't Kreng - 25 years of development and fun

The month of December is traditionally the time to look back at the past year. And to look ahead to the coming year. And while putting together the “TR7 sales brochure” post I realised I had forgotten a silver jubilee: on the 28th of September 1994 I acquired the running remains of HS-55-HD, a 1982 registered Pharaoh Gold FHC with tan velour interior. When I bought the car she had a fairly low mileage (73.993 km) and extensive frontal accident damage (it attacked a Ford Scorpio head on … and won!). The original plan was to use it as a spares donor for my daily driver at the time.

Always nice to see how plans can change! Exactly 25 years ago (yes on Christmas day) I started dismantling the car. And it soon turned out the car was in much better shape than expected. Fast forward and on the 2nd of July 1997 the car was back on the road after a full restoration. The initial brief was to restore the car for daily use and to its (mostly) original specifications. But over the nearly three year restoration a lot of plans were changed. And the changes, or should I call it developments, still are an ongoing process!

So a good opportunity to look back at over 25 years of ownership of the car. To start with the pictures taken from her valuation report, a few months before her restoration was completed and she returned to the road in the summer of 1997

The Engine

The first plan that didn’t reach the implementation phase was the engine. The original plan was to put a bog standard TR7 engine in the car. Till I was offered a brand new Sprint head. That changed everything considerably! The car would get a standard tune Sprint engine on SU carburettors. Till I found a Weber manifold instead of one for SU carburettors that is! After that I got carried away slightly, with slimmer valves, uprated valve springs and a STR091 cam profile camshaft (group 2 rally) to improve the Weber 45DCOE’s breathing even further. I also fitted a vernier cam pulley to get the distribution timing spot on.

And with this specification the car hit the road in 1997. And after running in she was booked in for a rolling road session. After some fine tuning off the ignition timing and the Weber’s jetting the engine produced between 152.5 and 165 BHP @ ±5800 rpm. This was measured at the rear wheels, so it is safe to add approximately 20 BHP for flywheel horses!. Torque figures showed above 180 Nm between 4200 and 6000 RPM with a maximum of 198 Nm @5400 RPM. After that the only thing that has been done to the engine, was some general maintenance and a few small detail improvements like the alloy spark plug tubes visible in the picture below. The engine has now covered 119.436 kilometres and is still going strong, despite 22 years of (ab)use with the loud pedal!

Checking valve clearances after 110.983 km

The Transmission

Same as with the engine this part of the car remained much the same so far during the car’s current life. The only real change being swapping the original 3.45:1 CWP ratio back axle for a 3.90:1 ratio one. This shorter ratio being far better suited to the engines high revving nature. Apart from that not much was done from a modification point of view over the years.

The Brakes

Right from the start the car was meant to be a driver’s car, so I paid some attention to the suspension and brakes. Starting with the brakes. As everyone who has driven a standard TR7 knows from experience, the original front brakes are rather poor to say the least. Especially if you drive the car a bit spirited. So when rebuilding 't Kreng one off the tasks was to put decent brakes up front. In the mid 90's the way to go without getting bankrupt was to put Princess callipers and bigger solid discs on the car. So that was what I did. Sadly enough even during running in I managed to warp the discs twice due to overheating. Needless to say I quickly got fed up with that. Something new had to come. And it did, in the shape of a Ford based vented disc set up sourced through S&S preparations.

As you can see in the picture above, by 2002 they were showing signs of use. As did the adjustable TCA’s that were fitted early in the car’s new life. But the performance of this brake set up was without doubt, and still is. As the set up got a second life on the DHC, and will (hopefully soon) start a third life on the ’76 FHC.

Next port of call were the rear brakes. Not that the rear drums weren't powerful enough. But after two MOT failures in a row, due to sticky and rusty rear cylinders, it was time for something different (at the time the car still was my daily driver). As the front brakes from S&S Preparations were working quiet well, I went for their rear disc conversion. No more MOT failures on the rear brakes since, so mission accomplished. And brake performance and balance improved greatly. Although the Quaife ATB differential that was fitted to the back axle at the same time as the disc brakes, might take some off the credits there!

And with this set up I drove and enjoyed the car for 7 years. But after the car was relieved from its daily duties, I started using her in a different way. And that’s when I found out that the car could do with some beefier front brakes. At the time (2005-2006) there were not many serious off-the-shelf upgrades available. And in the end I decided to order a bespoke HiSpec set up through Neil Revington.

The set consists of HiSpec Monster4 callipers and vented ø300 x 28 mm discs with alloy bells. Interesting detail of this set up is that it uses the pads from the Aston Martin DB7 range and the TVR Cerbera!

But first old and new together for size comparison

And after the set was fitted to the car

And since I fitted this set-up in the summer of 2006, it has been performing brilliantly in combination with the rear disc conversion, which has been going strong since 1999. The two set-ups have proved to be very confidence inspiring, giving phenomenal stopping power, spot on brake balance and firm but very good pedal feel.

The suspension

This is a part of the car that probably has seen the most changes over the years. When the car was restored all rubber bushes were replaced with poly bushes. And they are still in place after all those years. This can’t be said of the springs. The car was initially fitted with lowered springs from Triumph Tune. At the front TT4802 (GY 200 lbs/in, 1,35” lowered) and at the rear TT4812 (Y 200 lbs/in, 1,5” lowered). These were combined with Koni Classic shock absorbers.

The car looked quite nice with this lowered stance. And the increase in camber, caused by lowering the suspension, had the added bonus of increasing front end grip under cornering. But on anything but smooth surfaces it was very harsh, constantly bottoming out on the bump stops. And it was only a matter of funds and time before the springs were replaced with something providing better suspension characteristics. As the spring rate of the old springs was fine, I decided to choose slightly less lowered springs from Triumph Tune, with TT4502 (RR 200 lbs/in, 0,6” lowered) at the front, and TT4512 (YY 190 lbs/in, 1,1” lowered) at the rear of the car.

But every advantage has its disadvantage. With the new springs the camber of the front wheels was reduced slightly and that showed in cornering. So to compensate for the loss of camber, I ordered a pair of adjustable track control arms. At the time still available through Demon Tweeks. This enabled me to fine tune the front suspension’s geometry.

With this set up the car was driven for several years. Until I returned home after a spirited drive one day, and found one side of the bonnet had the paint chipped of over almost 2 centimetres. This was clearly caused by the wing touching the bonnet. But the body gap was as it should be. So it must have been caused by the strut towers moving inwards under heavy loads, from cornering or bad road surfaces. Time to fit a strut brace. This one turned out to be pretty easy, as Demon Tweeks still had them listed (from White Line, KSB616). I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised how much rigidity and stability this added to the front. Especially at speed, in a straight line and on bad road surfaces!

In an attempt to improve the car even further I made my own set of adjustable coil overs. But it was also to improve adjustability of the shock absorbers, as the Koni’s have to be taken of the car to adjust. These were replaced by AVO dampers (front 60-01 and rear TE134)

Sadly, though the own-design upper spring seat with thrust bearing worked properly, the attempt was severely hampered by the front springs used, in combination with the new rear AVO shock absorbers. The generic springs (225 lbs/in) had a tendency to bind and the rear shock absorbers turned out to be too long.

To prevent the front springs binding and the rear shock absorbers bottoming out constantly, all the shock absorbers needed to be set pretty hard. Needless to say the ride did suffer greatly. Fitting a heavier anti roll bar from Selbys/Whiteline (#WHIBLF91) to the front (ø24mm compared to the original ø19mm) did restore the balance a bit to my liking.

So it won’t come as a surprise that I went in search of something better. And the biggest change, and improvement, came after a visit to local suspension manufacturer AST Suspension. They managed to fabricate a set of coil overs for all four corners of the car, adapting a set of front struts and for the rest using their own components.

Talking with them about the car, its weight distribution and my driving style, they advised much stiffer springs all round. The front springs are 60kg/cm (336lbs/in), giving an effective spring rate of 65,4kg/cm (366lbs/in). And although they look rather flimsy, the rear springs are 30kg/cm (168lbs/in). But as these are placed slightly behind the axle (and further away from the lower links body mounting point), the effective spring rate is 33.9 kg/cm (190lbs/in). Which is almost 45% higher compared to the original rear spring set up. So they compare to 43kg/cm (241lbs/in) springs in the original location. And together with the other modifications these spring rates, combined with the adjustable dampers, have proved to be spot on!

Wheels and tyres

Over the years a few different sets of wheels have graced this car. While still restoring the car I thought Schmidt-Revolution Modern Line 7Jx15 rims would look good on the car. And they did indeed, as this early picture of the car shows.

English Car Rally Landgraaf (NL) 1999

But in combination with Michelin Pilot SX-GT 195/50-15 tyres and very low suspension, they would always vibrate a bit. In the end I gave up and bought a new set of wheels for the car. This time Compomotive ML 7J-15. Again with Michelin Pilot SX-GT 195/50-15 tyres. That solved the problem completely. But with the original ET they looked far too flat for my liking.

After the “Nacht van Venlo” (NL) 2000

But after only about 30.000 kilometres two of the four wheels were showing several cracks at the base of some of their spokes. Noticed this after returning from an Alpine trip including some spirited driving over the Gavia, Stelvio and Timmelsjoch 😨

It was nice to see that Compomotive dealt very well with this problem. Despite the fact that the wheels were well used, and almost three years old, they supplied a new set under part warranty and for a much reduced price. This time I chose a slightly different ET of course! And completely different tyres. But before this was all delivered and fitted to the car I had to put the Revolutions back under the car to keep her mobile. And guess what, no more vibrations!

Les Sable d’Olonne (F) 2002

Probably the “very lowered” springs were the culprit as that was the only thing that was changed since the Revolutions were removed. They had been replaced by slightly less lowered items.

And the new Compomotives were shod with very soft and sticky Yokohama A32R 205/50-15 tyres. This being one of the best upgrades to the car! Though they don’t last long! So I have had a few different sets fitted since. Including the later variety, the Yokohama A048.

And finally the Revolutions got a second lease of life. This was done in preparation for a new paint job for the car. Sadly at the time life intervened, and the work on rejuvenating ‘t Kreng's body work was put on hold till a later date. But the rims now shod with Yokohama S.drive AS01 195/55-15 tyres were fitted to the car nevertheless!

The interior

Even the interior did get some upgrades over the years. I started with the original seats, but with some additional padding and re-covered in black leather and blue piping (see picture at the top of this post). But at the time I had some slight back problems, and on longer journeys I would become painfully aware of that. As a result of this I went in search of a pair of replacement seats. That was within a year after she returned to the road. In May 1998 to be precise!

Due to the very low original seats this turned out not to be as straight forward as I had hoped. Luckily I was able to drive over to (at the time) Dutch Sparco importer Interparts Automotive B.V. on the other side of the country in Lisse. And with the co-driver’s seat left at home it was easy to trial fit the various seats and mounting frames. In the end I went for a pair of navy blue Sparco EVO seats in fibre glass. After that it took me a day or so the adapt the frames to get the seats as low as possible.

The seats weren’t touched for the next 17 years, by which time they were starting to show signs of use and old age. The cloth started to fade and to fray a bit. Especially the entry sides. Time for a bit of rejuvenation work, replacing the faded covers with black Alcantara combined with McBeans tartan centre pieces. The latter being leftovers from my current restoration project.

Other interior changes and additions included a trip meter for navigational rally’s and a switch panel to get rid of the ignition switch, and to clean up the centre console after the radio/CD player was considered superfluous.

The exterior

Over all those years the exterior remained mostly untouched, though the changes in suspension settings and different wheels did have some effect on its appearance of course. But apart from these, only a few small changes were carried out. The chrome plated Tex mirrors were replace by more stylish black Vitaloni California door mirrors. And the bonnet and boot received rally style fasteners. Quick release pins for the bonnet and rubber hooks for the boot lid.

Also the mud flaps grew bigger over the years.

And for obvious reasons 😜

After “De Nacht van het Oosten”, Twello (NL) 2009

But the biggest change to the car’s exterior was made a few years ago. At the time I was looking for some better headlights, as the original ones were rather feeble at night. In the end I chose 7” LED replacement head lights from JW Speaker.

But they were considerably heavier as the original Lucas units, and the lift motors were showing clear signs of old age. So it was a good moment to remove the lift mechanism and lock the head light pods in their top position. This was meant to be a temporary and quick solution. But again the plans changed during their execution! As I decided to go for a more permanent solution.

And I am still not disappointed by the end result. Proper light and with the lights now mounted solidly the irritating vibration of the lights is also a thing of the past!

Out and about

And of course over all these years a lot of fun was had, while driving this car across Europe. So to end this review some of my favourite pictures taken during some of the more memorable driving moments with this car;

Still One of the best drives with the car. Blasting up a deserted Stilfserjoch.
Using only the first three gears and the revs between 5000 and 7000 RPM all the way to the top.
Which we reached in just over 15 minutes, Stelvio (I) 2002

During Club Triumph’s first official 10 Countries Run on top of the Col de l’Iseran (F) 2005

Enjoying a fine early spring Sunday in the South of our lovely province,
Vijlen (NL) 2006

Stop for an early Sunday lunch or late breakfast, after 5 laps of the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife,
Steineberg-Kesseling (D) 2006

Enjoying a lovely day in the Yorkshire Dales,
Langstrothdale Chase (GB) 2007

At the Northern most top of the Isle of Skye,
Duntulm (GB) 2009

The day after “de Nacht van het Oosten” a night time navigational rally,
Haaksbergen (NL) 2010

Another lovely trip through the Yorkshire Dales, Buttertubs Pass (GB) 2011

Hiding in the village of Broughton-In-Furness,

in the Southern part of the Lake District (GB) 2012

A short break along the side of the road during Club Triumph’s first edition of the Taith o Amgylch Cymru,
(or A Tour of Wales in proper English), Pwllgloyw (GB) 2013

Two well trashed cars in the parking lot, after the finish of the International AutoEcosse,
Scone (GB) 2013

In the hotel car park, the day before the start of the first edition of Club Triumph’s “Border Raiders” tour,
Kelbrook (GB) 2014

In front of the Settle and Carlisle railway viaduct,

during the first day of the “Border Raiders” tour, Ribblehead (GB) 2014

Enjoying some fine spring weather during a trip for my work,
Neer (NL) 2018

During one of the first outings of the year.

“Zum Blanken” near the small village of Auwel (D) 2019

Enjoying a fine spring evening in Germany.

On the Länderstraße L228 near the small village of Bocket (D) 2019.

Last tour of the year, in front of the local powerplant,
Maasbracht (NL) 2019

And finally, the car’s moment of fame of course! Starring in the “Built not Bought“ series in Practical Performance Car magazine, issue March 2017! I just might ask the magazine if I am allowed to post the article somewhere next year …

Future plans

So much for the past! There still are more than enough future plans for this car to keep me busy for the next few years:

Changing the back axle’s geometry in order to lower the roll centre at the back. Or converting the back axle to a 5-link Panhard rod set up. Some parts for this conversion have already been completed.

Fit compression struts to the front suspension for better location and to reduce/delete dive under breaking. This conversion will use of the shelf Escort parts, as they are an almost perfect fit. As the picture above proofs.

Re-design and fit a welded in roll cage to add extra stiffness to the cars body, and especially the suspension pick up points. Picture is from the cage I will use as a reference (nicked from the internet);

And after all those years of faithful service one day I will replace the engine for a still to be build new one. Fully flowed and balanced and strengthened to be able to withstand 220+ BHP. I made a start there as you can see in this picture above. Needless to say this engine will get fully programmable injection and ignition. I am already looking forward to annoy a few V8’s on the open road 😋

Adding lightness, a process that started years ago by the removal of the original seats (-20 kg), but also the radio/CD-exchanger, the 4 speakers and the headlight mechanism. But plenty of surplus weight left, waiting to be removed.

And finally, one day the car will get a new paint job. At least that was the plan when I refurbished the Revolutions and recovered the seats. I might change my mind there, as I am still torn between a few options! And looking back at my original plans for the ‘t Kreng I can only conclude that my current restoration project, the ’76 FHC, will come much closer to ‘t Kreng’s original plans! Merry Christmas!