Joey spud

Years ago I got called out to a Skyline that had a loss of power and bad idle at a posh private school in Sevenoaks. It was an uprated twin turbo set up with lots of silicone pipework running everywhere and the young owner said he just started it up blipped the throttle and it went bang and lost power and was now convinced he had blown a piston or dropped a valve.
He was moaning on that he'd told the call taker he would need a flat bed recovery and not me in my orange T5. Anyway while he was pacing up and down mentally pricing up the cost of an engine rebuild I was looking for anything obviously wrong as it overfueling massively and being JDM I couldn't plug in to look at any live data when I reached under the air boxes to have a wiggle of the wiring and hoses when I felt a three inch boost pipe hanging free.
You couldn't see it from above and the car was too low to get under the engine bay to look up but once the air boxes where removed it became visible. It was a right sod to get back on again  but once it was securely retained and everything reassembled the engine restarted and ran fine again.
I think he had been more than just been blipping the throttle but he was mighty relieved although never gave me a tip or appologised for giving me ear ache about the recovery truck.
Those VAG turbo hose fittings were a big call out/easy fix for us with many popping off usually a few days after being disturbed while having repairs carried out at a garage. We kept new clips for them but often it was the wedge bits on the hose that were a bit worn and would slip under the clip when on boost so many cable ties were added for extra security.

I have finally got hold of a book I have been looking for, I found it and bought it from a used book shop in the UK on ebay. 
And it lives up to expectations, lots of interesting history and facts here.

Wife is watching the Brits,  what an absolutely soulless heap of horseshit with the most cringe making presenting I've ever seen 
It used to be pretty decent back in the 90's IIRC 

I'm calling it a day.  Not making ends meet any more, unfortunately.  I did send a message out to all my clients, including many on here that have used me regularly and/or recently - apologies if I missed anyone.  I'll still be on the forum (mostly lurking) and haven't discounted making a comeback at some point, but I just don't know yet - all the balls are very much up in the air at present.

Years ago I got called out to a Skyline that had a loss of power and bad idle at a posh private school in Sevenoaks. It was an uprated twin turbo set up with lots of silicone pipework running everywhere and the young owner said he just started it up blipped the throttle and it went bang and lost power and was now convinced he had blown a piston or dropped a valve.
He was moaning on that he'd told the call taker he would need a flat bed recovery and not me in my orange T5. Anyway while he was pacing up and down mentally pricing up the cost of an engine rebuild I was looking for anything obviously wrong as it overfueling massively and being JDM I couldn't plug in to look at any live data when I reached under the air boxes to have a wiggle of the wiring and hoses when I felt a three inch boost pipe hanging free.
You couldn't see it from above and the car was too low to get under the engine bay to look up but once the air boxes where removed it became visible. It was a right sod to get back on again  but once it was securely retained and everything reassembled the engine restarted and ran fine again.
I think he had been more than just been blipping the throttle but he was mighty relieved although never gave me a tip or appologised for giving me ear ache about the recovery truck.
Those VAG turbo hose fittings were a big call out/easy fix for us with many popping off usually a few days after being disturbed while having repairs carried out at a garage. We kept new clips for them but often it was the wedge bits on the hose that were a bit worn and would slip under the clip when on boost so many cable ties were added for extra security.

You can't beat the satisfaction of making cloudy headlamp lenses look new again.
The sister in law put a wide scratch along the whole length of her caravans side window getting too close to a tree and was in tears but half an hour of sanding with an 600 pad and cutting back with various compounds had it looking like new again.

You can't beat the satisfaction of making cloudy headlamp lenses look new again.
The sister in law put a wide scratch along the whole length of her caravans side window getting too close to a tree and was in tears but half an hour of sanding with an 600 pad and cutting back with various compounds had it looking like new again.

That would be fantastic! You can get brand new aftermarket headlights cheap on eBay but I don't know how good they are. Plus there is a little VW logo on the bulb cover on the front and I don't think my OCD could put up with not having that on one side. 😅
 

Surely the easiest route to more power would be to fit a Herald engine or similar?  I'm not sure more power would particularly suit the car though - they're really designed for gentle trundling

Yes, there’s been a few people who have fitted Herald/Spitfire engines and some even retain the original gearbox with column change.
I’m quite happy with the little sidevalve to be honest. It’s got loads of charm, if you view it more like a thirties car it doesn’t seem too slow.

This all reminds me of a customer of mine back in the late nineties  when I ran a testing station.
I had a good customer called Kent Roofing (who ran three Nissan Cabstars) who had in his front garden a scruffy Humber Sceptre with a reg that was four numbers and then KR.
The guy kept asking me about doing him a favour and quickly writing out a ticket for the Humber so he could put the KR reg on his Mercedes. After a few months of continued pestering I said get the car to me and I will put it through a "gentle MOT test" and go from there.
It was towed over to my place and I had a look over it and to be fair it wasn't too bad but there was a lot of surface corrosion and panels like the sills were weak but you couldn't push through them or the brake hoses and pipes were perished but just about ok. Cleaning up the brakes and sorting some poor electrical connections got the car capable of passing the test although it was anything like road ready as the coolant hoses were rock hard,the rad leaked and the fuel tank had brown muck in it that kept blocking its filter and carbs (I strapped a Reliant Robin tank in the boot in the end ).
The bronze paintwork was shot and the once prestige interior was very poor with mouldy carpets and seats and the lacquer was flaking off the dash and door cappings.
Anyway I did eventually pass it after much fettling and replacing various small bits and pieces and I wrote out a massive list of advisories on the VT30 (pre computerised days) too.
Hand on heart on the day I wrote out the MOT certificate the old Humber had met the minimum requirements to gain a pass but ten miles down the road or a week later who knows.
The KR plate soon got swapped onto the Mercedes and the Sceptre got sold on never to be seen again.

I think I love the look of the Mayflower but for the life of me I don't know why.
I mean I look at the front and think yep that's nice then look at the sharp edged limo styled flanks and rear end and get a bit confused. It's hard to work out what market Triumph were aiming for. A second car for wealthy familys maybe ?
Still you're the perfect new owner afor it that's for sure.

Many older engines did not have oil filters except for a strainer in the sump.   It is usually quite difficult to add a proper full-flow filter  between the pump and the oil galleries - most of the conversions on early Fords etc. use a bypass system, which is easier to engineer but only filters a bit of the oil at a time.   It does work reasonably well, but it is a lot of work unless a kit is available, so arguably it is simpler just to change the oil more frequently.

I think I love the look of the Mayflower but for the life of me I don't know why.
I mean I look at the front and think yep that's nice then look at the sharp edged limo styled flanks and rear end and get a bit confused. It's hard to work out what market Triumph were aiming for. A second car for wealthy familys maybe ?
Still you're the perfect new owner afor it that's for sure.

Some progress ! Got a new old stock carb from Italy . They are different from 104s and sambas which is a pain in the ass . 
Just given the engine a good jet wash off and ran it back up to dry it out .
Ive booked a few days on it in March to undo dad’s bodges and hopefully get it mot ready . 

 

30 minutes in and nobody has got my pun yet. 


Or maybe, like most of my jokes its just not funny. 

Update
Brakes; got one of the new calipers in the post, test fitted it so that should be ok, ordered some new banjo bolts for the hose connectors. Total spend 21 quid on fitting kit, 6 quid on banjo bolts and 90 quid on calipers. 
Also got a much heavier box in the post which turned out to be the new starter motor (the car came without starter or battery). Having improvised a 'ghetto' battery solution (nicked the battery out of my Landrover) and plumbed in the new starter it fired up almost instantaneously and settled down to a smooth idle. Result! 
All I'm waiting for now is the other caliper then it'll be mobile and ready to take for a little remedial welding.   

My SRi got nicked off my driveway in the early hours I even heard it being driven away. Unfortunately the next door neighbour had an Astra GTE and i thought it was their car driving off.
The plod found it later that morning with its engine still running parked behind a nearby village hall.

I think I love the look of the Mayflower but for the life of me I don't know why.
I mean I look at the front and think yep that's nice then look at the sharp edged limo styled flanks and rear end and get a bit confused. It's hard to work out what market Triumph were aiming for. A second car for wealthy familys maybe ?
Still you're the perfect new owner afor it that's for sure.

Just to confirm the bolts will be M12 cap heads with a pitch of 1.5 and 40mm thread length, not sure on the grade but would assume either 10.9 or 12.9, GM part numbers 90095050 or 90348294, just ping me a message if you get stuck for anything

Triumph Mayflower in literature: Here featured in a section from the introduction to novelist Julian Barnes book of essays about France - 'Something to Declare' - first published in 2001:
"I first went to France in the summer of 1959 at the age of thirteen. My pre-adolescence had been car-free and island-bound; now there stood in front of our house a gun-metal-grey Triumph Mayflower, bought secondhand, suddenly affordable thanks to a legacy from Great Aunt Edie. It struck me then - as any car would have done - as deeply handsome, if perhaps a little too boxy and sharp-edged for true elegance; last year, in a poll of British autophiles, it was voted one of the ten ugliest cars ever built. Registration plate RTW1, red leather upholstery, walnut dashboard, no radio, and a blue metal RAC badge on the front. (The RAC man, portly and moustachioed, with heavy patched boots and a subservient manner, had arrived to enrol us. His first, preposterous question to my father - 'Now, sir, how many cars have you got?' - passed into quiet family myth.) That cars were intended not just for safe commuting but also for perilous voyage was endorsed the Triumph's subtitle, and further its illustrative hubcaps: at their centre was an emblematic boss depicting, in blue and red enamel, a Mercator projection of the globe.
Our first expedition was from suburban Middlesex to provincial France. At Newhaven we watched nervously as the Mayflower was slung by crane with routine insouciance over our heads and down into the ferry's hold. The metal RAC badge at the front was now matched a metal GB plate at the rear. My mother drove; my father map-read and performed emergency hand-signals; my brother and I sat in the back and worried. Over the next few summers we would loop our way through different regions of France, mostly avoiding large cities and always avoiding Paris"
(I think the book may be out of print now - that's really the only car related bit.)

I’ve been improving this car since picking it up on Saturday. Greased all the points, changed the oil (no filter on these) therefore it’s important to change it regularly. 
Second gear was an awkward bastard. It was very reluctant to engage going 1st-2nd, but going down and the other gears were fine. The previous owner who traded it in for a Minor got in touch and said that second gear problem was one of the reasons he got rid of it, the other was the lack of speed. We can’t do much about the latter but what about the former. 
He said he used to slip the clutch and move off in second which is less than ideal. Although the accepted thing to do with the Hampshire is pull away in second, it’s got a very torquey 2.2 OHV engine which the Mayflower, well, hasn’t so it’s important to have all the gears working correctly.
Adjusting the gear linkage made it so it always went in but it wasn’t very smooth unless I double-declutched. I had a look at the clutch adjustment. The free play should be 1/2” but it was at least 2- 2 1/2”. Adjusted that up correctly and now it works perfectly and smoothly in all gears. 
Other jobs included tuning up the engine, and feeding the very dry original leather with the leather cream Vulgalour used on his Lanchester, I went and bought a bottle on his recommendation. It’s had two applications already and it’s getting there but it hadn’t been done for years so it really needs another application. I also tightened up the fuel pump and the stator tube on the end of the steering box, both were leaking and topped up the steering box. I think the fuel pump may need a new gasket as it’s still weeping slightly but the steering box is now dry which is good. Unfortunately the (recently recored) rad is leaking from two places, the drain tap and a soldered joint on the side so I’ll have to whip that out and repair it. I’ve got a spare tap which should fit.
The only other thing I’ve had to deal with is the non-functioning headlights. The car has a brand new loom so my first thought was they’ve forgotten to connect something or wired something in wrongly. I couldn’t find anything wrong with the loom so tested the switch with my test meter which showed it was faulty. To prove the point I ran a link wire across the back of the switch from sidelights to headlights with the switch turned on and the headlights came on. I ordered a secondhand replacement from the Austin Counties car club (same switch used on Somerset etc) which turned up and I tested it and it’s a goodun. Unfortunately you need to turn the ignition switch to the on position to remove and swap the barrel over and none of my keys would operate the switch. So that’ll have to wait until a key turns up for it.
So far though, I’m loving it. It drives beautifully and it’s brimming with character. Also it’s nice to have something that doesn’t need welding!

Bedford TM Artic Classic Lorry | eBay
It doesn't get better than that.
 
(Except the D20 wheels/tyres can FRO)