

"It sounds like you are getting ignition power when the key is in the 'start' position, but not the 'run' position. I'd look towards the ignition switch."

The great starting debacle pt 7

Hello and all of that. So here we are again. Since we last spoke, there have been some changes made in our clan. It has been decided, stupidly most probably, that the lovely and very reliable Volvo S40 is going. A 7 seater planet killing towing machine is to be its replacement. Also going is the minging but very reliable Volvo V70 as the planet killer will effectively take its place. That means that the Beast is to become the second car and my transport to work. This all sounds great as this is what I have wanted for 20 years. And then I go into the garage. And then I am presented with my "project".

Since I lobbed my spanners a couple of weeks ago, we have moved on a little bit. I had the starter reconditioned. This was put into place on Saturday. Although it sounded better, it still didn' t fire. #70th plug removal showed the usual - fuel soaked plugs. These were cleaned and replaced.

It was then decided to bypass the fuel pump as it had been suggested before and I hadn't checked it, and I didn't really know what else to do. After borrowing a submersible pump from Paul, I had to get some fuel. Returning with the fuel, I met Stuart/Stewart. Only turns out that 6 doors away there lives a bloke who used to work for Grinnall!!!

It was like watching a surgeon at work! Off came the SU's and out came the screwdrivers. He was working so fast that he looked like he had four arms. #71st removal and the plugs were cooked and replaced. Cock!

Very very nearly. It ALMOST starts when the key is turned. But as soon as the key is returned to the "run" position, it loses its spark. Stuart/Stewart suggested it may be the electronic ignition or at least a lead going to it / from it.

This is now the Holy Grail:

MURDER!

The teabag is dead, long live the Beast!

Monsters

Monsters and evil still lurk in my garage which is why there has been no recent blog updates. By evil I mean the Beast. We are still not friends. I am still very reluctant to go anywhere near it. I had the starter motor looked at - it were buggered. Yes I know that this fact might explain the starting debacle, however, I am loathed to refit the recon'd starter through fear of having to begin a post entitled "The great starting debacle pt 7". Oh and I haven't picked up the starter yet either!

You all know what's on the To Do List. You also all know that it don't start either. But. For some unknown and strange reason. I bought the Beast a tonneau cover today. Am I trying to ignore my true feelings?

Oh Feck It

I am at a crossroads. Where do I go now? This car has become a mistress, I no longer see my wife and family. For example, I spent several hours on Saturday and most of Sunday fannying around in the garage trying to get the useless sack of crap to start. The new battery leads look nice but made feck all difference. I trawled around Kidderminster on Sunday for an age trying to find a tyre/battery place that was open. After finding one, the good news is that the battery is fine. The bad news is that something else must have fecked on it. The pit crew suggested that it must be the starter motor ... it turns over very slowly as if the battery is still dead, which is isn't. Various car forums have also suggested that it may be the starter motor, so off it came, to be taken to a starter motor man for reconditioning. There goes the carpet money.

This is perhaps also a good time to mention the pit crew. All of them know loads more than I do and together we STILL can't get it to run! So what chance have I got if I were left to my own devices? I do not have bucket loads of cash to waste on it and thus umpteen trips to garages is not possible. Nor do I have the knowledge to do it myself - a Haynes service book and a few old rusty spanners will not suffice! I honestly thought that my mad quest for one of the quite dreadful cars would have brought hours of fun and satisfaction. My cock.

I love driving it, but there lays the whole point, I haven't for 5 months now and I am still months away from driving it in the near future. I am now at the crossroads. I am going to take a few weeks away from the garage and decide if it is time to cut and run.

Fingers crossed ...

... that the new +ve and -ve leads (kindly donated by Lionel) and the new +ve and -ve gold battery terminals (from a car audio place with discounts kindly donated by Lionel) result in the Beast spluttering to life over the weekend, otherwise I fear the next headline will read thus: "The great starting debacle pt 7".

The great starting debacle pt 6

Another fruitless day. On Sunday Lionel came round. The idea was that we were going to see how much the matrix in the heater leaked, and to see if a bottle of Radweld would sort out the problems. I assured him that it would start as it had purred the weekend (see video as proof!) before and had sort of started only a few days ago. We installed the shiny new heater hoses and topped up the water and were ready to test.

It'll start my arse. Out come the spark plugs for the 68th time and out comes a wire brush and my Black & Decker paint scraping heat gun. Once completed, it started for about 5 seconds before stopping. And then the battery died. By this time, Simon had come over to play and join in the fun. We decided to push the car out of the garage so that we could try to jump start it off Lionel's van. We missed the side of the garage by a gnat's todger. A white stripe down the OS door really would have been the final straw.

It'll start my arse. Just like Mr Ben, Paul popped around to see what was (n't) going on. The Beast now had it's very own Formula One team playing with it. Paul realised that Simon's jump leads were pooped and thus they were changed. Start my arse. We then checked the spark on one of the plugs. All was well with the spark, however, Paul noticed that the plug gap was slightly too big (a slight under statement). Out came the plugs for the 69th time and so did Simon's feeler gauges.

Paul then swapped Lionel's van with his Land Rover and brought out the thickest pair of jump leads known to man. Start my arse. He then did some things that I still don't quite understand! It went something like this: he connected the negative lead to the engine via the battery and the positive lead to the starter motor (bejaysus that made a few sparks!). It was then decided by Paul and electrical guru Lionel, that the the Beast's earth was dung as was the positive. I must admit that whatever he did, it sounded much better when the ignition key was turned. Still didn't chuffing start though.

It was at this point that whilst being ridiculed about my Beast (including the suggestion that street parties were held by the previous owner when I parted with my cash (sorry Neil!) ), that Karen brought over a plastic bag containing bits of plastic interior trim dropped off by Neil only moments before! Despite assuring them that he was actually quite a caring former owner, my "Pit Team" guffawed helplessly.

The To Do List has thus grown to include #25 change the +ve and -ve leads and battery terminals. Will it ever work again?

Love and hate relationship

I went to start the Beast today. I leave you with these two pictures:

The great starting debacle pt 5

It's been a few weeks so I decided to go on a restart adventure. Out come the spark plugs. Out comes the WD40. On goes Simon's flame torch gun thing. And away we go, spluttering and choking into life. But this time I was ready. I had a Haynes manual, a screwdriver and a Simon. And now she sits idling nicely at about 800 rpm's with not (many) a backfire anywhere. I am loathed yet to cross tuning the carbs off the To Do List. Nevertheless, Hurrah! Just listen to this ...

Publish Post

Blue, green and a little black

I purchased some Hammerite for some reason. I think I was going to paint the inner arches or something. Where I did paint it was on the new (recent) floor panel bits which were going a bit rust spotty (and rust and TR7s just don't get on).

Blue or green?

Hello! Long time and all that! So here's the first of several ...

Good news is that the black/green check door cards from the Teabag fit the Beast. That's good news as the car is green and the carpet will be black! And more good news is that the two black/green check seats from the Teabag that are in the roof will also fit. I reckon that it will look damned good! So that all means that I can tick off clean the seats (20) and replace headrest (19) from the To Do List. A good deal of the plastic bits I have in black somewhere thanks to the Teabag again! Here is a crap picture of what is going and what is coming back ...

What no carpet?

That was to be the job for the weekend but alas, 2 problems: Firstly, my mental measurements were a little retarded and thus there was not enough carpet available after Dan's room was completed; Secondly, sticking proper carpet to sills appeared to be too much of an impossibility with the lone stick of UHU that I had lying around.

I tested Gary's carpet for size and all looked well - not at all bad quality for the cash. I will still have to come to a solution of sorts for the back panel thing. And I will also have to find another plastic centre console bit as the previous one sort of obliterated whilst trying to remove it!

Here's the latest interior pics. I have definitely decided that whilst it is in this state I shall remove the dashboard and have a mooch at the clocks and heater. That should be fun! Pip pip!

A Good Day

Some great Beast action this weekend - damned cold though! Lionel came over to assist as did Simon. When I say assist, I mean I made the coffee whilst they slowly took the car apart. I'd like to think that I am a sort of Project Manager, although if you ask either of them, I am sure that they would suggest that I simply get in the way.

Anyway, like I say, Saturday was a good day (except for the starting debacle). The headlights now pop up together. The little turning knob thing on the actuator had fallen off. We changed the Beast's actuator/arm set up with one from the Teabag. Part of the Teabag lives! Lionel also set to work on sorting out the electricity problems. Whilst changing the NS headlight, a clump of wire fell out from somewhere. It was noticed that with a waggle here and waggle there, the side light and indicator would/would not work. He found where it was shorting/earthing (or something like that) and all was well. Whatever he did also sorted out the hazard lights problem. Being the electric Guru that he is, he isn't happy with the wiring of the cruise lights or front fog lights and thus I have added these to the To Do List.

The other electric thing that he did was the main beam flash. The contacts in the the flasher switch/stork were corroded and needed sandpapering. The new revamped LH light is ace. The RH light sounds terrible and needs a greasing somewhere. This has also been To Do Listed.

The bolted in seat (Neil owned up to that one!) is now unbolted. I was right, NRDFCRT was never going to fit under there. The solution required a non-portly person. Thanks Line. (I jacked the car up, but i reckon he could have slipped under without it). The seats are now at 271 as mum has some sort of hoover thing that cleans things with water?

I also took out all of the rest of the interior, except for the plastic bit that goes around the handbrake. The bugger wont come off as the handbrake won't move high enough. I'll have to loosen it off first. I have also decided to change these bits for the ones out of the Teabag as they are in better condition.

By this time, it was dark thus the Hammerite was not applied. This will have to be done one night this week as I want to put the carpets in next weekend! I have now got a carpet - enough for Dan's bedroom and the Beast. Not bad I thought. Gary has kindly said that I can cut around his proper convertible carpet set so as to make fitting easier. Thanks Gary!

This weeks things to cross off the To Do List include: 08, 10, 12, 13. Hurrah!

Nuts

It was decided that the dashboard could wait a bit. Instead, I just thought I would prepare the interior for a bit of Hammerite before carpet installation. I also want to create a template of sorts for where the rear padding goes. So seats out then.

As you can see from the picture, there is a seat sat there all alone without his friend to keep him company. This one came out relatively easy - just 4 star shaped bolt things [whats the technical term?] and a little bit of NRDFCRT bending out of shape.

Three of the star shaped bolt things came out of the drivers side too. Alas there is one left. It keeps going round and round and not getting any looser. Wonder why? Bending NRDFCRT under the car to feel what was going on whilst trying to undo said bolt was not at all easy. It would appear that some kind soul decided to keep the bolt of evil in place with a nut. This nut is unfortunately not at all accessible.

Thus, this weekends fun and games will involve jacking up the beast to assess the nut further. One only hopes that the right hand side exhaust does not need to come off ...

PS The battery is flat again ... bet you can't guess why?!

The great starting debacle pt 4

Of course I have wired up the distributor cap properly. Do you think I am some sort of tit?! Ahem. So, it don't go round in order of 1 to 8 then?! 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 is it?

We'll test the fuel pump whilst we are here by disconnecting a hose and with the help of a milk bottle. Bugger all wrong with that then. Next!

With the cap connected up properly (I found out that there was a back and front as well!), work started on removing 8 spark plus. Lionel kindly soaked them in WD40 and set about cooking them with Simon's gas lamp gun thing. 8 plugs back in and the moment of truth ...

U-bloody-rika! The beast is alive - not happy but alive! And more importantly, I can cross a few things off the Winter To Do List too ...

gone is #06 as the current one appears to squirt fuel into milk bottles perfectly;
tick against #07 as you have already seen;
and another tick on #18 - no more Flintstone holes

All of the above was achieved with the help of a new beast friend - Ian the RAC man from the corner house. He has several V8 Land Rovers too! The Whos Who makes better reading by the day. Wonder if any of them know how to tune twin carbs?

Dashboard removal next. I may even be able to do that on my lonesome?! Watch this space!