Seasonal greetings ...

New wheel centres for the DHC

Those that follow this blog will remember that well over a year ago, I fitted a set of refurbished Wolfrace Turbo's to my DHC. Because they came with only one wheel centre I decided to have a set of those made. At the time I contacted a few local companies who specialise in 3D printing, but they all were far too expensive or just not interested. So I opted to have them spun from aluminium alloy instead. Sadly the guy who would do the work suffered from a heart attack and as a result he had to stop with work.

So to fill the gap till I found a solution I fitted a set from Compomotive, shown above. But they really are only a stop gap solution as they are a fair bit too small, but so far the gaffer tape bodge has kept them in place. So it was pretty easy to forget that I had to finish this little project ...

Until recently that is, when I was given the details of i.materialise, a company in Belgium who specialise in 3D printing. So the AutoCad file I created over a year ago was dusted off and converted to a 3D printing format. That turned out to be not as easy as I thought, as one of their support engineers pointed me to the fact that the model I sent over was rather rough. But with some help from a friend who knows more about AutoCad then me, the file was converted to a much higher resolution 3D printing file. The end result should look something like this ...

The file is currently waiting in the print queue, with an estimated shipping date of January the 9th 2015. Needless to say I  am very keen to see the end result as this might be an easy and economical way of fabricating certain parts. 

FHC resto nr. 26; Swage line rectification

Paint preparations have been on hold the past few weeks due to illness. But by the end of last week the work has restarted. First on the to-do-list was rectifying the swage line on the right hand rear wing. As a result of the numerous small and not so small dents in this area the line had suffered a bit. Which is clearly visible in the picture posted on November the 9th. After adding some filler and sanding it down it now looks like this ...

Also did some adhesion tests to see how the primer attaches to the epoxy primer. I mentioned earlier that we had some doubts here, but I am glad to report all is fine. These test were done on the engine bay, which is also finished by now ...

And it is clear that the car won't see the inside of the spray booth in 2014. Hopefully somewhere in the second half of January.

Alloy SU mounts part 2

Or how the transformation from digital file to machined parts looks like. Friday evening there was a fairly large box waiting for me at home. Sure it came from Schaeffer, and nicely within their estimated delivery window. The only thing that struck me as odd was the box's size. It really was vast for what it should contain ...

For comparison I put an original carburettor mount on top of it  together with the bolts needed to finish them. So did I make a mistake with the files, or did something go wrong on-line? Or did they just run out of smaller boxes? But a quick inspection of the contents showed me all looked fine.

This was confirmed after removing the parts from their protective wrapping ...

... and comparing them with an original mounting block. This was a bit of a tense moment as there is always some doubt in the back of my head ... "did I measure everything correctly". But I needn't have worried there as everything fits as it should and all holes align correctly ... 

And as an added bonus these alloy mounts are each 40 grams lighter in comparison to the original rubber ones. See how they behave on the car, and in particular how they influence heat transfer to the carburettors. Well, the first little winter project is finished. Getting cool air into the carburettors is one of the other jobs for this winter. To be continued.

Calendar Girls 2015

With the end of the year approaching it is time to start to think ahead to 2015. What will the new year bring to us personally and at work. It also means making plans for holidays, trips abroad and the TR7's. And time for a new calendar to grace the study wall. This year I decided to use pictures of my TR7's, taken over the past years across Europe.

The cover

The DHC on its maiden trip after finishing the restoration,

inside the Flimserstein Tunnel in Switzerland. Picture taken by René on my instructions.

(9 August 2010)

January

My latest acquisition and current restoration project,

the 1976 FHC in the shed waiting for dismantling to start.

(11 January 2014)

February

Dismantling of the 1976 FHC complete.

In the workshop of a friend in Belgium.

(12 February 2014)

March

't Kreng in the hotel parking in Haaksbergen,

after the seventh edition of the Nacht van het Oosten.

(14 March 2010)

April

The DHC in front of the Nant-y-Moch Reservoir,

during the second edition of Club Triumph's Taith o Amgylch Cymru.

(10 May 2014)

May

't Kreng in a lay-by just outside Pwllgloyw, with the navigator trying to look cool,

taken in Wales during the first edition of Club Triumph's Taith o Amgylch Cymru.

(11 May 2013)

June

't Kreng hiding in Broughton in Furness,

after the International Auto Ecosse.

(6 June 2012)

July

The DHC on top of the Timmelsjoch between Austria and Italy,

also during its maiden trip.

(8 August 2010)

August

Again the DHC during its maiden trip.

This time on top of the Albula Pass in Switzerland.

(9 August 2010)

September

The DHC in the market square of the Belgian village of Watou,

the day before the start of Club Triumph's fifth (official) edition of the 10 Countries Run.

(4 September 2013)

October

The DHC in front of the old pit boxes of the "Circuit de Reims" in France,

during the first day of Club Triumph's 10 Countries Run.

(5 September 2013)

November

The old DHC (as she was before restoration) on top of the Timmelsjoch just inside Austria,

during the 2007 edition of Club Triumph's 10 Countries Run. Picture taken by Roger.

(8 September 2007)

December

And to end the year a picture (again taken by Roger) of 't Kreng.

On top of the Col de L'Iseran in France, during Club Triumph's first official 10 Countries Run.

(9 September 2005)

Alloy SU carburettor mounts

With both my TR7's officially of the road it is time to start on some typical winter jobs. First job I will be tackling are the rubber carburettor mounts with which the SU's are mounted to the manifold on the DHC. British Leyland decided it would be a good idea to use rubber mounts, as they act as heat insulators and vibration dampers. When they are new they probably do their job quite well, but after well over 30 years even the best original mounts will be well past their prime. Not to mention the very poor quality of the aftermarket items. When I restored the DHC I thought it a good idea to extend the life of the original mounts as long as possible, by supporting them with some heavy duty cable ties. Clearly visible in this picture ...

To start the winter jobs, this weekend I dusted of the AutoCad file I created almost three years ago, to record the various dimensions of the original mounts.

The original plan was to find a local workshop to fabricate this from alloy. But the biggest problem here is that it sometimes takes ages before the items are ready. And that is when I was reminded of the fact that Schaeffer AG (the switch panel company) can work aluminium up to 10 millimetres thick. After a final dimension check against an original mount I redesigned the mount.

This way it can be fed into the design software as provided by Schaeffer AG. I went for a 6 mm base plate with four recessed holes to fit countersunk M8 Allen head bolts.

Against which a 10 mm spacer is fitted. This part has four threaded holes (with M8 threads), enabling the two parts to be screwed together and preventing the bolts from tuning when fitting the carburettors. Giving a total thickness which is exactly the same as the original mounts.

As there are probably cheaper options available I will first do some more checks before hitting the 'order" button. Also finding some countersunk M8 x 45 mm Allen head bolts with the correct (DIN) head dimensions has to be done before the order is placed, as the dimensions are crucial. Something to sort the coming week.

Club Triumph's 2014 RBRR

Finally got round to finish the pictures I took during last month's Round Britain Reliability Run. This time with a three man team in a Dolomite 1850 (that really should read 2000 as it is fitted with a TR7 engine).

Team #100 waiting for the ferry in Dunkirk ...

The usual action at the Plough ...

Signing in at the Plough ...

With the stickers fitted to the car we are ready for the start, but that was still a few hours away.

Even the press were present ...

Waiting for the start ...

The briefing, wonder why they invented loudhailers ...

Into the twilight zone on the first stage from Crews Hill to Blyth

Control #2, frantic action at Blyth Services ...

Just before approaching the second control stop (and Scotland) the heavens opened up in a big way. Approaching the Edinburgh bypass, and clearly the weather conditions still were rather wet ...

Motorway Services just after the Edinburgh stop. Still wet  ...

But by the time we reached Skiach Services and the fourth control the weather had cleared ...

Dawn on the A9 near Aviedale ...

Tesco's in Wick ...

Approaching John O'Groats ...

John O'Groats ...

View point over Dornoch Firth ...

Another twilight, this time on the M74 near Abington ...

Control #9; Marshalling at Tebay Services ...

Control #10; Gledrid Services ...

Small Triumph convoy in deepest darkest Wales, on the A483 near Newtown ...

Control #13; Whitehouse Services ...

Control #15; Bude Castle. Some spannering needed ...

Being chased by the GT6 of Roger and Rob en route to control stop #16 ...

Control #17; Pimperne Village Hall and delicious cake ...

After Pimperne the car's engine started to misfire ever more badly...

But we managed to limp to control #18 and eventually back to the Plough in time to get the last signature. For me it was the fifth finish in this event, but have to do it in one of my own cars yet ...

Teams #93 and #100 on the ferry, going home ...