

Latest - Stale petrol
by RobPearce
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F W Mays & Co Ltd of Dorking - Triumph Car Dealer 99 |
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F W Mays & Co Ltd were a Standard Triumph distributor based in Dorking Surrey UK.
Some history
The company was sold by the Mays family in 1989 to William Jaks. The family kept ownership of the site and leased to William Jaks. January 2006 saw the remaining 16 employees made redundant as the business was closed down following on from another corporate reorganisation.
Triumph car dealers in DorkingApril 1951, October 1955:F W Mays & Co Ltd, 38 South Street phone 2244/5 August 1961: Listed as being a Main Stanpart Stockist (London Metropolitain Area) and as open 7 days a week March 1974: F W Mays & Co Ltd, 105 South Street, RH4 2JT phone 2244 May 1975 listed as Rover, Land Rover and Triumph dealer March 1988: listed AustinRover May 1991 Rover Group F W Mays & Co Ltd, 105 South Street, RH4 2JT phone 0306 882244 Plea for informationIf you have any more information or recollections about F W Mays & Co Ltd of Dorking Standard Triumph dealer such as photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblinFurther information and sourcesLink to the other articles in this series.Link to facebook page: Triumph Car Dealers. Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr group which includes many photos of Standard Triumph garages etc from my collection and many other contributors . I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html Picture credits:F W Mays - Dorking rear window sticker posted to flickr by Spottedlaurel; A blog post from vitessesteve
posted Fri 17th Apr 2020
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FHC resto nr. 90; Wiring - body harness |
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I finally found some time to spent a full afternoon in the shed yesterday. The main objective was to remove the body harness from the body shell of my first car. When looking for a spare driver’s seat belt a few months ago, I noticed that the body harness was still fitted to that body shell. But more importantly, at first glance it looked in pretty good condition. And despite the fact it isn’t quite correct for an early FHC (no wires for the roof mounted interior light), I decided to remove it. Even when I won’t be able to adapt and use it on the ’76 FHC, it will give important comparison data. That’s because this should be the original body harness for this car! With all necessary tools loaded in the Defender I headed towards the shed. And the first job for the day was jacking up the car’s rear and putting some axle stands for safety. This of course was necessary to reach and disconnect the wiring from the fuel tank (and I had some more work planned). Disconnecting the wiring from the tank sender unit immediately yielded a problem. The earth connector turned out to be corroded in place, and as a result it broke from the wire. Luckily that was the only real problem I encountered on the wiring. With the fuel tank’s wiring pulled back inside the car I moved over to the boot area. Here I was in for a pleasant surprise. I was under the assumption that the rear light units already had been removed from this car. They hadn’t! It turned out that all the wiring in the boot area were still connected. Luckily these connectors all came off without problems. My first thought was to leave the rear light units in place. But as there’s no rear bumper to protect them, it seemed safer to remove them and store them away safely in a cupboard. And I had to remove the left hand unit anyway in order to remove the LH boot trim board. Which in its turn was necessary to enable me to access the wiring for the bot light. I did take my time for the removal as the lenses are easily damaged. But I succeeded in removing them undamaged. And better still, they are in rather good condition. Only a few scratches on one of the lenses. Always good to have an extra spare pair in stock, as they are starting to get scarce! With the rear lights and the trim boards out of the way I switched my attention to the interior part of the wiring harness. First job was to remove the harness from under the A-post trim and the sill carpet, followed by the seat area. Luckily both seats had already been loosened somewhere in the past, because they had to come out to reach the seat belt wiring. And their removal did improve access to the handbrake wire. It was back to the boot after that, starting from the end of the harness. The boot light wires and switch. The light armature had already been removed in the past, so it was only a matter of carefully pulling the harness from the boot lid. Same with the licence-plate-lights wiring on the opposite side of the boot. Though that was a bit more tricky due to the extra wires and connectors. But I managed to pull that part of the harness out too without damage. A small light and an assortment of small tools did help. The final connection to be disconnected was the earth point near the right hand boot lid hinge. After everything was disconnected it was time to remove the harness from the car. Of course with so many single wire connectors the chance of one getting caught somewhere and ripping it of is ever present. So I took my time here, and 10 minutes later the harness was out of the car and on the shed’s floor. And what I had already guessed, while removing the harness, was confirmed. This is one very original and completely unmolested body harness. It even has the label with its part number (RKC 3630) still attached to it after all these years. So now I can start in earnest with the preparation for the various wiring harness’ for the ’76 FHC. posted Sun 12th Apr 2020 |
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S Hicks & Son Ltd of Truro - Triumph car dealer 98 |
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S Hicks & Son Ltd were a Standard Triumph distributor based in Truro Cornwall UK.
Award Winner designs Truro ShowroomsIt was reported in the Standard Triumph Review December 1965 that:
S Hicks have been Standard distributors since 1922, but were closely associated with the Standard Motor Company for several years before the 1914-1918 War. Their new premises, illustrated by the architect's drawings (bird's eye view), have been designed by Mr Giles Blomfield, senior associate architect with John Crowther and Associates, of Truro. Mr Blomfield, who, incidentally, is a Triumph Herald Convertible owner, designed his own home (also illustrated) and was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' bronze medal in October - the highest award to be gained for a building, and only the second time the distinction has gone to Cornwall.
HICKS of TRURO Family concern for 91 yearsIt was reported in the Standard Triumph Review April 1967 that:When the first car was 'imported into Cornwall 67 years ago by S Hicks and Son Ltd, of Truro, it marked a new era but not the beginning for Hicks had already been a business for the previous 24 years. Beginning in 1876 as a blacksmith, Samuel Hicks founded a business which has remained a family concern ever since and which marked yet another milestone in January by the opening of £100,000 plus premises - the first phase of planned expansion. From the original blacksmith's, the firm extended when Mr. W. E. Hicks, son of the founder, joined and added cycle dealership and gunsmiths to the business. The sale of the first car to a local dentist in 1900 established the motor trade in Cornwall, and led to the acquiring of several car manufacturers' agencies. In 1921 they obtained the Distributorship for Standard cars in the county, and after that time relinquished, gradually, all other agencies. Mr Michael Perry, the Mayoress and Mayor, Truro, Mrs Perry, Mr Perry, Sir Donald Stokes, Mr A C L Mills (Home Sales Manager) and Mr J Crowther (architect ). The new premises were opened by Sir Donald Stokes, Chairman of Standard-Triumph International, who congratulated the distributors for 'backing their vision with hard cash'. He also added congratulations to Mr W C Perry, Managing Director, and Mrs Perry, and their son, Mr Michael Perry, great-grandson of the founder, who was made a director shortly before the opening and continues the family line.
Construction is such that development can take place upwards, by two storeys if necessary, and it is planned that phase two will incorporate a new stores and extension of the workshops and roof car park to take 100 cars. Triumph car dealers in TruroApril 1951 Triumph:H T P Motors Ltd, Princes Garage 1955, August 1961: Distributor open 7 days a week 24 hour service S Hicks and Son Ltd, 10 River Street, and 72 Lemon Street phone 2606 Feb 1965: Distributor S Hicks and Son Ltd, 10 River Street, and 72 Lemon Street, phone 2606 Dealer Chiverton Cross Garage, Blackwater, phone Threewaters 321 September 1968, August 1970: Distributor S Hicks and Son Ltd, City Road, and 72 Lemon Street, phone 4321/2/3 March 1972, March 1974, May 1975: Distributor S Hicks and Son Ltd, 10 City Road, phone 4321/2/3 April 1979: Distributor Mumfords of Truro,Newquay Road, TR1 1RL. phone 0872 2581 March 1988: Austin Rover Hicks Motor Group, Lemon Quay, TR1 2JG, phone 0872 74321 May 1991: Rover Group Hicks Motor Group, Lemon Quay, TR1 2JG Plea for informationIf you have any more information or recollections about S Hicks & Son Ltd of Truro Standard Triumph dealer such as photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblinFurther information and sourcesLink to the other articles in this series.Link to facebook page: Triumph Car Dealers. Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr group which includes many photos of Standard Triumph garages etc from my collection and many other contributors . I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html Picture credits: A blog post from vitessesteve
posted Fri 10th Apr 2020
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Door lock mechanism woes |
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During the past winter I replaced the door lock barrels from ‘t Kreng. This was done to create a matching lock set for the ’76 restoration project. Fast forward to the first drive of the year, and a problem reared its head. Opening the driver’s door from the outside went as usual. But it was when I had stopped to take a few pictures, that I noticed something wasn’t as it should. The driver’s door wouldn’t open in the normal way (pull the inside handle and push the door open with the elbow). It actually needed a fair amount of force to open. First thoughts were that something had come loose or that l had refitted some of the parts in the wrong way. Today I had some time for a closer look. But after the removal of the door card I could only conclude that nothing had fallen of, had come loose or had been fitted incorrectly. Time for a close inspection of the movement and action of the mechanism. Using the outside handle showed that everything was functioning as it should. But when the inner door handle was pulled, it was clear that the mechanism wouldn’t release the latch fully. When pulling the inner door handle the arrowed lever (B) should push the circled lever (A) down. To fully release the latch, the top of lever A should be completely pushed down and hidden from view. But with the inner handle pulled against its stop, still half of the lever was visible. What became clear though was the fact that there was a large amount of free travel when the inner handle was pulled. Only at the last part of the handle's stroke would lever B start to push the lever A down. Looking very closely at the action of the various parts of the mechanism showed that there was a lot of play in the various parts of the mechanism. But also the connecting rod (arrowed C below) from the latch mechanism proved to have a huge amount of play. All this added up, and was enough not to release the lock from the inside. As I didn’t want to go to the shed I decided on a little experiment, shortening the pull rod. So I cut of the bent part and put a new hook on. Looked promising but even this minimal shortening proved to be too much. With the handles escutcheon fitted the door would open at the lightest touch. Not good! So I still had to make the trip to the shed, to find another pull rod and a better lock and latch mechanism. Luckily I knew exactly where these parts were stored, so within 45 minutes I was back home. Swapping the “new” mechanism was straight forward, as per the book! Though I did use the opportunity to remove the old plastic spire nuts that hold the door handle in place, and replaced them with new ones. Always nice to have these small parts in stock! And while I was at it I thought it a good idea to also put new connectors on the door lights wiring. That didn’t solve the light from not working though! But at least I again have a fully functional door locking mechanism. And that left me with the final job for the day, refitting the door card and the various trim parts. I have to admit that with the work finished, the interior looked most inviting for a quick blast through the country! |
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Streamline Garages (South Shields) Limited - Triumph Car Dealers 52A |
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This short post is about Streamline Garages (South Shields) Limited a Standard Triumph car dealer in the Tyneside area. The business sold Standard Triumph cars and then British Leyand, Austin Rover and lastly Rover Group products.
This photo from the South Tyneside History website it said to show Albermarle Street looking onto Fowler Street with the remains of St Thomas's Church in the distance. The copyright is held by South Tyneside Libraries.
Site to be redeveloped
Triumph dealers in South ShieldsOctober 1955: Selwood Garages Limited, HartonSeptember 1956 Streamline Garages (South Shields) Limited, 93 Mile End Road, South Shields 1959: Monk Motors Ltd, Commercial Road, Streamline Garage Ltd, 93 Mile End Road August 1961: Dunn's Garages (Sunderland) Ltd, Dean Road, Monk Motors Ltd, Commercial Road, open 7 days a week Streamline Garage Ltd, 93 Mile End Road February 1965, September 1968, March 1970, March 1972: Dunn's Garages (Sunderland) Ltd, 9/11 Dean Road, Streamline Garage (South Shields) Ltd, Borrow Street March 1974: Streamline Garage (South Shields) Ltd, Borrow Street, NE33 1PL April 1979: Baulard & Fosters Ltd, 36 Sunderland Road, NE33 4UX Streamline Garage (South Shields) Ltd, Borrow Street, NE33 1PL March 1988, May 1991: Streamline Garage (South Shields) Ltd, Borrow Street, NE33 1PL Plea for informationIf you have any more information or recollections about Streamline Garages (South Shields) Limited such as photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblinFurther information and sourcesLink to the other articles in this series.Link to Dunns of Sunderland blog post. Link to facebook page: Triumph Car Dealers. Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr group which includes many photos of Standard Triumph garages etc from my collection and many other contributors . I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html Picture credits: Albermarle Street photo from South Tyneside Libraries; Streamline Garage 1972 photo posted facebook by Gary King; Streamline Garages (South Shields) Limited garage site photo from Shields Gazette; A blog post from vitessesteve
posted Fri 27th Mar 2020
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First outing of the year |
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Decided to enjoy the very fine weather this afternoon for a short blast through the country in ‘t Kreng (my Sprint powered FHC). And due to the current Covid-19 pandemic it was a rather enjoyable drive. We (still?) don’t have a complete lock down here, but there’s a ban on gatherings of more than 2 people. So the usual large herds of walkers and cyclists had to stay home. This resulted in some rather quiet and empty roads, with only a handful of people out and about. Sadly as a result of the Corona crisis all pubs are closed till at least early April, otherwise it would have been even more enjoyable. Biggest “problem” for the time being (from a driving point of view) is the fact that the border with Germany is more or less closed. So for the time being no access to proper fuel. But compared to the current crisis there are worse things to worry about! Will see how it all develops … And it looks like I made a mistake when swapping the door lock cylinders at the end of last year. The driver’s door only opens from the inside after some brute force is being applied from inside. Outside door handle works as it should. Something to look into in the coming days or weeks. |
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February/March 2020. Cylinder Head Update |
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A few weeks back, once I had all the parts, the cylinder head and all the new goodies were fitted. Once again helped by Gavin and Dave, the job didn't take long and pretty soon, we were ready for start up. Unfortunately, start up didn't go well and we were greeted with a horrendous clacking sound that none of us could figure out where it was coming from. We swapped the rocker shaft with an spare one in case it was something to do with the new rockers or rocker shaft that we had fitted, but this made no difference. with a feeling of dismay we shut the garage door (It was now approaching 6pm) and gave it up as a bad job. The following Saturday, we started with a compression test and all cylinders turned out to be fine. We tried a few more things, but the more we investigated, the more evident it was that the head was going to have to come back off. With the head removed and investigated it was clear that the problem wasn't cylinder head or valve based either. Looking down one of the cam follower holes, it was looking like we had some serious wear on one of the lobes on the camshaft. Unfortuately, this being a Mk1, you can only remove the camshaft by removing the engine. (You cant get the camshaft out the front of the car because of the nose cone. You can on a Mk2, because of the bigger front grill) So, seeing as there was three of us on hand, we removed the engine. We then set about removing the camshaft and sure enough, the wear on one of the lobes was excessive to say the least. I think the previous problems with the valve seat recession had masked it, and now that everything was as it should be, was now highlighting the lobe problem. So, fast forward a few weeks, I have now purchased a new camshaft and fitted it. I've also purchased a new timing chain, crankshaft cog and spacer and camshaft sprocket. The engine is also back in the car now, but it still needs to have the head and everything else refitted. Hopefully that will be the end of the current problems. |
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Tax exempt again! |
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I received a letter from the Internal Revenue Office last Friday (though the letter’s date might suggest something different!). And it contained the official statement that the 1980 DHC, my first car which is in my possession since the summer of 1988, will be tax exempt (again) this year. Or as the letter states; “From the data from the vehicle registration register, I conclude that on the 6th of June 2020 it will be 40 years ago that the aforementioned motor vehicle was put into use for the first time. This means that from the 6th of June 2020 you will be eligible for a tax exemption for this motor vehicle” As it is the second time I received such a letter for this car I am a bit sceptical. And that’s because 15 years ago cars over here would become tax exempt at the age of 25 years. Sadly a lot of skint people started importing clapped out 25 year old (mostly diesel) cars from Germany, to use them as cheap daily drivers. As a result of this, after a few years the age for tax exemption was raised to 40 years! But let’s approach it from the positive side!. 2019 was the last year that I had to be put the DHC away in the shed for her mandatory hibernation in the months of December, January and February 😊 And hopefully in 2022 I will receive a similar letter for ‘t Kreng … |
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FHC resto nr. 88; A new heart: or a change of plans! |
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When a car’s restoration takes as long as this one, there is a very high risk that plans change as time progresses. And in this case it is the plans for the engine that have changed significantly over the past few weeks. Initial plan was to use one of my top spare parts; a brand new Sprint head still in the box. This would be either used to crown one of my best spare engines, a rebuilt Dolomite Sprint engine (VA prefix, Mahle pistons and honing marks still visible): Or I’d use one off the more worn engines in the shed and have it re-bored to fit these oversize JP pistons ... Then there was the offer from a friend who was willing to donate one of his RV8 engine’s … mmm …tempting. But then that same friend pointed me to an advert on the internet (Marktplaats.nl) for a second hand Sprint head that needed a bit of work. But I clicked the wrong advert and found some other items from the same seller. Including a brand new Sprint short engine fitted with Mahle pistons and an also NOS Sprint head (still in the box). A few emails and phone calls later a deal was struck. As a result of which I am now the proud owner of these parts. These items didn’t come cheap, but it might in the end be more cost effective than to rebuilt one of my spare engines. Time will tell! Biggest advantage for me is that I can now build up the engine when I want to, and without the need of specialist help. Because this would add at least 6 to 8 months to my time schedule (yes good quality engine builders are busy these!). And this afternoon (with a pair of hired hands) the pieces where dropped off at the shed. Time for a little photoshoot. First some overview pictures of the engine itself. And a few details, to start with the engine’s number. As you can see it reads VA3437ESS, which confirms it is for a Dolomite Sprint. But so far I haven’t seen the “ESS” suffix on an engine. But according to some input from Belgium J and a quick search on the internet, ESS probably stands for Exchange Supplied Spare or Exchange Service Spare? But probably the best thing is that the engine is fitted with brand new Mahle pistons, all with F-tolerance mark. And this corresponds with the markings on the engine’s block! And a few pictures of the head. As you can see there is a little bit of (what turned out very light) surface rust on a few parts. So that will get a proper oil soaking and clean before it is fitted to the engine! The sale also included a new distributor set consisting of all three sprockets, proper quality distributor chain, original chain tensioner (in the small box) and original chain guides. But this new addition brings its own disadvantages, or should I say challenges? As I now have one brand new “surplus” Sprint head. So it might well be that all my three TR7’s will get Sprint power in the end 😏. On the other hand that could mean that the original TR7 PI system I have lying around could become surplus somewhere in the future … choices indeed! posted Sun 15th Mar 2020 |
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A Lovely Day out |
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Didn’t need my Triumphs to enjoy a very nice (though also very muddy) day out. As I went for a walk through the valley of the river Geul yesterday, in the south of our lovely Province with a friend’s family. Was a rather enjoyable day. The fine early spring weather and good food certainly helped there! The river Geul near “de Volmolen”, Agen Uil Terpoorten-Epen Old farm building now holiday home, Plaatweg Terpoorten-Epen Tavern “De Smidse”, Terpoorten-Epen A well deserved beer 😋, Tavern “De Smidse”, Terpoorten-Epen Along de banks of the river Geul, between the hamlets of Terpoorten and Cottessen Along de banks of the river Geul, between the hamlets of Terpoorten and Cottessen Steep hollow path, Zevenwegen Vijlenerbos Forestry work, clearing up after the storm, Vijlenerbos |
Club Triumph Ltd. Registered in England No. 4961210 Registered Office: Suite A,10th Floor, Maple House, High Street, Potters Bar, Herts, EN6 5BS. VAT registration number 340 4536 26. Club Triumph is run entirely by its members for its members and does not have paid employees.
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