MOT 2012 part ii

It only failed on 7 things! I was quite pleased with that, especially as the usual TR7 failure notice would include the phrase "weakened by corrosion". The list then:

(Another) MOT failure sheet

• R rear light

• L internal indicator dashboard lamp

• Dead hazards / dashboard switch

• A lost wheel nut

• R wheel rubs against brake pipe on full lock

• Emissions are dung - 3834 instead of 1200

• R track rod ball joint

Tamed electrician

The first three have been done by my tamed electrician, in about an hour! Here he is re-crimping the rear light. The other four problems I leave to Jade Motors

MOT 2012 part i

Here we go...

More Carb Action ii

Forgot to add this video. This was going on near the end. WTF is going on with full throttle?

More Carb Action

Springs, linky thing and needles

OK, so here we go again. We (Simon) got the springs and the linky thing and the needles ready and started at 1100. 

Went from step 1 to step 26 on a downloaded SU booklet. Got it to sound like this ... check out the flames! ...

And the linky bar thing doesn't appear to fit!

By 5, it was ticking over much much better but not quite right. 

ill fitting linky thing

Good Money After Bad

Rimmer Brothers must love me. They'll have me on speed dial in the near future. To try to un-kill the car, I have now added to the long list of bits that have/have not been required to get this ungrateful piece of green crap to simply run properly:

Rimmers love me

2x SU Damper springs, 2x SU BAF needles (this is the second set of carb needles I have now bought), a clutch slave cylinder (as that is still leaking) and an SU link throttle (to replace the snapped one).

Car Killer

I am a fecking great mechanic me...

I decided to have a go at the carbs. I have been driving on the choke for weeks now. No choke = chugging around like an 850cc 20 year old Fiesta. With choke, it goes like a v8 and sounds like a v8. But that's not right, so I set out to fix it.

i got one bigger than the other ...

I would like to blame the fact that the car is now completely fucked on the two carb springs that should be the same size but are not. That's another tenner. It will now only start on full choke and revs at about 4000 rpm, any fuel added via the accelerator and the fucking thing stops. The carb link rod thing that joins the two SUs together has also snapped at one end. That's another ton to fix. Not that I could get it anywhere near a garage.

I am a fecking great mechanic me...

Rain on the Malverns!

Worcestershire TRDC joined in with Classic Ford show at the The Counties today. It rained, sunned and winded, typical of the Malvern Hills. Thankfully somebody remembered the gazebo! Nine cars, must be a record!

The Beast is far left

Plugs and Leads

I've got some new plugs and some new HT leads to see if I can fix the lumpy not running properly thing. If it ever stops raining and/or my cough/flu ever nobs off, I'll have a go at fitting them. Due to both of the above excuses, I have not used the car for about 3 weeks. I do wonder if it's all worth it sometimes.

Droitwich Spa Classic Car Show (05/05/2012)

Simon RP came as my co pilot and we had a good turn out: Pete, Paul, Simon, The Other Spider Bloke, John and I. It all sounded very good - the roads were to be closed once we were in and ready to display. It did happen, but we were in the High Street with a billion MGs behind. It was damned cold up there - a wind tunnel, although the bacon sarnie shop helped!

Round the corner in the sunny bit of the "square" were the old Austins and Mercs etc. Nice cars in the best spot. Where we were, there was no place to sit, chat, talk to the punters, just freeze to death and stand around. Simon and I bailed out erly, just when some arsey old cow in a wheel chair whined about me parking over a kerb ramp, where the marshals had put me, about 10 yards from another kerb ramp. I shall not be doing this one again. 

Oh, and the car? Ran rubbish as usual, missing 2 cylinders again, running very hot. One step forward, two steps backwards.

Catch Up

So what have I done since the last time we met ...

The new clutch master cylinder was yet another fantastic ebay buy. The hole in which the brake pipe fits was the wrong size and thus I had to "test" an Auto Suppliers cylinder repair kit. As I am fully aware where these seals come from, I fully expect to be replacing these in the near future! Ta to Lionel for his assistance.

The winter wind and rain have not been kind to the Beast. The car port roof had to come off for the window man and it was several months before any decent weather allowed it to be put back on. The filled arches are now cracking, the filled lower front wings are cracking, the outer sills are showing signs of rust, most of the hood poppers are shafted and the bottom of the doors are bubbling. I love TR7s me.

New Beastport Roof

Action this winter has been very limited, or that is, not at all. However, the new Beastport roof is nearly complete. Unfortunately, the clutch master cylinder is now so buggered that we had to push the car out of the Beastport, where it now rests smothered in covers and ropes as it can not make the 5 yard journey up the drive. The cylinder is now a must for this weekend.