Computer work

Still rather quiet on the Triumph front, with still no physical work done to one of the cars. I had planned to change the DHC's gearbox, clutch and prop-shaft some two weeks ago. Even went as far as checking that the car was running, tyre pressures etc were OK, and even moved over all the tools and parts to the workshop the day before. But sadly a rather persistent flu has prevented that till date. So I have to find another time slot to carry out the swap ...

On the back-axle-strengthening-front also not much progress, as the guy who is coordinating the job has been out of his work for 2 months due to an injury. At least that gave us some time to make a wooden template using a full scale print out of my design. I have to admit that I was rather pleased by the fact that it was a near perfect fit, no adjustments to the dimensions are needed ...

Some of the holes around the differential didn't line up 100% but that was due to the fact that we used a rather crude drill to do the job. Most importantly the mounting holes for the clamps on the outside of the brace are centred nicely around the axle-tube.

Than a more worrying bit, I can't seem to make up my mind whether to modify the back axle to four parallel links + Watt's linkage or stick to the original layout. At the moment I think the best thing to do is use one of the spare body shells somewhere this spring and use that to make a mock-up for the pickup points for the axle, Watt's linkage and anti roll bar. That at least should give a decent indication of the work involved with the set-up I have in mind.

So to keep my mind occupied for the time being, I decided to see how the new AutoCad version which I installed recently works, and had a go at designing a 36-1 trigger wheel which I'll be needing when I convert the Sprint engine to EFI. Not yet sure if all the dimensions are 100% but I think this should do ..

And with the computer fired up I also had a go to work out the rough outlines for a sump guard, loosely based on the ones used on the works' rallye cars. Another one that will need one of the cars, this time to determine the mounting points ...

And of course, being Dutch and with the Pound loosing rapidly against the Euro, I have been ordering various parts for the engine and back axle

Christmas period shopping

Been a while since my last update. And I have to admit that I have done nothing physical to one of my Triumphs. Mostly caused by other commitments, like starting work full time again after my illness and playing around with my new version of Photoshop. Which means I have been going over some old RAW images in my spare time, to see if there was room for improvement. Actually there was, as these pictures, shot during the maiden trip of the DHC into the Alps in the summer of 2010, clearly show ...

But that doesn't imply I have been completely idle on things TR7 related. Over the past month or so I have been busy sourcing parts for my new Sprint engine and the rejuvenation of 't Kreng. First parts I received were a brand new matched crown wheel and pinion set for the back axle I will be building and a set of +0.040" Sprint pistons from Australia ...

But then one of my friends spoiled it all, by pointing me to an advert on the internet for a brand new and ready to fit Sprint head still in its original box, and not that far away from home either.

So maybe the DHC will get a Sprint engine too somewhere in the future. And it turned out that the guy advertising the head also had some original (Austin/Rover) TR7 panels for sale. You never know when you are going to need them ...

And with the shiny bits done it was time to start sorting through my spare parts in search of an engine block suitable to use for the new Sprint engine. I wanted to use the original Dolly Sprint engine I took apart some time ago but as this is in such good condition I will probably put it back together as a spare engine. So I choose the engine block and parts from a very low mileage Californian spec DHC. The added bonus with this engine is that it does need a light rebore, and there is no way I am going to use those silly low compression pistons (indeed no plans for a turbo or blower yet) ...

With the engine removed from the storage shed I went through my spare back axles. Because I have decided on converting the rear suspension of the car to four parallel links with either a Watts linkage or a Panhard rod, I will have to weld some new mounting brackets to the axle. Which is why I choose the worst looking axle from the three I have lying around ...

This immediately explains why I bought a new CWP set, all three axles have a 3.45:1 ratio and for 't Kreng I really want the shorter 3.90:1 ratio as it suits the car much better. The remaining 3.45:1 axles and parts will be kept as spares for the DHC. But at the current rate of wear they might be in the storage shed for a very long time yet.

On closer inspection the worst axle (from a fairly low mileage Solihull FHC that had been lying abandoned out in the open for over 4 years) it turned out to be in pretty good shape too. Internals are very good with no noticeable play. And even all the brackets are in pretty good shape, with only surface rust on them. Almost blasphemous to cut them of ...

And of course I wanted to change the DHC's gearbox during my Christmas holiday but that is postponed for another few weeks.

Back axle strengthening

This is one in the category that I wouldn't have done to my car, were it not for the fact that a friend managed to break the back axle of his rally car at the end of this stage during the Deutschland Rally. And because he doesn't want to source and adapt a 4HA Jaguar based axle yet, we had a closer look at what had happened.

The problem was caused by a failure of the two puddle welds holding the right hand axle tube into the differential casing. Clearly the amount of torque available from a modified V8 together with the rough stages had been just that bit too much. So we needed a modification.

Searching through some old CCC articles on building a TR7V8 rally car, learned how to solve what is apparently the only weakness of the 5-speed back axle, i.e.: the fitting of the tubes into the differential casing. These tubes are normally pressed into the casings and welds are built up on the tubes through holes already in the casing. These welds are not intended to bond to the casing, but act as spigots or retaining pins. Unfortunately there are only two of these 'puddle' welds per side, and in this case the two on the right hand-side failed.

According to the people at CCC all that appears to be necessary to solve the problem is to increase the number of puddle welds to four per side. But we decide that we would go one stage further for the rally car, so we had a good look at the stiffening plate from a friend's Mk2 Escort back axle. And after some careful measuring on a spare axle and underneath the car, and a strength analyses we came up with this stiffening plate ...

At the time of writing the drawing file is away to a company to give us a quotation to get the plate laser-cut and the brackets machined. And after all the work I put in to get this far I don't see a point in not using one myself. So we will have a small batch made, depending on the price ...

The RBRR 2012 from the co-driver's seat

It has taken much longer than I planned, but at last I finished the photographs I shot as co-driver with team 44 during Club Triumph's RBRR, which took place last month. This was completely caused by the fact that shortly after the event (which coincided with my holiday) I received my new computer, only to find out it wasn't quite the spec I ordered. This issue was sorted without much problems, but it meant I could only start with installing all the software transferring data etc. well after my holiday. Which meant it had to be done in the evening hours. But since last weekend (almost) everything is working as it should, so I could start with the photos in earnest. Below you'll find a selection of the pictures taken during the run. One way or another there are a fair few wedges in there!

Meeting up with Gurtie, the car that Dave,

Steve and I would be sharing for the next 48+ hours:

At the Plough

Here it was business as usual, with a parking area overflowing with Triumph's,

lots of last minute spannering going on, and, being England, rain of course:

Just after 18:00h we were flagged of, to join the Friday evening rush hour traffic of Enfield and the A10. Heading into the night towards Blythe, Carter Bar (don't mention Lambrini in Scotlandshire for the next decade or two) and towards Edinburgh Airport. Best moment of this part of the route must have been the HGV that almost literally came flying at full blast, over one of the many blind brows in the A68 (which north of the border seems to be called the 'roller coaster' for obvious reasons)

Edinburgh Airport:

After Edinburgh Airport we headed into the first night and further North towards the next stop

Skiach Services:

And ever deeper into the night and further North towards John O'Groats for breakfast:

On the A9 through the centre of Helmsdale

On the A9 just North of Berriedale

On the A99 near Blackness

Tesco services on the A99 in Wick

Chasing one of the TR7’s on the A99 just south of John O’Groats

Lunch stop in John O’Groats

After a hearty breakfast it was time to start the long haul down South towards Land's End. But first we had to cross Scotland from North-East to South-West:

On the A836 just outside John O’Groats

On the A836 with views over Dunnet Bay

Dornoch Firth

Conon hotel in Conon Bridge

Getting back to England and into the twilight zone of Tebay Services.

One way or another we were constantly being chased by or chasing wedges;

After Tebay we headed into the evening and the next stop;

Gledrid Services;

And on into the long night and deepest darkest Wales for the Sugar Loaf control;

Whitehouse Services;

And finally dawn (and breakfast) @ Land's End;

With breakfast finished it was time for the final stages back to Enfield. So we left Lands End and headed North for the picturesque control stop at Bude Castle:

After Bude I was so busy with the navigating that I didn't take much more pictures. So to finish this selection a few photos of some of the people who made it all possible, a tribute to all the volunteers who marshalled at the various control stops:

Marshalling at the Plough in Enfield

Signing in table at the Plough in Enfield

The Plough in Enfield

Handing out cookies @ Gledrid Services

Sugar Loaf

Whitehouse Services;

Land’s End

Bude Castle

For a more complete write-up of "our" RBRR please feel free to have a look at Steve's weblog. And a few more pictures can be found in the photo album on the Club Triumph website.

As for the car of the event, in my humble opinion that must be Mike Weaver's fantastic Stag powered 4x4 Mk2 Estate prototype. Here Mike is busy with his routine-control-stop-check at Bude Castle:

And will the Herald below become “Car-of-the-event” for the RBRR 2014? Spoiler alert; no! 2 Years on it still looked more or less the same. But it was still alive!

Oh … and did someone mention Lambrini!? Or probably one of Paul Darbyshire’s best pranks during a CT event. As a result of which McJim was left with a boot full of the stuff on the Scotlandshire border 😊

Edited on the 6th of October 2023: As the 28th running of one of the oldest events in the Triumph enthusiasts calendar, the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run starts today, I decided to freshen up the pictures I took during this event in 2012. Also added some extra pictures and edited the text where necessary.