Ticket please!

Well it's been a long time since posting anything here! Apologies but life's been a bit hectic recently - two changes of job and lots of travelling has meant my attention to Triumphs has been pretty lacking.

Anyway, the ticket in the heading is an MOT test ticket, secured today by my every jolly and reasonable MOT man - really good bloke and always helpful, I know MOT testers come in all varieties, from jobsworth right down to pedantic git but occasionally you find a good 'un. Sun Garage on the A4 between Reading and Thatcham.

The Clutch issue has been improved, I replaced all the hydraulics and tidied it all up - there's still a hint of the stickiness in there and I think I might just take the whole pedal box assembly out and have a proper look - I always suspected the pedal bush so will have a look at that. Such a pain in the neck to get at though!

My thoughts about heat were rubbish, the slave is the on the opposite side of the engine to the exhaust!

The brake light switch had disintegrated and so I bought a new one but the modern replacements are far too true to the originals, ie they're flimsy and so I followed a few posts on the TR Reg forum and identified a German part that was both cheaper and more substantial - it's a metal switch made for a Merc or BMW

The eBay listing said

BMW 2 PIN ADJUSTABLE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH, ALSO FITS OLD MERCEDES VANS & CARS AS IN THE PICTURE.I HAVE SOLD QUITE A LOT OF THESE THANKS TO A MENTION ON A TRIUMPH TR 6 FORUM &  WAS TOLD THEY MIGHT FIT THE TR RANGE, SORRY THAT IS ALL I KNOW & WAS ASKED TO LIST IT SO, WE ALSO SELL THE ALUMINIUM FAE SWITCH.FITS E3 E6 E9 E10 E12 E21 E28 & E30OLD SERIES 2 3 5 6 & 7MADE IN GERMANY TO THE HIGHEST OF STANDARDS.OE 61311368786 / 500496
and he was right, it's got two nuts on the threaded body so it's very adjustable enabling me to set it up just right.

The indicators played up on the way back from the MOT and I suspect a bad earth somewhere as with wiggling I can get all the bulbs to work.
That's for another day as I am now full of a summer cold/flu with streaming nose and eyes - so I'll put the car away ready for tomorrow and the Hook meeting.
There I hope to meet "Team Torpedo" from the US who are doing the Ten Countries Run.

Speaking of which, I'll be driving down to South London somewhere to park up in a strangers drive and meet my crew and car for the event.
Yes, the screaming blue 2000 of Nigel Gair will be my home for the rest of the week as we upset foreigners all over continental Europe again.
I feel it's our gift the world, the sight and sound of old cars being driven hard, enjoyed and used.

After that it's back home for a few more days before I start a new job. Having spent 6 months working for Accenture I decided to move on, the job was good, the people very good
but there was something missing. An opportunity arose with a competitor and I pursued it. That meant that the week before last, whilst in Johannesburg I accepted an offer and effectively made myself redundant again for the second time in 6 months. Last week Accenture paid me off - cash in lieu of notice, which was nice. That means I'm technically "unemployed" as I don't start the new job until the 17th Sept - great :-) My new employer is an American company, based in San Francisco - so I'll be back out there again soon. The job will involve more travel - which I like, they pay better - which I like too. I may not have much time with the Triumphs but I'm hoping I can carve a decent slice for messing about in old cars :-)


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