SEM, Bargains, Trophie's and of Course Beer

I went along to the SEM Triumph Show this weekend. No Kids this weekend so I was able to take the GT6 and had and enjoyable drive over the Hogs back and along the A247 from Guildford to Leatherhead, much nicer than using the motorways. I arrived on Saturday afternoon and got my tent up in between the rain showers. Then it was into Leatherhead for grub and lots of beers in the Weatherspoons with Andy, Mark & Mark, Wendy, Nev, Shawn, Nigel, Dai and Jonathan. Jonathan disappeared about 8pm though and sneaked off to bed, I think he had overdone it on Friday night....

Sunday was the day of the car show, lots of autojumble. I picked up a few bits and bobs, 4 cans of Poo brown spray paint for the Flying Log for a mere £1.50, a new number plate lamp unit for a fiver and a job lot of several Rotoflex inner and outer halfshafts for a tenner as Martin was having aclear out before moving house.

Shawn's Daimler, unrestored honest Classic, well as honest as a "Blaggers" car can be, all that was missing was a couple of sawn off Purdey's on the back seat for that period look!

Equipes

Staaaaags

Vitesse Line up

James' Track Day Spitfire



Some of the Trophy Winners

The weather was a bit hit and miss in the morning with the odd shower, freezing cold and very window. However later in the afternoon it brightened up somewhat. As usual though SEM was a good chance to catchg up with old friends. My sister Lizzy popped along as did Colin in his Cossie Turbo GT6. I'll be doing an article on Colin's car in my TSSC club magazine column soon so it was a good chance to get some photos of the latest incarnation of his car. I also got some pictures of other GT6s to feature in my column soon.

Colin's Cossie Turbo GT6

Under the bonnet of Colin's Cossie GT6

A selection of GT6s

Then there was a bit of a surprise, my car has been selected for a proze by the judges. To be honest there were some nice GT6s there that arrived after the judging had finished but I'm not going to complain and I got the runners up trophy for best GT6.

Me and my Trophy with the GT6 in the background

The white MK1 won best GT6

Getting presented with my trophy by Jane.

After getting home I set about fitting one of my autojumble bargains to the flying log. The Log has an older version of rear bumper centre section fitted with the newer number plate lamps, The lamp units don't fit properly and had been glued in place by the previous owner. Also the earlier number plate lamp has mounting holes in the bumper that had been blanked off with screws. I like the earlier number plate lamp assembly better anyway, it looks classier with the Triumph Badge. So having got hold of one for a fiver, I fitted it to the Log. Looks better in my opinion.

Separate later type number plate lamps as fitted, note the screws to blank off the additional holes.

Older type number plate lamp fitted.  A real bargain for a fiver and looks much classier as well as using and covering the holes in the bumper.

An exhausting few evenings in the garage

This week I've been out in the garage in the evenings replacing the rusty, bodged up exhaust system on the Dolomite with a shiny new stainless steel system purchased from the Triumph Dolomite Club.

There seems to be only two places to buy a 1500HL Dolomite exhaust, either through the Club or from Rimmers. Rimmers have them in stock whereas the club get them made to order, needles to say the club works out cheaper and I saved more than the annual membership fee over the Rimmers price. However I was quoted 3-4 weeks leadtime and it took 6 1/2 weeks to come. In hindsight if I'd known this I would have paid the extra and got it straight away from Rimmers.

Anyway, first task was to remove the old exhaust. As the joint between the downpipe and centre section fell apart the week before this bit was easy to get apart. I removed the airbox to improve access to the downpipe/manifold flange, undid the nuts and freed the downpipe from the manifold and removed the support by the gearbox. Then I tried to remove the down pipe. It's supposed to exit from under the car but the flange wouldn't fit between the bellhousing/gearbox, subframe and body, it wouldn't come out of the engine bay either and I thought I might need to remove the carbs and possibly the manifolds.

Airbox removed

Downpipe wouldn't come out either downwards under the car or upwards through the engine bay.

 

However having asked for advice on both the Dolomite Forum and facebook group it was suggested that I disconnect the engine mounting on the exhaust side and jack the engine up a couple of inches. I therefore took the advice (also releasing the radiator mounts) and jacked the engine up. The exhaust still wouldn't fit downwards as it states in Mr Haynes book but it was possible to pull it up and out of the engine bay.

Removing the downpipe upwards and out of the engine bay after releasing the engine and radiator mounts and jacking the drivers side of the engine up 2 inches.

Next it was time to remove the centre and rear sections. I removed the rubber hangers on both sections and soaked the joint between these in penetrating oil overnight but it wouldn't free up. I tried peeling back the outer pipe by using a cold chisel and big hammer but to no avail so I ended up taking an angle grinder to the joint to separate the two sections. It was a bit of a fiddle to get the rear section out. It loops over the rear ale on the left hand side but I found it needed wriggling over the to right side of the car to twist it over the axle and out.

Seized joint between centre and rear section.

Complete exhaust removed from the car, a bit of a rusty and bodged up mess!

Next I cleaned up the manifold flange with a Dremmel to ensure the flange gasket has a chance of making a good seal.

Cleaning up the manifold flange with a Dremmel.

Next I started fitting the exhaust with the downpipe bolted up loosely to the manifold. I then fitted a new original type D clamp bolted to the gearbox bracket to ensure the down pipe was fully supported and tightened everything up.

Downpipe rear support arrangement with new D-type clamp as original.

The centre pipe and rear pipe were then fitted with new rubber hangers, new exhaust clamps and a smear of jointing compound.

New Clamp on Joint between downpipe and centre section

New Clamp on joint between centre and rear section and new rubber hanger at the rear of the centre pipe.

New rubber hanger on the rear section

After tightening everything up I started the car to check that the system was leak free with success!

However I was not at all happy with the angle of the rear pipe which was too low at the back.

Rear Pipe too low for my liking at the back

I sought advice on the Dolomite Forum, suggestion was to slacken off the clamps and move the joints top get a better fit. I tried this but it didn't make much difference so I left the clamps slack and jacked up the rear pipe (until it touched the body) the  re-tightened the clamps. The pipe still dropped own but not quite as badly. There was some discussion on the Dolomite forum about others experiencing similar issues with recently manufactured exhausts supplied by both the club and Rimmers, no doubt the same supplier is used. So I think the rear pipe is as good as it gets.

Pipe a bit better at the back but still not perfect but as good as it's going to get.

Anyway, took the car for a drive and apart from the usual burning smells from a new system it's much quieter now so "job done".

Loud Log in the Isle of Wight

Just had a great few days away at the Isle of Wight Triumph Weekend. This event is a bit of an annual pilgrimage for me. This year was the 25th event and I went to the 2nd one so have been going along for 24 years now and only missed a couple so I must enjoy it! It's a great event for the family with lots of stuff for kids to do as well as grown ups and plenty of drives out with large convoys of Triumph's to various attractions around the Island.

This year I had the kids so used the "Flying Log" Dolomite complete with baked bean can bodged exhaust. I only got as far as Southampton, about 45 miles before the exhaust blew big time making the flying log extremely LOUD but having got a ferry booking to catch I didn't stop and just pressed on for the last couple of miles. Once at the ferry terminal and in the queue for the ferry I checked out the damage and it was surprising to see that the baked bean can repairs were fine, all that had happened is that the joint between the downpipe and centre box had disconnected. Not having time to fix it before the ferry went I bodged it up with a guy rope from my tent tieing the exhaust up to keep it off the road and limped it to the campsite ready to fix properly in the morning. A reasonably easy fix but the exhaust was left hanging pretty low and was frequently grounding out. Still it survived the perils of the Island Roads and the journey home so all was well in the end.

Bodged up exhaust tied with a tent guy rope

The Log queueing for the Ferry

After a drinking session in the bar on Friday evening and up early to fix the exhaust it was time for the first drive out to Robin Hill Adventure park. The Isle of Wight Triumph Club had negotiated free entry to anyone in a classic Triumph as we parked our cars inside the theme park as a visitor attraction. This was a bit of a challenge as the grass area was a bit waterlogged and on a hill. I managed to get the Flying log stuck and bogged down and splattered with mud as I tried to wheel spin out!

Jason's TR6 on the campsite before the run to Robin Hill

My Daughter Alice wrapped up warm in Anne-Marie's Spitfire.

Nice Fiat Twin Cam engined Vitesse that is owned by Martin from the Island.

The log before departure

Darren in his Mk2 2500 Saloon

Cute Herald Pick up

Cars lining up before the convoy to Robin Hill

Jason and Poppy in the TR6 en Route

Triumphs in the mirror en route

All parked up at Robin Hill

Nice Courier Van

I love the NOB number plate!. This car also featured in the TV drama ashes to ashes

Me in the Sunshine

After the run we had the obligatory camping barbecue accompanied by lots of beer. Then it was off to the bar for the live band. They weren't great performers but had an interesting set list including a couple of Ian Drury tracks and lots of 70s and 80s stuff that wasn't mainstream. Anyway after more beer they started to sound a bit better. Then it was off to Ashley's caravan for Port and cheese into the small hours where our American friend Bill was in full flight with his amusing stories as usual!

The following day after a barbecue breakfast there was a convoy to Appuldurcombe House which is only a few hundred yards from the campsite. However we went the long way round on the convoy and did a trip of about 10 miles to get there including Ventnor Seafront and the infamous Zig Zag Hill which we do every year.
We all parked on the lawn at the front of  Appuldurcombe house which was an impressive photo opportunity. The house looks great at the front but is in ruins behind the facade as it was hit by a bomb during the war which a German bomber dispatched before he crashed a few miles further on. There was an excellent Falconry display in the grounds as well.

Triumphs outside Appuldurcombe House

Bald Eagle at the Falconry Display

Buzzard at the Falconry Display

Very Fast Gyr Falcon at the display

Triumph' through the window

The ruins behind the facade of Appuldurcmbe House

More Ruins

Lightnin' McQueen styled GT6 convertible from Essex

Then on Sunday afternoon was a hog roast and live soulful Reggae music from the very excellent Derek Sandy. This was a bit special as Derek had been paid for by Carol who sadly passed away from Cancer earlier this year, she knew she may not make it to this years event and wanted to make it special. There was also an auction of Carol's teddy bear collection later in the evening in aid of cancer research that raised over £300.

Also on Sunday evening was the quiz which our team always do well at, this year we came 2nd.

On Monday there was a convoy out for lunch at the White Mouse pub. After this and putting the tents away I called in with the kids to Carol's grave on the way to the ferry to pay our respects.

Triumphs at the White Mouse

More Triumphs at the Mouse

The Mouse again

Chris and Maria arrive at the Wight Mouse in Chris' excellent concours winning Mk3 Spitfire. This is one Concours Car that actually gets driven, certainly no trailer queen which is more impressive than those Concours car owners who polish but don't drive their cars properly. Triumph are there to be driven, the harder the better!

That was the end of another great Isle of Wight weekend. Looking forward to next year already!

Many thanks to Angela, Graham and the Isle of Wight Triumph team for impeccable organisation of another excellent event.

Ok so I did fix it and sods law, look whats just arrived!

I wasn't going to fix the downpipe gasket on the Dolly, but I decided as I have a few gaskets I would replace it before the Isle of Wight weekender. So I spent some time yesterday dropping the front pipe down and replacing the gasket in the hope that the baked bean tins on the downpipe will hold out for the weekend.

Then today the new stainless exhaust arrived, doesn't look I'll have a chance to fit it before Friday when we leave for the Island. If I knew the old system would come apart easily I may give it a go but I reckon it will be rusted together and need cutting to get off the car.  To be honest, if it had come one working day earlier, ie, last Friday rather than Monday all would have been well. Never mind, back to plan A, go with the bodged exhaust repair and replace the system after I return.

Anyway here is my nice new shiny pipe ready to go on, I have also bought new clamps and jointing compound, I have a gasket ready, I'll also pick up some new rubber hangers from Halfrauds before I fit it as I know they stock them.

Dolly Exhaust blowing again and I cant be arsed to fix it!

The Dolly exhaust started blowing again today. So I got under there with more baked bean tin repairs to the downpipe as it was leaking from the same place. Then I found that the downpipe flange gasket is also leaking now.

What is a real pain is that despite ordering a stainless exhaust system from the Dolly club 5 weeks ago on a quoted 3-4 weeks delivery it hadn't turned up and having chased it this week I found that there is a delay at the manufacturer, firstly they didn't acknowledge the order and it had to be resent a couple of weeks later and secondly their leadtimes have increased. That's a real pain as I wanted to get the new system fitted before the Isle of Wight camping weekend over May bank holiday which now looks unlikely.

As fitting a downpipe gasket is a pain in the arse of a job and as I'll only have to replace it again in 2-3weeks time when installing the stainless system I think I'll just put up with a blowing downpipe gasket for my trip to the Island. Not ideal but I just can't be arsed to do the job twice within a couple of weeks.

So if you are over on the Island and you here a sound like a tank, that'll be me in the "Flying Log"...

Triple filtered

I've been getting a bit tired of constantly cleaning sediment out of my float chambers recently. I did read that this can be an issue caused by the ethanol that the petrol companies are allowed to put in fuel (5% currently). Apparently because ethanol is a stronger solvent than normal petrol it can loosen deposits that have built up in the fuel system over time, deposits that were stable with plain petrol in the system can be loosened by the ethanol and cause sediment. Things will get worse soon as the government are relaxing the rules in line with an EU directive and allowing up to 10% ethanol in fuels in the near future. Another issue is that the old rubber fuel lines in our classic cars are not ethanol resistant and tend to break down, crack and leak much more quickly than they used to with "proper" fuel.

I've always had a fuel filter fitted befor the fuel pump and the pump itself has a built in filter, however bits of sediment have still been arriving in the carburettor float bowls which can block jets, or cause leaks as the float needle valve can fail to seal if it gets a bit of sediment in it. I've got copper fuel pipes fitted so it's not internally rusty fuel lines between the pump filter and the carbs which can be a problem and I'd hope the two existing filters would be able to catch any internal rust above the fuel level that has formed inside the tank that makes its way into the system.

Anyway in an attempt to reduce the issue I've fitted yet another fuel filter just before the carbs along with some new rubber pipes that are supposed to be suitable for the latest unleaded fuel.