Out with the MG's

After participating in the Broadland MGOC run for the last 4 years around Norfolk, we gave it a miss this year, opting instead to do the 2010 Boadicea Run with the Iceni MGOC, held in Suffolk. It was a scorching hot day, the run beginning at Rougham Airfield, near Bury St Edmunds. There was a choice of 4 routes to take, with Tulip maps provided for each, rally plaques for the cars, and refreshment vouchers included in the entry cost. We chose the route to Lavenham in the Gold DHC.

Waiting for our departure at 10-30, boiling hot at this hour.

There was approx 90 cars on the run, predominent where MG's, of the other there where 5 Triumphs, some modern machinery, and approx 15 other classic.

They must have been hot on the run in this!

Typical Suffolk Scenery.

We soon caught some of the more sedate MG's.

Lavenham, a pretty Suffolk market town.

A lot of rather nice houses in this town. Known locally as the Chelsea of Suffolk, with house prices to match!

Back at Rougham Airfield we headed for the shade with fellow Club Triumph members Alan and Christine.

View of the control area from the control tower.

Was a very good run, and well worth the entry fee, if there where to be any cylinder head or coolant problems on the dhc, today was the day with tempertures around 29C, it did kick in the Kenlowe in dead slow traffic or at long waits at junctions, but this is normal and the fan soon did its job. With Le Mans looming nearer I am going to get the head checked over on Friday with a gas test at Anglian Triumph just to put my mind at rest.

TR7 Troubles

Its been a stressfull couple of weeks since the Strut Gaitor replacement, I had symptons of Head Gasket failure, ie: water being pushed out of header tank, I am keeping an eye on this as it worries me, I think it was an air lock, due to the front end being up on axle stands for a weekend whilst I changed gaitors and fitted needle rollers to improve slow speed manouvering.

I can see no trace of oil in the water or water in oil, and after I had flushed out, changed thermostat, changed a slightly collapsed hose, everything seems OK. The car also failed its MOT with "little or no effort from the RH rear brake" this was finally changed and the MOT passed on Thursday.

Today we completed the recce for the Norfolk Area Treasure Hunt, 125 miles home to home with no signs of overheating, there was plenty of stopping and starting, lots of sitting at idle, but temperature was normal, electric fan not needing to cut in often, this makes it about 250 miles with no further symptons, so touch wood everythings OK.

We located a good venue for the Treasure Hunt finish, a coastal pub, open all day, choice of light snacks to full meals, with a marquee we can use for free for marking, prize giving, etc, we can also park entrants safely within the grounds.

For a pretty, historic area like the Broads, it is surprising how few good clues can be found, where a car can stop safely or where you can park up and search for clues, thus having to resort to churches and village signs!

Out and about seeking clues in the Broads.

Henham Wings and Wheels

Show season is now well under way, this weekend was Henham Wings and Wheels, at Henham Park, Suffolk. We took along the usual number of cars in a convoy from Bungay on an overcast morning, parking up and putting up the Gazebo and Windbreak.
Car wise attendance seemed to be down, it had chucked it down all Saturday and the forecast was not good, so this may have put some owners off.
My Gold TR7 was sidelined after failing its MOT on Thursday due to poor brake effort on the RH wheel, the cylinder was leaking again, goes to show that seal kits are not worth the bother, lasting less than a month and some 500 miles. I had a new slave cylinder by Friday but couldnt get to fit it, mainly because of the heavy rain, but I was also distracted by Leeds Uniteds efforts to give me a cardiac arrest! They got their promotion to the championship in the end.

Around midday on Sunday the weather brightened, so the flying was not disrupted, and it was quite pleasant, strolling around the cars and watching the flight displays.

2 well restored cars, Alfa Fulvia and Jag.

2 Nice Triumphs, Figaro does not look out of place amongst true classics.

Very clean Escort RS Mexico Mk11, similar to the one I used to own.

Usual CT Norfolk Entrants, Jims early GT6 and Teds TR6 always attracted a crowd.


















The Breitling Wing Walkers doing their stuff, 2 very nice leather cladded girls when they came down and wandered about.

Towed Glider, with I think a Pitts special doing barrel rolls around it.

Some of the Aircraft which flew in.


















The old bill took an interest in Gills FHC early on.

He came back for another look later, so she tackled him, he took out a notebook, starts writing, worried I wander over, turns out he had a TR7, and has a boot rack for sale, now ours, ideal for Classic Le Mans.

Nice vintage cars.

Jasons 2000 eloped again to the NCVC, we will have to bring him back into the fold.

NG TF kit car, based on MG running gear, talking to the owner, seems it was bought the same year as I bought mine. Dont know why he Q plated it, as mine could keep the original reg.

All in a pleasant day, good company, plenty to see and do.

Strut Gaiter Replacement

I replaced the Front Strut Gaitors on the DHC on Saturday, not a job I was looking forward to. I did not want to wrestle with removing the bottom ball joints and the track rod ends, so I firstly removed the tie rod ends from the calipers and hub on both sides, unbolted the track arm from the subframe, removed the front anti roll bar, and unbolted the strut assembly from Turret, propping it up at an angle on axle stand and bricks without stretching the flexi brake too much.

Hub Assembly dropped from Turret.

Next I removed the spring pans, using a spring compressor to release the tension on spring, then removed the split gaitor, bump stop and spring.

Spring Pan Removed.

Whilst suspension was off the car I applied a fair amount of waxoil to the turret/wheelarch area, plus a fair bit over myself!!! Hate the stuff.

Waxoil on Turrets/Inner Wing.

Re-assembly was next, alwys harder than removal! I replaced the nylon bushes on the spring pan with needle roller bearings from S and S Preparations for better slow speed manouvering.

New Gaitor attached to Spring Pan, showing needle roller bearing in place of nylon bush on spring pan, the shocker sticks up through the hole locating on bearing inner face.

Spring, Gaitor/Spring pan and bumpstop where then placed in postion over the strut, then cone and upper mounting fitted and nyloc nut attached to hold in position before removing spring compressor. The strut was then re-assembled loosely to turret and track arm loosely fitted to sub frame.

Next the suspension was compressed by trolley jack to enable the bottom of strut gaitor to be eased over its location on top of strut tube, a tricky and fiddly job, then held in place by tie wrap.

I then repeated for the other side, before wrestling the front anti roll bar in place, I am never sure of the correct way to fit the anti roll bar easily, however I usually compress suspension on both sides so that track arm is at its max outward swing point, I place one end of anti roll bar loosely in one track arm, then with someone under car to guide the other end in, I place one foot firmly on the end, back against my fence, and push like hell, those in Norfolk CT will know of my back problem, so with much grumbling Gill had to do this bit whilst I guided the anti roll bar end in.

Next was to fasten Anti roll bar back to subrame, with anti dive kit blocks and U brackets which did not give any problems, then tightened up all fixings, and fitted track control arms back on.

Job Complete.

I was going to apply some paint to the struts and clean the wheels on Sunday morning but rain has stopped play for a while

Gills FHC came off SORN on Saturday, so we picked that up from the Barn, dumping her Citreon there for 6 months, on the drive back everything seemed OK, so we have now got two Triumphs at home.

Had a few hours of clear weather in the end today, so finished off by painting the front struts, a good clean up of the alloys, then a little spin to check out everything. The needle rollers in the spring pans really do help with slow speed manouvering, parking, etc. Much easier on the arms, by way of checking I also did the same manouveres on Gills FHC which is much harder to park with standard setup.