2022, July. Air Salvage International and Dursley Rotary Club Classic Tour

 

10th July:  Visit to Air Salvage International

Not strictly a car related event but it was organised by a fellow TR Register Glavon Group member and we all went along in our TRs.  Air Salvage International dismantle aircraft that are past their economic best and are based at Kemble - now called Cotswold Airport.  It was a fascinating visit to see how they take aircraft apart for all the useful spares which are then sold all over the world.

TRs lined up at Air Salvage International

 

Boeing 747 parts anyone?

Boeing 777 engine missing.

They were working on commercial aircraft of all sizes from a Boeing 777 and several 747s down to smaller ones like Airbus 320.  Apparently the engines are the most valuable parts being valued from one million to 25 million Dollars.  So worth selling then.

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17th July: Dursley Rotary Club Classic Tour

This tour starts about 400 yards from our house so is not to be missed.  It is organised by yet another old rally mate called Graham Peake who also owns Bear Street Garage in Wotton under Edge.  It used to be a Ford dealership which was very useful to me when I was building my Cosworth Sierra rally car in 1992. Graham was good enough to get me all the Ford Motorsport parts at cost price which saved me a small fortune.

The weather for last years' run was one of the hottest days of the year and this year it was even hotter with temperatures up to 30 degrees.  Obviously this meant the DHC was the car to use and a quick check over and wash was required. Everything was in order and good to go.

This year the route was about 100 miles and headed west over the old Severn Bridge into the Forest of Dean.  A few years ago I was lucky enough to have the chance to go up one of the bridge towers when I was there for my work as a BT planner.  Naturally I took the camera along and got to super pictures  from the top.

View into Wales from the east tower.

Coffee stop was at theWhite Hart Inn near Newnham on Severn where we sat right on the river bank and the only problem was finding the sunscreen to put some on our faces.  

The return took us round to the north of Gloucester and back to Rednock School in Dursley for a generous buffet.

Driving up Frocester Hill, almost at the finish

Another great day out in a TR7 and the DHC had behaved perfectly.
 

2022, June. Lavender Run & Newark Park Show

19th June: Wyedean Lavender Run 

An old rally mate called Jos Way has bought himself a TR7 V8 which has re-kindled his love of driving. He has also joined the TR Register Wyedean group and organised a nice little local car run for them. He also invited some other TR Register members including yours truly to come along. 

About twelve various Triumph cars gathered at Roses Garden Centre near Newent for coffee before setting off.  It was nice weather so the DHC was our ride for the day. Directions were given to us in the form of descriptive notes with mileages to make it easy for everyone. The route took us out through Upleadon and across the River Severn at Haw Bridge. It was nice to see it on a dry day and not flooded like it so often is when featured on the TV news! From there we cut up through Bishops Cleeve and Winchcombe passing the Iron age long barrow of Belas Knap and on to the top of the Cotswolds. The lanes here were familiar and brought back many memories of road rallies in the 1970s and 1980s. The pace of our Triumphs on a sunny Sunday was a good deal slower than those rallies on dark Saturday nights! 

We stopped for a short break at the old prison in Northleach. This is a recommended place to visit with an excellent cafe and the chance to see the old prison cells and courtroom. Prisoners here were put to work on a treadmill to grind corn which must have been pretty grim. They also have a fascinating rural life collection of old farm waggons which is much more interesting than it sounds. Interesting to see how they were built, how the axle keyways were made etc.  They are really heavy duty construction so would be very heavy even before any load was added. Must have used some powerful horses.  There is also a forge complete with all the old tools the blacksmiths had used. 

Cotswolds Bow Wagon from around 1880.

After our refreshments we headed further north to Cotswold Lavender near Snowshill.  You have to pay to get in but they give you a nice packet of wild frower seeds for your garden with your ticket. It comprises a couple of fields on the hilltop covered in rows of lavender.  Turns out there are loads of different kinds - who would have thought.  The rows are each labelled with the different varieties.  

Triumphs at Cotswold Lavender

There is alot of lavender

A late lunch was now beckoning so we headed off down through Broadway, full of tourists as usual, to the Ye Olde Hobnails Inn at Little Washbourne. They were expecting us but still very busy and short of staff like so many places these days.  Our food was worth waiting for and we all left completey full. 

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26th June:  Newark Park 

Every year the Austin Seven club have a show at Newark Park. This is a National Trust house only about 5 miles from home so only a few minutes away.  They do encourage other classic cars to take part as well and we were invited.  Weather was forecast changeable so the FHC was the car to take this time.

We got there early at about 10:00am before most of the Austins began to arrive.  They were a surprising variety of the same basic car. Open, closed, sports bodied etc etc.  One of them had a plate from the "Peking to Paris by Austin Seven 2007" run. It seems such a small car to drive on such a long and difficult journey.  Lets be honest, many of us would not like to do it in a modern car with all the comforts. Some hardy folks these Austin Seven types.  There were about 30 Sevens in total.

On the left, Peking to Paris 2007

There were lots of visitors to see the cars and the TR7 attracted particular atention from a Chinese family who wanted pictures taken with it.

Chinese taking pictures with the TR7

 There were all kinds of classics including a couple of really nice Rolls Royce that Jo liked.

Jo really liked this Rolls Royce

 

The weather forecast turned out to be correct when a couple of heavy showers whizzed through making us all dash back to our cars for a few minutes, but it was lovely afterwards.

Another excellent day out in a TR7.

2022, May. Bluebell Run

 7th May: Bluebell Run 

 The Bluebell Run takes place in the Forest of Dean so is only a few miles from home and another favourite of ours.  Clerk of the Course is Stuart Harrold, the former works rally navigator, so a good route is always assured and a full entry of 60 cars turned up to the start at Hopewell Colliery near Cannop.  

Hopewell is a museum but also still a working mine where you can take a guided tour with one of the remaining Freeminers.  The Freeminers are a very special group who retain the right to operate in the Forest of Dean but it is very hard work and potentially dangerous so not many are still working these days. To be a Freeminer you also have to be born in the Hundred of St Briavels so not many people qualify. They are also able to mine iron ore and stone, not just coal.

Cars at the Hopewell Colliery start

My navigator for the day was my old rally mate Oliver Tomlins and the weather was perfect so the DHC was the choice.

Leaving the start.  (photo by Chris Huish)

First leg was about 35 miles around the north of the Forest and across the River Wye to our morning coffee stop at The Crown at Pantygelli, just north of Abergavenny.  This is a lovely little country pub that we had never heard of before but recommended if you are in the area.  

From coffee we headed north via Longtown following the eastern side of the Black Mountains with super views all along the route.  Just past Longtown we met an irate motorist in a VW SUV coming the other way in a narrow lane. He seemed to think it was his private road and took exception to other cars using it! By the time the Vauxhall Viva in front of us has discussed the situation with him for some minutes lots more of the Bluebell runners had arrived so we had a reasonable sized traffic jam. Eventually we all managed to get our cars parked in gateways etc to allow the idiot past.  From his accent he obviously wasn't a local so maybe a typical "newcomer" who doesn't understand country roads?

Beware idiot SUV drivers!  I have blanked the number to avoid his embarrassment.

Lunch halt was at The Castlefields, near to Hay on Wye where we had about an hour while they provided us a very generous ploughmans lunch. One of the biggest we ever saw! It was excellent. 

After lunch we journeyed about 60 miles back south again with more lovely scenery, passing close to Ross on Wye to the finish by the River Severn at Symonds Yat. 

An excellent and enjoyable day out and the DHC behaved perfectly.

2022, April. Corinium Run

 24th April:  Corinium Run

Corinium is the old Roman name for Cirencester, so you won't be surprised to read that the Corinium Run is based around Cirencester in the Cotwolds, and local to us.

This year the start was at the Highwayman Inn just outside Cirencester where they served us an excellent bacon roll and coffee to get us all going.

cars at the start. picture by SlipandGrip Automotive

The Clerk of the Course for the Corinium Run is Martin Saunders who is an top rally navigator, so his Tulip road book is always produced to the high standard he would expect himself. Martin has navigated for me on International rallies in Ireland and Belgium so I know him well. There are some nice little touches such as close together instructions being highlighted in red and his excellent junction diagrams. There were also aerial pictures of our refreshment stops so we could understand the parking layout.  See this extract from the roadbook which explains how it works for inexperienced crews.

 

The weather this year was cool and dry so we took the FHC and our drive through the Cotswold countryside was lovely. Trees and hedgerows were sprouting and the Bluebells were starting to come out. On the tops many fields have been planted with oilseed rape and the vibrant yellow flowers were amazing.

Corinium Run typical dashcam view

Lunch halt was at the Fosseway Garden Centre near Moreton in Marsh.  This seemed surprising busy after a couple of years getting used to Covid restrictions, but service was quick and the light snack was just right.

The afternoon run took us via some very picturesque Cotswold villages to a few familiar places like the famous ford at Duntisbourne where the residents always come out to watch us splash through the water and the photographers gather.  It was quite shallow this time after a long dry spell.

Duntisbourne

 Finish was back at the Highwayman Inn for a good curry to sustain us all on the way home and the TR7 had performed perfectly.

2022, April. Golden Fifty Revival Tour

 17th April: Golden Fifty Revival Tour

The orginal RAC Rally way back in 1932 was the start of rallying in the UK.  In 1982 the Lombard Golden Fifty Rally was held to celebrate that first one and was probably the start of historic rallying that has grown so much in popularity since then.  So the Golden Fifty Revival Tour was effectively  to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 50th anniversary of UK rallying! 

The start of our tour was at the Prescott Speed Hillclimb course which is only about 20 miles from home, so nice and local to us as well.  In honour of the rallying heritage my old navigator since the 1960s, Oliver Tomilns, was along to keep us on the right road. He also organises some historic road runs himself, most recently a two day run around some obscure parts of western Scotland.

  The start location at Prescott

I had given the FHC a quick spanner check since the Daffodil Run and all was in order so good to go.  Unfortunately we didn't get a run up the hillclimb course because a local householder objected. Apparently he has bought a house near the top of the course and objects to the noise, so only a certain number of events can take place there each year.  A bit like buying a house near a farm and then complaining about the smell!  They did however organise a little autotest around cones in the car park which was actually very much in keeping with the early events anyway.

Car No.1 was a huge old 1937 Derby Bently and watching the driver heaving the big car around the cones was quite a sight.  When it came to our turn it proved more difficult than it looked but I managed to avoid hitting anything!

Our route headed up into Worcestershire and Herefordshire south of the Malverns to a lunch halt at the Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb course. They started racing up the hill here in 1906 so it has a long history.  We had never been there before so watched some in-car stuff on YouTube to get an idea of the course. It is just 1000 yards long with a record time of only 22.37 seconds.  Not exactly a marathon then.  Our time was about 49 seconds - so not a record then.

Our afternoon run took us to the former Lombard RAC Rally stage at Burwarton.  It was here that Roger Clark had his famous encounter with a gatepost in 1978 and was forced to retire.  We were actually spectating there that day and I got some pictures of his car afterwards.

Gatepost 1, Roger Clark 0

 Our run through Burwarton was good fun and we managed to avoid all the gateposts!

Burwarton, former RAC Rally stage

 

Heading back south they sent us though a famous ford at Clee St.Margaret. This is not just a crrossing, the road here actually forms part of the stream bed for about 50 yards.

Yes that really is the road!

The finish was at the Talbot Inn, Knightwick, where they did us a decent meal before heading home.

A really excellent day out where we also met some old mates.  There were actually four cars with members of our old 143 Motor Club from the 1960s.  Ourselves, Jos Way in his TR7V8, Jeremy Wells in his Austin Healy 3000 and John Griffiths in a Volvo 144. Great to see the motorsport passion still burns for us all!   

Long may it continue.

 

2022, March. Daffodil Run

 26th March:  HRCR Daffodil Run

The HRCR Daffodil Run is usually our first classic tour event of the year and always runs on a Saturday. This year the weather was perfect with clear blue skies.  Being based in the Forest of Dean its also local to us. In fact, we can almost see the start location from our town - except the River Severn is in the way so we have to drive about 30 miles via Gloucester to get there!

The FHC was running nicely with its new Pertronix ignition so we were hoping for a nice day out. I had given it a once-over during the previous week and didn't find anything wrong. A few suspension bolts tightened a very small amount and I actually had to put some Duckhams Q20w-50 in the engine. After a quick wash it was ready to go.

The start was at the Belfrey Hotel in Littledean who provided an excellent breakfast roll for us all.  The entry is always kept small and was limited to a mximum of 30 cars this year.  There was a good selection from a Volvo Amazon running at no.1, couple of TR4s, couple of Minis and a beautiful rare Austin Healey 300 coupe.  There were also two TR7s because my old 143 Motor Club mate Jos Way was out in his TR7 V8.

Selection of cars at the Daffodil start

The route took us all around the southern Forest of Dean area and this year it really lived up to its name with masses of daffodils on show. 

 

The forest looked great before it gets out into full leaf so there were lots of nice views that get obscured later with all the greenery. The route is generally kept quite short and we had 45 miles in the first half before a coffee and cake stop at Taurus Crafts near Lydney.

Cars at Taurus Crafts coffee stop.

Suitably refreshed we set off for the 40 mile second half and back to the Belfrey Hotel for a nice two course carvery lunch.  Along the way we had to stop at an un-manned level crossing for a train to pass. Not had to do that for ages! The train actually looked and sounded smooth and quiet as well.

Stop when red lights show!

The car had behaved itself perfectly so that was a relief, but I think I will still try and get a session on the rolling road just to check all the settings before our next outings, because there will be one every weekend for four weeks coming soon.

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2022, January. Ignition System Changes

Pertronix Ignition 

After the ignition failures on two previous outings I decided it was time to change to a different system. Just to make life more complicated the Lucas 44D4 distributor on the Sprint engines is unique with its low level side-entry cap to fit under the inlet manifold. It is possible to use a different cap & rotor that allows more types of ignition from the Lucas 45 distributors but I thought I would keep that option for a last resort. 

Looking around at the alternatives some are very cheap and some are very expensive! I decided to go for something in the middle that was recommended by several folks who work on old cars for a living. I chose the Pertronix Ignitor and managed to buy the exact one I needed from Martin Jay who trades as The Distributor Doctor. He can also rebuild a distributor as good as new so is a useful contact as well. 

Pertronix kit and contents

 The Pertronix uses a rotor containing magnets that fits over the distributor spindle and a sensor fixed to the baseplate. It has very simple wiring - only two wires - as you can see from the picture.  Fitting it in the distributor would be easy but the Sprint engine is awkward because of the location and I was being extra carefull not to drop any of the little screws down inside. 

Pertronix Fitted

The red wire is the 12 volt ignition feed and the black one is the switched signal back to the coil. I needed to provide a 12 volt feed to the coil and to the Pertronix and from the previous post you may recall that we had also messed about with the ignition switch trying to get it going.   I had a brand new switch but comparing with the old one I noticed that the multi-pin plug on the end was wired differently.  These are being sold as the correct item under the Lucas part number but is obviously not correct for the TR7.  Luckily this was easily swapped over but would have been a problem if I hadn't spotted it.

Spot the Problem! - Different Wiring

 I also wanted to add the additional 12 volt live ignition feed and an auxiliary feed to the new switch. The 12 volt goes to the Remax coil and Pertronix. The auxiliary feed goes to the dash cam and satnav.

Modified Ignition Switch Wiring

 

I stripped off some insulation and soldered the extra wires on before adding some shrink down insulation over the top for protection.  May not be professional but it is safe and secure.

After fitting the new switch and Pertronix the engine actually fired up. It was a bit lumpy because the ignition timing was out but this was easily corrected with my old Snap-On timing light and it was idling nicely afterwards.  A quick road test and it all felt good so I am hoping that will be the end of ignition troubles.