Steaming!

Had a great day out at the Club Triumph National. This year it was only about 25 miles down the road at Holycombe Steam Museum near Liphook. Although it is a local attraction it was somewhere I'd never visited before, but I'm sure it's somewhere I'll be visiting again soon.

I had intended it to be a family day out, however my 9 year old daughter had other ideas, got stroppy and refused to come along so it ended up with just me and my son.

The run down was pretty uneventful apart from the fact that it was the first time I'd used the new Hindhead tunnel on the A3. Good excuse to wind down the windows, drop the GT6 out of overdrive and press the loud pedal to hear the glorious 6 pot exhaust reverberating in the Tunnel!

I thought this sign was rather apt for a "Triumph" day!

As is normal for the Club Triumph national it's a pretty low key and informal event but there was a good variety of Triumphs to mooch around before going in to the museum and a few freinds to catch up with for a natter. 


Also to add a bit of interest there was a classic bus rally being held on the same day. In fact one of the Dolomite Club guys, Marty,  who attends our monthly meets also owns a really nice Routemaster Bus and he came down in that rather than a Triumph.

Marty's bus is the one in the foreground. 

There was a visit from 4 Bugatti replicas who were invited to park up with the Triumphs which added a bit of interest.

The museum was a bit quiet when we arrived, being a steam museum it takes them a little while to get the boilers stoked up and get things going and the steam powered funfair didn't really get into full swing until about 1 o'clock. However there was lots of things to wander around a look at, there was a traction engine pulled cart that we had a ride on as that was up and running early on. Then there was a nice ride on a Steam Train ride up the hill and through the woods. After lunch me and the boy hit the fun fair, great traditional rides mostly powered by steam, the chairoplane was the neaest to a white knuckle ride that was running, there was a steam boat ride, a merry go round, a ferris wheel that gave a really good view of the museum park and the local countryside. Add traditional stuff like a hall of mirrors, candy floss etc plus a miniture train ride and a great time was had by all.

3 Triumph Weekends on the trot!

It's been a busy month for me Triumph wise this month as I've had 3 weekends away Triumphing, all of them involving camping, beers and barbecues...

May day bank Holiday weekend was the Isle of Wight Triumph Club Weekend, even though the weather was a bit damp it was still a great event. We had quite a few of our local club area in attendance as usual. Once again we won the quiz, not sure how we manage that most years as we don't take it too seriously. Lots of the local Fuddle de dum beer was consumed so maybe that helped! A few pictures from the event below.

The following weekend was SEM (South of England Meet) at Leatherhead. The weather was dry thank goodness as the camping is very much out in the open there. Some nice cars there on the day, plus a Lightnin' McQueen (from the cartoon "Cars") themed GT6 convertible which people either loved or hated. Pictures from the event below:-

Then last weekend was my favourite Triumph Event, the Triumph Marque day at Prescott. I love the fact that this is an action packed event with Triumph's of all types from all clubs driving up the hill all through the day, some gently, some very aggresively, plus of course the chance to attack the hill in your own car. There was some lovely cars out on the track, including quite a few ex works rally cars, being driven hard like they are suppossed to be! Pictures and Video clips below, including in car footage of one of my runs up the hill

Video Clip of My Run



Video Clip of Works TR4 Rally car, very fast...

"Drive it day" becomes "Bodge it Day"!

Today (21st April) was Classic Car Drive it day. It all started out with good intentions, James  and I left home mid morning in the GT6 aiming to arrive at the Hritage Motor Museum in Gaydon before lunch for the Triumph Day that had been arranged.

The car didn't feel right from the start as it was a bit down on power, then after about 15 miles it started to run really rough on aceleration but not too bad cruising. Anyway pulled over to investigate and found that the diaphragm in one of the Stromberg carbs had a big rip in it. We were at Theale just outside Reading so I gave Jason Chinn a call as I knew he lived fairly close on the off chance that he may have a spare diaphragm in his stash of Triumph bits. No luck but I limped the car round to Jason's house to try and bodge a reapir. After stripping down the top of the carb I found that the rip had become much worse, in fact the whole of the outside of the diaphragm had become detached. No trouble though as Jason set to work with electrical tape and a scapel to make a really "professional" bodged repair. The intention was to go back home but the car was running so well that I risked continuing on to Gaydon and it didn't miss a beat on the way there or back so cheers for an excellent bodge Jason!. As James remarked, "Drive it Day" is now "Bodge it Day"!

We got to Gaydon eventually at well gone 2pm, although some of the Triumphs had already left we still got a chnace to have a good look around the museum which was well enjoyable.

When repairing the carb I also noticed a slight drip coming from the water pump. I've now therefore got a couple of jobs to do so I've ordered a pair of Diaphragms (one as a spare) and a water pump on line this evening.

Best thing to do with an MG, saw it in half!

Little & Large, Tr3A and matching pedal car

Last Stag off the line

Tony Ponds TR7 V8, just like my scalextric car!

World's fastest diesel