39-Year Old Assembly Error Found!

Boy, I'll bet this car had some creaks and groans in the right front! As I took apart the fourth strut assembly (two from the Stag parts from Dave Crane, two from the 2000) this Sunday, I noticed that the top of the strut assembly looked a little different than the others. Apparently, some Triumph assembly line worker was a little off the mark with his placement of the rubber pad that goes between the spring and the upper spring rest.

In case you can't tell from the picture, the ring was fitted ABOVE the spring rest. It's in perfect, un-blemished condition after 39 years of being totally useless. The metal-on-metal spring to rest contact, however, left a lot of iron oxide particles...

Here's another shot with me holding the ring (to left). The stuff that looks like cotton wool is various insect nests/egg sacs....soon to be gone.
One of the things all this disassembly means is lots more parts to beadblast. Here's some of what I'll be trying to get blasted soon:
Finally, I splurged! I really didn't want to bolt that rough looking badge on the left to the rechromed bumper...so...look what I found on eBay! NOS, it even has the right badge in it, now that the TR6/2500S engine will be going in... :-)

Oh well...still searching for some more time. I did manage to drain the tranny as well; it already had a magnetic drain plug (some crud attached, but nothing to worry about) and had pretty clean oil. Next step is to get in and find out what I need to replace (besides the inevitable countershaft and cluster gear bearings...) Guess that's all for tonight. Hope to see some more comments!

More progress...albeit slow progress!

I realized that I had neglected to post that the overdrive and mainshaft had arrived from Ian in New Zealand. Ian has previously provided overdrive conversion kits to two of my friends, and they're both happy, so I expect things to be fine with Chrissy's conversion. Ian also supplies 2000/2500 parts, so if you're in need in the land of OZ, drop him a note. Ian's e-mail is roslian@xtra.co.nz. You can see the overdrive to the left.

And here on the left is the transmission it will be mated to. I've rebuilt Triumph TR and Spitfire transmissions before, so this shouldn't be too difficult. I'm going to wait until I've cleaned and stripped the transmission down before I order parts...I'm sure I'll need a layshaft and countergear bearings...the rest we'll just have to wait and see. This transmission was originally in a TVR 2500, so it will be seeing drastically different duty in the estate.


Speaking of projects, here's another one. I took apart one of the Stag front strut assemblies that Dave, the best Triumphguy I know, was kind enough to find for me. This had spent some time in a junkyard, so I wasn't expecting too much, but I did learn the following:

• I need to use my stronger spring compressors when undoing the castellated nut at the top...which won't be hard now that the weaker version was bent by the spring (no injuries, thankfully)
• The almost 40-year old bond between the rubber and metal of the upper portion must be of a very high quality, because even on the Stag units that look a lot worse than the ones off the wagon, the bond is still very strong
• I am unable to open up the strut housing (probably a good reason why Chris Witor says this isn't a DIY job) so I will be purchasing housings that have already had the cartridges replaced
• Finally, since I can easily compress the Stag strut with one finger, any thoughts of using the existing struts went out the window.

Finally, I wanted to show the stockpile of parts waiting to be attached to Chrissy...can't wait for some time to actually install some of them! Good thing she's got a lot of storage space!

Gathering Pictures

Vern Brannon drove his 2000 saloon daily driver to the Gathering. Vern really does drive this car daily. I believe it came from Oregon as it has a PTOA sticker on the back window.

I hope at some point to get a steering wheel like this one for the Estate.

There's an interesting story behind the tear in the hood sheetmetal (visible just to the side of the "hood scoop"). Apparently Vern was driving the car one day when the original fan blade lost a blade...which left, rather rapidly, while creating the tear along the way. Vern has since replaced the fan...and this led me to buy a TR250 fan for Chrissy.

As far as progress on OUR car, I've done some more blasting and painting, but there's a lot more to do. I'm still struggling with the eventual brake specifications. At this point, I'm leaning towards a Stag M/C, Stag front brakes, and possibly putting a proportioning valve into the system to keep the rears from locking up rather than replacing the rear brakes with Stag brakes. Anyone got any experience with proportioning valves? They seem pretty affordable on eBay. I've also acquired some more parts off the list that never seems to end...but will eventually.

One more thing...it's lonely out here. If you read this, please post a comment so that I know you did...:-) Thanks!

Jamie

Update...but not much to report

It's been pretty busy lately with the TCOC's main event, The Gathering, which was last weekend and was a great deal of fun!

The latest issues are how to rig up the throttle (I'm going to try a late Spit 1500 cable attached to a highly modified RHD pedal assembly) and what to use for a brake master cylinder. At this point I'm going to start off with a NOS 2000 master cylinder...but that may create a "long" pedal with the Stag front calipers. We'll have to see. If I have to go to the Stag brake M/C I'll have to relocate the clutch M/C in one way or another. Two solutions were posted to my question on the forum, one to move the cylinder over, one to create a part that relocates the cylinder forward and to also extend the pushrod. We'll have to see.

Also, my friend Doug from Durham has offered to help me figure out a way to get more gauges into the dash without it looking horrible. I really want a tachometer, and I would prefer a voltmeter over the ammeter.

More to come, I'm sure...

Aussie Parts Arrive!

Yea! The parts from Australia are here! Here's the box from Andy:

Note the "This way up". The box was very solidly constructed, and I can at least say that the local DHL delivery folks did pay attention to the directions...it was in my driveway that side up!








I eagerly unpacked the box (LOTS of screws):















I now have in the garage awaiting cleaning, fettling and installation:
SU carbs, linkage and manifold
Gas, brake and clutch pedals
Remote air cleaner assembly and ducting
Sump for 2.5 engine
Engine mount spacer plates

And the bumper and sidelamp have been repacked and sent on to Stephen...

Now to find some time!