Happy Christmas!

To all you lovely Triumph owners out there have a fantastic Christmas and New Year holiday. Bring on 2007 and another superb 12 months of Triumph driving!

So near and yet so far

There's no way I'm going to make that 10 o'clock MOT appointment this morning for the pimped Herald. I suppose it was a little ambitious to expect to be able to build a stripped out rolling shell car back up in 5 working days! In the end it wasn't even 5 full days as I had to drop onto to customer stuff once or twice. Still I had a bloody good crack at it, and it isn't that far off now. The rear valances never materialised so I couldn't put the petrol tank in or fit the exhaust (the Range Rover Sport tailpipe emerges from a cutout in the back valance). Rich has promised them (the valances) for this morning but it gives me precious little time to fit them. The engine and box went back in last night after a diaphragm clutch conversion from the original coil spring one. Although it all looked new (or new when it was fitted 20 odd years ago!) there was no way I was going to risk using 20 plus year old coil spring clutch stuff. So a flywheel, one of our 'Coventry Classic Clutches' and the appropriate bearing carrier arm were substituted. The aluminium sprayed Spitfire MKII tubular manifold went on a treat, as did the twin HS2 SU's. Whist I was tiding up the engine with a new set of core plugs I thought a full set of Canley alloy lightweight engine components might not go amiss. We now have a alloy dizzy pedestal, an alloy alternator mounting block, a lightweight 'competition' alternator, and a polished alloy rocker cover finishes the effect. All of this on a 948 Herald engine?

Pressure is off.

Some of the pressure to get the 948 totally finished by the end of this week has been lifted. The car is being done for our eldest daughter who was due to take her driving test yesterday at 3.30. Due to the foggy weather conditions her test was cancelled, the only day this year locally any tests have had to be cancelled due to weather conditions apparently. She is gutted!
Even though I knew this mid afternoon I pressed on yesterday working into the early evening as I was on a bit of a roll and enjoying putting the thing back together. Things didn't start to well yesterday as I had to do some customer stuff first including making some brake pipe kits, putting an overdrive conversion kit together, and some other odds and sods. After lunch I cracked on with the Herald and made excellent progress, that Friday MOT appointment might still be on!

Blinging the Pimp!

No time for much of a Blog as it's all out on the Herald 948 fresh back from the painters on Saturday afternoon. Deadlines don't you just love em! MOT is booked for Friday morning so it's nose to the grindstone time. It went to the painters as a rolling shell devoid of all it's bolt on panels some of which have yet to return (hurry up Rich!). Decided on Monday to make this another one of our Caterham front suspension conversion (trunnionless vertical link) development cars the previous development 13/60 estate having now moved on to a new owner (less the suspension). So all the existing front suspension and drum brakes was ripped off in preperation for the new stuff, this car is going backwards! Even the office staff are lending a hand and I am currently sitting in the office surrounded by Alpine Mauve trim that they cleaned up nicely yesterday afternoon.

Two Blogs in one day

Just got back from Rich the painters (02476 686060). I popped into catch up on progress on Ash's blinged 948 Earld. All I can say is wow, what a fantastic job. The pearlescent paint effect is out of this world specially with the duo tone Alpine Mauve/Spa white colours. As you approach the car the white changes to a metalic purple, and the Mauve visa versa. The pictures do the paintwork no justice at all, it needs to be seen in the flesh. Best of all is the finish, it wasn't the straightest Herald in the world after some 'enthustiastic' welding by one of our number (ex), but now it's as straight as a die. Fair play Rich and Andy you can do all our paintwork from now on!

Nostalgia

I have been imbibing in a heavy dose of nostalgia this past week. It all started last Sunday when a leak in the roof of one of the garages at home threatened to ruin my 'precious' pile of classic car magazines, and the various Triumph club magazines I had gathered over the years. I had long since given up collecting this sort of stuff, indeed most of what I receive in the way of 'temporary' reading matter these days comes straight to work after I have read it to be re-cycled as packing material via the shredder. This pile of stuff then that had so far evaded this treatment dated from the 80's, and had sat in various forgotten corners since then. The first shock I got was just how many Triumph club's I had been a member of in my time, I counted six. The next shock was realising just just how many of those magazines titles I had bought over the years were now defunct. Anyway having decided that this would have to be the last time I moved this pile I loaded up the 13/60 estate and brought them into work for the dreaded shredder treatment.
The next bit of nostalgia came over me yesterday as it dawned on me that next year would be the 20th anniversary of our 'official' start up. Although by no means the start of my Triumph restoration career as I had already rebuilt/restored a TR5, a couple of Stag's, a Vitesse MKII saloon, a TR6, a 2.5 PI estate, and a Spitfire 1500 by the time we opened the doors as Canley Classics in 1987. Indeed that chassis off job on the TR5 was undertaken a full 10 years previously and I still have it to boot! So that's two anniversaries to celebrate, 30 years since my first Triumph restoration, and 20 years of Canley Classics.
Flicking through a few of those club magazines this morning from the 80's (probably for the first time in 20 odd years, so why did I keep them?) brought to light just how many traders had come and gone in that time. I have a late 80's TSSC Courier in front of me and at a conservative estimate 80% of the traders advertising in there no longer exist. Some names from the past that have come and gone include, British Sports Car Centre, Triumph Scene, Classicar Automotive, John Hills, Swindon Classics, Andy Rose Triumph, STS Triumph spares, Spits and Pieces, Cardinal Triumph, Six Spares, Central Spitfires, Cambridge Triumph Spares, and I can think of another half a dozen who aren't with us anymore. Famous names from the past (at least if you are into your Triumphs) who are no longer with us, it goes to prove just how difficult this business can be.
All of this makes me even more proud that we are still here, and more to the point still doing what I love. Yesterday I finished off paneling up a Stag in the workshop in for some insurance work, great wouldn't have it any other way. Even better today I start on a minor body restoration on a TR6, and tomorrow I shall be putting a Herald 948 back together after it's paint job, nirvana!

You little bleeder!

Had a break from Jason's 2.5 engine rebuild.I decided this morning that it needed all the valves renewing as they were quite worn on the stems and some of them had started to mushroom over on the top. The exhausts had needed changing anyway as they were the wrong spec for unleaded, but I thought we might have got away with the inlets. Sods law dictates that after making the decision to renew we were out of stock of a full set of six, being a couple short meant ordering some in, should be here tomorrow.
Meantime that arch turned up for the Stag insurance job we are doing so I have cracked on with that today with only one mishap. Ignoring all my own advice I picked up a new wing to trial fit it with some worn out gloves and guess what? A nasty cut that has so far refused to stop bleeding despite two plasters, and two latex gloves. Iv'e just come in to find the super glue to see if that will do it as the blood has started to seep out of the gloves.

All change

The workshop continues to buck the usual pre Christmas trend and remains as busy as ever. Usually this time of year we have settled back to a couple of long term projects, this year however the nice regular mechanical, servicing, and insurance work seems to keep piling in. It was all change on Saturday with a couple of customers Spitfire 1500's being collected, both having received mechanical attention and MOT work. One of the cars now holds the distinction of having the noisiest diff I have ever heard, it of course was swapped for a reconditioned unit. In total three Spitfire 1500's were collected last week so the vista in the workshop should now look a little less Spitfire'ish! It's funny how we seem to have run of different models all at the same time, one week it might be Vitesse convertibles, the next GT6 MKIII's. Work on the Stag in for an insurance job on its front end has stalled pending receipt of a wheelarch bowl from a supplier, so far we have used 4 different suppliers/manufacturers for parts for this one insurance job! That arch has been promised for tomorrow so we should hopefully have it panelled up and ready for paint towards the end of the week, it would be nice to have it completed and away before the Christmas holidays. Today I was supposed to be sorting the clutch out on a TR5 but it's arrival has been postponed to later in the week so I shall be cracking on with Mr Jason Chinn's 2.5 motor rebuild instead.

Pimp progress

Ash's (pimped!) Earld as of last Saturday (pictures courtesy of Jason's mobile). All hand flatted and ready for top coat. It may well be painted by now but I just haven't had time to get out and have a look.