Late one!

It's 6.30 in the evening here at Canleys, the day shift have long gone and I'm sat here trying to think of some content for another one of our on-line newsletters. To be honest it's a bit of a relief to be sat here at the computor for a change after a hot and sweaty day stripping 4 cyl engines and later on this afternoon Type 14 Girling calipers. Didn't start the day well as the first two 1300's I stripped were thrusted, never mind only another 1,000 or so 4 cylinders in stock to go at! I suppose we should be putting thrusted blocks to one side for the future when we might have to repair them, but with a pile of blocks that resembles the north face of the Eiger to go at it shouldn't be a problem for a decade or two! Besides which if I get my way you will all be buying aluminum blocks and cylinder heads off us long before that.

Another picture of the Triumph Museum extension progress follows showing all of the internal walls completed. Total size of the extension I measure at about 800 sq ft or enough to get 6 cars in comfortably with plenty of space to walk around.There wont be any more progress reports for a couple of weeks as our builders have now gone off on their summer holidays!

Bloody Heralds!

Had to pop out this morning to do some delivering up to our friends TD Fitchetts. My preferred mode of transport our Chicane is currently being put back together after its recent re-paint. Still I might have struggled with getting today's delivery in the Chicane even with its back seats removed as it consisted of some large panelwork including Herald/Vitesse rear wings! A quick look around the car park revealed the ideal candidate, a Herald 13/60 Estate we currently have for sale, should get everything in the back of one of those!



Herald 13/60 Estate - Currently For Sale

The misses has used it locally off and on, no problems at all, starts on the button, nice to drive. Anyway we load up and set off up the M6/M54, lovely, apart from the shock of motorway speeds and no overdrive, it's been a while since I ventured out in a Herald with no overdrive! Drop off the delivery at Fitchetts and start back for Coventry via my favourite roadside batch bar just on the outskirts of Telford, don't tell the wife! Jump back onto the M54 and then it starts! Ignition warning light comes on and temperature starts to rise, oh bugger. Pull up on the hard shouder expecting to see no trace of a fan belt, but no its still there, just no trace of any adjusting arm bolt! Of course theres no tools in the car and nothing to hand to sort it. A quick ferckle in the grass and I find a suitable rock to jam between the alternator and block and away we go again all smug like at my Heath Robinson repair, or at least I was for two miles or so! Same thing again, rock had fell out, slack fan belt, find another rock, and the same thing happened over and over again, I must admit to feeling a little vunerable on the hard shoulder of the M6 every time I stopped (must have been 4 or 5 times). Anyway got back OK, fixed the alternator adjuster, one less problem for any future owner to come across!

Its 7.45 in the evening and I have just wondered out to the workshop to take this picture of Karl putting the finishing touches to his race car for next weekends Mallory race, we don't call him last minute Dandridge for nothing!
Sorry for the dark pictute, but the 'works' digital is on its last legs and the flash has just packed up. Hang on what's that revving up in the background, the beast stirs, he must be about finished, good that means I can have the workshop back!

Busy workshop!

What's happening in the workshop this past couple of weeks? Number one priority has been Andy Roberts, Del Lines (Atlantic Garages) Stag V8 saloon, a long term resident here at Canley Classics. We are making every effort to change that situation! A complete rebuild after many years of inactivity should see this V8 purring again in very short order. We are currently refitting the suspension with help from a certain Mr Witor and some of his goodies, it will be nice to get 'Janey' (Andys nickname for the car) rolling on her own wheels again.
I have been naughty and shoehorned another of my own cars into the schedule, but it deserves it, after all it is the hardest working Triumph in the fleet. I'm talking of course about our Chicane, the miracle Triumph that never goes rusty or wears out, but needs a complete paint job every 4/5 years of 100,000 miles (whichever comes first!). It's now past 300,000 miles and still going strong, no real problems to report, ever! Have you ever pondered just how many miles a standard engine will last on the cheapest nastiest unleaded petrol, then look no further. The only signs of extreem mileage and abuse is the odd wiff of smoke from the exhaust when you really cane the thing, but the crank dosn't knock on start up, it returns fabulous petrol consumption figures, and I would quite happily jump in it and drive to Moscow and back and know that it wouldn't let me down.
Other workshop space is being taken up by Karl, who is busy preparing his race GT6 for the TR Register race at Mallory next weekend.
Oh and we have a nice local TR5 in for work to eliminate various drivetrain knocks.

Weather Report

It must be the start of the outdoor classic car show season, what with the showers, wind and other nasties that passes for early summer weather! Close to this time last year I remember the countdown to Leatherhead being exactly the same, we persisted and went anyway only to sit next to the gate on arrival and watch the marshals turn people away, how demoralising. Good luck if you are giving it a go this year, I hope there's a break in the weather. We aren't going by the way, I'm suffering from the longest cold Iv'e ever had that saw me confined to bed most of the bank holiday weekend, so the thought of sitting under a leaky tarp on a windy showground dosn't appeal at the moment!
Not sure about Gaydon this year either, it seems to have been watered down from the usual all Triumph show to a all makes general classic car show. How the mighty fall! Gone from one of the biggest Triumph shows in the calender to a sad addition to a all makes show, including motorbikes, lorries, etc, in under 5 years. Mind you as a trader it became obvious something had to give a few years back as numbers visting the show dwindled alarmingly from the 'glory days' of the 75th aniversary when the car park's overflowed.
We did the most shows ever last year and the only one that seems to buck the trend of dwindling numbers is the TR Register International at Malvern. Malvern showgound is massive and to see it crammed full of TR's, and it has to be said a good proportion of other Triumphs, is something to savour. What with sharing the weekend with the Triumph World picnic, and regular participation from other Triumph clubs (I noticed the 2000 Register were there in numbers), its a great place to see a wide range of Triumphs.
Now if only I could shake this cold I might get a little more enthusiastic about booking a few shows for us, but then again Iv'e just looked out of the window and been reminded about the miserable weather again.

20 Counties

Are you ready? Only a few days now for your final preperations, and those last minute adjustments. Finally got the breakfast situation sorted last week, and those that have pre-booked can look forward to a traditional fry up at The Manor Pub in Fillongley village only a stones throw from the Canley premises.

For a map showing the pub, go to the link below -

http://uk.multimap.com/p/browse.cgi?pc=CV78ET&scale=25000

Got to have a bit of a tidy up of the Canley car park before you all arrive as we have collected a few more project cars that are encroaching into space we will need Saturday! Could I make one request? Please be aware that we do have neighbours, so could you arrive and depart the site as quietly as possible as it is out of hours especially on your return in the morning, no reving Kevins!

That's it, see you Saturday evening, and good luck to all the teams entered.

The good old days!

This week amongst other things I have been building a chassis for a MK11 Vitesse, we brought the bare centre section back from the blasters yesterday ready to go on the assembly jig. Nothing unusual in that I hear you say? Well 6/7 years ago or more, in the last days of the JK empire, no it wasn't. Back in those days it wasn't unusual for me to do at least 2 or 3 chassis a month for John, indeed we were doing that many back then that we used to mark them with our own unique system and maintain a log of what was what. This output went on throughout the 90's seemingly unabated, our production log is not to hand but I remember passing the 200 mark. As the new Millenium has progressed this output has dropped to a trickle, symtomatic I fear of the tail off in the restoration of 'our' cars. This is confirmed in an alarming decrease in the sale of panelwork for all models over the same period, noticed not only by us but by others we speak to in the trade. Can it be that all the cars that are going to be restored are done? Or is it a reluctance of a new generation of classic car enthusiasts to get their hands dirty? Some say its because far to many restorable cars have been broken for spares. What do you think?

Club Triumph RBRR dinner/presentation night

Thanks to everyone involved in Saturday nights Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run dinner and finishers award presentation do! Although I have been participating in the Round Britain for over 10 years (not the same Round Britain you understand, but a few of them!), this is the first time I had dragged my arse down to the smoke for the presentation evening. It was well worth the trip, the wife and I had a great evening amongst like minded genuine Triumph driving enthusiasts. You (RBBR participants) should all be very proud of yourselves, not only for the wonderful total raised for the nominated charity (over £47,000 for Children With Leukemia), but also for the great way in which you did it, with good humour, enthusiasm in abundance, and the comarardere that can only come from within Club Triumph. Well done to Tim Bancroft and his small dedicated army of helpers for organising another 'Triumph' in the Triumph calender, yet another can't miss CT event. What with the 10 Countries Run and the new 20 Counties Run (OK not new but resurected from a CT event last run in the 1960's) its all becoming a bit of a blur! Top marks guys, this is what it's all about, fantastic Triumph driving events that fly in the face of the usual staid Club Internationals/Nationals/Concours events that long ago turned into much of a muchness. Perhaps 30 odd years of visiting various Triumph shows has finally done it for me, one line up of infrequently used, pampered garage queens, is starting to to look very much like the last lot I saw (perhaps they are the same car's over and over again?). I would much rather see a well used (but still loved) Triumph being hammered over the Cromarty Firth bridge as the sun comes up on day two of the RBRR, I think I just detected a shiver run up my back! Or better still getting into Gordano services early on the second morning of the RBRR and listening for the charaismatic wail of the PI's breaking the rare pre dawn silence of the M5 as they approach at speed.
Excuse me now I must go off and find that 20 Counties Run entry form, see you there?

Picture Courtesy of Club Triumph