Bargains to be had!

As ever we are always struggling for space here. As I'm sure you are aware, the more storage space you are given the more stuff you seem to be able to cram into it, but eventually something has to give. That time is now, time for a very early spring clean, and we are using our ebay shop to do it. Initially we are sorting through the bulkier (because it takes up more space!) secondhand panelwork. Stuff like Dolomite doors, bootlids and bonnets, I don't know where they came from I'm sure? All good stuff, but it has to go, so we are putting no reserve's on anything, and very reasonable 'buy it now' prices. Could be your last chance to get some real bargains. Other models are being catered for as well, so it's worth taking a look whatever your Triumph. Don't wait for the next time, there might not be one! One more thing, keep looking because we shall be adding stuff to the shop as we find it over the next few days.



http://www.canleyclassics.com/ebay

70X Le Mans forged pistons aplenty!

As will probably already know we have been gathering parts to restore the Macau Spitfire back to 1965 70X running gear specification. We have had one or two lucky breaks including returning it's original aluminum 8 port head to the UK with the help of the guy who took it off in the first place, the great Kas Kastner. Other engine parts came back with the head including the Weber inlet manifolds (the original 45 DCOE Webers still being fitted to the 6cyl Kastner engine up to recently still fitted in the Macau [with the addition of a third carb obviously!]). Up until this week the only parts we were going to struggle with were the unique forged Alcan 70X 1200 pistons, well not any more! Since returning back home from our jaunt around the Caribbean I have found time to start chasing down leads on all sorts of bits and pieces we are going to need for several of our cars in the restoration que (including one or two whole cars maybe?). One of these leads bore fruit, and vitually on our doorstep, several sets of original Alcan 70X pistons! It's amazing what's still floating around Coventry if you know where to look.
Only early last year we collected what we thought was the last of the Cox/Clarke, Gold Seal Spitfire racing parts cache when our good freind Peter Clarke finally retired and cleared out one of his lock ups in Coventry before moving to deepest Wales. How wrong I was! Imagine the excitement when I got the call in August last year from Peter up in the area again clearing out yet another lock up of mostly TR stuff prior to heading off to the Malvern TR International. It went like this, 'Boy (Peter calls everyone boy?) get yourself and a van down to Allesley village (a stones throw from the former Canley Triumph plant) in 15 minutes, I might have something here to interest you!' Well he most deffinately did have something to interest me, and a few quid lighter, we struggled back to Canley Classics not quite believing our good fortune. A little more research is required on exactly what we have before we go public, but lets just say it requires careful analaysis of the fates of the various 'works' Spitfire racers!

World Cup Rally / Roy Fidler / Paper pants!

I had a long and interesting (and very amusing!) telephone converstation with Roy Fidler (ex works Triumph rally driver) the other day on the subject of the 1970 World Cup Rally (London to Mexico). The reason for my call had initially been to further investigate one of the lesser known Triumph's involved in that rally, entry number 1, a works built but privately entered 2.5PI, which Roy had been one of the crew members in. Roy was a fountain of knowlege and a great help. Just the day before he had been staring at a picture in his office of this very car before the start of the rally at Wembley and wondering about its fate, spooky or what? I was able to put his mind to rest about the current location of his World Cup drive as its been safely ensconsed in our workshop under a cover for the past 12 months or so.
The conversation eventually got around to underpants (as it does), or more correctly the provision of underwear for the worlds longest and most ardous rally. Worrying about the provision of washing facilities, and/or the weight penalty of carrying sufficient undergarments for the three crew for the duration of the rally, the cars owner/sponsor provided disposable paper pants for the crew! Oh dear, sounds a bit sore to me, its probably a good thing that they only got as far as the South of France!

6003 VC Back home!

Our Vitesse finally turned up on Saturday courtesy of the AA three weeks to the day after Dave Walker and myself had to abandon it in Italy. Considering we broke a halfshaft in one of the most inaccessable places in Europe, the St Barnardo Pass, at its highest point, on one of its sharpest hairpins, our car has survived remarkably unscathed! Thanks AA, I thouroughly recommend your European breakdown cover! We had been participating in Club Triumphs marvelous 10 Countries event, and despite our little 'off', both Dave and myself had a fantastic time, and can't wait for the next Club Triumph driving event. We completed the 10CR in a Seat Toledo courtesy again of the AA, our fellow 10CR'ers thought that it was splendid that we had gone to all the time and trouble to secure a Triumph badged back up vehicle, but it was pure co-incidence!
Once again I would like to thank Club Triumph and the organsisers of the 10CR for a wonderful event, pencil me in for the next one.

10CR Madness!

Yes I'm here on a Sunday! I have broken my cardinal rule of no Sunday working (I'm not religious or anything it's just that everyone deserves one day off a week!). It's all in a good cause though, I'm here (with a couple of helpers, thanks Dave, Andy) frantically trying to nail together a couple of Vitesse's for Thursdays Club Triumph 10 Countries. Finally got my engine back together yesterday after many upsets, including having to strip 5 engines to find a suitable/undamaged block. Thought I was cooking on gas on Friday, up to the point where I tried to get the last piston into the bore and it wouldn't have it (why is it always the last one?). After much head scratching it turns out that one of the oil scraper rings (the ones that go either side of the expander ring) was stightly over size and the ends were overlapping when compressed into the bore! I had never seen this before, specially on a +60 bore, whats bigger than a +60! Anyway a little work on the grinder and all was well. I'm trying a Tony Lyndsey-Dean R3 cam, in replacment for the cam previously installed by John Wooley which had terminal flat lobes, is's a wonder the car went as well as it did! The engine complete with all ancilleries is sat on the workshop floor waiting for instalation this morning, then I can sling in the gearbox/overdrive that I stripped and checked a week or two ago.



How's the other Vitesse coming on? Well if I say that I have yet to prep and spray the roof, bootlid, and bonnet, then you can see that we have a very busy few days ahead of us!

Club Triumph 10CR

Hello to all you fellow entrants in this years 10CR, Club Triumphs bianual blast around Europe in three days, we must all be mad! I'm currently up to my usual tricks burning the midnight trying to throw together a car just a couple of weeks before the kick off! To late now to worry, ferry is booked, shorts are washed and ready, here we come! Well done to Club Triumph, even the pre match buzz before the kick off is exciting enough, but if you are yet to experiance driving 2,500 miles through 10 Countries in a long weekend, then prepare for an assault on the sences. Don't know what I am looking forward to the most, swanning around on the French Riveara (Nice & Monte Carlo), or those endless hairpins in the mountains, or blasting around the Nurumburg Ring, I'm feeling tired just thinking about it!

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!