Jason's Blog

Apologies to anyone who's comments never appeared on my Blog - I've found them now!  I've never really been in control of Blogger and I've just found loads of old comments on historic posts that never got approved. Back in the day I used to get quite a bit of spam comments, only one troll (he won't own his comments with his name so he doesn't get published), because of this I decided to moderate comments - the thing is, I never actually told Blogger to notify me when comments arrived, so they just sat awaiting moderation, for ever! It's been a bit of a roller coaster reading through them, a couple from or about friends who are no longer with us, a few funny ones - no I don't need a mail-order bride thanks. I've accepted a lot but they will be in the old posts and there are 585 posts spanning almost 20 years! Anyway, I think I've now fixed notifications so if you want to comment, I will be able to 'moderate' and publish stuff.

 OK so they weren't 'broken' really but they were in need of attention through the passage of time. Because top quality components were used with silicon fluid and the car had been stored well, the brakes were in amazing condition although the pedal did hit the floor and stay there - a minor issue :-) Here's the set-up. We have a Tilton "over hung" pedal box with three master cylinders. Twin masters for the brakes (front and rear) with an adjustable bias arrangement - that's the red cable on the left of the picture above. This red cable leads to a knob on the dashboard and means that you can alter the front/rear bias from the drivers seat. The clutch pedal is also part of the pedal box arrangement - this leads to a Saab annular release bearing, the bleeder you can see near the right hand master is a remote bleeder for the clutch . All this is all fitted into the pedal box which is in turn fitted into the reworked bulkhead. Master cylinders are Girling and ...

Although OOD looks pretty much together and ready for the road, there is a lot to do to start her up and get driving. I'm going to list the main jobs as I see them and then go into some detail. Firstly, it's worth pointing out that this car is in remarkable condition and it's a testament to the builder and the choice of quality parts when it was assembled. I have to admit to being a little in awe of it and that's some of the reason it's taken me so long to get to this point. It's gradually becoming mine as I get to know its secrets.   The main issues I see are: Fuel system - it's a PI that's been sat for a long time, partially stripped and now needs putting back together with some new components. Hoses are mostly good as they are Aeroquip.  Brakes - well hydraulics really - discs need de-rusting, it's equipped with Tilton race brakes and a Tilton pedal box that all need attention and maybe rebuilding - pedal goes to the floor and stays there. I'l...

 It feels like the time is right to resurrect this blog, there's quite a bit going on that might be of interest to fellow Triumphists.  Some of you may know I've been pursuing a rather special Vitesse for a number of years, well I bought it (that was never in doubt) and it's back home with me (that took some doing). I did write up the story to remind me of the odyssey, so here it is: (fair warning, my memory is a bit hazy on some of these details so do call me out if something doesn't stack up!) OOD816G OOD taken by Adam in Exeter probably 2013 It's been a long time in the brewing, but patience is a virtue – I'm not sure what tenacity is though, maybe a curse? Anyway, I wanted a Vitesse, I found one, it took a while to get it home. I first knew of this Vitesse sometime on the early naughties, maybe before, when I saw an engine bay picture and thought "that would be good, a PI Vitesse". I then bought a Vitesse, added PI, had my fun and sold it and sort ...