More good & bad news.

The good news is that I've done with the Toledo and the shell is ready to be taken away. I'm fast becoming an emporeum of Triumph parts some of which I will need for myself. Which brings me on to the bad news...

Some Chav has put one of Baby Blue's windows through. I hate this kind of mindless vandalism. It isn't all bad though. I still have the doors from my other 1500fwd and figuring that a door swap would be easier than the glass I turned up the door, took it up, fitted it and the car is now secure again. I hope nothing else happens until I can get the car moved. I'm still looking for somewhere to keep her.

Some more stuff liberated

I've managed to liberate some more parts from the Toledo. It wasn't all good though. One of Snowdrop's headlight bulbs had gone and so had a sidelight so Becky was put back into use. That's why I have 2 cars on the road. I didn't get as many parts last night and when I shattered a side glass I decided to call it a night. I'll be taking a break from it tonight until Friday night by which time Snowdrop will have fully working headlights.

Still stripping the Toledo...

I'm still stripping this car down. I've nearly finished stripping the interior. Just the steering column and then that's done. Next it will be the doors, bootlid, petrol tank, glass and the bumpers. While taking the carpets out I was able to solve a niggle with Snowdrop. The front passenger footwell carpet would be always creeping forward because the back end was held down by the rear footwell carpet by a couple of press studs one of which was missing. Robbing off the Toledo I was able to fix the offending item and I can now fasten down the carpet to stop it creeping. More to come...

Rebushing and all that...

Snowdrop's rear suspension has now been rebushed with the poly bushes and it has improved the car no end. All the creaking has gone and I don't cringe any more whenever I hit a pothole (plenty in West Yorkshire!) or a speed hump. I also replaced the broken indicator/sidelight lens. As I might have mentioned I'm losing the driveway where I keep the Toledo and Baby Blue so I've decided to break the Toledo for parts. So far I've managed to liberate quite a few bits some of which will be for sale and others will be for Snowdrop and Baby Blue. I will salvage as much as I can off this car as some parts are unique to the 2-door Toledo such as the doors and the side glass.

Good & bad news

The good news: Snowdrop has her new points and she's running fine. The rear suspension bushes are going to be fitted soon.

The bad news: Snowdrop's exhaust is blowing again. I will leave it until I can source a replacement. Anita's daughter is being evicted so the Toledo, Baby Blue and the Laguna will have to be moved. The Laguna is on eBay, I'm gonna fine a new home for Baby Blue and the Toledo is going to be broken up for spares. I've got until the end of this month. Can anybody help me?

Beyond Stoneleigh

The show was great! I met a few fellow enthusiasts, sold some parts and bought a few parts. I managed to get a complete set of rear suspension bushes for Snowdrop, a front indicator/sidelight lens & a rear "Dolomite 1300" badge to replace Snowdrop's which is faded. I also picked up the current edition of Triumph World from the editor himself who had a stand at the show. The last place I found this elusive magazine was at the Club Triumph National Day last year! The journey back was fine until I was approaching Donnington Park services on the M1 northbound when Snowdrop shuudered, there was a bang and the car died 300 yards short of the services. It turned out that the points were to blame and they'd only recently been fitted! Fortunately, I had a spare set of points and all the tools available to do the job so once they'd been fitted and the gap was set I was under way once again and the rest of the journey was completed without further incident. Afterwards I decided to put Becky back into use. There wasn't enough charge to turn the starter motor so I bump-started her and gave her a 10-minute drive. This was enough as she started up this morning and has been fine ever since. Until I get some replacement points Snowdrop will be out of use. Once I've found the bolts I'll be getting the poly bushes fitted as soon as possible. I can also fit the lens. The badge was replaced just before I get Becky running again.

Stoneleigh show

As most of you will know this weekend is the annual Triumph Spares Day at Stoneleigh. This year I'm wearing my Club Triumph hat and I'm helping on their stand. I went down today to help out with setting up the stand. It went quite well and afterwards I gave fellow member Paul Darbyshire (who helped me with Snowdrop's steering column bush) a lift to the place he was staying at as his car was on the stand. I had a couple of drinks there and I found out that the accommodation I'd arranged had fallen through. I checked the place to see if they'd any rooms free but it was full. Paul fired up his laptop and found a Holiday Inn about a mile away so I phoned up to make a reservation, went over and checked in. At £50 a night it is a little more than the Travelodge I'd stayed in last July but this place offers a lot more for the money including wireless Internet connection. I am updating this Blog from the hotel room. I've taken a few pics and I'll post a few of them soon.

Steering column

I managed to fit a replcement steering column bush but more of that a bit later on.

I checked the points gap and it was almost non-existent so I adjusted it and the car runs a lot better and the running-on has gone.

Anyway, back to the story. (as Ronnie Corbett would say!) Fellow Club Triumph member Paul Darbyshire had offered me the use of his garage which has an inspection pit so taking him up on this I decided to get the job done. It was a pig of a job and would have been 10 times harder without the extra pair of hands and the pit. The result was worth it as the play has now gone. The old bush had worn right through at one side so no wonder there was so much play in the steering column!

Next up will be some rear suspension bushes. I'll be waiting until Stoneleigh where I might pick up a bargain.