Monday, October 31, 2005


And here is how the back seat looks. Those Dolomite Sprint seats were a real bargain at �1 on eBay and the seller lived local which was even better! A pity Sprint alloys don't fit... Posted by Picasa

I finally finished refitting the door cards and cleared everything out of the interior. Not perfect but a whole lot better than it was before as you can see from the pic. Once I've fitted the rebuilt steering column it will be fine. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, October 27, 2005


I put on the third coat of varnish and it has done the trick. The pic is of the door cappings taken just before I fitted them back on Baby Blue. I even managed to fit the front door cards! It looks a lot better with the varnished door cappings. A job well done! Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

More varnish

I put a second coat of varnish on and I'm still not happy with the finish so it looks like I'm gonna need at least 3 coats of the stuff. Hopefully, the third coat will be the last one so I'll five it a quick rub with some fine sandpaper and a wipe with some white spirit. (I bought some when I was at the local B&Q)

Tuesday, October 25, 2005


I've just been going through my pics of Baby Blue and this is the state of affairs under the bonnet. I reckon a good clean with some degreaser and a bit of Hammeriting will improve things no end! Posted by Picasa

The pic is of the door cappings all sanded and ready to varnish. I bought some Ronseal clear interior varnish from my local B&Q. I've already applied the first coat. They're ready for the next coat now. I'll be taking more pics when the job's done. I reckon it will need 3 coats but we shall see. The door cards came up clean so once I've vaccuumed the car out and fitted the varnished door cappings and refitted the door cards the interior should be more or less done. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Back to Baby Blue

At last! I've finally got back to working on Baby Blue! Its been too long. Fist I cleared all the remaining spares out and took them down to the garage where the spares car is kept. Before I went down to the garage I removed the door cards and the wood cappings off Baby Blue. The door cards had got a bit wet (it was raining when I removed them. Typical British weather and the forecast was going to be dry as well! You can't trust the Met Office!) so they're in the house drying out until I can get round to giving them a good clean. I got my knife and scraped the remaining varnish off the door caps in readiness for sanding and varnishing. I'm going to get some Ronseal (it does what is it says on the tin!) wood varnish from my local B&Q which should do the job. The dashboard seems to be fine so I'll be leaving it alone.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Something actually went wrong!

Yes, I had a problem with Becky last night. The ignition light came on when I was driving her. My thoughts immediately turned to the alternator as being the culprit. This suspicion was proved right when I got my multimeter out and took a voltage reading across the battery terminal when the engine was running. I got a reading of just over 12 volts and it should be 14 volts. As it happened I had an alternator among my colletion of spares so I dug it out today and swapped the alternator after work. Becuase all my tools are kept in Baby Blue's boot I had to go over to where she is kept to be able to do the job. The one thing I like about Acclaims is that they'll still keep on going even if something has gone wrong. Anyway, back to the story. (as Ronnie Corbett would say!) I swapped the alternator over and it has done the trick. I was talking about this to Brian (a work colleague and fellow Triumph enthusiast - He's restoring a Herald 13/60 covertible) who thinks that the brushes might need replacing. I'm going to have this alternator repaired and then I've got a spare once again. WHen I was over there I had a closer look at my new welder. The hand-held mask is absolutely pathetic! I've got a proper welding mask off Brian and that just needs a lens before I can use it. Unfortunately, the lens for the hand-held mask is too small. A trip to Machine Mart, Arco or Halfords is called for then I can get what I need to start welding.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

More stuff

I now also have a welding mask. All I need are the gauntlets and some pieces of steel plate and I'll be ready to start practaising my welding skills. Hopefully, I'll be able to get Baby Blue patched up and ready for the MoT

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

I've finally got one!

In an act of great kindness Anita (at whose house I keep Baby Blue) has bought me a MIG welder. One of her daughters' boyfriends is a mechanic and can get this sort of stuff at trade price. Just need the protective gear, some steel and a pair of cutters and I can get started. My local Arco, Machine Mart and eBay are all beckoning..

Friday, October 07, 2005

Fixed!

Yep, I sorted out my slow punture. Following the advice of a work colleague I avoided Kwik-Fit and went to a local tyre place and got the puncture fixed for only 5 pounds (Why don't Blogs display the pound symbol? The British economy is the 4th richest!) Cheaper than a brand new tyre which is what probably happened if I'd gone to Kwi-Fit. All is well with Becky again and a good thing because I'm going to a Club Triumph meeting tonight.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Tyre problems

One of Becky's rear tyres has a slow puncture. Today I found out why. I jacked her up, put her into gear (to lock the front wheels. Becky's front wheel drive remember), released the handbrake and turned the wheel and found a nail in the tread. Looks like a job for Kwik-Fit. They do puncture repairs (if it can be repaired) but if the worst comes to the worst it will have to be a new tyre.

Other than that, she's still running fine.