VYK The Russet 78 Sprint

[Bish]

Back to petrol tanks.....

Unfortunately, I’ve just had a call from Steve the repair man saying that the tank is too far gone.
So, I’m still looking for a good tank. If anyone has one please get in touch.

[Bish]

Well, I got out of bed at 5:30 am this morning to brave the Monday morning traffic on the M20, M26, M25 & M40. Arrived at http://www.adautos.co.uk/ at 9am. Three hours of rush hour traffic, but it was worth the journey to get a nice clean tank! Thanks to Adam at AD Autos, a top fella with lots of lovely parts!







Parts sticker dated 1991, so maybe NOS? Doesn’t show signs of being fitted. It’s nice and clean inside and out so I’ve given it a couple of coats of ankor wax for protection and it will be fitted ASAP.

[RSi]

Very nice find now who is this chap with the nice NOS parts?

[Bish]

Very nice find now who is this chap with the nice NOS parts?

Don’t get too excited! I think I just lucked out. He basically has a couple of large sheds and a workshop full of a variety of Triumph parts from cars he has broken over the years. I don’t think he’s sitting on a stash of NOS parts but who knows what’s in there, I don’t think even he knows! I will definitely be going back to see him for a rummage around when I’ve got the time. Nice parts - nice fella.

[dollyman]

That is a great find Bish, well done Dare i ask what you paid?

Tony.

[Bish]

That is a great find Bish, well done Dare i ask what you paid?

Tony.

A bargain at £50.

[dollyman]

That is a great find Bish, well done Dare i ask what you paid?

Tony.

A bargain at £50.

Incredible Bish well done and well worth the trip

Tony.

[Bish]

It’s been a while! Work to the house has taken priority round these parts of late. But, I had a couple of hours spare yesterday so decided to fit the relays to the headlight circuit.

4 pin fused relays. One for each light circuit.

Blue red - dipped beam. Blue white - main beam.

87 pin - headlights side.
86 pin - column side.
85 pin - earth.
30 - power from ignition side of fuse box.

Cut into the loom near the battery



I’m not too anal about originality so I decided to mount the relays on the inner wing. It wouldn’t be hard to revert back to original spec should anyone want to do so in the future.





It’s nice to be back in the garage!!

[dollyman]

Should the red wires go to an ignition live Bish not the battery? Bearing in mind it's been a while since i have fitted a relay, i could be talking through my exaust

Tony.

[Bish]

Should the red wires go to an ignition live Bish not the battery? Bearing in mind it's been a while since i have fitted a relay, i could be talking through my exaust

Tony.

Ha! Yes you are of course correct!! Dunno what I was thinking....... ....

[dollyman]

Saves a flat battery Bish Dont ask me why it stuck in my mind

Tony.

[Bish]

I really don’t know what I was thinking of!

Anyway, sorted it now.



Thanks for letting me know

[dollyman]

I did the same years ago Bish

Tony.

[Bish]

I did the same years ago Bish

Tony.

You mean it’s not just me who has total brain fade then!?

Phew.....

[Bish]

Stole a day in the garage today. A productive day as well!

Managed to adjust the rear brakes and bleed the air from the system. I thought that the pedal had a lot of travel, and had read about the trackerjack brakes having that symptom. But adjusting the rear shoes and another bleed seems to have given a much better pedal.

I had also noticed that the car sat a bit lower on one side and so have adjusted the Gaz shocks to level the car out. Won’t know if that’s been a success until I get the car back on it’s wheels. I want the car to sit a little lower than standard so I have lowered the spring platforms in the hope of lowering an inch, we will see if it has worked.

Also, whilst the engine has been running it had rocked about a bit too much for my liking. I had bought a small job lot of bushes and bits from eBay that contained a decent pair of original engine mounts. When I got the old ones off today it was clear that the right hand mount was shot;



I think these are original mounts. Used but in decent condition;



They fitted up perfectly, which is another reason to think that they genuine - not repro. I was quite surprised at how easy they were to fit - just the usual issues with access to anything because of the subframe. After jacking the engine up far enough to remove the rubbers whilst still mounted to the engine bracket, I mounted the new rubbers to the brackets then bolted them to the engine. With a bit of lubrication to the mating surfaces they lined up pretty much straight away when I dropped the engine back down on the jack. Result

Overdrive still seems to be leaking oil from the sump gasket, so I’ll tackle that next. Then it should be time to get the interior back in. I’ve a new carpet coming from Coverdale and seem to have all the parts to rebuild the interior, but time will tell as it wasn’t me who stripped it out in the first place! It could be another jigsaw with missing pieces!