Sunday, October 12, 2008

MOT Passed at long last!

Finally I've got an MOT! There were a few hitches of course. Like I said in my last blog entry, the wipers weren't working so it failed on those. Sadly, it also had a very small hole in one of the chassis outriggers which needed welding up.

I took the car back and sorted out the wipers. It turned out to be an earth strap that I hadn't reattached after I repainted the bulkhead and was easily sorted. It's missing on the photo below but it should run from where the loom passes through the bulkhead and attaches to one of the wiper strap bolts. With that sorted I took the car back to the garage and demonstrated the wipers. They were happy and I finally got my MOT.


I sorted out insurance and tax as well. I managed to get fully comprehensive cover with Peter James for just £90! This has been quite a revalation for me. Previously I've been too young to qualify for classic car insurance and I had been paying around £500. Now I'm over 25 it looks like I'm in for cheaper times!
Taxing was straightforward as well. I did it online and, after a couple of days, I had the disc through the post. It was on my windscreen in minutes, the hood was down and I was terrorising the local A roads! So far everything seems to be running pretty nicely but, as expected, a few little gremlins have reared their ugly heads!
The first problem is leaks from both master cylinders. I'm not sure exactly what's up with the clutch master. I rebuilt it days ago and the bore and seal looked fine. Now it's leaking fluid from behind the seal and the fluid that's dripping out is silvery and metallic. I'm not exactly sure what that means but I'm going to look into it. The brake master was surrounded by a whole lot of fluid but the lid was loose and I think the fluid sloshed out. It seems to be alright now but I'll be keeping an eye on it until I'm certain it's okay.
The other problem has been a ludicrously high idle. This is a problem it's had for a while and while investigating it's causes I noticed there is a bit of play in the throttle spindles. Looks like it's time to shell out and have the carb bodies rebushed. Sounds like it's going to be expensive!
I thought to finish I'd publish a few pictures of my newly sorted footwell light. It was loose and tucked up under the dash when I bought the car and I'd been meaning to fix it for ages but I didn't know exactly where it fitted. A friendly guy on the triumphspitfire.com board helped me out with a few photos and I finally got it fitted. Interestingly someone asked the exact same question on the Club Triumph noticeboard and I was able to pass on the knowledge. I love the friendly nature of the triumph scene!


Friday, October 03, 2008

MOT Time!

As I sit writing this my car is in for the dreaded MOT at Silver Knight garage in Walsall! Everything was going well earlier in the week. I noticed what I thought was a few drops of fluid from the clutch master cylinder but, after wiping it up, I just couldn't make it leak again so I put it down to careless filling. I'd tested the lights and started the car every day and it seemed to be running beautifully so I wasn't too worried about the MOT.

Unfortunately yesterday I noticed the leak had returned! So, despite the showery weather, I took off the master cylinder, rebuilt it, repainted the bit of the bulkhead underneath it, took the gearbox tunnel out and bled the system. Of course this was a pretty major undertaking but I managed to get it all done and back together before it got dark!

I've never really been happy with the feel of my clutch. It'd always felt a bit spongey no matter how often it was bled. This time I bled it by taking off the slave cylinder and pressing the clutch down repeatedly until it was at the end of it's travel. I've got an almost new slave by the way - I wouldn't recommend trying this with an old one as the bore is likely to be corroded and to damage the seal.

With the slave effectively locked in position I could feel exactly how compressible the pedal felt. It was pretty much solid so I decided that was properly bled. I pushed the slave piston back into its bore and pressed the clutch again and everything looked good! A few tweaks at the master cylinder and I had both brake and clutch pedals at the same height and I was ready to go and get that MOT.

Of course on the way to the test station I tried to clear the windscreen and realised the wipers weren't working...

Good luck to all those drivers taking part in the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run!