Update no 3: Nachtrit 2008

November 2008

Well, we didn't finish! All was going really well in the first section. We found a good pace and enjoyed trashing the GT6 around. Co-driver Paul did an excellent job on the tulips, no mistakes at all. Soon we were behind Rob in the Escort and both cars were flying on the twisty roads in the Belgium Ardennes. One of the highlights of the route was a ford which had to be crossed. A bit too enthusiastic maybe and after a couple of 100 metres the engine stalled. We pulled over and inspected the dizzy etc. After wiping out the wet parts the car was running ok for a while then stalled again. The Escort crew didn't see us stop and continued their run. After changing cap, rotor and plugleads the car still wasn't running ok. In the meantime Rob in the TR7 V8 pulled over. He suggested to check the fuel supply. Well, he was right, there was no juice coming at all. After cleaning out the filter inside of the facetpump the engine went again. Eureka! So we continued the rally. After some 10km the engine stalled again in an uphill section. We pulled over again to check on the fuelpump. Cleaned it out and off we went. Followed by Rob in the TR7 and Mark in the Volvo 480 we carried on. Not much later when we had to pull onto a main road the car stopped again. This time I was really fed up and decided to stop. It was just too dangerous with a car that constantly cuts out. We parked the car up at a farmhouse and continued the rally on the backseat of a Volvo 480. Up to the halfway stop to have some delicious spagetti (or was it tomatosoup?). After that we went straight back to the finish. A bit dissapointed about the results we went home. The day after we left home early to collect the GT6. Luckily (not) the car was parked up at the most far point on the route,actually not far from Namur. When we arrived the car was still there and fired up immediately. It could be driven onto the trailer. Of course Theo had to do his photographing but soon enough we were heading home. After a gentle drive in the Land Rover we arrived home around noon. The end of another interesting weekend!

Update no 2: Real Estate

August 2008

No not another Triumph, this is about our new house. After an extending search on the web and many viewings we finally found a house we both felt happy about. From the first time we walked in it gave us the feeling of being at home. Very odd, as the house needed a fair amount of work. Large white tiles in the livingroom, pink doorposts and a very outdated kitchen are not exactly what you expect from your new home. It must have been the location and size of the house that gave us that magic feeling. And of course the garage including loft did it's part! Well, you can imagine rebuilding the house has cost a huge amount of time and money. This being the main reason why it has been quiet with the cars. As most of the work is done now I hope to find more time to work on my Triumphs again! Certainly something I missed out on.

Update no 1: Nurburgring 2008

Our annual visit to the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring found place in August. The usual suspects plus some new entrees found their way to the famous campsite, including my girlfriend Els. She really liked the atmosphere although she isn't a big fan of camping. I think we all had a good time watching the races, drinking beer and making some decent fire! Can't rememeber much from the stories therefore some photos instead.

VW Club has nothing to do with German aircooled cars. It means "Vette Worst" which can be translated to fat sausage. We do like our BBQ!

Our VIP shuttle for the weekend. Mario's Plymouth Van, what a great car.

Proper camping gear

Chef Herbert cooking a healthy breakfast

Our friends from Berlin came in this rare Fiat.

I took Els out for her first lap on the Nordschleife in the GT6 which she really enjoyed!

The big update!

It seems my blog needs a little TLC after beeing neglected for at least one and a half year. Due to other commitments it has been quiet at the Triumph front. It's all a matter of time and money, both have been spent mostly on our new house. Plenty of jobs to do on the cars though and I'm hoping to be back in business next year! Still struggling with the 2.5PI and the GT6 keeps (more or less) running. I will report on the cars later. In the next couple of blog updates I will report about other things that kept me busy since the summer of 2008. Does time fly when you're having fun!

PI gets PI Power

Yes! Finally we've started to convert the PI back from Webers to PI. Actually we are swapping engines as I have a fully reconditioned PI engine lying around. Wasn't completely pleased with the Webers as they only performed (sort of) at higher revs. Doesn't really suit the character of the car me thinks. Of course you can make Webers work, but it would involve many engine modification. Coudn't be bothered either as I quite like the idea of mechanical injection. Italy - England 0-1

Taking the old engine out was an easy job. I'm very lucky to use Robs workshop facilities including ramp and electric pallet lifter. Once the engine was out I took the chance to waxoil most parts of the car (inside of nose cone etc) and of course clean the enginebay. We also painted the subframe and crossmember. Everything is fresh and clean now! Last weekend we've put the PI engine back in, another easy job. Plenty of space in a Saloon engine bay. Now it's a matter of connecting all bits together... Might be the most complicated part of the engine transplant. I'm sure we can work it out and get the PI going!

Meet and greet

PI meets PI

PI meets GT6

Getting it MOT'ed...

.... or APK as it's called in the Netherlands. The car came with a fresh Control Technique so I wasn't too worried about getting the car tested for APK. Obviously a French test is not the same as a Dutch test. It failed! Needed some new steeringrack gaitors and balljoint covers. Also the headlights needed replacing as the units in the car had a beam that pointed straight forward. Always good to blind oncoming trafic! Replaced the lights with Cibie H4 units and changed the gaitors and covers. Yes, there's another 2.5PI back on the road! Could be the only one in the Netherlands at the moment...

A trip to sunny France

To collect the 2.5PI.... a 2300km trip round. We did it in 32 hrs!

We left home friday late afternoon. Packed the Golf with all sorts of tools and spare parts so we would be able to repair the PI in case of a breakdown. You can expect it all from a 39 year old car. A car I've never seen before in the flesh. Only received some pics and a rough discription from the seller. (who only speaks French!) Sometimes you have to take a risk in life.. The first leg of this trip was pretty much uneventful. The Golf diezzzeled us very reliable and quick towards the South of France. We made good progress and arrived 01.00 at Nimes. The plan was to find a F1 hotel and get some sleep. We used TomTom to find the nearest F1 hotel, this nearly succeeded as we never arrived exactly at the address. Still, it was close! Unfortunately (due to French holidays) all F1 hotels were fully booked in Nimes. So we continued our trip towards Montpellier. Here we found a F1 hotel which had a room available.

The next morning we wake up in sunny France. 16 degrees and palmtrees, crazy! From Montpellier it is only a 30min drive to St Andre de Sagonis. We arrive exactly 9.00 at the workshop from Serge. The lady of the house (and 2 friendly dogs) are already waiting for us. She also speaks French only. The PI is waiting for us on the ramp. Which is good because now we can inspect the car from underneath as well. A happy surprise as the car is really as solid as expected. No rust at all! First impression is good, although the paintwork is very flat. In the meantime Serge has arrived. He explains to me in French about all the work that is done to the car. Amazingly I can understand him very well. Oui oui, merci, tres bon! After a short testdrive on the industrial estate we decide that this car is actually very good. Well worth the trip!

After arranging the boring stuff (paperwork and money) we start for our second leg on this trip. Plan is to take the scenic route back. We have 2 days left. First we need to fill up with petrol, those webers need some juice! Luckily there is a Esso station down the road. Even better, there's a Lidl supermarket on the other side as well. Very odd to walk into a Lidl in France. You feel directly if you were in Germany. Grafwalder beer makes me think about Nurburgring weekends! Time for breakfast. Buying old cars makes hungry.
After breakfast we take the scenic route towards Valence. This turns out to be a rather interesting stretch of road. Very twisty and almost no trafic. Very good for testing the big Saloon. Have to say it goes really well for such a big car, Webers sound awesome. Especially above 4000rpm. After 1hr of enthusiastic motoring we stop to inspect the car. All seems ok! Feeling more and more confident about the car. Once we have reached Valence we stop a second time. After checking TomTom we realise it's only 880km back home and ETA will be around midnight. Very tempting! So we decide to take the motorway from here and try to drive it home. Change of plan! Saloon goes really well at motorway speeds (130-140km/h). It's quiet and really comfy. I don't feel the need of changing to the modern Golf. Only concern is the fuel consumption. It needs loads! From Lyon to Dijon trafic got worse due to the end of some French holiday. It slowed us down but luckily trafic never stopped completely. After Dijon towards Metz the roads got quiet again so we could speed up. A last petrol stop in Luxemburg. Good coffee as well! From here it was only 250km back home! 0.30 we arrived in vlaaiburg. Totally exhausted but we made it. Saloon made it too. Without any breakdown! Think it is a good buy.....

Whoops I bought another Triumph

Triumphs, you can't have enough of them... so I bought myself another one. Haven't seen it yet as the car is still in Southern France. Will collect on the 8th of March, a 1100km trip (single). Will be an interesting trip, as we intend to drive the car home! Fingers crossed.

Anyway, this is it... a '69 2.5PI currently running on triple Webers. Some more modifications are done to the car (Mk2 rear axle, oilcooler, TR6 engine/box/od) It's should be in mechanical good condition and hopefully the sunny climate protected the bodyshell against rust. We'll find out in 2 weeks!

Hillclimb Belgium

Just some random pictures from the Hillclimb we went to a couple of weeks ago.