Give me a brake Part 2

I fitted Becky's brake shoes without any difficulty and the handbrake now holds! The old brake shoes were smooth. No wonder the handbrake wouldn't hold! I've had the brake pedal sink a couple of times but at the moment it seems to be fine. The brake fluid looks like it needs changing so I've bought some more brake fluid. I'm going to do the job on Friday evening before I go down to Club Triumph's National Day at the weekend.
I took the Sprint seats out of Baby Blue and they're now in Snowdrop. Driving comfort is vastly improved and after a 50 mile trip from Halifax to Goole I was feeling fine and without any discomfort. Snowdrop's original seats are now in Baby Blue. I'll be glad of the comfort when I take Snowdrop with me at the weekend to the above mentioned event. It will be over 200 miles each way so comfortable seats are of paramount importance. This could be the first step to making Snowdrop look like a Dolomite Sprint. She's already got the vinyl roof! Anybody got any spare Sprint alloys?

Give me a brake!

Got some new brake shoes from my trusty local motor factor costing me only £8.50. I'm also wondering if I've not reassembled everything correctly when I cleaned up the rear brakes last Saturday. I'll have my Haynes and parts catalogue to hand this time. I've also got Barry's hotline number just in case I'm seriously stuck!

Snowdrop attended the "Northern Dolly Day" on Sunday 18th June at Harewood House in Leeds. This was my first show I've done under the Triumph Dolomite Club banner. It is nice to actually enjoy the car rather than having to work on it. This brings me to Becky. I took her brake drums off, cleaned the brakes, tightened the handbrake cable and it hasn't worked. In fact, I think I've made the handbrake worse because it doesn't hold on even the slightest incline. I've also found out that there are two possible sizes of brake shoes when I rang my trusty local motor factor for a price. According to my local Acclaim guru (I'll call him Barry) he reckons the smaller size ones will fit Becky. I will measure up just to be on the safe side. 

I took the alternator in for repair and a couple of days later it was ready. It needed new bearings and a regulator. When I picked it up it had been cleaned and painted as you can see. Well worth the �38.50 it cost me and is as good as new. I used the same guy who did Becky's alternator because he did a good job with it. I'll also be sorting out the hole in the rear section of Snowdrop's exhaust. I've decided to try exhaust bandage as the exhaust putty I'd used before didn't work. Becky's rear brakes need looking at as the handbrake isn't working to well so there's a bit to keep me occupied. 

Problems with Snowdrop

This car has been giving me a bit of grief this week. First of all the indicators wouldn't work properly (they'd come on and stay on without flashing) then the ignition light wouldn't light up when the ignition was turned on. The problem went away and came back again. I suspected either the battery or the alternator so I did some voltage readings with my multimeter and they were below normal so I took the car to a local independent tyre fitter for a free battery check and a faulty battery was diagnosed so I had it replaced (costing me just short of £40) and all seemed to we well again and then the problem came back. Once again the voltage readings were a bit down on what they should have been. I also did voltage readings along the circuit for the ignition light and I was getting voltage all the way along it. (it earths through the alternator) I then robbed the alternator that was on Baby Blue (which had originally came from the Toledo) and it has been fine ever since. The battery may not have needed to be replaced but knowing Snowdrop's recent history it my have been overdue for replacement as the average car battery has a lifespan of 5 years.