Just Another Set of Minilites?

It's amazing what you can pick up on eBay. Here's what looks like a really tatty set of Minilites a previous owner decided to paint red. However, these are magnesium Minilites that have spent the past 20 years or so on a TR6 down Salisbury way. The seller had owned the wheels since 1985 and was told they had come from Abingdon Special Tuning Department. Apparently they'd come off a car that had "competed in a Monte Carlo Rally" or something. When I suggested it was maybe the World Cup Rally, he said, "yeah that's it". The tyres aren't bad either. Ho hum...

5½J Steel Dunlop Rims

Here's my set of 5½J steel Dunlop rims nicely powder coated ready for rubber. Just need to source some decent original hub caps to finish them off as the repro hub caps currently available don't have quite the right shape around the centres.

Spitfire Mk3 Anyone?

After a lot of thought we've decided to part with Sarah's Spitfire. Sarah's owned it seven years, but it's spent the past few years sat in the garage not being used. It could do with a little tidying, but the basis of a great Spitfire is all there -

* 1971 tax exempt Mk3 Spitfire
* J-Type overdrive and three rail gearbox
* 13" 5.5J original Minilite wheels on 175x60 tyres
* Original seats in great condition
* Polyurethane suspension bushes throughout
* Halogen headlamps
* Rear swing spring

We have a stainless 4-2-1 branch exhaust manifold ready to go on.

It's not been driven yet this year, so I'm going to try and book it in for an MOT this coming week.

We're down Wiltshire way (M4 J16/17). If you're interested, let us know. You can drop us an email at triumph2009@gingell.com.

I hasten to add Sarah is very particular about who she sells her pride and joy to!

123 Ignition Distributor

My original intention was to fit a reconditioned Lucas distributor on the Herald. However, some recent discussions on the Club Triumph Forum regarding other options made me consider the 123 Ignition Distributor instead.

The 123 is a direct replacement for the original Lucas item and has some great features -

• no more worn parts - the only moving part is the rotor arm and the shaft of the distributor itself - the points, the weights, the springs are all gone.


• pre-selectable advance curve - allows the distibutor to be setup to match the best advance curve for the engine.


• maintenance free - once setup, should never have to worry about it again.

There are some other features - such as "spark balancing" !? - but I'm already convinced of the advantages over the Lucas item.

The 123 is manufactured in Holland. Right now the only down side to getting one is the crap stirling/euro exchange rate!

Further details
123 Product Page
123 Installation Manual
123 Leaflet

Order from
SCParts

Clutch Master Cylinder

Found a new-old-stock master cylinder on eBay, so that's the second item crossed off the list for the manual overdrive conversion on the 2000...

Fuel Supply

I've opted for an electrical fuel pump to keep up with the demands of the Shorrock Supercharger. The fuel pump will be installed in the boot, with a combined fuel filter/regulator in the engine bay - exact position to be decided.

This is a "Facet Red Top" fuel pump, and a "Filter King" fuel regulator. To setup the regulator, there's a pressure gauge that can be connected onto a T-piece.

The fuel pump will required a cut-out switch in the event of an accident.





Possible fuel pump wiring diagram -

Herald Pedal Rubbers

Pretty mundane, but these Herald pedal rubbers are allegedly original new old stock. Courtesy of eBay.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance

Forget about those staged shots down at Lands End on the RBRR with the helicopter looking like it's about to land on your car roof...

This thing came down pretty much in our front garden this afternoon when one of our neighbours was taken ill...

Happy Birthday!

My Herald is 46 years old today - first registered back on 16th May 1963!

The bonnet and doors are now fitted and the rear tub is fixed in place along with the three rear valences. With any luck the engine will be ready in the next couple of weeks. Getting close now...

Shorrock Inlet Manifold Mods

Progress on the Coupe continues. Here's the Shorrock inlet manifold with custom made blanking plug, and a boss for the pressure relief valve ready to be positioned a-top the manifold to allow the exhaust manifold to fit.

Original Shorrock Gauge

It's been a while since any decent Shorrock kit was on eBay. Here's a NOS item still in the box...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260406184966

STARTING BID : £125.00 (Reserve not met)
UPDATE : Just sold for a staggering £361.00 !!

Auto to Manual O/D Gearbox Conversion

It looks like days of the auto box in the 2000 are numbered, as I've just managed to source a manual overdrive gearbox. I've had problems with the auto box getting stuck in 2nd gear when cold (yes there's plenty of oil in the box), and it's slowly getting worse. I have enjoyed the auto, but my preference is manual/overdrive. Just need to sort out all the other bits required for the conversion...

Cracked It

It's a year since I bought the 2000 off eBay and things have gone pretty smoothly. A few weeks back the exhaust started to blow somewhere around the downpipe gasket. Except it wasn't the downpipe gasket. As you can see it was a little more terminal than that. Fortunately I was able to source a replacement manifold. Funny thing is the Vitesse manifold cracked in exactly the same place during my ownership.