Sunday 30 November 2014

Alloy SU carburettor mounts

With both my TR7's officially of the road it is time to start on some typical winter jobs. First job I will be tackling are the rubber carburettor mounts with which the SU's are mounted to the manifold on the DHC. British Leyland decided it would be a good idea to use rubber mounts, as they act as heat insulators and vibration dampers. When they are new they probably do their job quite well, but after well over 30 years even the best original mounts will be well past their prime. Not to mention the very poor quality of the aftermarket items. When I restored the DHC I thought it a good idea to extend the life of the original mounts as long as possible, by supporting them with some heavy duty cable ties. Clearly visible in this picture ...


To start the winter jobs, this weekend I dusted of the AutoCad file I created almost three years ago, to record the various dimensions of the original mounts.


The original plan was to find a local workshop to fabricate this from alloy. But the biggest problem here is that it sometimes takes ages before the items are ready. And that is when I was reminded of the fact that Schaeffer AG (the switch panel company) can work aluminium up to 10 millimetres thick. After a final dimension check against an original mount I redesigned the mount.


This way it can be fed into the design software as provided by Schaeffer AG. I went for a 6 mm base plate with four recessed holes to fit countersunk M8 Allen head bolts.


Against which a 10 mm spacer is fitted. This part has four threaded holes (with M8 threads), enabling the two parts to be screwed together and preventing the bolts from tuning when fitting the carburettors. Giving a total thickness which is exactly the same as the original mounts.



As there are probably cheaper options available I will first do some more checks before hitting the 'order" button. Also finding some countersunk M8 x 45 mm Allen head bolts with the correct (DIN) head dimensions has to be done before the order is placed, as the dimensions are crucial. Something to sort the coming week.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Club Triumph's 2014 RBRR

Finally got round to finish the pictures I took during last month's Round Britain Reliability Run. This time with a three man team in a Dolomite 1850 (that really should read 2000 as it is fitted with a TR7 engine).
Team #100 waiting for the ferry in Dunkirk ...


The usual action at the Plough ...












Signing in at the Plough ...



With the stickers fitted to the car we are ready for the start, but that was still a few hours away.




Even the press were present ...


Waiting for the start ...




The briefing, wonder why they invented loudhailers ...



Into the twilight zone on the first stage from Crews Hill to Blyth




Control #2, frantic action at Blyth Services ...




Just before approaching the second control stop (and Scotland) the heavens opened up in a big way. Approaching the Edinburgh bypass, and clearly the weather conditions still were rather wet ...


Motorway Services just after the Edinburgh stop. Still wet  ...




But by the time we reached Skiach Services and the fourth control the weather had cleared ...



Dawn on the A9 near Aviedale ...


Tesco's in Wick ...


Approaching John O'Groats ...


John O'Groats ...



View point over Dornoch Firth ...


Another twilight, this time on the M74 near Abington ...


Control #9; Marshalling at Tebay Services ...


Control #10; Gledrid Services ...



Small Triumph convoy in deepest darkest Wales, on the A483 near Newtown ...


Control #13; Whitehouse Services ...



Control #15; Bude Castle. Some spannering needed ...




Being chased by the GT6 of Roger and Rob en route to control stop #16 ...


Control #17; Pimperne Village Hall and delicious cake ...



After Pimperne the car's engine started to misfire ever more badly...


But we managed to limp to control #18 and eventually back to the Plough in time to get the last signature. For me it was the fifth finish in this event, but have to do it in one of my own cars yet ...


Teams #93 and #100 on the ferry, going home ...