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So, this weekend I popped the Triumph up in the air to have a poke around the rear suspension and driveline. What I've found isn't great. The PO replaced the UJs in one driveshaft, and both the sliding splines and hub seem good on that side. The other side is not so great. Two knackered UJs, splines with more play than I'd like, and a hub that noticeably moves backwards and forwards. Unfortunately, there have been more than a few cases of wheels departing company with cars where the hubs haven't been in great nick, taking the brakes with them on a single line braking system. Not particularly fond of that idea so it might be a while before I'm back driving again. Currenty weighing up options as what I really want to do is put a BMW diff in the back with proper CV driveshafts. Kits are available but are pricey and I can't afford that while I've got a Jag to finish. Recon hubs are more affordable, but are basically throwing money at a system that I'm planning to replace. Oh, and the propshaft UJs are knackered as well... So, rather than moping about I thought I'd get on with a job that I could do without spending any money. The MGF seats really aren't very comfortable over any sort of distance, which is odd because I find they're very comfy indeed for me in an MGF so it must be something to do with the fitment. The seat base seemed too flat and close to the floor of the car, meaning your legs are stretched out quite flat. Looking at pics of the original seats it seems like they have a bit of an angle to them:  So I figured raising the front of the seats should help a lot. While I'm at it I can also shift them 20mm inwards as they're too close to the door at the moment, with the steering wheel offcentre. Did some mocking up and measuring and came up with this:    It's hard to see in the last pic but I've boxed up the ends to give them a bit more strength. They're made of 1" box section, with one part dropped lower (mainly because I didn't have long enough imperial bolts, but it also helps with spanner clearance). If anyone wants to reproduce them there's 25mm between the hole and the stud on the inside one, and 22mm on the outside one (but the holes in the MGF seats are quite big, so there's leeway). Some light clearancing of the tunnel needed to happen to clear the rails. I needed to cut the little spacer washers off the MGF seat rails to fine tune the height, but after that I can say that there's a major improvement. Much more comfy, even when just sitting in it for brief periods of time. They're not level, but you can sort of tell the height difference at the front from this:  |
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,878
Club RR Member Number: 39
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1966 Triumph 2000->2500->4000Darkspeed
@darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member 39
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Been there with the MG seats - had to put a rather large rake on them in the G 32 that will probably be in the G15 thread - they were night a day in regards to the comfort when we lifted the front and dropped the back.
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Mar 10, 2021 20:18:16 GMT
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Been there with the MG seats - had to put a rather large rake on them in the G 32 that will probably be in the G15 thread - they were night a day in regards to the comfort when we lifted the front and dropped the back. Yep, night and day is the right way to describe it. Still need to sort the passenger's seat, but the driver's is much improved. I seem to remember yours being more heavily raked than mine, so I'll test that out too... Not a great deal of progress on this but I have wired in a new 6v coil and ballast resistor.  I'd read that if you take the unballasted feed off the starter solenoid like I have then it can provide an earth path for your ballasted 6v feed that's used in regular running, meaning it'll fire when you're cranking but die as soon as you stop. The solution to this is to fit a diode between the starter post and the ignition coil so it won't provide an earth path. Seems to have worked! I haven't set the timing yet so I wouldn't say it's running strongly, but considering it wouldn't even pull away without the ignition breaking up before I'd say it's a definite improvement! |
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Mar 10, 2021 22:17:05 GMT
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You should also connect up your vacuum advance diaphragm on the dizzy, ensuring it works first by sucking on the end of the pipe fitting to it and checking to see if it turns the dizzy baseplate.
Having this connected and working usually makes for better idling and driveability, fuel economy, etc., by advancing the timing when coming off the throttle (i.e., under high inlet manifold vacuum conditions).
The other end of the vacuum pipe may go to that blanked-off stub on one of your carbs, but best to check for the correct take off...
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You should also connect up your vacuum advance diaphragm on the dizzy, ensuring it works first by sucking on the end of the pipe fitting to it and checking to see if it turns the dizzy baseplate. Having this connected and working usually makes for better idling and driveability, fuel economy, etc., by advancing the timing when coming off the throttle (i.e., under high inlet manifold vacuum conditions). The other end of the vacuum pipe may go to that blanked-off stub on one of your carbs, but best to check for the correct take off... Oh absolutely. I'd noticed it was missing. Good idea on checking the functioning first. My thinking was that I'm not sure if the rolling road people (or the POs) had advanced the igntion to get it to run without the vacuum advance, so as I hadn't checked the timing I'd leave it off until it's all sorted! I've got some replacement pipe to fit, although it is silicone and the mice tend to like the taste of that round here... |
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Mar 11, 2021 11:08:25 GMT
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Interesting you should say that; my brother had a Subaru Impreza with silicone HT leads, left it sitting for a while and they ate through at least a couple of them!
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Mar 11, 2021 11:40:02 GMT
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Yep they're a nightmare! Haven't managed to find a non-silicone option yet beyond OEM replacement stuff (which is a bit tricky on 60s Triumphs...).
They don't seem to go for the stiffer silicone you get in boost pipes and the like, but the more flexible stuff they can't get enough of!
I've found that they don't like the smell of peppermint oil which you can get in little capsules from Holland and Barrett and places like that. Burst one of those and rub it on the leads and it seems to keep them away for a bit. Not exactly a permanent solution as I'm sure it all evaporates away when you drive it, but certainly a help!
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Mar 11, 2021 11:43:00 GMT
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I've found liberal spraying with WD40 keeps the rats at bay here.
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Mar 12, 2021 15:04:15 GMT
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I've found liberal spraying with WD40 keeps the rats at bay here. Good idea! Bit easier to apply than the peppermint oil... Oh, also, I forgot to mention that I took it to the weighbridge at the metal recycling place on my little jaunt out. The scales there work in 20kg increments (+/- 10kg) so they're not the most accurate things in the world for measuring cars, but it came in as 1200kg on the nose with me in the seat and bang on half a tank. That would work out at 1163kg with a full tank and no driver, which is a little more than I was expecting considering it's not really got any interior left in it (the book figure is 1170kg). Although it's not necessarily miles out considering they don't have masses of interior to come out in the first place! Oh, and it's also got the 2.5l which has a much bigger crank, an electric fan and Stag front brakes which'll add to the weights. |
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Last Edit: Mar 12, 2021 15:09:05 GMT by biturbo228
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A few moth balls in the engine bay might deter the little blighters.
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Mar 13, 2021 12:19:22 GMT
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Just picturing some blokes rocking up to see what's under the bonnet and being inundated with minty freshness when you pop the hood.  Might impress the ladies, though.  |
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May 18, 2021 14:57:00 GMT
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I thoroughly approve of this purchase – such a cool looking thing.
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May 18, 2021 16:20:10 GMT
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A few moth balls in the engine bay might deter the little blighters. That it might! Wonder what's more effective... Just picturing some blokes rocking up to see what's under the bonnet and being inundated with minty freshness when you pop the hood. Might impress the ladies, though. Haha it is quite a strong minty smell! Seems to dissipate after a while, but hopefully it stays strong enough to affect the mice (if not the laides  ) I thoroughly approve of this purchase – such a cool looking thing. Thanks man! Yeah every time I walk past it I think 'man that's a cool thing'. I'm currently weighing up what happens with the paintwork though. Really, it's unlikely to survive well enough with the patina it has. The gloss coat on the roof has micro-blisters which means there was some moisture under it when it was sprayed, so without some remedial work it's unlikely to last well. The patina's also unlikely to survive said remedial work, so we're into the realms of wondering what to do paintwork-wise when the time comes. Suppose a poll would do at that point! Or at least a call for options... In the meantime, not a great deal has happened with it I'm afraid. It's still not driving as I'm very leery about the movement in one of the axles, and there's some saving to do before I can get a BMW LSD and proper CV axles back in there (probably £1700 combined), but it's on the project rota  Jag first, then throw the dark blue Spitfire shell together into a 80% complete project, then it's a tossup between Spitfire, Alfa 75 and this thing using the proceeds from the dark blue Spit |
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So, not a great deal's moved anywhere on this car recently. Mainly because all my money and time is going into the Jag. I have however bought a 3.46 medium case BMW diff from an E34 to fit in the rear (not that there's anything majorly wrong with the stock Triumph diff, even for the planned AJ6 swap, but LSDs are more affordable). Currently trying to work out a cunning plan to bankroll the price of a set of CV halfshafts and a custom prop. What I've come up with is to pull out as much of the stock Spitfire bits I'm not using from the Spit6 project, throw them into boxes to go with the dark blue Spitfire shell I have (that's got decent paint, GAZ shocks, a roto rear, and a fibreglass bonnet - not the one pictured below), offer that for sale with the engine and gearbox out of this car (engine's good, gearbox needs work) and sell that as an 80% complete project (getting higher the more stuff I find pairs of).  Then, I can use some of those proceeds to bankroll the drivetrain upgrades to this car and the rest to finish the EFI conversion on the 2.5 engine currently in the Spit6 and put that into this car. That kills a number of birds with one stone as I can get the 2000 running again, keep it on MoT exemption for a bit longer while I sort out various bits that likely wouldn't pass most MoTs, and get to bed the Spit6 engine in prior to the pending IVA. So yeah, that's the plan  In the absence of any meaningful progress on this car then I've been trying to research as close as possible to a bolt-on rear disc conversion as I can (and possibly a vented front conversion too, if I'm lucky). That's mostly taken the form of transcribing this 222-page PDF catalogue of brake disc dimensions into an excel file that I can then map against PCD, allowing me to quickly filter for any and all possible dimensions of a brake disc so far it's taken me about 4 months of occasional work and I'm just approaching half-way at 1923 lines of data inputted :blink: once I'm done I hope it'll be a really useful boon to anyone looking to try and do budget big brake conversions for any car so I'll definitely share it Only Triumph (and a number of others) have gone and bolted the discs to the back of the hub, rather than slotted them over the studs so PCD information isn't as forthcoming. I've managed to find the Spitfire/GT6/Caterham PCD, but drawn a blank on the 2000/Stag one. If anyone's got a set of discs floating around and wouldn't mind giving them a measure between the holes that would be amazingly helpful! Same if anyone has any other discs floating around that bolt to the back of hubs. So far I've found that Subaru XTs, Datsun 240Zs and Alfa Giulias do as well! |
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So, not a great deal's moved anywhere on this car recently. Mainly because all my money and time is going into the Jag. I have however bought a 3.46 medium case BMW diff from an E34 to fit in the rear (not that there's anything majorly wrong with the stock Triumph diff, even for the planned AJ6 swap, but LSDs are more affordable). Currently trying to work out a cunning plan to bankroll the price of a set of CV halfshafts and a custom prop. What I've come up with is to pull out as much of the stock Spitfire bits I'm not using from the Spit6 project, throw them into boxes to go with the dark blue Spitfire shell I have (that's got decent paint, GAZ shocks, a roto rear, and a fibreglass bonnet - not the one pictured below), offer that for sale with the engine and gearbox out of this car (engine's good, gearbox needs work) and sell that as an 80% complete project (getting higher the more stuff I find pairs of). Then, I can use some of those proceeds to bankroll the drivetrain upgrades to this car and the rest to finish the EFI conversion on the 2.5 engine currently in the Spit6 and put that into this car. That kills a number of birds with one stone as I can get the 2000 running again, keep it on MoT exemption for a bit longer while I sort out various bits that likely wouldn't pass most MoTs, and get to bed the Spit6 engine in prior to the pending IVA. So yeah, that's the plan In the absence of any meaningful progress on this car then I've been trying to research as close as possible to a bolt-on rear disc conversion as I can (and possibly a vented front conversion too, if I'm lucky). That's mostly taken the form of transcribing this 222-page PDF catalogue of brake disc dimensions into an excel file that I can then map against PCD, allowing me to quickly filter for any and all possible dimensions of a brake disc so far it's taken me about 4 months of occasional work and I'm just approaching half-way at 1923 lines of data inputted :blink: once I'm done I hope it'll be a really useful boon to anyone looking to try and do budget big brake conversions for any car so I'll definitely share it Only Triumph (and a number of others) have gone and bolted the discs to the back of the hub, rather than slotted them over the studs so PCD information isn't as forthcoming. I've managed to find the Spitfire/GT6/Caterham PCD, but drawn a blank on the 2000/Stag one. If anyone's got a set of discs floating around and wouldn't mind giving them a measure between the holes that would be amazingly helpful! Same if anyone has any other discs floating around that bolt to the back of hubs. So far I've found that Subaru XTs, Datsun 240Zs and Alfa Giulias do as well! |
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Apr 17, 2022 18:43:42 GMT
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re. discs, opel manta b's bolt to back of hub, will try and find my old ones for measuring
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87 manta redtop
quantum 2+2
1973 mini
xe'd mk4 astra van
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Apr 17, 2022 18:44:10 GMT
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87 manta redtop
quantum 2+2
1973 mini
xe'd mk4 astra van
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Jun 29, 2022 22:54:23 GMT
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re. discs, opel manta b's bolt to back of hub, will try and find my old ones for measuring Thanks man, useful stuff! Have added them to the list. So there's actually been some movement on this thing! With the kitchen at the new house done and my garage recovered from being a woodworking 'shop it was finally time to bring a project over to east Kent. For a number of reasons, not least of which that it was the most accessible, the big Triumph was the one to bring. Loaded it up on our new-to-us car trailer as the clutch has stuck on and won't disengage, which would make for an 'exciting' journey under its own power.   The trailer's a proper Brian James jobby we managed to pick up for an unreasonably cheap price. Nice to be able to take cars that are heavier than 1000kg or so! The old caravan-chassis'd single axle trailer is up for sale if anyone's interested. We've outgrown it a little, but it's ideal for anyone into lighter cars. Anyway, back to the Triumph. Made the journey fine, and enlisted the help of some friends and family to nudge it into its new home.     There's a reasonable amount of space to work in. Not acres, but it's more than I'm used to with the Jag!     Wasted no time getting stuck in. Bonnet off (weighed 15kg on the nose, anyone know of any fibreglass variants?):   Propshaft (6.5kg, A-Type OD), radiator and fans (8.2kg) and silencer (4.9kg):  If anyone's wondering, the aperture for the radiator on one of these is 34.5cm x 54.5cm (a rad of these dimensions would just about fit).  The original radiator sits on the engine bay side of this, but in an effort to make a bit more room for the AJ6 I was wondering if I could find a rad that fits snugly into the hole. I reckon you might be able to trim it out to 40x61.5 if necessary. Oh, also, when taking the rad hoses off I discovered a very dry looking thermostat housing:  Interesting as it kept good temperature, but there was clearly air trapped here. It's a high point in the system without a bleed so probably not surprising. I wonder if it's normal and the air just gets evacuated to the overflow bottle each time you run it. At this point I'd disconnected pretty much everything from the engine. Not all that much to disconnect (although there was a surprise earth strap). Time to try and pull the engine!  Ceiling height's a bit marginal so I rolled the nose out of the doorway a little, but didn't manage to get it out before the heavens opened. With how it's being lifted it's getting wedged between the heater matrix/head and the subframe/sump. It needs to be canted over while it's being lifted, but the only jack I have at the new place is this one I pinched form my other half's Fiesta  It's done sterling duty so far, but I think this is a little beyond it. So that's where we are now, with me trying to fight the urge to just go buy a jack and wait til the weekend when I'm back at the old place and can pick up the jack I've already bought maybe the engine leveller too as it's a wonderful piece of kit. |
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Last Edit: Jun 29, 2022 22:55:51 GMT by biturbo228
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Jun 29, 2022 23:09:00 GMT
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I look forward to seeing it out and about...
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Thanks man! Me too might be a little while as I have some fairly major plans for it, and although the basic structure is surprisingly sound there's lots of bits that need sorting :S hopefully can make some good progress on it though! Well it's out!  Helpful tip from vitesseefi that the usual route for getting the engine out is to drop the subframe an inch or so. Worked a treat to just nudge it up and over, then I could bolt everything back together and get the wheels on so I don't accidentally lift it off the jacks!  I was eyeing up the height of the garage and thought I could just about get away with not wheeling it out the front, but it turns out my eyes need calibrating  That's about an inch from the ceiling and very much not out of the car yet. With some co-ordination from the other half we got it just out of the doors, moving both crane and car at about the same rate.  We ran out of lift on the crane, but only just so I stood in the engine bay and lifted the tailshaft while the other half rolled the car back into the garage. Dead useful having a helper! Oh, and before I got it out I chopped out the battery tray. Made getting the engine out a little easier, and it's going in the boot anyway.  |
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)
