This is what it looked like then:
The seller had already done the necessary welding. The engine looked well underway, too:
Altough, as you can see, its TC engine has gone, leaving only the badges.
So in my fourth year of classic car ownership, I foolishly decided that I could handle this project. The owner transported it to me at his expense as part of the deal.
Some work did get done: I redid all the brakes, which I discovered to have vanished at some point. New calipers came from Powertrack, the rest was easy to find.
Then, with a little help from my friends, I tackled the suspension:
Untangling the rust, dirt and dynitrol of all those years took me blood, sweat, swearing, and tears but eventually the new ones got fitted:
And then it happened. My girlfriend got another job, she needed the daily driver (Peugeot 106 XSI 1.6) and while I travel to work by bike, I wanted my own runabout. This became my new favourite heap of problems:
A 1983 Matra Murena 2.2 threeseater. As an 80's French car, it needed even more care and attention than the Pug.
The Triumph remained in storage. Some months ago I decided to start the project anew. I felt bad about having the car just standing there and even worse when I thought about selling it as an unfinished project. It felt like defeat.
So i fitted new steering rack gaiters, assorted odds and ends, and a vital task I had neglected, i.e. to find out how complete it was, and what pieces I missed.
This is me, congratulating myself on breaking off the choke cable, another job for the todo list. Git.
Holidays came, the Triumph got neglected once again and then suddenly the lady who rents me the garage told me she was moving out, the new tenants would probably need the garage, she was very sorry and could I move it please?
Not a problem in itself. Takes some rearranging though. The Matra, which now has a leaking sunroof, is out on the streets, will probably go up for sale. I try to salvage my pride by fixing the engine so it can drive itself onto the transporter. This weekend I fitted a new distributor with BBC Red Module because I found there was no spark at the plug, and suspected the dizzy cap. No half measures then, away with the points distributor, in with the new. Dropped a battery in, fired up the car and...
I saw there was a spark on the spark plugs. But I stopped when i realised that not only the engine didn't fire, but the Stromberg was leaking badly.
The faint red circle shows where I suspect it leaks. My Haynes shows there should be a cover there, but this STromberg 150 doesn't seem to have a one. Is that the problems, or is the carb simply flooding when I try to start?
Congratulations and thanks if you made it this far. Might be nice to know that also in Belgium some of these cars survive, even if they are very rare. Still more rare are good classic car clubs. They mostly revolve around dining and driving here. Most members don't even do their own maintenance. The Matra club is much better, but they don't know much about these cars, obviously.
One final note: I work for a law enforcement agency and some time ago I asked for a colleague to look up the VIN-number in our database. Seems like this car was on the road for some 20 years, and then there is no more trace until I got in 2008. The previous owner had gotten it off a former colleague, which started the restoration when he inherited the car. Apparently it was hidden in garage at that point. I don't know what was wrong with it. When I look at it now, I think everything was wrong with it ;o)
It's just passed its 40th birthday and I'll be damned if I don't get to drive it at least once!
Thanks Photobucket 
