10CR'09 Entry

Well I managed to get my entry in for the 10CR next year. Right now I'm the only Herald Coupé on the list (#29). As 2009 is the 50th anniversary of the Triumph Herald, it seems only fitting to do it in the Coupé rather than the comfy armchair of the 2000 saloon.

http://club.triumph.org.uk/comps/index.php?id=23

Chassis!

Here's the chassis with the front suspension going on. The wishbones have been powder coated and I'm using Polybush throughout. I'm using Canley's trunnionless vertical links.

Lack of maintenance is no excuse, but witnessing first hand the joys of a broken vertical link at about 45 mph on a narrow country lane with traffic coming towards us, is an experience I don't wish to repeat!

4WD Triumph

Five years ago I put together a web page with some photographs and details of the 4WD Triumph put together in the late 1960s. Unfortunately the web page was lost a while ago, but I recently found the photographs on my computer, so I'm uploading them here in case anyone is still interested.

Background Information

Sometime in the 1960s, Triumph designed a 4WD utility vehicle utilising 1300 FWD derived components, called the Triumph Pony. From what I can tell, Triumph never went into production with the vehicle, instead series production was taken up by a company called Autocars in Haifa, Israel who turned the Pony into the Dragoon.

Triumph Pony / Autocars Dragoon

Autocars Dragoon

Triumph Pony - registration CHP 786C

Triumph Pony / Autocars Dragoon Technical Specification

Engine
Triumph 4 cylinder, I-I-W-F (cylinders in line, valves in head (OHV), water cooled, front mounted), 1498cc, 56 bhp @ 4300rpm

Transmission
4F1R x 2

Brakes
Hydraulic

Tyres
6.50-13

Wheelbase
2.01 m.

Overall
l x w x h : 3.43 x 1.57 x 1.93 (max) m.

Weight
991 kg. GVW on/off road : 1638 / 1435 kg.

Note
Normally front-wheel drive, engagement of rear wheel drive also engages low range. DeDion front axle. Semi-elliptic springs front and rear. Produced to British design (Triumph 'Pony').

Triumph Pony Gearbox

Pony Gearbox from Canley Classics (shown with genuine Le Mans Spitfire wheel)

Motorsport

However, the story doesn't end there. The Triumph Competition's department took a 1300 FWD, and fitted a Le Mans Spitfire 70X spec engine, 2000 LSD rear end and the Pony 4WD system. Now we're talking! The result is shown below, being driven to first place by Brian Culcheth at a televised Autocross at Lydden in Kent, in February 1969.

Getting some air!

Brian at the Wheel!

Unfortunately, in an event later in the same year at High Egdorough, the car with Brian Culcheth at the wheel broke a trailing arm, rolled and was comprehensively written off.

Oh dear!

'finishing lines' - courtesy of Classic Cars Magazine

Letter from Brian Culcheth to Jason Chinn

Further reading

I'm assuming (until David Pearson tells me otherwise) that the Pony gearbox will bolt on to the back of the FWD engine in a similar fashion to the FWD gearbox -

FWD transmission

Here's a more detailed cross section of the arrangement of the FWD gearbox. It would be great to get a similar diagram of the Pony gearbox arrangement -

FWD cross section of clutch, gearbox and final drive

Here's the arrangement of the RWD rear axle. Note the mounting points of the "trailing suspension link (2)" and the "semi-trailing radius rod (4)" -

RWD rear axle

Here's the arrangement of the FWD rear axle. I'm assuming that the FWD rear axle shares the same mounting points as the RWD rear axle.

FWD rear axle

If anyone's actually up for doing this conversion, I'd be very interested to see the results!

More Paint!

Rear tub now looking fantastic in Cactus Green and Sebring White. Original Triumph colours in a slightly non-standard duo-tone combination.

Paint!

After what seems like months, the Coupé is finally going through paint this week. Paul has done a fantastic job with the bodywork and Ian is doing a brilliant job with the paint. It's difficult to work out the colour in these pics under fluorescent light, but it looks just great.

Rear tub in Cactus Green and primer...





Bootlid, doors and bonnet in primer...




Bulkhead, chassis and valences in Cactus...



With any luck, more pics this week with it looking a lot more like a car again...

Didcot to The Plough

HD Time lapse of Craig Gingell and Mark Bland in a Triumph 2000, driving from Didcot to The Plough on the fourteenth and final leg of the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run 2008.

Didcot to The Plough (HD Version)
from Craig Gingell on Vimeo.

Pimperne to Didcot

HD Time lapse of Craig Gingell and Mark Bland in a Triumph 2000, driving from Pimperne to Didcot on the thirteenth leg of the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run 2008.

Pimperne to Didcot (HD Version)
from Callum Gingell on Vimeo.