37th Edition of the LTV Nachtrit

Yesterday evening (Saturday the 24th of October) the 37th edition of our annual "LTV Nachtrit" took place. And as in the previous years I did a last minute check on the day of the event with a friend. Luckily this year it was a rather relaxed affair. There were a few small changes but nothing serious. In the end we only encountered one problem in the shape of road works that had extended beyond their original limits. But with the help of a detailed digital map we worked out a diversion route in 15 minutes. So not too bad for the 262 kilometre long route.

And although the weather forecast for the Saturday evening was rather bleak, with a code yellow for strong wind gusts and heavy rain I decided to leave the Land Rover at home and take ‘t Kreng instead. And I didn’t regret the choice. Actually the weather during the day was rather nice with lots of sunny spells to dry the by times very slippery roads. I even managed a short stop to take in one of the many fine views you won’t see in the dark!

Added bonus was that ‘t Kreng is a wee bit quicker than the Land Rover. So I managed to make up most of the time we lost while working out the diversion around the roadworks. And just before four o’clock in the afternoon I parked the car in the parking area at Rolduc Abby, which was again the start and finish location for this navigational tour:

It had been good fun driving this car on a longer tour again. I actually added approximately 450 kilometres to the cars odometer over the weekend without any problems. But the drive nearly ended in disaster. A Belgian driver entered one of the roundabouts in the route indicating that he would leave the roundabout at the first exit for him. So I didn’t stop and drove onto the roundabout. That was when he changed his mind and carried on till the last exit. Only by braking very hard I managed to mis him by just a few centimetres. It looked like he didn’t noticed anything of what had happened! Luckily that was the only incident for us.

As we had sent all changes through to Roger (the route master) during the trip, all changes to the route book had already been worked out by him. So there was nothing more left for us to do but have some “koffie met vlaai” and watch as the 45 teams, with 4 different nationalities and a nice mix of old-timers and young-timers, heading off into what turned out to be a very wet and windy night. And take a few pictures of course:

And by 5:45 PM the last car was flagged of into the dusk. Traditionally this being Jan with his Triumph TR7 V8.

After the sound of the V8 had faded into the dusk there was nothing more we could do but wait, for the first teams to return. Turned out that most teams managed to finish without to many problems, despite the by times rather bad conditions. And it was good to hear that most entrants had enjoyed themselves!

FHC resto nr. 175: 50 years of age today

Today I received a message from the Internal Revenue Office stating that my 1976 turned 50 years of age today. And as a result the car is now officially MOT exempt. It was also a stark reminder that I haven’t done much on the restoration of this car over the past few years. Time for a brief look back at the past thirteen years since I bought this car. In thirteen pictures:

The full story on the work done on this car so far can be read in these blog posts. Happy reading!

It has been quiet on here

The last post on here dates back to the middle of June. Sounds rather quiet, and that indeed it was from a Triumph point of view. Unfortunately, a lot of free time goes into working, and the pretty hot weather didn’t help either to drive my only road going TR7, or work on the cars. The rising fuel prices (caused by the most stupid POTUS ever) didn’t help either …

But despite these problems I have been using ‘t Kreng on a fairly regular basis, slowly but surely clocking up the miles. And so far the coolant issues seem to have been solved. But on our way for a tour through the neighbouring province of Noord-Brabant, the low coolant level light came on suddenly while driving on the motorway. Going up or down the inclines for bridges would switch it off at first. But a few miles on it stayed on. So looked indeed like a low coolant level. The temperature gauge didn’t move from it’s normal position, so I decided to carry on to the start of the tour were the engine could cool of a but for an inspection. And after lunch at the start location I had a look at the coolant level in the header tank. And it was spot on. So probably one of the electrical gremlins caused by a hidden lightly corroded connector. And guess what, the low coolant level light hasn’t come on since.

So time to bore you with a few pictures taken during some of the runs. To be honest the weather often didn’t help with taking decent pictures. As a result the camera was often kept unused in its pouch. But the past few weeks have seen some better weather:

But the most important TR7 related news is that the DHC’s body shell was delivered to the shed last week, after E-coating was finished. Time for an update: DHC repairs #34 an inspection of the finished product!

And now for the most important task of the shell’s repairs, paint preparations and painting. To be continued.

Out and about with ‘t Kreng

I have been using this car as much as possible over the past month or so. And as a result she became ever more dirty. That was when a friend suggested to go to a local car show and local tour the next Sunday. And of course I couldn’t show up in a dirty TR7. So the evening before the event was used to clean the wheels thoroughly and give the cars body a quick wash.

She looked rather presentable compared to some of the other entrants! The show on the “Patersplak” in the picturesque monastery village of Steyl, and the local tour were rather nice and well organised. With a good turn out of a wide variety of cars spanning almost 100 years of motoring. And all the cars were driven there by their owners. Which meant that the approximately 1500 visitors that only came to admire the cars had plenty to enjoy. A few pictures mostly starring ‘t Kreng 😜 She behaved rather well during the local tour. So it is starting to look promising.

And finally there was ‘t Kreng’s MOT (or Algemene Periodieke Keuring as it called here). Due to the car’s age this test needs to be done every two years. I had a good feeling about it. So it was rather surprising that, immediately when I got out of the car, I was confronted by the inspector with the remark that she had already been rejected. This of course called for further explanation. Which I got! Due to the modernisation of the speed camera network over here in the Netherlands, new rules have been established for the reflectivity of the license plates. And my rear plate was clearly showing signs fading.

But I needn’t have worried. A closer inspection showed that the plate was on the correct side of the limit. Just! And the rest of the car passed without any problems. So I only got a (not noted) advisory to replace the rear licence plate in the near future. But at least before the next MOT. It was also good to see that since the previous test two years ago I covered a rather decent 4444 kilometres. Much better compared to the period before 2024!

There was a small problem though. On the scenic drive home I wanted to reverse into gravel track to take some pictures and the engine died. And it wouldn’t start. After two attempts I decided to switch of all power users and use the master switch to cut all power from the battery. After switching the power on again (including ignition and fuel pump) she started immediately as if nothing had happened. Weird to say the least! Another job to keep an eye on.