

![]() posts: 5728 Netherlands joined on Sun 5th Mar 2006 |
FHC resto nr. 120; Rear wing blanking plate and radiator |
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After finishing the car’s striping, fitting the two rear wing blanking plates (ZKC1454) prepared 2 years ago, should have been easy. Well the driver’s side was! The opposite side decided to put up a fight. However hard I tried, the push-on spire nut (ZKC25390) refused to seat properly against the inside of the wing. And after the second attempt I decided to have a closer look at the blanking plate. Should have done that when I selected a pair of blanking plates for refurbishing and use on the car. The only selection criteria at the time were the outside looks. I should have paid a little more attention to the (hidden from view) moulded plastic mounting pins at the back! Clearly visible is the ridge near the base of the mounting pin. This is almost certainly caused by the blanking plate being removed a few times in the past. And this ridge turned out to be the cause for my problem. It prevented the spire nut from seating correctly, leaving it almost 1 millimetre free of the sheet metal. Luckily I had a few spares left. And the one discarded first, due to heavy overspray, proved to be the best spare. As long as I could get the paint of, without damaging the visible plastic! I shouldn’t have worried, old school thinner, a fine scouring pad and 30 minutes work did the trick. And as can be seen in the previous picture I had to fabricate a new gasket. The one I made originally didn’t survive my attempts to fit the recalcitrant spire nut. And with all parts ready I went for the third attempt. Third time lucky I should say. Though it took a few minutes to press the spire nuts fully home. Finally result! And after returning home from the shed I decided to spent the remaining part of the afternoon with a first inspection of the radiator I removed from the parts car. To prevent it from drying out I had stored it in the cellar, filled with water. And after emptying it, I transferred it to the bathroom for an external and first internal cleaning session. First the inside was filled with a mild solution of cleaning vinegar and boiling water. And while this solution was doing its work, I attacked the outside of the radiator’s core with a hot water hose and various soft brushes. Quite amazing to see how much dirt had accumulated in there! And with the outside properly hosed and brushed down, it was time to drain the cleaning solution and flush the core. After which the radiator could be inspected more closely, starting with the outside. Looking pretty good overall, though it will need a bit of satin black paint and some rust converter in certain areas. And I found this tag, which might explain its condition. Presuming the tag shows the manufacturing date, this radiator is clearly not factory fitted, but an aftermarket replacement. Remained the inside. Rather difficult to capture with a camera. There are still clear signs of a rusty deposition, especially at the bottom of the radiator (first picture) where a rusty coloured sludge sat when I removed the radiator from the car. But all visible pipes from the radiators core look free and clean. Main bottom hose connection Main top hose connection |
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FHC resto nr. 119; Parts donor's yields |
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With the car passed on to its next, and hopefully final, chapter, it was time for me to go over the proceeds. Overall well pleased with the parts this car yielded. And I think it is safe to say that some might even manage to change my plans for the ’76 car. To start with this almost brand new looking radiator: Radiator Yes this is the later radiator model, so shouldn’t be fitted to an early car. But I like standardisation and reliability, and am not bothered too much about originality. I also firmly believe that a car is for driving, not for show grounds. So the ’76 car will get the later cooling system with the header tank instead of the overflow bottle. And mainly because My original plan was to have another alloy radiator fabricated locally, to the same specifications as the alloy radiator that was fabricated locally for my DHC But with such a good spare that seems like a waste of money to me! But before I commit myself I will have to flush and pressure test this one first! Just to be sure. Wiring Also some of the wiring harnesses, especially the main wiring harness, will probably find their way into the ’76 car. Though it doesn’t look like much in the picture above, a first quick check while removing them from the car showed some very unmolested wiring harnesses: Clutch assembly An unexpected yield are the clutch cover and plate. As they looked almost new, I retrieved them from the engine. And with them removed from the car, the first impression proved to be correct, they indeed are almost brand new. So after a thorough clean, they too will find their way into the ’76 car.The same can probably be said about the front screen. While removing it, the front surface felt very smooth, so probably only very few (tiny) stone chips. There is also no delamination at the edges worth mentioning. Only a shallow chip in the left hand top corner. Probably there since the screen was fitted to the car at the factory, as it was completely hidden behind the stainless screen surround trim. Again a good clean and a closer inspection will determine whether it will be used or not (I have a few spares as back up though!). And finally the transmission. The car had only covered 87.173 kilometres, and the overall condition looked like she was pretty well cared for in het past life. So the plan is to use both gearbox and back axle for the ’76 car. I would have loved to put a 3.90:1 ratio back axle under this car. But I only have one spare axle with that ratio. And that will be used to build the new back axle for ‘t Kreng (the one in front in the picture below). So the ’76 car will also get a 3.45:1 ratio back axle. Just as the DHC. As it stands now that will be the third one from the front., bearing serial number CL 11955. Will see how a bog standard Sprint engine will cope with this ratio. I take comfort in the fact that the Dolomite Sprint also came with this gear ratio. And I want to keep the gearbox and back axle together for no obvious reason. So this gearbox, bearing serial number CL-130837C will find its way into the ’76 car too. |
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Parts donor part 5 |
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And final part I dare say! I left this part of my TR7 story just before Christmas. With only the gearbox and back axle on my list of parts to retrieve from this car. But we wanted to keep all four wheels under the car for ease of moving it around. So back to work on my old DHC shell to remove the original (4-speed) back axle from the ’76 car, and replace it with one of my 5-speed spares. I won’t be using any 4-speed back axles so I have decided to donate this one to the next owner of the body shell (he’ll use the body to re-shell his ’77 car, which is currently under restoration). The removal of the 4-speed axle from the car was rather straight forward. Which was not much of a surprise, as it was only fitted earlier in the year! With the same being true for refitting one of my spare axles. I choose the axle with the most miles behind it. Which turned out to be the original back axle from ‘t Kreng, with 101.458 kilometres. Only fitting the wheels back on was a bit of a struggle. This was caused by the fact that I had removed the wheel studs from this back axle. And it was rather difficult to reach them from behind to hammer them in place. But I managed to get the wheels back on (with the aid of some mild swearing 😈). Back to the parts car. Before Christmas I already had loosened all mounting bolts from the back axle. And surprisingly they all come loose fairly easily. By now an extra pair of hands had arrived, making the removal of the back axle (and exhaust) even easier. The same could be said of refitting the back axle. I choose to first fit the four links to the body and add the axle to the lower links first, with the aid of the trolley jack. While doing this the upper links were tied up against the tank, to prevent them from intervening at inappropriate moments! Only the last bolt put up a bit of a fight to get in place. Which it lost within a few minutes. With the back axle in place it was time for the final part of this chapter. Removal of the engine and gearbox. Which meant the rear of the car had to be jacked up as high as the trolley jack would go. Then put the axle stands in place (including extra stands under the back axle to prevent from being in the way. This also would free the trolley jack to be used under the gearbox. For the actual removal of the engine I had borrowed an engine crane from a friend. Sadly though out the previous user, who had borrowed it from him, hadn’t mentioned there was something wrong with it, when he returned it. It turned out to be low on hydraulic oil. Resulting in the lifting arm not even getting level. Let alone reaching enough height to swing the engine out over the nose panel. Of course that was the moment for the gear box to have a mind of its own. While investigating why the lift wouldn’t go any higher, the gearbox managed to slip of the trolley jack in an unguarded moment. Leaving the assembly on its side at a rather awkward angle in the engine bay, with hardly any room to manoeuvre. Took us about half an hour to get it back in its original position with some sturdy wooden blocks supporting the gearbox. After which there was nothing we could do but pack up the tools, make a to-do-list and head for home. And to return in the following year! And on the first Saturday of 2021 we returned to the shed, armed with hydraulic oil and a small oil pump. With the oil level topped up, we had a fully functional crane again. The arm’s reach again was high enough to remove the engine from the engine bay. And yes the chain’s shackles were too long to get the engines angle spot on. But we were able to get the engine over the nose panel and lift the gearbox out of the engine bay by hand. Almost as easy as it sounds. And no damage to the cars bodywork! Last job, before moving the car on to its final destination, was removing the gearbox, and the clutch cover and plate from the engine. And with that task done, we came to the final task in my “ownership”, loading her onto the trailer and moving her off to a friend, for the next chapter in her life! His plan is to use this overall very solid body shell, to re-shell his current car. But that chapter won’t be written by me. That’s up to the new owner, if he feels up to it! |
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Parts donor part 4 |
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The disassembly of the parts donor is going pretty well. Mainly because I was able to spent a few hours in the shed in the days before Christmas. I started with the dashboard assembly. As most of the interior had been removed already, this was pretty easy. And here I started with the instrument upper roll. Which is obvious of course. All screws came off without any drama, as did the roll itself. Next in line was the instrument panel. Here I first removed all the screws holding it place, so it could be pulled up a bit to gain better access to all connectors at the back. And with everything disconnected, the instrument panel could be retrieved from the car. After which removal of the facia was very straight forward indeed. At this stage it started to become clear that the main wiring harness is in pretty good condition. So far the only adaptation I found was one “fire starter”, or Scotchlok connector as they are also known. Though the amount of added wires I collected in the passenger foot well might suggest something different! Final task for the interior was the removal of all the remaining wiring. But for that I also had to disconnect a few wires in the engine bay. Here I encountered a completely new problem. There were so many leaves in there that it was impossible to find most of the connectors. Luckily I had a large vacuum cleaner at hand. After all the leaves and small branches were removed, I was able to access all the wiring connectors in the engine bay and disconnect them. Followed by the same action for the nose of the car: With that sorted I was able to gently pull back the wiring harness into the cars cabin: And from there remove it entirely from the car. I might well change my plans for the ’76 car now. As a quick superficial inspection shows that this harness might be in very good condition indeed! Then, at the end of one of the afternoons, and for no apparent reason, I decided to have go at removing the front windscreen surround trim. I started with the left hand side, working from the lower corner upwards. Using the blue plastic tool together with the red handled chisel (pictured below) I managed to get a foothold on the lower section. From there I slowly worked upwards, using the plastic tool between screen and trim and the chisel between trim and screen surround. But getting up towards the top corner the progress halted. So I switch to the section above the centre of the windscreen. And after about 15 minutes of carefully levering at the trim surround, it came off. Next I tackled the right hand side. And with the (re)gained experience, that came of within minutes. But while working on that surround trim part, I noticed that the whole screen was moving slightly. Lifting it gently from the right hand side, showed that it was only held in place on the left hand side wind screen pillar. And after some gentle persuasion that side came free of the wind screen surround too. An unexpected quick and easy result! Glad I can add another front screen to my stock of spare front screens, as with current drivers attitudes they are easily damaged! Also managed to drain the fuel tank, cooling system and brakes. And disconnect the engine completely and remove the radiator. Only the exhaust is still in place and connected to the engine. Remains a short study of the amount of tin worm that this car’s body houses. Or damage (rust) assessment so far! The inside of the driver’s side, of the lower wind screen surround. No visible rust on the outside of the wind screen surround though, which is good! Cosy mouse nest hidden behind the blanking plate for the wiper mechanism. But after vacuuming the area it turned out to be in fairly good condition, be it with a large amount of heavy surface rust; The area with the most rust of the car. The sill at the front isn’t too bad though. And it is clear to see that repairs have been carried out before. A close up of the rot in the driver’s foot well floor. After poking around with the handle of a screw driver The passenger foot well is solid. Though on this side there is also a repair panel welded in. Hopefully it was done properly as the battery tray is on the other side! Final tasks, before passing it on, will be the removal of the gearbox and back axle. They are low mileage according to the odometer, as it reads only 87173 kilometres. And the seats didn't look too worn! So the mileage seems to be correct. posted Fri 25th Dec 2020 |
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Calendar Girls 2021 |
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Showing my current cars As it almost time to say goodbye to 2020, it is also time to compile my traditional calendar for next year. Sadly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I was hardly able to use both my road legal TR7’s for what they are intended for: Driving! And all planned trips and tours had to be cancelled. So not much kilometres were added to my TR7’s odometers in 2020. In total I covered only 1360 kilometres in my TR7’s, of which 434 kilometres were covered with ‘t Kreng and 926 kilometres with the DHC. So also from a driving point of view 2020 is a year that should be forgotten as quickly as possible! At least with regards to my Triumphs. Contrary to the TR7’s, my Little Landy saw a fair amount of extra kilometres due to the Covid-crises. Having a “crucial job”, not being permitted into the office, and with various projects in progress, added a few extra kilometres to the LaRo’s odometer! But these pictures didn’t make it to the calendar for 2021. And the few trips few trips with the TR7’s didn’t supply enough pictures for my 2021 calendar either. Luckily I was able to spend some quality time on my current restoration project, the ’76 car. Resulting in a calendar which is a mix of a few touring pictures of the DHC and ‘t Kreng, supplemented with some pictures showing some of the work done on the ’76 car in 2020. Hopefully 2020 will be a better driving year! The interior of the ’76 car slowly taking shape The finished back end of the ’76 car, leaving no doubt what engine will be fitted One of the very few tours of the year (and Covid-19 proof) Near the Bergerweg in Vlodrop (NL) Earlier in the year I managed to lay my hands on a factory fresh Sprint engine for the ’76 car Fitting the striping to the ’76 car Returning from the DHC’s biannual MOT The ’76 car’s exterior slowly taking shape Third and final tour with ‘t Kreng, Dubbroek Maasbree (NL) One of the very few tours of the year (and Covid-19 proof), Bergerweg in Vlodrop (NL) The engine bay of ‘t Kreng, still looking fairly fresh 25 years after it was built Detail of ‘t Kreng’s upper strut mount and refurbished strut brace Third and final tour with ‘t Kreng, Dubbroek Maasbree (NL) |
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FHC resto nr. 118; Striping finished |
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At the start of my Christmas holidays, I decided to transfer most of my tools to the shed, and spent a Saturday afternoon there. And with the temperatures well above 10°C I thought it a good idea to finish the ’76 car’s striping and decals. Even the Sun came out for a brief spell! With everything prepared and ready (including water cooker and hairdryer) I decided to start with completing the driver’s side. This meant applying the striping to the left hand front wing and replacing the TR7 decal underneath the blanking plate. Which shouldn’t be too difficult, and as such ideal as a warm-up. In the end the only slightly difficult part was folding the striping over the rear of the front wing. And that was due to limited access to the area. But I managed to get some warm air and my little finger between the wing panel and door to press the foil firmly in place. Next was the rather 70’s style “TR7” decal I had applied a few months ago. I didn’t like the look of it, mainly because the font style clashed with the SPRINT cut-out in the door stripes. So the “original” decal was removed and replaced with a slightly down sized Speke nose decal. I have to admit that this looks much better. After this warm-up exercise came the most important and difficult part for the day: The striping for the right hand rear wing. As with my previous attempt I needed to reposition this part a few times to get the correct position. But this time it was successful. After which the application foil could be gently removed. And due the length of the part tricky. Especially for the two narrow side stripes, which have a tendency to stretch a bit when removing the application foil. Although not 100% perfect. There is a tiny fault in the upper side stripe. And the alignment to the back of the door could be better. Though this is fault is exaggerated by the fact that the door sits a little to the inside. And that is because the seals are not in place yet. But overall I am well pleased with the end result. The final part to apply was the “TR7” nose decal. For its position I used an instruction leaflet I found on the internet, forgot when and where. And at the time I stored a digital copy on my computer. Just in case! And after 15 minutes of positioning of scraps of masking tape, careful measurements and placing markers, I had produced this seemingly random pattern. Which enabled me to put the nose decal in position. The cross hairs (just visible on this decal in the second picture in this post) were used to align it correctly between the markers. As there still was a little daylight left, I decided to carry a few smaller jobs on the cars. The first being fitting the bulbs to the front side lights. As with my other two TR7’s I opted for standard spec bulbs, which were pulled from my the spares stock. When I restored ‘t Kreng almost 25 years ago I thought it a good idea to buy a selection of various smaller bulbs. Thinking I would have to replace them every so often. Well, so far all the bulbs fitted to ‘t Kreng are still functioning as they should. So I have a few spares left. The final job for the day was fitting the hand brake lever I prepared well over two years ago. But first the rubber dust cover needed some attention. It has a little tear at the nose, where the cable connects. Apart from that it is in good condition, and will probably outlast any cover sold these days. The cable tie is there to remind me of a small tear at the nose of the bellows of the cover. When the hand brake cable is fitted I’ll tighten the cable tie over this tear to prevent it from getting longer. Fitting the actual hand brake lever was the proverbial piece of cake. Edited 24-12-2020: I found out something went wrong with the screen calibration while developing the digital negatives. As a result of which the colour of the pictures was to yellow. This is now rectified. And in the process I added a few pictures which, with the correct colour, turned out much better. |
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Seasonal Greetings |
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2020 is drawing to a close quickly, and I am quite happy to turn my back on it. Welcome 2021.
posted Fri 18th Dec 2020
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully 2021 will be better than 2020! |
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FHC resto nr. 117; Small jobs |
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While working in the shed, dismantling the parts donor, I also used some of the time to carry out a few small jobs on the ’76 car. The most important one was fitting the front side light armatures to the front bumper. Apart from mixing up the left and right hand lights, and trying to fit one upside down, that job went pretty smoothly. Mental note made that next time I will have to do this job it will be easier to position the bumper in its normal position before I start and not upside down 😶 As you can see, the finished product doesn’t look too shabby! Only have to adjust the rubber surrounds a bit. But as it was fairly cold, they were too stiff, so that has to wait till warmer weather (spring?), or the hair drier! Another important part for this car that looks in fairly good condition is the gear lever and gear lever knob. These were removed from the parts donor, while stripping the interior. And as you can see the assembly is in very good condition. Much better than the one from my spares stock. And the infamous dust cover is also in good condition, with the small mounting bracket still in place and undamaged. Well pleased with that find! But most importantly is the gear lever knob. All my spares have signs of de-lamination along the edges of the shift pattern insert. As you can see in the picture below this one doesn’t.
Final job on the ’76 car was trial fitting the revised stripes that go over the front wing off the car, between door and bonnet. They do fit, but only just. So I’ll have to be careful when applying them, as alignment is critical. This is because they are just about the right length, with no margin to play with. Will see ones the weather is good (= warm) enough to apply them … posted Sun 13th Dec 2020 |
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Parts donor part 3 |
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I spent some quality time in the shed again yesterday afternoon, spending a small amount of time on the ’76 car (more on that later). But most of the time was spent clearing out the interior of the parts car. My original plan was to remove the dashboard assembly and the main wiring harness. But I thought it would be better to first strip the rest of the interior. This was prompted by the fact that a lot of the interior trim had already been (partially) removed or loosened. As the seats were already loose in the car that seemed to be the best place to start, followed by the centre console (yes I had to crawl underneath the rear of the car to undo the hand brake cable, in order to remove the gear lever surround) and the rear bulk head trim. The parcel shelf is only fit for the skip, the rear bulkhead trim might be useful in future. So that was put aside, leaving me with a fairly empty interior. Next came the body harness (RKC 3630). Most of the connections had already been disconnected. Only the earth points and heated rear window wires were still in place. Easy! As there was still plenty of day light left, I removed some more parts including the very dead boot lid struts (clearly replaced for obvious reasons 😝), the door strikers, the rear quarter grilles, and the rear window. I was quite surprised that the last item only took me about 5 minutes to remove from the car. And the seal looks like it might be fit to be used again after a bit of cleaning. Final pieces I removed were the drip gutter trim pieces. Also easy using a soft faced hammer. The final job for the day was removing the carpets and inspecting the floor sections. As you can see are both rear sections in fairly good condition. But both foot wells have signs of standard amounts of rust, with the drivers foot well also showing signs of a water leak. Might be that some extra welding is necessary in that area. |
![]() posts: 2378 Website Administrator Website Moderator Isle of Wight group joined on Mon 16th Oct 2006 |
W Sparrow & Sons Ltd of Yeovil - Triumph car dealers 103 |
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In 1924 the garage was selling Crossley, Humber, Overland and Standard cars.
Change of name or ownershipWhen did the business stop trading using "W Sparrow" identity and become Somerset Motors (Yeovil) Ltd. Somerset Motors (Yeovil) Ltd, Osborne Garage, Sherbourne Road, Yeovil are listed in March 1972, March 1974 and May 1975. Were a BMW dealer in 1979. Plea for informationIf you have any more information or recollections about W Sparrow & Sons Ltd of Yeovil Standard Triumph dealer such as photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblinFurther information and sourcesLink to the other articles in this series.Link to facebook page: Triumph Car Dealers. Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr group which includes many photos of Standard Triumph garages etc from my collection and many other contributors . I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html Picture credits:W Sparrow & Sons Ltd of Yeovil Standard delivery photo posted to facebook by Bob Osborn; W Sparrow and Sons Ltd advert from 1924 from an old theatre program; . A blog post from vitessesteve
posted Tue 8th Dec 2020
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Club Triumph Ltd. Registered in England No. 4961210 Registered Office: Suite A,10th Floor, Maple House, High Street, Potters Bar, Herts, EN6 5BS. VAT registration number 340 4536 26. Club Triumph is run entirely by its members for its members and does not have paid employees.
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