Blimey!

eBay item 4531417708 (Ends 05-Mar-05 17:18:34 GMT) - Vitesse/GT6 telescopic shock absorber conversion

What you can't see is the number of people watching this auction - 16 at the moment. That means there are 16 people interested in this conversion. I put one of these on my first Vitesse as I could not get replacement drop links for the lever arm shcokers and also neede new lever arms anyway so I went to the TSSC and bought one of the kits - at the time I was in the RAF and these were delivered to my address in the mess. Unfortunately the package created some sort of security alert and I was called to "explain myself" to the RAF Police in cgarge of Station Security - I was an Office Cadet, in RAF terms lower than a snakes scrotum and just as popular. I was told to inform the guard room if expecting packages of this type and sent off with my shockers! Luckily for me the local RAF motorsport club was a great place to sort stuff like this out and I got them fitted that same evening - easy job and the conversion transformed the handling - probably because the original levers were absolutely knackered!
Anyway, that car kept those on throughout my ownership and into it's 3 seasons of competition, I think they were still on it when sold.
The set I'm selling now has never seen the road so apart from being about 12 years old they are "new".

Lessons learnt

If you put an item on eBay for £1.00 starting bid and no reserve and you only get one bid they you have to sell it at that. If it's big and heavy and fragile then you have to pack it and post it so if you were generous and put the postage at cost you make bugger all! Then you need to pay the eBay listing and sale fees PLUS if the buyer pays by Paypal you have to pay them so in all you get to run around like an idiot, use up all your saved bubble wrap and sticky tape and queue up in the post office for 25 mins all to make a loss on a piece of crap that you really ought to throw away!
Ho hum, at least the buyer is happy - sods law will now operate and the damn thing will get damaged or lost in the post!
Remember, I do this for fun, I do this for fun, arse!

Roger's Blog

Roger's Blog
Just a quick plug for anyone reading, here's a Blog form one of my fellow Club Triumph members, Roger is a GT6 owner and is in the Netherlands.
There are a growing number of us Bloggers, many can be found on the Club Triumph message board - link on the links pane on the side of my Blog or off the Club Triumph Home page http://club.triumph.org.uk/
Oh and whilst I'm at it - I go bored with a gren blog and changed it to the rather natty red :-)

Spitfire MkIV & 1500 Hardtop - now it's REALLY cheap

eBay item 4531561700 (Ends 04-Mar-05 09:45:12 GMT) - Spitfire MkIV & 1500 Hardtop

Well there were loads of people "watching it" but no one actually put in a bid! C'mon people, I need to move it, you're now for the price of a bottle of coke and bag of crisps. Don't make me bin it, please!!!

NOW SOLD

Another one for collection only really - a Vitesse anti-roll bar, complete with all mountings and drop links on either end. Nothing much unusual about this one apart from the fact that it's straight! So many are bent when you take them off. Painted an interesting hue of blue hammerite. Open to offers, suggest a tenner would see me happy, Gotta be worth it for the colour alone :-)

Anyone need a pair of Vitesse rear tie rods, all free and easy to move. These were sand blasted, painted and reassembled with coppaslip. The end bushes are new rubber and all teh nuts and bolts were new. Have been fitted and then removed from a chassis but have never seen the road since their rebuild. £20 plus postage.

Space to move

Well the complete engine has gone, as have the front suspension towers, engine mounts and the alloy front and back plates, all to Dave Kent of Club Triumph who's building a Spit6, just as soon as he gets a Spitfire!
That means I can now pull some more stuff donw from the loft in the garage - I really must get at the work bench and tidy that up - what a mess!

The pile is reducing

Just had Tim Bancroft come over and collect some Rotoflex rear suspension and the wheels so now I have a bit more space in the garage and on the patio to drag yet more treasures down from the garage loft and see what else we have!
I know there's some Herald seats up there as well as some aftermarket recliner seats - those Ilve had up in teh loft for over 15 years so I wonder what state they are in - nice blue striped fabric I seem to recall.
Anyway, today I will be posting out 20+ Kastner books and a few eBay odds and ends. I'm hoping that by the end of the day I will have sold the front suspension, a 2.5 PI engine and some other assorted part.
The body shell rear tub has a few bids on it and looks like it will sell, I'm still getting interest in the the front end and centre section but no one seems to be bidding. I guess everyone wants a bargain at the end of the auction but myown experience of that is that it's very risky as eveyone is thinking the same way! Better get a "holding" bid in early just in case - not neccessarily the full amount of your bid but at least 50% of what you want to pay - that way you flush out the people who really want it and at least you know whether it's likley to be a bargain or not!
Messy job tomorrow, I need to go strip the fuel injection off the engine and drain the oil. The injection is destined for my Vitesse :-)

Kastner Books are here!

Wow - what a service from Kas. The first batch of books are here, Vol1 and Vol2 so I've been packaging them up and addressing them to all the buyers. This box full is all sold, the next box full need some buyers so pass the word around, only Vol2 available, £25 inc UK delivery.

Going going.............

A couple of days away on business (real day job business) and I'm back to loads of questions from people asking how much for this and how much for that etc.
My basic rule is that if I put it up for auction and it get's a bid then it stays there and runs the course. If someone comes to me with an attractive offer and no one else has bid then I'll take it down off eBay and sell it. Mt experiences with doing this so far have not been good, people saying "I'll take item X for £25" I then end the auction and never get the £25 or any further contact and end up putting it back on eBay and incurring two lots of cost.
As a general rule I don't use reserves, I put the start price at the lowest gigure I'll accept to sell the item - so if there's a body shell on there for £5 then I genuinely will sell it for a fiver if that's all people are prepared to pay!
Right, one more day of "real" work then it's back to my Triumph selling with a vengeance - oh and maybe I'll get round to rooting around in the garage to find all the odds and ends people have asked for plus posting the sold stuff!!

Is it possible to send an entire car through the post?

I ponder this as I sook sideways at a parcelled up petrol tank (hasn't seen petrol in at least 10 years) and various other mechanical odds and ends in plain brown wrappers.
I've already posted parts to Germany and had an enquiry about getting an engine there! Not sure how serious this enquiry will be when we discover shipping costs.
Anyway, I now have to nip out to the post office to deliver last nights packaging frenzy - having stuff ready packed up for when the money comes in makes life easier - parcelling up odd shapes things is just like Christmas eve, except the paper isn't as bright and there's no James Bond on the TV.
Just hope I can shift this scrapyard that's on my patio - c'mon everybody, you know you want a Vitesse bodyshell for a fiver :-) Whilst part of me has second thoughts about parting company with an old friend in this way another part reminds me that I have the car I always wanted sat, complete and ready to go in the garage - just needs the carbs replacing with fuel injection ;-)

Stuff that's sold or promised!

Looks like I've generated some interest :-) I'm getting lots of "Have you got a ...." emails so to avoid disappointment here are some of the main things that are not available

• Gearbox - I'm keepin it as a spare
• Diff - I'm keeping it as a spare but the overdrive prop is available
• Rear driveshafts - sold, spring on eBay, Telescopic conversion going on eBay soon, tie bars going on eBay soon too.
• Complete engine - sold but there's a 2 litre block and crank plus a 2.5 in pieces available
• Interior - never had any Vitesse interior but I do have some black Herald seats and some rear seats too (black base, blue back!)
• Dash - it's available but knackered really, too many extra holes! Crash pad is available though
• Front suspension - I thin the straight anti-roll bar and solid rack mounts are still available
• Wheels - now sold
• Front uprights - sold
  
  Right now to eBay some more stuff :-)

Green!

Well it didn't last long as a standard Blog did it :-) I thought I'd have a play and see what I could change and it seems you can change quite a lot! So I thought for a few days it would be green - just wait until I figure out how to make it yellow!!
Oh and to keep it Triumph - I just sold a Herald stearing column to a very nice chap who needed it to put it in - a bike engined track car he's building. So good luck Martin - send me a picture of the car as is :-)
I thought I had a long commute living in Reading and working in Norwich a couple of days a week - Martin lives in Coventry and works in Slough - daily!

Kastner books update

Spoke to Kas and he's signed a box of books for me - all the Vol 1 books I ordered have been signed. The first consignment should go in the post tomorrow, it's a holiday in Clalifornia today (and it's raining!) It's snowing here!!

A nice bare Mk2 chassis with all the hard dirty work done! Cleaned and painted but would benefit from some detail work - a couple of the body mounting holes need reeming out to make sure new bolts will fit OK. The centre outrigger on the driver's side has been replaced at some time and this is not in the factory position but as this is not critical to any geometry I was going to leave it alone. There are some plates on the chassis but you can see exactly what's been done and where - I was happy to leave it as it was because it was all sound. I wanted to make one small repair to the corner of the passenger side front outrigger as there's a small are that looks a little thin. I'm being critical here as the photo makes it look like new! Anyway, I'll sell it with a V5 if neccessary but as you can see, it's sat on my patio and has to go to keep the wife happy :-)

News of Kas Kastner's new book

I'm feeling like a right market trader here - this Blog has turned into Jason's Junk shop! Well as a break to the current stream of stuff for sale here's some news of the above.
Having put the word out that I was going to order up some new books I have gathered enough interest to get a big box of books sent over from California. Kas has already sent me an advanced copy and very good it is too. I've now had a load of people put in orders and send their cash over.
So the update - the books are all ordered, the money paid over and I have ordered a few more copies for "stock" in the hope that I can sell these on and satisfy the late comers :-)
Kas will send these books out this week and I've got them coming by priorty mail to try and cut down the waiting - the last lot took several weeks. I'm hoping they will be here in a week or 10 days. Check back here for news of dispatch.
I've asked Kas to sign the books but I can't promise that yours will be signed. If only a few are signed then I'll just shuffle them and send out randomly to be fair, I'm not going to charge a premium for signed copies.

Here's the other door with the new skin. I was going to prime them up to make them look a little more attractive - haven't yet got round to it and now the compressor's playing up - well the coupling on the hose leaks faster than the compressor can compress!

These doors have been completely refurbished as part of a college course - new skin on one, with the correctly braised joint at thetop leading edge. The other had a repair panel to the lower edge - some minor frame repairs were made. Both are now rust free and solid, ready for prep and paint. There's a coupleof useable hinges on them, some door furniture and metal trim too. No locks or trim panels but the saloon glass is there albeit needing refitting properly. Both quarterlights are fitted and working.

More treaures from the vaults - a complete Smiths heater for a Herald or Vitesse. The matrix looks good and it's even got the circular blower seal and the oblong air box seal still attached. Will get it on eBay soon, wonder what they fetch?

More discoveries in the garage

The sort out continues and today I have mostly been stripping the chassis. I now realise that I must have spent a lot of money on the chassis in getting it this far - there's a new diff in there and a brand new Vitesse spring! I hadn't realised this so I'll be keeping the diff for a spare and selling on the new Mk2 Vitesse spring - all my cars are swing spring equipped. The chassis has yielded a set of Goodrich braided hoses, fitted but never seen fluid. Also the rear Spax conversion - at the time the only alternative to knackered shockers as the lever arms were hard to come by and the drop links even harder.
The first round of selling has netted a few quid and shiftd some little stuff, I put the bigger stuff on to eBay last night and have had loads of interest already. If you're interested in something contact me quickly as it is moving fast. The rear driveshafts are sold, I've got someone coming to see an engine and suspension towers etc next weekend and there's been a bit of interest in the chassis but no sale yet :-(
All must go, much cheapness.

Look what I found, a nice rare set of five and half J rims for the Triumph stud pattern. Fitted with some illegal scrubbed P6 tyres (they were on a race Vitesse) but all 4 wheels are nice and clean having been painted before going away for many years. These will need to be sold on, I'll keep them for a while as it's easier to move the chassis about with them on it!

Yet more stuff goes under the virtual hammer

eBay.co.uk - , Classic Cars Parts by Brand and Automotive items at low prices

This started out as a little painful but now I'm getting into the swing of things and I'm almost enjoying it. The link above shows all my sale stuff. Loads of it is too big to post so I'm hoping that doesn't put people off.

OK so here's the patio complete with little helper!

Success for today's efforts - both cars in the garage and the chassis out on the drive to be dismantled - you should see the patio!

Herald/Vitesse towbar anyone? I must have had this for ever - it came on my first Vitesse that I bought 18 years ago - I am a hoarder!

The "lost" Vitesse project - in the making for err many years - I started it before I had kids and it's now in it's third garage and second house (the first garage was demolished and I had to build a new one!) The rolling chassis was completed over 10 years agai and has been in this gargae ever since. I used mainly new parts and all new nuts and bolts. It's all for sale now I;ve bought a running fire spitting Vitesse :-)

Looks OK with no rotten holes

Here's the silver painted tank, again plenty of surface rust but only light.

Here's the underneath, plenty of light surface rust but not rotten or holed.

Here you can see the holes, one on the top of teh tank and one on the base of the filler neck

Dredging the garage for fuel tanks I found these - the black one looks good but has two holes in the neck where Lucas PI return pipes were put - these are just drilled holes and could be braized up or blocked with a sealed gromit perhaps.

Let the Life Laundry begin

Well it's time to venture into the garage and start dragging out the last 15 years of accumulated "Project" parts - I'll be putting up the items for sale after I've established exactly what I've got!
Stuff that I know I need to shift quickly are teh larger parts:
Convertible body shell, needs work but is all complete, I guess I'll sell this with a V5 identity
Convertible centre section is more or less repaired
Vitesse front end, it's a Mk1 complete front end, needs usual work
Chassis - Mk2 overhauled and painted, currently fitted up as a rolling chassis but the rear drive shafts and Rotoflex are sold and a couple of people are interested in the front suspension.
Mk2 engines, two 2.5 PIs, one complete, one dismantled and a Mk2 block & crank that needs machining (rebore & regrind) good for core exchange.
There's a couple of Herald Vitesse hood frames
3 pairs of doors, 2 ready for paint with new skin and repaired, 2 pairs that need skins but with good frames
A couple of good boot lids - one Vitesse Mk2 one Herald - I have another Vitesse Mk2 at a mates house I need to retrieve
Loads and loads of trim and shiny bits
Loads of engine bits - couple of heads, rockers etc

Anyway, I'm off to the garage, photos follow. Get in touch if you need anything, first come first served and it ain't sold till I have the cash in my sweaty hand :-)

She's at it again

After buying the Sixfire for my wife Claudia to use as her daily driver I caught her out today using my car! I was in Norwich on business and came home early to find the Vitesse out from under it's cover and standing in the rain! Turns out she needed to take the kids out so a min of three seats was required. Now the Sixfire is hardly a two seater let alone three :-) So she thought - I'll take the Vitesse!
I think she has a taste for it as she was impressed with it, saying - "It's very responsive" I'd better fit an immobiliser I think!

New wipers for old

Whilst driving in the rain on her way to work, the wife managed to lose a wipeblade off the Sixfire last week, she did have the good sense not to score the screen with the bare end of the arm though. I bot the bullet and bought a complete new set of stainless arms and blades from Canley Classics. I have already bought a parking switch assembly to fit so that the wipers will park again and I also have to figure out how the switch is supposed to be wired in. We have two speed wipers and a single speed switch! Trouble is the two speed switch I have is the Spitfire version so it is for an electric rather than manual pump - more fun. So I not only need to figure out how it connects but also need to find a suitable electric pump - it's never ending really but I love it!

Canley Classics News Blog: Good start to the year!

WRX - The World Cup Rally practice car on Canley Classics News Blog
Saw this on Dave Pearson's blog - now that's a stripped down car! I must get up to Canley's and crawl all over it :-)

Cover shot of the new Kastner guide

I'm importing some copies of Kas Kastner's new book from the USA, if you want one you'd better contact me ASAP. I'll have a few spares but not many. Price is £25.00 including packing and UK delivery.
I will post worldwide by prior arrangement and at cost.
There's quite a bit of UK content in the book but it is US biased, all Kastner's experience being in the US albeit on British cars. He writes in his own inimitable style of the halcyon days of Triumph in the US - a good read and an excellent source of tuning data and ideas.
Kas publishes these books himself in limited print runs. When they are gone it needs a large demand to get a reprint. Vol 1 has been reprinted and Vol 2 may be but don't count on it!
Vol 1 still available also in very limited numbers as the second print run has almost sold out.

Kastner's New Book

I'm importing some copies of Kas Kastner's new book from the USA, if you want one you'd better contact me ASAP. I'll have a few spares but not many.

More stuff for sale - this time not part of the abandoned Vitesse project but a Spit IV hardtop that came with the Sixfire - it's in really good condition for restoration - needs a little prep and paint - very little rust and I dare say if you weren't too fussy you could just paint it, put some new window seals in it and use it - the rear window and seal is OK. If you've got a crappy hardtop already this would be an easy job - it comes with only one window and no fittings. I put it on eBay under Item number: 4528890133 or you could take a look at whatever else I have for sale there -
Obviously I can't send it anywhere BUT it does fit in the back of a Toyota Avensis (Mk2) so if you have a similar sized car you might be OK to squeeze it in!

My new toy, a 2.6 litre Vitesse - photo from the "Graham Reeks Sod Off Run to Norfolk" 13/2/05

Ressurection

I thought it would be an idea to ressurect this here Blogg that I started but then forgot about! So here goes with a catch up!
Last year
I got an email out of the blue from a lady who had seen pictures of our Herald and said she wanted to buy it. I gave her some details, she got on a train from Wales and turned up with a large bag of money, bought it for a great price and I had to find another car!
We got a tip off about a 6 cylinder Spitfire and I contacted the seller - looked right, good price so I bought it.
It was excellent but needed shaking downafter the rebuid - niggly little problems that the builder hadn't got round to sorting but the basic car was great.
This year, got asked to show the Sixfire (as it is called) on the Club Triumph Stand at Stoneleigh. Whilst there it was parked next to a snorty 2.6 litre Vitesse - I knew the owner, Big Dave and we got chatting overthe car which was for sale.
To cut a long story short, I bought it - I'm still wondering where the money came from! My dear wife encouraged me and so now I have loads of parts of the old project Vitesse to sell on.
I need to rid the garage of a convertible Vitesse Mk2 in pieces - all stripped down and ready to be worked on - the big bits have to go for space but also to get back a little money.