Finally got the welding in the bottom corner of the passenger footwell done.Got a coat of paint on it and it don't look bad.At least it's metal and not fibre glass like a PO had done

Then turned my attention the the front left suspension.Below a pic of it as it is now .It'll be stripped ,cleaned,greased and painted as needed and then put back together

.Also did a bit of the wiring around the solenoid and bolted the petrol tank back in..so good progress

As for Connie she never made the autosolo last week ignition issues which haven't been fully sorted

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 17th May 2013 6:51pm gmt

beginning to look like an engine

With a couple of hours for lunch today, i nipped down the workshop to look at Bob
Put the correct manifold on and started to make up a throttle linkage,,,as i can't find the original....a sheered head stud [now removed] and the lack of a couple of tiny bolts for the linkacge put a halt to that but good progress
Did a bit more welding in the footwell before i hade to go back to work...but a productive couple of hours

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 23rd April 2013 7:32pm gmt

Bobs' carbs

The carbs on Bob were a bit grubby to say the least..may well have been some residue from a Bedford car lub gravel autotest

They're a bit cleaner now ..slowly working on it..still putting together the linkages from the boxes of bits
Have done a bit more welding in the passenger footwell..actually quite pleased with it

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 19th April 2013 4:47pm gmt

Seats

The drivers seat in particular puts you at a jaunty angle as the diaphram has gone .And as these are not available ...summit on the list of the newly formed saloon reg parts club..I've set to making a temp fix/bodge

Firstly i made a couple of straps out of webbing and some wire.But these didn't look like they'd be man enough for my ample bottom..So

I used that good old farmers friend ..baler twine to add extra strength to the bit right under the point of maximum load
hopefully this will last long enough till the diaphram gets made..

Also spent some time sorting the missing issue with the engine ..think i've sorted it ..yet to test on the road ..but a bit difficult to do with no drivers seat

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 18th April 2013 2:12pm gmt

Bit Closer

After getting some more go juice ,I found Connie had a small oil leak front right corner of sump/block ..i've had this before.Rather than drop the whole sump and start again .i just slackened the sump bolts and massaged some hermalite in and tightened back up ,that seems to have done the trick
Whilst i had the gearbox off i topped it up with oil ...needed a good litre...and this explained why we lost overdrive on the way back from Le Mans..but it's as sweet as a nut again

Had to rebleed the clutch ..also managed to pick up a rather good second hand battery for 9quid at a boot sale

Took her out for first spin today,,..missing like a goodun..double checked timing ..that's Ok ..so will need to work through ign and carbs
Will need to do more fettling runs as we're entered into the Bocardo autosolo 5th May...lot more bits to do before

Cleaned the second of Bobs' carbs and did a bit more welding to the front left corner of pass footwell...Looking quite good actually

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 16th April 2013 6:10pm gmt

Leccy fuel pump

Having bolted sump on i thought i'd start the engine up and run it ...to check for oil leaks before bolting crossmember back on.So i set about fitting the lecy fuel pump i bought of shaggers at stoneleigh.I had to reloctae the overdrive solenoid so that i could bolt the pump to the turret brace ..as per pic.Also removed mech pump and fitted a homemade blanking plate .Wired up the power to the pump ..only to find the tank is empty..that was about it for this arbos efforts..More tomorrow after a trip to work on Bob..

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 10th April 2013 8:29pm gmt

The Gearbox fairies

Puting Connie back together ..offered the gearbox up and everything lined up nice .but it wouldn't go that last 2 inches..so i feck off and have a bit of lunch and a Mocha....come back and the gearbox fairies that were stopping it had vanished and hey presto it's on..just having another caffiene break ..whilst putting everything back on that needs to be before jacking the engine/box back up ...and waiting for the tarmac to dry a bit, where i washed away some of the oily stuff

On returning..jacked up the engine/box and started bolting gearbox crossmember on only to realise i'd forgotten to put the exhaust over ...DOH..so quickly unbolted it and lowered it ..exhaust over and then back up ..
not a bad bit of fettlin..with trip to Costa and surfing the web for Holliday cottages in cornwall

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 08th April 2013 10:58pm gmt

Found it

The noise coming from Connies' engine that is..Finally dropped the gearbox off and found the flywheel was loose,,in fact the bolts holding the flwheel on were only finger tight..I had thought flwheel might be the prob..and as putting the 2.5 engine in was a bit of a rush job and a bitsa ..i couldn't remember what bolts i'd used..I do have 4 correct bolts that i took out of a scrapper 2.5
Turned out the ones in there are the correct ones ..obviously not tight enough
Not that easy to see in the pic,but you can see shiny bits on them where the flywheel has been moving

I'm glad it is that and nothing more major..mainly as there's an autosolo i want to do early may

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 02nd April 2013 5:09pm gmt

Much more scheduled

After the last trip to the workshop to work on Bob ..i actually came away with a small list of bits i needed..popped into Wins on the way home from work yesterday and spent the grand total of £29 on said bits

Went to the workshop again today and fitted bits...so engine now has

Exhaust manifold bolted on and down pipe ..with 2 new studs
new thermostat fitted
water pump fitted to housing and housing to head
found and fitted one stud to the head ..need to find another ..did put it some where

other bits bought

sump gasket for connie ....bit of fuel pipe so i can fit leccy fuel pump

Got the regs through for the Bocardo autosolo in may ...plan to do this but we'll see

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 21st March 2013 9:23pm gmt

good couple of hours

A good couple of hours spent on Bob today..doing a bit of welding with the newly repaired gasless mig .Plus sorting through the boxes of bits for the ancilliaries for the engine.Putting bits on ,temp.like, and making a list of bits i need to find or buy.Was going to do some of the wirning but took the wrong manual up...no wiring diagram for MK3 ..doh
but did take the camera though

Bought a few tools/bits home so that i can make/do summit on Connie on the drive at home ..weather allowing

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 15th March 2013 5:56pm gmt

Slow Slow quick quick slow

Still slow progress
Fitted the new lining for the MIG ..and that's going
With sump off Connie..started looking at the source of the noise
dropped end cap off conrod and main and the shells look great so it's not that
Whilst sump off ...turned the crank by hand and the noise appears to be coming from the gearbox end...Flywheel? so it'll be gear box off next

Stoneleigh has come and gone...sold a set of 4 cosmics [that's all i took] ..never gonna use em ..Have decided to slow dow a bit on getting rid of stuff as i found i'd got rid of the inlet manifold for Bob so i had to actually buy one
Bought two bits that i didn't want ,but need..namely , a shacktune kit for shimming the front wheel bearings on connie and an electric fuel pump ..to hopefully stop the fuelling issues we have had in the past
The show was the smallest it's been ... but a good social get together ..and all in all it only cost me 100 notes for the weekend...yes i am that sad/anal that i work these things out

having let my CT membership lapse..as there's not much going on in the club A T M for me ...this Blog is now,even more so, a notebook for me

Stoneleigh did make me realise that i've let the cars take a bit too much of a back seat ..especially Connie .....with a bit of time scheduled in for cars .. the bloody weather chucks snow in the way and fecks that up

I have got this friday morning penciled in for Bob but we'll see,....finish fitting wiring loom and engine bits and maybe start [or try to start] the engine up

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 12th March 2013 11:21am gmt

not much

Not too much has been happening

Still to nail down the noise from the bottom end of connie
things checked so far
rocker gear
timing chain

Fired her up .choke out. and was showing 60psi oil pressure
spoke to Dale yesterday and he says that's a bit low..
so next job is to whip sump off and check shells

could make sense as a one point it had a thinner oil in

Aquired a free pi engine ..so that i could get the correct sump
only to find the sump on that is damaged and holed.but repairable

Engine and gearbox back in Bob..slowly fitting all the ancilliarys ..
bought a gasless mig on ebay only to find the lining is a bit tight.
bought a steel replacemant on fleabay..yet to fit

Plans for Nice Pint are starting to form..ferry tme and hotel decided on ..just need to book them
Car things have been a bit neglected , but will change that

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 17th February 2013 06:05am gmt

Motivation

With the weather being pants it's been hard to get motivated to work on the cars ...that plus having to redo the back of the new van...despite the ins comp still oweing me 4.5K

However...have finally got round to replacing the starter on the saloon..and it duly fired up...i still need to change the sump over for the correct one and to stop the leak...3hr job and has not been top of the list in the cold/wet..but there is mention of sun...so??
Have done a few hrs on the GT6 ..sill pretty much done...was having a tidy up on the inside..right up in the foot well..only to find a previously fibre glassed bodge by a PO..so need to have a bit of a cut out and make a new section up

Will have to juggle work,cartime,family time and that thing called christmas ...over the next 10 days
I wish that boy would hurry up and develop his motor skills so he can lend a hand..i know you're only 8 weeks son but com'on ..man up

One or two people have expressed and interest in joining the little trip to europe next year...will let them know of the route and times ETC and they can make their minds up ..There have been some interesting foreign place names mentioned too..apparently wankbahn in germany is a real place

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 17th December 2012 9:34pm gmt

Plans and Tings

Have done a bit more to the GT6 ..bit of welding that is.....the N/S sill is nearly done...getting the hang of stick welding again...must get that mig going though

It's been either too wet or too friggin cold to work on the saloon...but need to get it done in the next week as we got a night rally i wanna do

But the foul outdoor weather has given me a bit of time indoors to do some planning for next septembers little jaunt over the channel...
We..that's 3 of us so far..are leaving on the thursday afternoon...following the 03 route to Nice for the friday night
Dip in the med sat morning then ..this bits still in flux....do we do another overnighter and head back to the ferry or not mmmmm???

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 06th December 2012 8:23pm gmt

Bit Slow at the Mo

Not much going on with the triumphs at the mo.....what with sproglet arriving and a 40 ton lorry rearending my work van...TWAT...and looks like another insurance comp trying it on..but they are at least providing me with a hire van until they settle [pile of modern shit]

Have done a little bit more welding on the sill of the GT6..and engine is back together waiting to go back in

Saloon
have aquired the correct sump for it ..not fitted yet..plus it look like the starter has packed in

Plans are being made for next year...with it being the 10th anniversary of the 03 european run...And it looks like the 2013 10cr run is not doing anything to mark this..So our plans are to go over the same weekend as the 10cr but pretty much follow the 03 route..So as our start time ,route and pretty much all we do will not match what the 10cr crews are doing there aint much point in wasting money on an entry

As of yet the 2013 10cr route hasn't been made public so we can't see if their route and ours will come anywhere near each other

The plans so far are to leave blighty thurs and get to France for just after lunch..drive across to Nice for a friday night stop in the Kyriad hotel...
Then things are not settled yet ..do we have a day off in Nice and then leave sunday morn for the rest of the 03 route|?...or leave Nice sat morn and maybe do a mix of the 05 07 routes and maybe pop into Rolduc to say hello to the 10crers
And depending on how many of us are going will depend on how many cars we take
More planning to be done me thinks

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 23rd November 2012 11:36pm gmt

On to the GT6

Turning my attention to my GT6 ..torqued up the bottom end .then thought i'd better check everything .As i haven't touched the engine much for the last 3 years .Timing is spot on.Went to take the water pump off ..only for one of the bolts to shear..never mind.Then took the head off to check things.Everything looks Ok ...just needs the spiders and dust removing..Was getting on well till i went to move the head and locked my back out....

It was also a bit of a proving run for the saloon...not bad ..fuelling prob seems to have gone ...it's not running as smooth as i'd like ..so more fettling required

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 13th October 2012 1:29pm gmt

Post not the RBRR

with the RBRR gone ...without the car taking part....it looks good if nowt else
Trying to track down the fuelling prob that reared it's ugly head again
The only constants in the plot are the fuel tank,pump and pipework.So tank was drained,removed ,cleaned [nowt in there] and refitted .Pipe work ,from pump to tank was blown out and rubber bits replaced ..Nothing untoward found but done anyway.

Then , with the latest copy of SIXappeal arrived. there was a bit in there about some one who experienced exactly the same prob.There were the various replies about stuff in the tank and pipework..One that caught my eye,and turned out to be the isuue with that reader,was the glass bowl seal on the pump....Have changed mine now and it did pump straight up on the hand lever ..but a drive later to the workshop..so i can do some bits to the GT6 will tell

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 12th October 2012 2:20pm gmt

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 07th October 2012 08:50am gmt

Bottom

And that's all i got to say about that......
the saloon never even left for the start of the RBRR in the end.

Got to the last day with a small list of jobs to do..got them done.. 11.30 ..took it for a test drive ..only for the throttle cable to jam open and the engine to spring a leak from the sump...back to the workshop...sump off and on again ,it's a 3 hr job ,with having to remove the cross member and all ..so i set about that whilst others..Katie ,Ed and a guy called Chris...did other bits like pack the car with tools and sort a new throttle pedal
Leak sorted and throttle cable fixed ..the crew wahed and some of the map marked ...we set off for a final test run .the saloon was going well ...only for an old fuel starvation prob to rear it's head again...this being about 4pm...only two hrs before the RBRR actually starts and it being nearly a 2hr drive away...so with no leway on time to try and sort that prob the plug was pulled Katie's and Ed's entry
I'm not going to try and work out the hrs and parts bill ,it'll depress me ..but at least i now have a nice 2.5 pi engine..albeit running on carbs

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 06th October 2012 4:53pm gmt

Less then 24 hrs to go

With less the a day till the start of the RBRR...more work on the saloon ...bought the correct air filter and box ...not in this pic though..with that fitted it ran much better ...then a knock from the top end...a valve had stuck open..that freed and all fine again..still, need to find out why no head lights...points towards an earth prob..and do things like change the 4.11 diff for a 3.73 and bolt the bonnet back on.fix drivers wiper wheel box..Pack spares up and do a genaral drive with car to check correct fuelling but it's getting there

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 04th October 2012 7:49pm gmt

As part of the conversion to a Mk2 2.5 engine i had to change to a throttle cable instead of rod ..so a plate had to be made..Ta for the dimensions AJ

my blog thing don't like adding more than one pic at a time ...so i'll try another page

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 04th October 2012 7:02pm gmt

Saloonathon

Follwong the trip up to the driver meet for the RBRR and another blown head gasket...another engine was found...a rebuilt 2.5 PI one ..after sorting out the sump...they'd fitted a 2000 one and a strip down to see what else had been done...crank reground -10 and a rebore new pistons + 20..engine was put back together and fitted..after swopping/buying/making the bits to do it
Finally started it yesterday ...running well weak at the mo ..more investigations needed ...but nearly ready for the RBRR ..and i'm not even doing it this year
Bit of a slog but since the drivers meet..
.
engine and box have come out

new engine has been stripped down

rebuilt ...swopping front and back plates plus all the bolt on bits

reattatched to gearbox and back in

now running alot better but still yet to road test it

plate made to convert from rod to cable throttle

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 03rd October 2012 7:33pm gmt

2nd Marathon

With the engine back in the 2000 and running ...thoughts of the upcoming RBRR entered my head..So ,sunday, we went out for a spin , with a view of a nice seaside picnic .Got about half an hour away from home for an odd noise to emerge and an oil leak from the sump gasket to start.Got recovered home, could've driven but didn't want to risk damaging the rebuilt bottom end...Odd noise has now vanished and yet to get the sump off to check things.But thoughts of having a back up engine to hand are in my mind
And finally ..after 14 months , my previous ins comp have seen the light , after me reporting them to the Ombudsman and paid me so that i can have my MK2 GT6 repaired
What a complete buch of useless cranial rectal inversion sufferers.
In the end they said they didn't want to pay for the repair as the car was too old..but here have the money ...so now i can get the car repaired

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 13th September 2012 08:27am gmt

Bit of a Marathon

Just finding the correct crank shells was hard enough.I only needed the two pair of intermediate mains

The ones from Chris Witor were the wrong uns...later MK1 ones...both sets...and no one seemed to have any in stock except Rimmers but they were Edam ...no point fitting them...Then caught an advert for Mick Dolphin ...and hey presto hed had some..so i sent him a cheque.

Then i get a phone call from my mate Clive...he'd been having a sort out in his shed and lo and behold he'd found some ...so i had two lots

Anyway... engine rebuilt and back in the car ...slowly ...bit here and a bit there , in between work and life

Begger wouldn't fire up on the key..turned over lovely but just not firing up...did this after the head gasket change in le mans too...so i wasn't too worried ...

Finally mananged to get Katie down yesterday to give me a tow ...that's another story in itself..and voila .. she runs

Sound quite nice too

Still a few bits of trim to replace here and there and a new bottom hose.Then i can run the engine in ready for the RBRR which ,as usual, creeps up on you ..40days now
And i suppose i'd better start sorting out a spares list as well

Now the cars running again ...i've pretty much missed all the grass autotests...did have a run out the other night in a beamer with a welded diff...only in the same class as a skyline so no chance there then ..but some good things to be had from the evening

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 03rd September 2012 08:15am gmt

Few more finds

Hhaving taken the head off again to investigate the odd puff of smoke i popped out no 2 piston to find the damage from the blown head gasket.. also present on N01 as well...no probs as i happen to have some spare ones...only prob is when i undid the conrod i found the shell to be quite worn..so i thought i'd pop the main cap off as well and discovered they're worn too...never mind ..this is about the only part of the car i've done nowt with so far so can't complain..just means an engine out job
There's a small list of other bits like the odd UJ that i'll do at the same time...just means i've got to wait a bit longer before i can go play again

posted by Doug Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607088682237581989noreply@blogger.com 23rd July 2012 4:05pm gmt

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