New bulbs but I'm not going anywhere

Got some new bits from Rimmer Bros, bulbs, gaskets etc and decided to fit new rear bulbs as a couple of the old ones had blown.

Sorted this out pretty easy but then when I came to start the car up it idled really badly and I couldnt get the revs up even with full choke. The engine then just died after about 20 seconds leaving the ignition warning light on. Went to restart and couldn't get it to fire. Left it about 15 minutes came back and tried again and it fired but again died after about 10 seconds. Reset the points and put new HT leads on which I'd had for a while. The distributor cap looks good inside so cant see a problem there but it still wouldn't run. Is it the battery giving me trouble again or is the fact that the ignition warning light was permanently on telling me the alternator is dead. Im not sure as I couldnt get it to rev much above 500 RPM even with the choke pulled out to the max and I dont think the alternator kicks in at really low revs but don't quote me on that.

Luggage Boards

The luggage boards bouncing around in the back have finally tipped me over the edge so I had a look at them this weekend. I had added additional padding to the board over the spare wheel to see if this would help but although at first it seemed to make some difference it appears to have failed in the longer term. The boards are very well made from plywood about 8mm thick and painted black. All the clips look to be there for the board to slot in near the rear lights but where the studs on the board go into the support rail appears to be a small problem. There are two sprung clips riveted in position and I think these should hold the board in position. When you press the board down on mine the studs just spring back out. I tried to bend the retaining part of the clip upwards a bit but it still didn't help. It was at this point that the snow started to come down quite heavy and standing in my garage was like clinging to the north face of the eiger so I called it a day. I think I need to take some measurements to see if I can add a washer behind the studs to give them a touch more length and then hopefully the board wont spring back up but I dont think I will have much room as the clips are a V form and obviously if I make it too long the stud will hit the bottom of the V. To be continued...

Flat Battery

Went to have a quick spin in the car over the weekend and the battery was flat. Connected up the jump leads and it started easily enough so I went out for about 20 miles to help charge it back up. Not sure if its in poor condition or if I havent been out on enough decent runs in the car to keep it charged up. One thing I did notice was a bit of diff whine coming through at around 60 mph. I have never got the car up to this speed since I've had it and the most I've pushed it or needed to go was 50 mph and it sounds fine, but I pushed the car a bit harder this time and although the car handles very well at 70 mph the whine is definitely there on acceleration and overrun. Its not particularly loud so hopefully if I dont push it too hard it should last a fair while longer yet. The thought of taking the diff off a rotoflex car doesn't fill me with delight but I suppose there would be some satisfaction in sorting the problem myself and that really is what owning a Triumph is all about.

Something Missing

Something I haven't mentioned before is that at some point in the past the rain channel that runs across the top of the windscreen has been removed. I like it without and keeps it looking clean, the channel is always a major rust trap anyway. The channels are still there down the side of the car and these are in reasonable condition.

Hole in the floor

Since picking up the car the sun visors have been stuck solid so I removed them today and also gave them a clean. After a bit of intense waggling they seem to be okay now if a little stiff.

A bit of mold

Cleaned up very easy

While I was messing around I decided to have another look under the carpet at the floor pan as I'd never really had a look at the bulkhead. Well the passenger side looked as I remembered and the bulkhead also looks good. When I looked at the drivers side I found a hole just past where the foot pedals are. Oh crap. Well I always knew owning a Triumph that at some point I would be drawn into the seedy underground world of welding but I had hoped to put it off a while longer. The hole is very small only about 8mm x 12mm but it would certainly fail an MOT so before the summer comes round again I know I will have to get this sorted. I don't currently own any welding gear so I will have to think about how I tackle this problem as I dont have any real spare cash to throw at the car at the moment. Its a lesson learned as I remember lifting the carpet to have a look at the floor when I bought the car but I should have pulled it back a bit further. I would still have bought it but I could have knocked another couple of hundred off the agreed price.

What could be better than a Christmas drive

Its Christmas Eve and while no one was stirring not even a mouse, I was out on drive in the GT6, dodging the puddles naturally. When I was almost back I stopped and decided to do some pretty dodgy camera work for the last bit of the journey. If no one has ever driven a GT6 I hope you can get the idea and see the reason why driving it and looking down the great bonnet gives me such a buzz. Even a Ford Focus going the other way obliged and highlighted how low this thing is. My eyeline was level with the top of his door.

Have a great Christmas.

To drive or not to drive

I haven't managed to get out in the car in the last couple of weeks other than starting her up, backing out on to the drive and going back in to the garage. Now I hear that snow is coming its going to get harder to get out in the car than ever. I'm probably being slightly over the top about it, after all its been around for 40 years now (although I know from receipts I have that it was partially rebuilt in 1985 with replacement sills, wheel arches etc.) but I've just got this image of me driving out in the wet and the car disintegrating around me and being left sitting on the floor holding the steering wheel like something from a kids cartoon. I'm sure it wont be that bad but its very frustarting at the moment balancing my desire to drive the car with keeping it in good health. Ive also got a theory that leaving cars standing sometimes does a lot more harm than good so we'll just have to see how the winter pans out but I will try to get out as often as the weather allows.