DHC repairs #0

There have been a number of significant developments for the DHC’s repairs over the past few weeks. To start with an agreement with the damage assessor over the total amount of the actual damage. And the insurance company accepted the report. They even paid rather promptly. Nice to see that sometimes things just turn out as they were promised!

With the administrative and financial part of the damage sorted, I can now start on the actual repairs. Well ... first sourcing the necessary body parts for the repairs. And the start has been pretty good so far!

A NOS nose panel;

A pair of also NOS front wings;

A pretty good second hand double bulge bonnet;

And a pretty good condition second hand US spec bumper bar;

Another decision that I need to make soon is the plan of attack for the repairs. Currently there still are two options;

• Dismantling the car and repairing the current body shell;
• Use the car’s original shell that has been lingering in a corner of the shed for many years;

Both options have their pro’s and con’s, but I currently lean towards the second one. Most important reasons being that this shell has absolutely no accident damage. Though it is pretty rough around the edges. So the amount of work for both shells will probably be the same from a welding point of view. Also using the original (and almost completely dismantled) shell means I don’t need much extra storage space. This is because I can leave the car in one piece till the body work has been completed. And most of the necessary space is currently taken up by the parts for the ’76 car! So a plan is slowly taking shape to finish that car while the body repairs for the DHC are being carried out. And once the ’76 car and the DHC’s body work are finished I can start transferring the DHC’s parts to the repaired shell. To be continued …

Calendar girl 2023

The cover:

A few pictures of the car during this year’s edition of Club Triumph’s 10 Countries Run,

including a glimpse of the damage sustained to the car during this event

Another year over and time for my traditional calendar post. Compared to the previous two years, 2022 should have been a better year from a “driving-my-TR7's” point of view. And it sure was till early September, when the DHC was badly damaged in a head on collision in the mountains of Northern Italy. Hopefully 2023 has some more positive moments in store.

So as 2022 draws to a close it is a good time to look back over the 12 years since I finished the restoration of the car in 2010. And what better way to do that, than with a selection of some of my favourite pictures taken during the many trips I enjoyed in my home area and abroad.

January:

Inside the Flimserstein Tunnel (8-9-2010 CH).

Homeward bound during her inaugural Alpine tour after the restoration was completed.

February:

Sunrise on top of the Sankt Gotthard Pass (9-9-2011 CH)

March:

Stopping for diner on the market square of the small village of Watou (4-9-2013 B)

April:

In the pit lane of the old Circuit de Reims (5-9-2013 F)

May:

Near the dam of the Nant-y-Moch Reservoir in Wales (10-5-2014 GB)

June:

On the northern slopes of the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse (11-9-2015 A)

July:

During a local autumn tour near the “Broken Castle” in Grubbenvorst (4-10-2018 NL)

August:

A lovely summer’s evening in the wide valley of the river Meuse, near Neer (30-7-2019 NL)

September:

On the Passo Pordoi in the Dolomites (5-9-2019 I)

October:

In front of a spare weir door in Baarlo (12-12-2019 NL)

November:

During another local summer tour in Belfeld (24-06-2020 NL)

December:

On the eastern flanks of the Timmelsjoch (7-9-2022 I)

And of course there was the rather time consuming business called work. Here the Defender took all the credits for getting me around!

Renewal of a sewage pressure pipe in Geleen (21-06-2022 NL)

Renovation of a sewage water pumping station in Munstergeleen (03-08-2022 NL)

Another sewage pipeline renewal. This time in the woods and the countryside

between the villages of Heibloem and Roggel. And this project will continue well into 2023 (19-10-2022 NL)

DHC damage assessment part 5

Went to the shed for a few hours over the weekend, to check over a few things on the DHC. Main reason for this was to try and work out how to plan and carry out this project, in order to finish the damage quotation for the insurance. On one of my previous visits I already noticed some paint damage behind the damage. But now I noticed both doors were standing out a little at the back. And sure enough there’s some damage on both B-posts, caused by the sills bending a little under the force of the impact. Nothing life threatening, but this means that the B-posts also need work doing, because both strikers have slightly deformed the B-post. And that means more dismantling to be done!

I spent the rest of the time in trying to salvage some items of the parts I removed from the car so far. As expected not much joy there. As these parts of one of the headlamp mechanisms clearly shows. Though it looks salvageable, the lifting motor is beyond repair. It’s axle shaft is bent, preventing it from turning.

And as the weather was rather fine there was some lovely light entering through the shed’s gate. And as I always have a camera with me, that was something I couldn’t ignore!

Next in line is finishing the damage quote for the insurance, and settle the bill!. And when that is settled it is time to start planning the work. Though currently I haven’t found someone to do the paint preparations and painting. So that’s a bit that is still open …

DHC damage assessment part 4

Over the past two weekends I have spent a few more hours in the shed. Mainly to get a better impression of the extent of the overall damage to the front of the car. And the only way to do that properly, was by removing as much of the bent and crumpled steel as possible. The first challenge being the remains of the front bumper. Luckily the impact from the crash had almost peeled of the bumper cover. And the few remaining fixing points could be removed fairly easily. This couldn’t be said of the bumper bar itself. Due to the impact damage everything was compressed, resulting in the front bumper’s RH mounting nuts being completely inaccessible. But with an angle grinder and a flat cold chisel I was able to create enough room for a small spanner. Result, though it took me the best part of a Saturday afternoon!

Next on the to do list were the remains of the headlamps and their lifting mechanism. I had a faint hope that some of the parts might be salvageable. But it wasn’t to be. Everything turned out to be either crushed, cracked, shattered, broken or bent! Including some of the wiring connectors sitting behind the headlights.

With the head lights out of the way the remains of the cooling system were removed. First the fan shroud was cut open so it could be removed. The fan assembly itself had sheared of completely. Though it was rather surprising to see that not the viscous coupling but the pulley had broken off. The assembly had wedged itself between the remains of the radiator and the pully. But with the right tool (long tyre lever) and brute force, it could be removed. After which the radiator could also be removed. Again all parts are fit for the bin only.

Final job was the removal of the remains of the nose panel. Biggest challenge here was to try and get the wiring harness free without any damage. To achieve that I cut the top of the panel from left to right. This enabled me to fold the panel open. Doing this also opened up the crushed areas where the wiring harness got trap by the accident. The harness could be removed pretty easily after that. Only to find out the wires of the harness were crushed in several places! Cutting the panel open also helped with the removal of the entire panel.

And it gives a much better picture on the extent of the damaged area. So far the only part that looks to be reusable is the oil cooler.

The spoils so far

DHC damage assessment part 3

Or judgement day today! This evening was spent in the shed with two mates to access the damage and to decide on the action plan for the repairs. There were a few options, but it was quickly decided that the best and easiest way to tackle the job, is to repair the current shell. Which means replacing (part off?) the front chassis legs. But that repair is covered in the official workshop manual.

But probably the biggest challenge will be to get all the new panels aligned properly. Though the tolerances on these cars are fairly wide!, and I do have all the dimensions and measurements needed in the mentioned manual! 

So next on the to do list are;

• Draw up a list off all parts needed for the repair;
• Get a quotation for a full respray;
• Finalise the damage report, including estimated costs, and sent it over to the insurance;
• Dismantle the front of the car, including emptying the entire engine bay;
• Start the repairs and see what was overlooked …

33rd Edition of “De Nachtrit”

This weekend saw the already 33rd edition of our “Nachtrit”. And contrary to last year's edition we were back at our usual start/finish venue, the Rolduc Monastery. Sadly I didn’t have time to service ‘t Kreng in time for the final reconnaissance. So the car of choice for this task was my Defender. 

But not before that car did need some attention too, with the gear lever (lots of play), horn (loose contact) and central locking system (faulty door lock switch) playing up. As a result of using the Defender this time, no TR7 pictures taken during the final control run. But it was fun driving the Defender over some challenging roads nevertheless! Only a few pictures of some of the cars at the start at Rolduc.

It was good to welcome a UK entry again!

Thanks Michael and Andy for coming over.

Sadly the entries for this year’s edition (with 22 teams) where down to the absolute minimum for us to organise the event. The fact that two teams tried to enter a few hours before the start of the event sums up current attitudes quiet nicely in my opinion. People clearly haven’t much of a clue what’s involved in organising such an event!

The only consolation being that a few of the regular entrants had other obligations this evening. And those who did take part were treated to a varied and challenging 237 kilometre long route!