TSSC WEST KENT AREA

First let me wish everybody a most prosperous new year for 2010, thank you all for your support during the past two years, and wish Steve the best of luck during his term as AO.

Next, a plea to book up for our

Christmas Dinner.

Friday 15 January 2010

At the Cock Horse, Hildenborough,

Meet from 7:30, sit down at 8:00 pm.

All for £17.95

There is en excellent choice of menu which can be seen on our Area web-site.  Please, please phone me (or Steve, 01622 831695 as I don’t expect to get to the December meet) to book your choice as soon as possible so it  can be passed on to the Cock Horse chef.

Our end of November meeting produced quite a surprise. Following the atrocious weather we had had for some time past, I turned up at the Cock Horse at about 7:45 to find it empty. Even Glynn the licencee was nowhere to be seen. He was out the back. The empty pub did not bode well, but gradually most of the regulars turned up together with a good number of new faces – to the extent that it turned out to be one of the fullest meetings we have had.

I’m sorry I didn’t manage to talk to evberybody – nor to remember all of the new names, but I did have a long conversation with Martin and Trish Seivert. They have had difficulty finding the correct distance onto a Spit driveshaft to push a new bearing. Does nobody anywhere define this? Or is it just a case of adjustment of the bearing so the brakedrum fits sensibly?  

Another interesting visitor was Stuart Dickinson back from Canada / New York / Miami. Stuart was – or is – into racing and seemed to know just about everything there was to know about fast Triumph engines. Since John Thomason was no stranger to him, he could have been involved in sorting out Quasi’s engine.

Several of you were asking – already – about the Drive-It-Day destination. There are lots of choices in the area and just beyond, so do let Steve know your suggestion at the end-of December or end of January meetings.

Incidentally, as it’s likely you’ll receive this copy before the end of December, it was decided that the meeting on Tuesday 29th December is on.

That’s about all I have for now. So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all, and keep Triumphant.

Del

Additional message from Steve:

Following some suggestions at last month's meeting concerning Drive It Day next year, I am currently exploring the possibility of a run to Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum in Sussex - this looks like being a shorter run than last years but does have the advantage of ending at an interesting location - let me know what you think

Thanks - Steve

T.S.S.C.  West Kent

Christmas Dinner.

This has been booked for

Friday January 15th 2010

At the

Cock Horse, Hildenborough,

Meet from 7:30, sit down at 8:00 pm.

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Menu

Starters

Duck and Port pate with toast and homemade onion marmalade,

Curried parsnip and pear soup with crusty bread roll

Grilled Brie and Portobello mushrooms with mixed dressed leaves,

Chilli Prawn and Avocado cocktail with wholemeal bread. 

Mains

§ Slow roasted brisket of beef with Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables,

§  Roast turkey breast with roast potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables,

§  Roast loin of pork with herb, apple and onion stuffing, roast potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables,

§  Roasted salmon fillet with lemon and dill sauce,with and fresh seasonal vegetables,

§  Italian risotto, with mixed wild mushrooms, wild roquette and parmesan shavings.

Sweets

Christmas pudding and brandy sauce,

Apple pie with custard, cream or ice cream,

Selection of ice creams

All for £17.95

At the moment they had not had their full menus printed so there is no mention of mince pies or coffee.

In due course, the landlord would like a £10 per person deposit,  please contact  Del Holman, 01 732 743 747 or Steve Pratt 01622 831695

Members of the SOC Forum that I belong to are doing their annual Christmas run through London on Sunday 13th December, other Triumphs may join, there is no fee, just the cost of a Bacon Butty and cup of Tea at the ACE Cafe.

 I have expressed my intention to join them, so if anyone wants to tag along you will be more than welcome. Posted below is an extract of the latest message on the route:

Regards Steve  

All,

So I guess its  3 to 3.30 at the ACE Cafe and we set off at 4 PM for town?

Just checked the Ace website and nothing too exciting on there on Sun 13th Dec in the afternoon so I will probably drop them a note to let them know we're going to show up. If you've never been before they do a great mug of tea and bacon buttie!

Set off by 4 PM Gives us time to get the runners and riders into position!

There were atleast a dozen last year so should have similar if not more this year

I guess no point trying to convoy as the traffic lights en route tend to cause havoc with the rear end Charlies!

Ian i'm expecting you as Flt Lt Tahiti blue on this run and any other T/Blues obviously mashelling the other colours in the rut!

Other Triumph's more than welcome (i.e Vitesee, GT6's etc) but please no MG's!!!

More details to follow but the run is pretty much as dicussed already in the thread.

Start point = Ace - KO 4 PM

Mid point stop 1 = BA London Eye - 15 mins or so

Mid point stop 2 =Waterloo Bridge is always a good stop point too as it has views west & east along the river...

Route End - Covent Garden (via Catherine St, which we pass on the first half of the route. This then gives you ample opportunity to enjoy the West End if required!)

I'll do some A4 sheets for the route for anybody who needs one on the day (cos i'm nice like that) I'll have them in the Stag on the day, easy to find it will be Tahiti blue one!!!

And if we're really lucky we'll see Santa in his Java Green sleigh!

Mark/Stag77 

If you want to view the full discussion, it may be found here: http://stagownersclub.mywowbb.com/forum1/6366-1.html

Welcome to this month?s new member, David Wilkinson, and his GT6.

Nearly the end of the show season and time to slow down!  Herts & Beds Duxford meeting has been and gone. Where were you all? Just Chris and myself there. It was a good turnout ofcars, and the museum displays just get better and better. The MG meet was pretty poor. Mostly modern MGs with a few As, Bs and Cs. I can?t recall any black number plates there at all.

There's two Restoration Shows, the Stoneleigh one will have just passed when you read this, but there's another RestorationShow and Auction on 7thand 8th November 2009 at the Royal Bath and West Showground from 10am to 4:30.  To save £2.50 phone 01179  071 000  and quote AAR1 for your tickets.

And there's the Classic Motor Show atthe NEC on 13/14/15 November, tickets £13 in advance. To save £5, see p25 ofthe October Courier. £18 entrance on the day is getting a bit silly.  Getting things in order for 2010, there's an early meet at the Bath and West show-ground - the Great Western Autojumble on 13 and 14 February 2010. Use the samereference AAR1 and hope this doesn't clash with Stoneleigh ? of which I have no details as yet.

The show in the Medway Historic Dockyard is on 4 th and 5 thApril. This show is a freebee for a car with one driver and one passengerwho book in advance. Go to www.thedockyard.co.uk.  SEM is on 8th and 9th May. 

I haven't yet got a date for the STMarque Weekend at Prescott.

Classic Le Mans 2010 is on 9th to 11th July, but the club is asking for a lot of extra help from members to run the Tetre Rouge camp site, right on the circuit. If you fancy a subsidised week (from 7th to13th), doing anything from running the bar, electrician or carpenter to driving an extra van, just contact Nigel Clark at HQ, who has full details of what staff are needed.

Stafford 2010 is on 20/21/22August when we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Stag.

We have afew more tales of woe to tell about our area Triumphs. Steve set off for theClub Triumph Ten Countries run. But his Spit died in a cloud of white smoke at Grenoble.

Sounds like cylinder head gasket to me, but with rattley bearings there could be a winter rebuild here. Andy Copas too is not happy with his Toledo engine. Steve has penned the following summary of his trip 10 Countries trip.

For those of you who have been following my recent antics with the Spitfire on my blog, you will know that I embarked on Club Triumph's 10 Countries Run onThursday 10th September.(see http://spitfirestag.blogspot.com/ ;) Alot of preparation was done to the car, including a good second-hand exhaust manifold to replace the existing one. As many of you will know, the 1500Spitfire exhaust manifold is a poor design and I spent hours putting the replacement one on. 

The good news was, it held together quite well up to thestart at The Plough in Enfield, by Dover, it sounded like a Standard Tractor again!

Anyway, my brother Richard and I decided to soldier on with it until the firstovernight stop at Beziers on the south coast of France. So we left Calais and motored down to the first control stop at Le Mans where a bit more Gun Gum was plastered on to little effect. It wasn't so bad on the auto-routes when a light throttle was being used, but when we came to the second Control Stop at Condom I fear we may have woken up the assembled drivers in their Triumphs as we arrived about an hour later than them having rested near Bordeaux a couple of hoursearlier.

A bit more Gun Gum, then we left for the run up into Spain and Andorra. Theroad into Spain was great, although the car did suffer a bit from low oil pressure and fuel vaporisation during the long hot climb up the mountains. When we got near to Andorra we were turned around by other 10CR participants as it was effectively closed due to the volume of traffic. We sought out a new route toget us to Beziers, taking us down a very windy road to Perpignan where we could join the auto-route to get us to our hotel at Beziers.

I decided to take the carbs off, lose the heat-shield as it was getting in the way of fixing themanifold/downpipe joint and join it together using plenty of Firegum (I had come prepared - but forgotten to pack the downpipe gasket!) Did you know that UJ flange nuts also fit the manifold joint studs? I didn't until I stripped the threads of the existing nuts!

After evening dinner and a welcome sleep in a comfortable bed, I put everything back together before breakfast and left for the Millau Bridge Control Stop about an hour later than most of the other cars. The Spitfire was running great now, so quiet we could hear the CD player - what luxury!  (MyBrother took some video of this which is on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrRichski ;)

After taking the obligatory photos of the very impressive bridge we departed on our way to Italy and Switzerland, taking in a detour through the Ardeche to Montelimar to avoid some taxing hill climbs on the original route and give the exhaust joint and us an easy time.

All was going well until the motorwayservices on the Auto route near Grenoble. Having fuelled the car, cleaned it's windscreen, had some refreshment etc we pulled out onto the motorway, whenall of a sudden the engine started rattling badly and we lost power, so we limped along to the next exit, got onto the normal roads and called the AA. (If you are on any part of the auto-route, including the on/off ramps at Toll Booths the AA are not allowed to attend to you and recovery has tobe arranged by the Police at a cost to you - hence the need to limp along!)

To cut a long story short, the car was recovered to a local garage, close by wewere put up in a local hotel - excellent food - to await a hire car the nextday. Sunday morning came and the AA confirmed that a hire car had been arranged and a very nice young French lady taxi driver drove us at great speed to the outskirts of Grenoble where we collected a Peugeot Partner Teepee diesel. Bythis time it was 11.00am, so we decided to skip Italy and Switzerland and headstraight for the next overnight stop at Kerkrade in the Netherlands - we made it by 8.00pm, went through Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands, but missed dinner. However Ellis Stokes, the CT10 CR organiser, kindly got a couple of Pizza's brought in which we eagerly devoured whilst having a great evening talking to fellow participants Paul and David Lonsdale.

The next morning (Monday) we rose early and motored through Belgium back to Calais where we swapped the French car for a British registered Toyota Auris which was duly returned to the Tonbridge depot by 5.00pm that evening. In total we managed 8 out of the 10 Countries (albeit only 4 in the Spitfire and one of those was England!) and my Sat Nav recorded a total of 2950 miles, 1000 of which were in the hire cars, so the Spitfire did quite well really considering its harsh treatment in the Pyrenees. Overall MPG in the Spit before its retirement was consistently between 38 and 40mpg at each refuelstop.

The French garage did some investigation and reported to theAA that the fuel pump has gone and the car is running on 3 cylinders consequently it was agreed that the car would be repatriated to the UK within 10 to 14 days - bit of 'déjà vu' here as this happened last time I did the 10CR in 2007 following a collapsed rear wheel bearing. (I was carrying a complete driveshaft and hub as spare this year!) I arranged for it to be delivered to my local garage who will give me a diagnosis of the damage and went off for a week?s holiday in Spain with the family.

The latest news as I write this? As the car still hadn't arrived in this country when I returned from holiday I rang the AA for a delivery date - after a couple of calls they rang back and apologised, the paperwork to the recovery company was mislaid and the car was still near Grenoble! I have just heard from them that it should be back on 12th October!

Will we attempt it a third time? Ask me in a few month's time when I've sorted the car, we did enjoy this 10CR, we got a lot further than last time -maybe 3rd time lucky? - The next real test will be the Round Britain Reliability Run if our application is successful in November.

Steve

Gary?s GT6 also decided to die at a bus stop in Bromley High Street. The car did create a lot of interest to those waiting for the bus, but what a nuisance.Cause seems to have been a ?new? fuel pump that failed ? one of the valves fellout. And something at the bottom of his gear lever failed too.

I, too,succumbed to failure of another kind. I took the V8 for its MOT recently ? andI can guess what you are all thinking. Well you are all wrong. It was theentire DVLA web based system that failed, and the poor test station owner couldn?t enter data, print certificates, or do anything for several cars tested before mine, nor for mine. So I?ll go back another day. Fingers crossed.

Subsequent to my e-mail to every-body about the BBC Radio Kent guy ? Andy Garland - who was supposed to visit our last meeting ? you will have noticed that he didn?tturn up! Cross him off my Xmas card list.

Next meeting we?ll have to think about our ChristmasDinner. Ours is usually held some time in January to avoid the usually overcrowded pre-Christmas period. And by the next meeting I?ll have had a word with the Cock Horse?s licensee to see what he can do for us. Remember last year?s emergency do? He got us out of a problem at about 12 hour?s notice ? and an excellent meal it was too. That?s why we moved permanently to the Cock Horse for subsequent meetings.

Finally another warning from John. Seems that continental fuel now contains about 20%bio-fuel of some kind, which has a nasty effect on certain rubbers used as fuelpipe joints and some fuel pump diaphragms. Best check this out before you go abroad!

I guessthat?s all for now. Keep Triumphant,

Del

Well, there it is – all over now for another year.  What an excellent job Claire and Nigel Hill made, not only of this year’s Stafford Family Weekend, but also of rejuvenating the show over the past few years, from what it had become several years ago.  Thanks to you both.

West Kent had a good turnout there – with Frank and Irene, Ann, Chris, Malcolm and family, Ian and myself. The weekend started with some excellent fun on the Friday evening. The Race Night proved great fun and raised lots of funds for the St Johns Ambulance team who were there. The surprise item though was the extra ninth race. The organisers sought sponsorship for the eight horses, which raised £235, half to go to the winning “owner” and half to St Johns.  However the winning owner turned out to be – if memory serves me correctly - Nottingham Area who had clubbed together to be sponsors. They generously gave their winnings back to St Johns. So the new affiliation with them (as a change from the Red Cross) went very well, but best of all, well done Notts Area.

And what about the prototype and concept cars on display. The club’s 4 door Herald prototype looked rather sad; there was an Indian built 4 door Standard Herald Estate that had just arrived from Poland. With a Vitesse type bonnet and strange headlights it must be rather rare in the UK. But the star of these cars must be the Herald Coupe concept hatchback (owned and restored by Chris Gunby), made with the left and right sides different. This was a strategy used by many car makers to save costs when a new model was being developed.

At our Area meeting at the end of August, we were very pleased to meet four new members, (and there’s a fifth to come next month, Colin Hugh, who couldn’t make the August meeting). Welcome to Paul Stanton, Ian Bailey, Ian Rixon and Gary Bishop. I hope you were able to experience some of the expertise we have in the area.

Now for some less welcome news.

Ian – sorry to hear about your Spit’s misfortune returning from Stafford. Seems that some stupid woman drove into a petrol station the wrong way and then reversed into the back end of Ian’s Spit. Ian was able to drive home, but what a pain.

John had had to leave his Vitesse in France, where it had a most unlikely problem.  The drain plug fell out of the drain tube that pokes out through the floor from his Vitesse’s petrol tank, rendering the tank useless. As our threads are incompatible with those in France, John had to leave the car there, to be recovered. A most unlikely nut to work loose. And the problem with the fuel-tank must be annoying too.

I think I have mentioned this before, but never got anywhere with it.  Good repairers of our cars bodywork and mechanical parts, are becoming fewer and fewer, and I propose to make an area list of those specialists we know and can recommend. Like the guy out at Kilndown on the A 21 near Flimwell, and somebody else, under the arches in Deptford ???.  And Alan’s Stonegate garage at Ticehurst. Several of the Area have info like this that we ought to have available to all, so can you do your homework and find the correct name and address of each restorer and pen a few words about their skills to add to our file, please.

Let’s hope that the October Courier reaches you at the beginning of October. You will in any case have been reminded at the end of September meeting that it is Herts and Beds Duxford day on Sunday October 4 th.  But do read the Herts and Beds piece in the August Courier and you’ll see that another unmentionable make’s OC will be joining us somewhere on the airfield, and some Russian cars and military stock joining us near our patch.

Don’t forget my plea that you’ll need a new AO from January 1st, as Wendy retires and we'll be off to travel somewhere in India, Borneo and NZ, but not all in the same trip!!  I’ll send you postcards.

Best wishes, Keep Triumphant,

Del

Hi All,

TSSC West Kent meeting Tuesday 29th September

During the past fortnight there has been some discussion on BBC Radio Kent about the insurance costs for young drivers, during which the advice to join a club was given.

As a result of my approaches on behalf of the club, the interviewer, Andy Garland, expressed an interest in, and is coming to visit the next club meeting.

Andy drives, I think, a Morris Minor, which I have said would be most welcome, and also used to have a TR7. He is enthusiastic about Classic cars.  We should get some good publicicity out of the visit.

In order to show the club in a good light it would be helpful if we had a good turn out of our cars, and if you can bring your car, please do so. We have a good spread of cars across the entire Triumph range, from the small engined Heralds and Spits to Stags, TRs and Bonds, so please help us to put on a good show. Fingers crossed for good weather!

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Don’t forget Duxford on Sunday 4th October when we will have the pleasures of the MGOC also on on the airfield, together with a club for Soviet cars and Military vehicles.

Best wishes,

Del Holman.

One of the West Kent Members, Steve Pratt and his brother Richard are making a second attempt at the Ten Countries Run organised by Club Triumph.

The run starts early on the 10th September in North London, crossing the channel by  Lunchtime, then driving through Europe visiting the following countries over the next four days, returning to North London on Monday 14th. England, France, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium.

Total Mileage is expected to be in excess of 2000 with two overnight stays in Hotels on Friday and Sunday night with visits to Le Mans and the Nurburgring included.

Steve is doing the run in his Spitfire 1500, which he used in the 2007 event but unfortunately had to be recovered in sight of Switzerland when a rear wheel bearing failed. His exploits this year can be followed via the Club Triumph message board which can be viewed at: http://club.triumph.org.uk/10crnews

Our start point was our regular monthly meeting place at the Cock Horse in Hildenborough, 13 cars in total turned up, a Stag,  Hurricane,GT6, Bond Equipe convertible, 4 Vitesses, 3 Spitfires and 2 Herald 13/60?s. A quiz was handed out requiring an element of observation through the day to complete.

We started out atabout 10.15, and were videoed leaving the pub by a friend of Chris Lilley?s ?these have now been put on Youtube at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RAB35N0cjI

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAxWOvxvOw&feature=related

We proceeded to our first stop at the Yalding Organic Gardens for a brief coffee and comfort break. Afterabout 30 minutes we left and started on the biggest leg of our journey to theBodiam Castle Inn where some members had a pub lunch whilst others tucked into their picnics.

The run to Bodiam was along some lovely roads taking in the Kent orchards, currently in full bloom. ? we were late arriving there due to traffic, roadworks etc, which meant we would miss meeting the Canterbury Area at our next stop, Chapel Down Vineyard atSmallhythe. The ride to here was great fun with some nice fast sweeping cornersfor the adventurous ones. A short stop ensued whilst some members bought some of  the fine wines and produce for sale here.

A short drive then brought us to Biddenden Vineyard, a well known producer of Cider and wines, and more importantly, free sampling! More purchases were made, and then it was off to Headcorn Airfield for our final stop, where we managed to park up in a nice orderly row of fine examples of Triumph?s best! Apparently we missed our Canterbury Area colleagues by about 30 minutes ? they had gone to a pub half a mile away but we didn?t find out until the following day.

Overall the weather was excellent, all the cars performed faultlessly and everyone enjoyed it, the quiz was a tight finish with Steve and Tina Gordon winning first prize, second was Alan and Carol Beal, and Malcolm Wing and his wife came in Third.

For the technically minded this is what my Sat Nav recorded

65 miles total run

Max Speed 50.4mph

Moving average speed 29.5mph

Moving time 2 hrs 12 mins

Total Journey time 5 hrs 1 min, - this meant before we got to Headcorn, we were stopped for 2 hrs 49 minutes

Pictures will be published in the Photo Gallery shortly

Steve

Many years ago, when I rescued three GT6s from being scrapped, they came with a spare set of steel wheels that I do not recollect seeing before on the Triumph scene. 

The photo shows one of the four that I have now refurbished. It has Triumph dimensions for the wheel studs, ten triangular holes, is stamped  4 ½  J – 13  and RO &CO in the well of the rim, so I guess it was made by Rubery Owen. It is riveted together instead of being welded. The set came with the GT6s, but there are three raised riveted buttons to attach conventional hub caps. The dimensions are wrong for Herald sized caps. Calculation shows that the caps for these wheels should be about 212mm (about 8 ¼ inches) internal diameter, whereas normal Herald caps are about 8 ¾ inches (223mm). Can anybody out there tell me anything about these wheels?

Additionally, has anybody got a spare lying around their spares store, so that I can have a full set of five? Contact me on 01 732 743 747 if you can help. Thanks.

Del Holman

Well, when did you get yours? The March edition of the Courier I mean. It's now the morning of Monday 9th; postie’s been, loads of junk, but still no Courier. If yours is the same, you can rest assured that it is not the club or the printers that are at fault. At Stoneleigh, yesterday, Bernie said it was something to do with the service the Royal Mail offered. Service – they must be joking. Thirteen days to get a packet from Leicester to Kent. I could walk it quicker. But there is a good reason why the club has had – at least temporarily – to opt for the slower delivery – it costs less.

There are lots of reasons why the membership of all car clubs is falling - thirty years ago TSSC members owned perhaps one Triumph each, so fifteen thousand cars meant fifteen thousand members and fifteen thousand subs. Many of us now own several cars, some cars have gone to that rusty haven in the sky, so there are now fewer members and fewer subs. But the expenses of maintaining just four club staff and our HQ remain the same, even with fewer members. The limited company (that the club is), has, legally, to make attempts to break even. So we have to find ways to cut costs. Changing to a different mailing service for the Courier is one cost cutting measure the club has had to entertain, and it will save us thousands of pounds a year. All I can say is 'Let’s hope Royal Mail pull their finger out next month’. If delivery from the Midlands to Kent takes twelve days, then maybe we’ll have to think again.

The other side of the cost cutting measures, is to increase income - and that is down to all of us. Find a Triumph enthusiast who is not a member and it is down to all of us to encourage him or her to join. The more members you can join-up, the less will be the rise in subs in future years. Direct Debit it cheapest, simplest and best. It would be a shame if the ONLY specialist Triumph Museum in the world was eventually lost because we cannot afford to maintain the club in a viable state.

Now to get on to proper West Kent stuff.

The new meeting place - the Cock Horse on the Tonbridge - Sevenoaks B245 - was considered a great improvement on previous venues. In the summer there will be space in the parking down the slope for a Triumphs display. And there's proper Kentish beers from Shepherd Neame.

To those of you at the meeting at the end of February, who arrived before me I must say a big thank you for the greeting. I think I've found out how you all knew it was my birthday - a big one. My daughter - in Bradford - pleaded guilty to some subversive phone calls to the landlord. But that's what daughters are for.

Stoneleigh this year had moved into the smaller sheds but it was, in my opinion, just as successful in being a source of good autojumble, spares and chit-chat. Perhaps next year they’ll think to switch on the heating. I managed to get two ali bits for the Vitesse rear bumpers – but as yet no good rear over-riders. Looks as though I’ll have to do a very good polish job on the ones I have.

Here’s a plea to members – have you got an old, rubbish brass trunnion that you ought to throw away? If you have, throw it my way! The recent survey suggested a need for more technical articles, so one about why we should oil trunnions is quick and easy – provided I can find a trunnion to cut to show the cross section with the threads in it and the vertical link.

I've not got any notes by way of welcomes to new faces or visitors - or of shows coming up - so look in last month's mag for them, or use the web-site. Steve has made a superb job of it. Thanks Steve.

Steve and I are also sorting the route for the Drive - It - Day drive. Don’t forget Sunday April 26th. If you like organics, castles, vineyards, wine, aircraft and our Kentish countryside, this is the drive for you. And of course, anybody from other Areas is most welcome to join us.

_________________________________

Finally a club member whom I hope we will see at an area meeting soon - Bob Harrison - has contacted me to try to find a restorer for a ‘69 Vitesse Convertible currently in an acquaintance’s dry garage – where it has been for the past 10 years. The story is that it was given to the current owner as payment for a debt of £1000, but there is no way that it is currently worth a grand. Recent Courier ads suggest the low hundreds. I have briefly inspected it and it would make a very good subject for a thorough nuts and bolts restoration. There are 68000 recorded miles, so the engine should be good. All of the external panels looked good with no dents or perforations. There are two spare doors. I don’t know why.

The rest of bodywork is in adequate condition. I found just one major rusted hole where the right inner wheel arch meets the rear seat. A properly welded patch would be easy. Floorwells and boot all looked good – surface rusty but unperforated. Rear valences look sound. There is only minor external surface rust - below the soft-top behind the doors. Two sills are missing and a replacement doorstep welded in. The chassis is in sound condition (as far as I could investigate without a pit or hoist), including the two outer chassis rails and front outriggers.

It has been partly dismantled – doors, bootlid, tank, seats, front valence and rad. grille, with a view to some kind of restoration, but then activity stopped. The bits are stored in the garage, and it is reported to be “all there”. I couldn’t see any veneered wood, and the soft-top will need replacing. With a bit of technical know how and a battery I think the engine could be started. It has been stored in a well built, but detached, garage for at least 10 years, so most of the rust is surface.

This is a Vitesse that should be restored: think 2 or 3 £K and 2 or 3 years.  

The current owner is playing dog-in-the-manger. Says he’s rather scrap it (for about £25) than sell it below the £1000 debt, but he might take £750 from an enthusiast. I persuaded him it’s worth nearer £250 having seen the jumble of bits, and it would need to be trailered away with the dismantled bits in a van.

So, if any member would like to breathe life into a 1968/9 2 litre Mk2 Vitesse convertible YGK 992 G that has been stored in a dry garage for 10 years, contact me on 01 732 743 747 and I'll see what I can do.

Best wishes, and keep Triumphant.

Del