Tuesday 29 September 2009

Diff Picked Up and Fitted !

Picked Up my new Diff from Canley's this afternoon so I've been busy tonight fitting it. Well at least the Diff itself is in the car bolted up with new Polybushes. I've owned Spitfires and GT6's for 25 years but I've never had the pleasure of fitting a diff before, one of the few mechanical jobs I've never had to do. A bit of a tough job lining everything up single handedly. Still managed it in the end.




Need to reconnect the driveshafts and put the rear rotoflex back togther tomorrow.

Saturday 26 September 2009

Cookie Now has a Blog!

OK, So I keep seeing all these blog type things on the club Triumph Website so thought it was about time I started one!

So what am I doing Triumph wise at the moment?

Well, having broken my diff at the TSSC international in Stafford I'm in the middle of changing it. I've got a new unit being built by Canley Classics and I'm upping the ratio from the standard overdrive GT6 3.89 to a 3.63 as fitted to the later 1500 Spitfires. As I understand it, not only will this be a bit more relaxed for motorway cruising but also it's supposed to be the strongest set up.






While changing it out I'll add a few replacement poly bushes in place of the original rubber.




I also had a few problems with the overdrive on the way up to Stafford with the wire through the gearstick shorting out intermittently and chattering the overdrive in and out when in the switched out position. No big deal just need to replace the wire, something that seems to go wrong every 18 months or so. Wires in a constantly moving and hot and oily environment do have a habit of chaffing their insulation!




I also had a little job to do re attaching the front numberplate which got half broken off when the recovery truck hauled my car on when the diff was broken. I've tucked it up a bit closer to the front valance this time so it'll be a bit less vunerable.


While working on my car I've also found a small crack in the chassis near the rear lower nearside wishbone mounting. This has been fixed once before about 15 years ago. I'll be looking to get this fixed professionally once I get the car back on the road.




I pick up my new diff on Monday and the target is to get the car back on the road in time for the Duxford Triumph day on the following Sunday so I have my work cut out next week.