Saturday, July 14, 2012

It has been 2 months...

...since my last post and there has been plenty going on with both of my road-going Triumphs.

Becky II has been clocking up the miles and has already passed the 100,000 mile mark. I was even able to take a photo at the precise moment when all the zeros lined up.
During this week there's been quite a bit of work needed. The nearside brake light had failed because water had accumulated in the light unit. With all the recent rain I'm not surprised. This meant that the light unit had to be removed so I could drain it. The next job was to remove the remains of the bulb because it has rusted in. As always I prevailed and a new bulb was fitted which has restored it to working order.
Going to and from work I noticed that the steering was feeling wobbly. I found excessive play in the nearside track rod end and fitted new ones on both sides. I noticed that the nearside front tyre needed replacing so that was done and after putting a few miles on I got the front wheel tracking done so the commute should be a more pleaseant experience. Because of the mileage I've been changing Becky II's engine oil and filter every 3,000 miles. It never ceases to amaze me at how black the oil gets after only 3,000 miles.

Brown has also been getting plenty of attention from the spanners. I have finally got a blow-free exhaust. I fitted a brand new exhaust manifold (£20 from Rimmer Bros. Too good to miss at that price.) with new gaskets and some new bolts and made sure that all the joints were leak free. This car is so much better to drive. I wish I'd done it sooner. The horn is fixed and now works all the time, I've fitted the TRIUMPH badge on the front panel (the early Dolomites have them), the non-existent heater was fixed by repositioning a collapsed heater hose, I fitted an early type number plate light along with the rear bumper centre,


 fitted a new fanbelt, adjusted the choke cable, fitted early type sun visors,

 got a slow puncture on the offside rear tyre repaired, reinstated the original springs (I fitted Sprint springs when I replaced the dampers back in 2009) to restore the correct height and the most recent job was to fit new front brake pads which I'm still bedding in at the moment. Since I fitted the electronic ignition I've clocked up just over 2,000 trouble-free miles and the car is easier to start and runs better.