1968 Triumph 1300 in Oz

[dagget]

After a bit of a wait I finally managed to get a working - sort-of Triumph 1300. Bit of background the 1300 was never properly imported over here, they brought in about a dozen in 1970 for testing and then we had the dolomites but no FWD or small engined ones. So wanting a 1300 here means finding one of the original imports, getting a private import from UK or NZ or importing one.

Luckily 19.5 years after I started looking this one came up. It is not one of those but a private import that came from the UK that came over in 1970 with 13,000 miles, stayed with the same person until 1989 and then sold to the previous owner who used it as their club car.

Look pretty nice next to my former PI that was sold to free up $$ and space for the 1300.
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So far it runs and drives but needs, heater tap, plastic door trim repainted/replaced/front carpets replaced/generator or charge system fixed, brakes freed up and few other things but there is no rust and the rest of the interior is quite good.

I particularly need a new gearstick as this is very short. If anyone has any spares I will be keen to find.

Also Hi to Straylight - this is Matt from the triumphowners.com forum, was following your stag adventures.

[sprint95m]

Welcome to the forum Matt.






Ian.

[straylight]

what sort of gear lever matt ?

Ozbaz (on ebay) has quite a collection of triumph parts and I might have a spare.

nice part of the world you have there

welcome to the forums, very interested in hearing about the 1300, some of the ones I've seen on these forums have been great.

and the stag ? phhhht, second fiddle now I have a sprint I'm happy to chuck around ! the penalty to doing an expensive and thorough resto is you take too much care of the car on the road, a rough around the edges sprint looks like being a lot of fun

stu

[dagget]

Need the big long triumph 1300 gearlever, the on this car is a bit too stubby.

Not too bad here but need more space as soon as one car is gone 2 more show up. Got the SP on a superb 2000 saloon, all original, manual in willow green ready to roll for just $2300 but must resist temptation..

[dagget]

Almost fast progress, slow starting fixed with a new earth cable. Charging issue might just be dirty contacts so does not seem a bad. Car starts and runs alot better after a clean of contacts and replacing the loose plug wire.

Current work needed:

New rear brakes, rears were pretty much seized, too alot of hammering to release the drums, looks like pistons stuck so complete rebuild time. New shoes, cylinders, springs and everything else on the way with alot from surprisingly from Rimmers as they had best prices.

New heater tap coming via ebay and some hoses will be nice to see if the heater works at all.

Something is very wrong with the steering it is nice and tight turning right and loose going left with lots of play. Trying to see who will post me a rack from the UK at no unreasonable price.

Other fun jobs - replace carpet, plastic door trims, clean headlining, maybe some tyres.

[dagget]

More minor progress, car now has a nice working heater. Was a bit worried the matrix was leaking as the car had no heater valve and hoses and a very vintage effort to blank off the pipes.

All seems good so far and that heater is very efficient certainly better than the one in the 2500.

Next job, brakes.

[dagget]

More progress, good news is no rust at all underneath and a number of jobs near completion, estimated date for on the road is start of October.

Brakes done but need new rear shoes as the ones I bought didnt fit
Rear wheel bearings done
Upper Ball joints done
Steering rack mounts replaced
Rack boots - to be replaced next

Still to do

Replace gear leaver for a standard one unless I want to become a hunchback
Swap out all old woodwork for better set
Replace carpet

[Edin Dundee]

Any chance of more pictures?

[dagget]

Just had word the brakes have had to be totally rebuilt all round as the calipers had stuck pistons.

When I get a chance, will post some pictures but the car is in a mate shed on the hoist, good place for it as I still need to replace the gear lever as for some unknown reason it is about 4 inches too short.

Looking forward to the real fun, replacing interior wood trim, door cards and carpet.

[dagget]

Brakes done and car drives much better, now needs wheel bearings and shockers to get it fit enough for rego so waiting on the postman.

Didnt stop it getting to our local club outing where it generated alot of interest given most had never seen one before.



Some other interesting stuff too, one of the benefits of non make specific club.

[Carledo]

Really love the Austin 1800 Ute! And the Consul (Zephyr?) Ute as well! Is the 1800 one proper or a homebrew?
I ran MkII Zephyrs and Zodiacs in the UK for many years, including a brace of hens teeth Zodiac auto estate cars, I always wanted an Aussie Ute to make the set but by the time they got here, even a total dog was silly money! There are a handful in the UK though, I saw one, in the same yuck turquoise, at my local dragstrip a few weeks ago, not competing though!

Steve

[dagget]

The 1800 is a proper ute was sold by BL Australia in the 60s/70s. They are pretty popular down here and sell for quite good money. I didn't take note of all the utes yesterday but from memory there was a A55 ute, A40 utes (Devons), that Consul ute and several other interesting cars.

Zephyr utes do turn up fairly often here and would be worth saving IIRC two came up a couple of months back but fr around $1800 too expensive for me as a project.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/87417483@N ... 378038953/

[Toledo Man]

For those that don't know, a ute is short for utility vehicle otherwise known to us Poms as a pickup.

I've never come across a Landcrab based ute before. The only one BL did in the UK was based on the Mini which is quite rare these days. The last one I saw was in Worcestershire. If I can find the photo, I put it up.

[sprint95m]

The only one BL did in the UK was based on the Mini which is quite rare these days. The last one I saw was in Worcestershire. If I can find the photo, I put it up.

That is not the case Dave, there were Marina PUs .





Dagget, great photos in the link.
Many interesting vehicles, some familiar to us in the UK.



Thanks,
Ian.

[mach1rob]

And the Moggy Minor

But, I do like what this guy has done to his 1800 ute