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 "vitessesteve"
posts: 2379 Website Administrator Website Moderator Isle of Wight group joined on Mon 16th Oct 2006 |
Halifax UK - Triumph car dealers 105 |
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This short post is about the garages that sold and serviced Standard Triumph vehicles in Halifax, Yorkshire UK. Central Garage (Halifax) LtdIn October 1958 a business called Central Garages (Halifax) Ltd were operating from 89 King Cross Road and were the area distributors for Standard Triumph. Do you know if this business was taken over by H J Car Sales?  H J Car Sales Later on H J Cars Sales traded out of the same building as Central Garage (Halifax) Ltd. At the time this photo was taken the firm were also dealing with Singer cars. Boyes Garages (Halifax) LtdBoyes ran several branches I have written about Boyes of Huddefield in a previous post. Hoffmans of HalifaxHoffmans were a chain of garages that sold Rolls Royce motor cars. I have written about Hoffmans of Sheffield in the past. In 1936 a public company was formed to acquire the Provincial Tramways Co[1]. Subsquently that business acquired Hoffmans of Halifax and Hoffmans of Sheffield in 1958. Triumph car dealers in HalifaxTriumph April 1938 March 1974: April 1979: Distributor Plea for informationIf you have any information or recollections about Standard Triumph car dealers in Halifax 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.weblin Further 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: Central Garage photo from httpwww.halifaxpeople.comHistoric-KingCross.html; H J Sales photo posted to facebook. posted Wed 10th Feb 2021 |
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"Beans"
posts: 5741 Netherlands joined on Sun 5th Mar 2006 |
FHC resto nr. 121; Choosing wiring harnesses part 2 |
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 Another of the plans that fell victim to the everlasting restoration of this early TR7. In the spring of last year I selected the main harness that was going to be used for this car. But then the parts car, I received from a friend late last year, intervened. And the wiring from that car looked to be even better than the one I had chosen before. So over the weekend I spent some time in the shed to check and compare the various wiring harnesses I had put aside for the ’76 car. And after an hour or so I was left with these harnesses that got my approval.  Pictured above is the main harness (PKC 1946), engine harness (RKC 5511), facia harness (RKC 4348), plus battery lead, battery earth and rear screen earth. And finally two door harnesses (TKC 3831). Though only one will be (partially) used as this car will get the early roof mounted interior light. But the passenger door will get a map reading light. So that is a part of the harness that will be used after some extra attention. The gear box harness (UKC 9200) and the body harness (RKC 3630) are not shown above, as these have been prepared already. I even had a go at cleaning the various connectors somewhere last year, but forgot to make a mention here. For cleaning I used a solution of salt, dissolved in hot water and cleaning vinegar. After leaving the connectors in this solution for 15 to 20 minutes they were rinsed of with clean water. And finally dried in the bathroom, being the warmest and best vented room in the house!  Remains one final task before I commit myself to changing this car’s wiring to the later layout. And that is to make the decision if I am going to do a job I should have done before painting the shell: Enlarging the hole in the firewall, through which the main harness passes into the engine bay. On this early car the diameter of the hole is approximately ø43mm:  But on the later cars from which I want to use the wiring harnesses, this hole measures approximately ø62mm:  I had hoped to get away with “just” using the earlier grommets for the passages through the bulkhead and into the front wing. But removing one from an old loom intact has proved to be impossible without butchering a complete loom. And with no guarantee that the grommets would survive fitting it to a different harness. So I have decided to enlarge this hole. Remains to find out how best to tackle this job. For that I will pick the brains of a few friends as soon as possible! Another looming challenge are the different locations for the engine harness to exit the cabin. On the ’76 car this harness passes through a hole in the transmission tunnel.  Where on the later cars the engine harness passes through the bulkhead alongside the heater.  As these holes are pretty close together I hope I can use the original one. Maybe I have to adapt the engine loom a little for this. But that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge! And to end this weekend I took my Defender out to play for a few hours in the snow, ice and mud!  |
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"vitessesteve"
posts: 2379 Website Administrator Website Moderator Isle of Wight group joined on Mon 16th Oct 2006 |
Oakwell Garage of Ilkeston - Triumph car dealer 104 |
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Several garages sold and serviced Triumph cars in Ilkeston. Two of the garage buildings were known as Oakwell Garage and later New Oakwell Garage. of Ilkeston.  Oakwell Garage 1964 This street scene is said to be from 1964 and shows the corner of Oakwell Garage looking down Park Road away from White Lion square. At this stage the business was operated by the Ilkeston Co-operative Society. These building were demolished to make way for an inner relief road. New Oakwell Garage What are these two chaps shaking hands on at New Oakwell Garage?
MOT garageI have read that Bristol Street Motor traded from New Oakwell Garage, Derby Road, Ilkeston but strangely the postcode used by them was DE7 5FH rather than DE7 5GS. Was this same site or did the business transfer the building name? Sunwin Motors another MOT provider also traded from the DE7 5FH premises. A Co-op garageNew Oakwell Garage was an Austin Morris and Rover Triumph dealer during the BL cars era. It was owned and operated by the Ilkeston Co-op.  Ilkeston Co-op owned several car dealerships over the years. Ilkeston Co-op sold its car retail business to United Co-operatives in 2004. Triumph car dealers in IlkestonOctober 1955, October 1958, 1959: Plea for informationIf you have any information or recollections about Standard Triumph car dealers in Ilkeston 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.weblin Further 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: Oakwell Garage 1964 from Picture the Past; New Oakwell Garage rear window sticker posted to flickr by John; New Oakwell - Ilkeston rear window sticker posted to flickr by Jonathon. posted Wed 3rd Feb 2021 |
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"Beans"
posts: 5741 Netherlands joined on Sun 5th Mar 2006 |
FHC resto nr. 120; Rear wing blanking plate and radiator |
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After finishing the car’s striping, fitting the two rear wing blanking plates (ZKC1454) prepared 2 years ago, should have been easy. Well the driver’s side was!  The opposite side decided to put up a fight. However hard I tried, the push-on spire nut (ZKC2539) refused to seat properly against the inside of the wing. And after the second attempt I decided to have a closer look at the blanking plate. Should have done that when I selected a pair of blanking plates for refurbishing and use on the car. The only selection criteria at the time were the outside looks. I should have paid a little more attention to the (hidden from view) moulded plastic mounting pins at the back!  Clearly visible is the ridge near the base of the mounting pin. This is almost certainly caused by the blanking plate being removed a few times in the past. And this ridge turned out to be the cause for my problem. It prevented the spire nut from seating correctly, leaving it almost 1 millimetre free of the sheet metal. Luckily I had a few spares left. And the one discarded first, due to heavy overspray, proved to be the best spare. As long as I could get the paint of, without damaging the visible plastic! I shouldn’t have worried, old school thinner, a fine scouring pad and 30 minutes work did the trick. And as can be seen in the previous picture I had to fabricate a new gasket. The one I made originally didn’t survive my attempts to fit the recalcitrant spire nut. And with all parts ready I went for the third attempt. Third time lucky I should say. Though it took a few minutes to press the spire nuts fully home. Finally result!   And after returning home from the shed I decided to spent the remaining part of the afternoon with a first inspection of the radiator I removed from the parts car. To prevent it from drying out I had stored it in the cellar, filled with water. And after emptying it, I transferred it to the bathroom for an external and first internal cleaning session.  First the inside was filled with a mild solution of cleaning vinegar and boiling water. And while this solution was doing its work, I attacked the outside of the radiator’s core with a hot water hose and various soft brushes. Quite amazing to see how much dirt had accumulated in there! And with the outside properly hosed and brushed down, it was time to drain the cleaning solution and flush the core. After which the radiator could be inspected more closely, starting with the outside.  Looking pretty good overall, though it will need a bit of satin black paint and some rust converter in certain areas. And I found this tag, which might explain its condition. Presuming the tag shows the manufacturing date, this radiator is clearly not factory fitted, but an aftermarket replacement.  Remained the inside. Rather difficult to capture with a camera. There are still clear signs of a rusty deposition, especially at the bottom of the radiator (first picture) where a rusty coloured sludge sat when I removed the radiator from the car. But all visible pipes from the radiators core look free and clean.  Main bottom hose connection  Main top hose connection |
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"Beans"
posts: 5741 Netherlands joined on Sun 5th Mar 2006 |
FHC resto nr. 119; Parts donor's yields |
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With the car passed on to its next, and hopefully final, chapter, it was time for me to go over the proceeds. Overall well pleased with the parts this car yielded. And I think it is safe to say that some might even manage to change my plans for the ’76 car. To start with this almost brand new looking radiator: Radiator  Yes this is the later radiator model, so shouldn’t be fitted to an early car. But I like standardisation and reliability, and am not bothered too much about originality. I also firmly believe that a car is for driving, not for show grounds. So the ’76 car will get the later cooling system with the header tank instead of the overflow bottle. And mainly because  My original plan was to have another alloy radiator fabricated locally, to the same specifications as the alloy radiator that was fabricated locally for my DHC But with such a good spare that seems like a waste of money to me! But before I commit myself I will have to flush and pressure test this one first! Just to be sure. Wiring  Also some of the wiring harnesses, especially the main wiring harness, will probably find their way into the ’76 car. Though it doesn’t look like much in the picture above, a first quick check while removing them from the car showed some very unmolested wiring harnesses:    Clutch assembly An unexpected yield are the clutch cover and plate. As they looked almost new, I retrieved them from the engine. And with them removed from the car, the first impression proved to be correct, they indeed are almost brand new. So after a thorough clean, they too will find their way into the ’76 car.  Front screen  Transmission  So the ’76 car will also get a 3.45:1 ratio back axle. Just as the DHC. As it stands now that will be the third one from the front., bearing serial number CL 11955. Will see how a bog standard Sprint engine will cope with this ratio. I take comfort in the fact that the Dolomite Sprint also came with this gear ratio.  And I want to keep the gearbox and back axle together for no obvious reason. So this gearbox, bearing serial number CL-130837C will find its way into the ’76 car too.   Of course for both the back axle and gearbox applies, that they will only be used after an inspection & a clean bill of health, and a good clean. And I have a small adaptation in mind for the gearbox, which I have already used successfully on the DHC’s gearbox. To be continued! |
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"Beans"
posts: 5741 Netherlands joined on Sun 5th Mar 2006 |
Parts donor part 5 |
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 And final part I dare say! I left this part of my TR7 story just before Christmas. With only the gearbox and back axle on my list of parts to retrieve from this car. But we wanted to keep all four wheels under the car for ease of moving it around. So back to work on my old DHC shell to remove the original (4-speed) back axle from the ’76 car, and replace it with one of my 5-speed spares. I won’t be using any 4-speed back axles so I have decided to donate this one to the next owner of the body shell (he’ll use the body to re-shell his ’77 car, which is currently under restoration).  The removal of the 4-speed axle from the car was rather straight forward. Which was not much of a surprise, as it was only fitted earlier in the year! With the same being true for refitting one of my spare axles. I choose the axle with the most miles behind it. Which turned out to be the original back axle from ‘t Kreng, with 101.458 kilometres. Only fitting the wheels back on was a bit of a struggle. This was caused by the fact that I had removed the wheel studs from this back axle. And it was rather difficult to reach them from behind to hammer them in place. But I managed to get the wheels back on (with the aid of some mild swearing 😈). Back to the parts car. Before Christmas I already had loosened all mounting bolts from the back axle. And surprisingly they all come loose fairly easily. By now an extra pair of hands had arrived, making the removal of the back axle (and exhaust) even easier.  The same could be said of refitting the back axle. I choose to first fit the four links to the body and add the axle to the lower links first, with the aid of the trolley jack. While doing this the upper links were tied up against the tank, to prevent them from intervening at inappropriate moments! Only the last bolt put up a bit of a fight to get in place. Which it lost within a few minutes.  With the back axle in place it was time for the final part of this chapter. Removal of the engine and gearbox. Which meant the rear of the car had to be jacked up as high as the trolley jack would go. Then put the axle stands in place (including extra stands under the back axle to prevent from being in the way. This also would free the trolley jack to be used under the gearbox.  For the actual removal of the engine I had borrowed an engine crane from a friend. Sadly though out the previous user, who had borrowed it from him, hadn’t mentioned there was something wrong with it, when he returned it. It turned out to be low on hydraulic oil. Resulting in the lifting arm not even getting level. Let alone reaching enough height to swing the engine out over the nose panel. Of course that was the moment for the gear box to have a mind of its own. While investigating why the lift wouldn’t go any higher, the gearbox managed to slip of the trolley jack in an unguarded moment. Leaving the assembly on its side at a rather awkward angle in the engine bay, with hardly any room to manoeuvre. Took us about half an hour to get it back in its original position with some sturdy wooden blocks supporting the gearbox. After which there was nothing we could do but pack up the tools, make a to-do-list and head for home. And to return in the following year! And on the first Saturday of 2021 we returned to the shed, armed with hydraulic oil and a small oil pump. With the oil level topped up, we had a fully functional crane again. The arm’s reach again was high enough to remove the engine from the engine bay.  And yes the chain’s shackles were too long to get the engines angle spot on. But we were able to get the engine over the nose panel and lift the gearbox out of the engine bay by hand. Almost as easy as it sounds. And no damage to the cars bodywork!    Although the body work is in fairly good condition, the sub frame is clearly beyond repair:  Last job, before moving the car on to its final destination, was removing the gearbox, and the clutch cover and plate from the engine. And with that task done, we came to the final task in my “ownership”, loading her onto the trailer and moving her off to a friend, for the next chapter in her life! His plan is to use this overall very solid body shell, to re-shell his current car. But that chapter won’t be written by me. That’s up to the new owner, if he feels up to it!  |
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