Club Triumph

Well, finally got my replacement Fuel tank sorted, I'd had a vapour smell in the boot since I bought the TR6 in December...turned out the original had pin holes where the 'damper strips' had been glued on to the tank, the water got in there and sat behind them rotting the tank out of sight..

But the day ended as 1 step forward and 2 back ... The horn broke, the push connector in the boss broke... And then as the car came off the jacks I noticed the front tyre was down , so that looks like it has a leaking bead, as there no sign of damage or puncture...it only done 50 miles since a new tire ... so back to the fitters me thinks...

When changing the tire, I notice some flakes of underseal by the jacking point , and this lead to the outer and inner sill now having finger size rust holes... Bugger ... New sill and are repair of the floor pan now urgently needed..

Anyone know a good body shop in South London?

https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#AH5qXGF1wkqPw

Hi Tim,
              the tyre could be a leaky  valve.   Wipe some spit over  the  end and see if bubbles  form.

Don't  panic about  the  rusty sill/floor. Take  your  time  assessing  what is actually wrong and  see if there is an insitu repair that  can  solve the problem.  Replacing  a sill is a big expensive job.


Roger

Roger , spot on on the valve, but it'd been badly fitted and was leaking at the rim , not from the internals... My supplier sorted it in 10 mins Free of charge of course, and a free complimentary coffee while I waited Tim - Twig863

1974 TR6 PI, Peugeot 207sw, XT660z Teneree, CBR900RRx Honda Fireblade

Hi Tim,
             indeed  the floor  panel forms the  lower sill face.
This can be patched  up  insitu.

To  replace the outer sill will  require the front/rear wings removed and  a fair bit  of unravelling of kick panels etc  - not cheap.

If  the sill and floor panel are rusty then there is a  very good  chance that when your  man gets   going  he  will find much much more.

Roger

I guess the more is always going to be a case of How much? ... So I will be going in eyes open , and expecting something more than just a patch up, frustrating as the overall condition elswhere is good on the rest of the tub etc...

Right , saw Mech-weld today and we have a plan .... patch  the front third of the RH sill , as the rest is solid , this gives me summer and the MOT in May.... Then over the winter a full on sill rebuilt with the proper panels .. Which will mean front and rear wings off .

Well at least I will be in a position to run the summer knowing it solid.

Will let you all know in week or so how it goes.. But confident as it seemed a good option and work examples seen at Mech-Weld were excellent.

Update on 'Trevor's Minor surgery' - well as predicted it turned out to be a little more than a few finger holes in the sill.... a previous repair was uncovered that had been overlaid without removing the offending rust !!..and this had just tracked through behind the repair and further into the inner sill behind the front wing. So surgical removal of the offending inner sill vertical , and a not insignificant part of the outer sill ensued.

Luckily the chassis jack point and floor mounts were all still good - although not sure how  - maybe the chassis coating had been enough to stop the rot from transferring from the sill plates across into the chassis - but good news , as no repairs to chassis steel required.

New metal was shaped forming a new inner vertical all the way through to the front sill end plate , and a new outer panel completed the repair.

I got to see inside the panels when it was all cut off , and was astonished to see that the rear of the sill was almost completely clean - it looked so good we think that it may have been a 'jacking mistake' that caused the original repair , and this was 'bodged' by not cutting out enough of the original issue back to clean metal.

So Martin @Mech-Weld , Catford, London SE6  gets my thanks.

Final repair post underseal ...

And so it goes on .... Preparing for the MOT in May , drivers side half shaft play turns out to be a worn UJ and during the replacement I discovered that the bolts were 'finger tight' .. And the previous mechanic (unknown , but I would certainly like to meet them!) had packed it out with silicone sealant, why? I have no idea.

New UJ and gatters  done , I moved to the front end, and yes you can all probably guess what comes next ... Steering gatters  are fine from above in the engine bay, but splits galore underneath...

After some tips on the change and how to keep the tracking setting that is on the car, as this seems to be spot on at the moment, so how do I keep it ?

MOT this morning ... PASSED !! ... Yeah stress levels well reduced now.  

New hood fitted (well 2nd hand one)... But still better than the one that had met with a kitchen knife after a previous owner 'scorned wife' took exception to it !

I spent some more time (and of course Money) in the Garage this weekend... new Radiator Cowl fitted as the original was beginning to split and fall apart around the mounting points. I also refurbished the Hood with Renovo (black) Refurbisher which I must say was well worth the money - 2 coats of refurbisher and 2 coats of sealant made a huge difference to the look. Well worth the investment - even though while its 'cooking' it does pong a bit !

Here's the final result, with the Horns repositioned and the protective coating removed - Shiny, very Shiny ...

Trevor has developed a "chirp" from the right rear... Sounds very metallic and stops when the brakes are applied... It stays constant through corners.

Needs investigating , any ideas?

Hi Tim,
            could be many things.
TRY these  -
exhaust rattle,
suspension spring rubbing on the TRailing arm,
spring in brake drum rattling,
one of the forward diff mounts breaking loose.
Something in the boot
Loose damper

That should keep you busy.

Roger

Thanks Roger ... Turned out to be a slightly oval brake drum, and i'd adjusted the brakes to the wide part ... So the shoes were just catching as the drum rotated. Adjusted to the slim of the oval and it was sorted.

Suprising as the drum is only about 4-5 thou out of true, but when it all got hot , the oval becomes more pronounced and the shoes just touched!

The sound was the vibration of the shoe base in the mounts , but it was really metalic - like a screach.

Hmmmmmmmm!
An oval brake drum will only get worse, as it wears.  Eventually you will get drumming, then juddering as the shoes grip and ungrip.

It may be possible to skim them circular again, but that will make the wall thickness uneven so heating will be the same and ovality will appear again.
Replacement is better.
JOhn

John, yes i'm thinking along those lines as well.... I think that when these shoes are out i will be replacing both the drum and the shoes... Ns and os at the same time.

There's a few cheaper drums out there , but i think they may be a quick route back to the same problem.. Any one have a recommended drum that they've used?

Ok , so I now have evidence that The Alien is actually on earth , in my garage and I may need Sigourney's help in wiping it out ... caught on my Garage CCTV last night

Loads of Spiders at the Moment and Crane fly!

Spent another useful couple of hours this afternoon, tinkering with the TR, checked the Valve clearances (They where all spot on which is good to know) then replace the Servo Hose (The original Yellow Striped hose was a bit the worse for wear after 47 years!!), also replaced the Oil Breather hoses and the vacuum hose from the metering Unit to the Inlet Manifold, used SAE30-R6 re-inforced Fuel hose for this, hopefully should be Ok?

Also re-routed the Bonnet release cable and did a bit of oiling of cables and tidying.

Just need to alter the ignition timing know I've fitted the H&H Ignitor unit and have now got my mates Timing light, a job for tomorrow afternoon I reckon when I get back from my bike ride to Ashover