LTRG TRipe Sept05

GROUP MEETING –20 OCTOBER 2005

MEMBERS PRESENT: Paul Bowler

Reg & Irene Bowler

John & Chris Day

Martin & Sue Faulkner

Alan Fuller TR6

Phil & Rachael Gunn & family

Roger Guy

David Guzzetta

Andy & Jennie Holyoak

John & Margaret Martin

Tim Sharp& Kathryn

Ben & Lisa Ward TR6

Martin Ward TR6

Allan Westbury

Chris Shepard TR4

Scott Blakey

Colin & Ann Skinner

MEETING NOTES

Normal service was resumed this month, with a return to the more normal number of members turning out. You may recall that last month’s meeting had a somewhat depleted air, with the Goodwood crowd outnumbering the “official” meeting at the Rose & Crown, by nine to seven.

But first, shock news. Rachael has admitted the problem (whatever it was – can anyone remember?) at the Treasure hunt was her fault, not Phil’s. Don’t worry Phil, you may think you have the upper hand but don’t kid yourself; it won’t last, just enjoy the moment.

There was much discussion about the Mussel run, scheduled for the 30^th October, and after much debate a cunning plan hatched…... no there wasn’t, I lied! I think in the end no one went, although I did hear a rumour one couple did go out for a drive out, anyone know who?

Again, the main topic for debate was where to hold our Christmas meal, and do we want to move to another venue? If we do, does anyone have any suggestions? Please try and bring a sensible suggestion to the next meeting, bearing in mind the practicalities of holding a Leicestershire Group Christmas do, i.e. it might not be a good idea to use your local if you want to use the place again!

Next month’s meeting is the AGM, so do come along and have your say on the running of your group. Two posts are being vacated, that of Group Leader and Secretary (or TRipe Scribe i.e. me), so if you don’t want either job make sure you are there to say NO! Seriously if anyone feels like having a go at any of the posts then all I can say is go for it, get out there and do it.

15th October, Sunday lunch at Papplewick

Members present were: Tony & Ruth (TR6), Paul (kit thing), Ben & Lisa (TR6), Reg & Irene (TR6), John & Margaret (TR4), Phil and Sam (TR7), Martin F + Dad (TR6), Martin & Jennie (TR6), Terry and Sue (TR6), Sue F + Mum (VW) plus Tim Jeffery, who rolled up in a Porsche.

Having safely parked (eventually) after re-modelling the car park (and doesn’t it look so much better with all those deep gauges instead of simple boring flat grass?), we all went for a tour of the pumping station. For those that have never been I suggest you put it on your list of local places to visit. Built more than 120 years ago the place was built to supply fresh clean water to the then rapidly increasing population of Nottingham. And boy did they build them in those days. Considering it was designed as an industrial works, the amount of detail and decoration is truly amazing. No way could anyone ever hope to build a modern installation on such a grand scale. The day we visited was one of the few steam days, when the pumping engines operate as they used to, utilising steam produced in the adjacent boiler house.

The buildings themselves are situated in landscaped gardens and the whole place seems very tranquil, which is at odds with our perception of an industrial workplace.

General view of the pumping engine house situated beside the lake, which acts as a cooling pond. The boiler house is situated behind the engine house out of view.

Interior views showing the engine controls, and the flywheel and governor.

All the support columns are decorated with intricate metal sculptures, and the windows filled with stained glass. Amazing really, as the magnificent architecture, machinery and gardens would only have been seen by the site workers and Members of the Board. In its heyday the pumping station employed a total of 14 men.

There is also a miniature steam powered railway running through the site.

Cars lined up ready to leave, following a really interesting morning looking around the site, to drive over to the Griffins Head at Papplewick for Sunday lunch.

Upcoming Business Meetings

17 November LTR Group AGM. Just a reminder that the AGM is on Thursday 18 November, so if you are interested in being nominated for any of the posts, or wish to stand down, let Phil know.

20 November TR Register AGM. Details published on the TR Register web page. All members are encouraged to attend the AGM, to give input in the running of the club.

TR Register - COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS - AGM 2005
UNCONTESTED POSTS
COMMITTEE POST	NOMINEE	PROPOSED BY	SECONDED BY
Chairman	Ian Evans	Andy Petersen	Ian Cornish
Treasurer	Andy Petersen	Dave Gibson	S Tanti
Company Secretary	Andy Petersen	Dave Gibson	S Tanti
Editor	Steve Redway	Richard Larter	Rob Murphy
Archivist	Bill Piggott	PG Parkinson	Trevor Sherwood
Competitions Chairman	Mike Hughes	John M Saunders	Bill Piggott
Spares Dev. Fund Treasurer	Mervyn Parkes	Ian Cornish	Terry Smith
Scottish Co-ordinator	Richard Larter	Cliff R McKinnon	Alan Gibb
North East Co-ordinator	Rob Murphy	Graham Lowe	Graham Cook
North West Co-ordinator	Tom Frost	John Morrison	A G Jones
Midlands Co-ordinator	Paul Tunnadine	Frank Holz	Chris Hubball
East Midlands Co-ordinator	Duncan Jolly	Bill Piggott	Peter Parkinson
Eastern Co-ordinator	John Andrews	Allan Jezzard	P Raymond
South East Co-ordinator	Mark Treadwell	Allen Peatfield	Dave Williams
Western Co-ordinator	Kevin Jones	Kevin Thompson	Terry Pickering
South Western Co-ordinator	Phil Tucker	Derek J Hurford	Neil Christie

CONTESTED POSTS
COMMITTEE POST	NOMINEE	PROPOSED BY	SECONDED BY
Overseas Co-ordinator	Christopher Hale	Andrew Moltu	Alan Wilkinson
	Paul Hogan	Dominic Prentiss	P Dumelow
Special Projects Manager	Phillip Barnett	Ian Brown	Andrew Racey
(currently a vacant post)	Pete Buckles	Paul Hogan	Dominic Prentiss

Concerns of a proposed internal power struggle seem not to have materialised.

As some of you may know, Andy H was originally standing for area co-ordinator again, and was asking for support at the TR Register AGM. Andy has now resigned from the committee as due to business commitments he feels there may by a conflict of interests were he to remain on the committee. Andy has set up a company called Vehicle Eye, which is endorsed by the Register, and expected to be by Country Mutual shortly. Briefly Vehicle Eye undertakes:

Pre-purchase and post body shop inspections
General inspections
Body alignment checks etc

REBUILD OF BLACK TR 4 CT14790 LO – PROGRESS?

This has to be the most positive report for ages. I took the gearbox to the man I was recommended and he saw all sorts of things I couldn’t have recognized if I’d stared at it till Christmas. Number 3 sync ring was a mess and he showed me where there was over 35 thou movement laterally which should have been max 10 thou. So he’s taking it apart and replacing anything that needs it. He had all sorts of interesting stuff in his shop – Triumph and MG gearboxes, diffs and other bits and pieces. And a whole Stag from which he was just about to extract all the transmission.

While I was there he gave me the name of a good SU man, so later this afternoon I’m going to parcel them up ready to send them to him. I spoke to him last week and for $375 he will recondition and restore them to the original factory condition and appearance – fixed price. He will no doubt win big on some and win a bit less on others.

I won’t bore you with the story of how I eventually found the grizzled old radiator man but it involved a good dollop of good luck. When I walked through his door he took one look at the rad and said something like “Now that’s what I call a radiator. What the hell’s that off?” So he took it off me, put it in a bath of caustic soda for 2 days, then flushed, backflushed, leak tested, repaired the leaks and painted it. $55! If he had known what that rad was worth (Moss replacement $400) he could have doubled his price and I would have paid up gladly.

On my way back from the gearbox man I was going to call at the Auto Electric shop to ask them to open up the starter motor, inspect and replace whatever it needed – brushes etc. The gearbox man told me that he had access to some high-torque modern starters for $175, so when I got to the Auto Electric shop he quoted me about $75 to look at and fix the old motor. Not much of a decision to pay $100 to change to new technology, so I’m going to get one from the gearbox man.

During the month I also rebuilt the steering and was really pleased with it. I re-bushed it and replaced all the doughnuts. The brutal bit was under the dashboard. I cannot imagine how anybody can work comfortably. I even had to eat humble pie at one point and get Heather to figure out for me where a stay went. There were a limited number of geometric possibilities to consider, but luckily Heather’s head wasn’t full of my pre-conceived notions of where it could not go. I also cannot figure out why anybody omitted from the workshop manual the stunningly simple instruction to remove the speedo or tacho, as this gives access and visibility you cannot get any other way. When I put the finishing touches to the steering and re-checked torques etc I ran out of time to drop the speedo back in, so went to do that this morning. The bastard wouldn’t go in, and it stands proud by a good eighth on the steering wheel side. To condense the next hour into a couple of sentences is pretty easy. I took off one of the stays from behind the dashboard and turned it round, and when that failed to help I took it off again and ground some off it. The real problem, however, is that the speedo is catching the main bracket that is attached to the dashboard, and whose position is therefore pre-ordained. So what’s changed? Dunno. The solution will address the symptom but not the cause - a couple more rubber mounting rings.

I’ve also started on re-building the engine. Crankshaft’s in, cylinder liners are in and I think hope and pray that the protrusion is ok. I was a bit concerned that I had no crankshaft end-float but I got the “Triumph is not a Swiss watch” lecture from Dick and subsequently assaulted it with largest available screwdriver as a crowbar. 3 thou showed up out of the blue – that’s enough for me. I was also concerned that I couldn’t turn the crank by hand and had to throw the flywheel on to do it. Andy set my mind at rest with a piece of data I hadn’t ever heard. If you can turn the crankshaft (with pistons in) with less that (I think) 25ft/lbs of torque you’re ok. I’m sure that a load of the problem is the assembly lube I’m using – it’s like treacle. So I’m hoping to bash on with the engine build as fast as possible. I would love to get the engine and gearbox in place before Christmas, because round about that time is when you can expect to get driven out of the garage by the weather. (Serviced the snowblower last week.)

Just so that you can see what I’ve been up to I’m attaching a picci of the dash. Ignore the fact that the switch panel slopes a little – I’ll get round to fixing that when I have nothing more urgent to attempt. Also ignore the old upholstery around the windscreen – that will be changed later. I forgot to tell the glass man – my fault.

John – thanks for the mention in TR Action last month. Sometimes they might read as funny, but that’s with hindsight. I think a better medium might be a tape recorder running in the garage – this morning would probably have melted it! Thanks – really appreciate it.

As I’m writing this (5 pm Sunday) I am listening to reports on the radio of a tornado which has just killed 22 people in Indiana about 2 hours from where we used to live. It sort of pours a bucket of cold water on the jokes about a tornado coming through and doing 3 million dollars of good. A bit too close to our old home, that one.

Until the next report, go safe, all of you.

Peter

ps On my way back from taking my gearbox to the man I was driving through beautiful rural Connecticut. Election season is here, and many lawns have signs on them promoting the merits of certain candidates. In one town the good citizens were being exhorted to vote for one Billy Bonk.

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE

Last month I commented that the weather was still warm and dry. I must have been tempted fate. We had the wettest October on record. The poor Red Cross have been stretched beyond belief. As well as trying to attend to the needs of the many families who have chosen to relocate to the Pioneer Valley from Louisiana and Mississippi, they have had local families troubled by flood water in areas unheard of before. My route to work takes me alongside the Connecticut River and, at some points, it was precariously close to the road. We had a small amount of water in our basement that had come through the bulkhead door, due to the force of the rainfall.

The garden has continued to confuse us. Because, until last week, there had not been any overnight frosts, the leaves hadn’t fallen from the trees and many of the annual plants were still looking healthy. The problem will be when the leaves fall too late and a snow quickly follows, thus freezing the leaves onto the lawn and flowerbeds. The weather forecasters used the “s” word in the third week of October but, fortunately, we escaped although it did turn white in the nearby Berkshire Hills. As I walked to our shed last week I noticed that the Hollyhock had some new leaves. What’s happening? Sadly if these perennial plants (the Hibiscus and Primroses I mentioned last month) continue then we’ll lose them when winter hits.

We’ve grown some very ugly damp spots on the ceiling in the den. Are they a result of the new roof or the chimney of the new gas fire? Answer: Neither, apparently the brickwork of the chimney is old and porous. We need to get it sealed, the ceiling replaced and then redecorate the room; it was the first one we did when we arrived so is nearly 5 years old now.

I’ve spent the past week decorating our laundry room. This was last done, I think, when the house was built so was well overdue refreshing. I can only liken the wallpaper to expensive brown parcel paper. Gorgeous! After removing all the shelving, cupboard and washer and dryer, I’ve painted the walls a very pale blue and added white bubbles rising up the walls in random areas. You might need to magnify this picture to see the bubbles. The floor was finished with some discoloured beige vinyl tiles so I’ve replaced those too. The new grey ones coordinate nicely with the walls. I’m hoping that Peter will be home from work at a decent time tomorrow to put up the new shelving and then return the equipment. It’s been a while now since I’ve done any washing and it won’t be too much longer before we’re going to have go “commando” style. (I’ve a feeling he will be home early because Bolton Wanderers are live on TV).

It’s time to sign off; Peter’s cooking our dinner and the smells wafting upstairs are luring me down to the kitchen.

Until next time, stay safe and warm,

Heather

CALENDAR FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS:

November
17 Thurs	Group AGM
20 Sun	TR Register AGM, Gaydon
December
13 Tues	Ashby Folville
15 Thurs	Group Mtr

Some future events planned for 2006.

Andy & Jennie are hoping to arrange a couple of trips for next year, as follows:

1. Lake District, Friday to Monday, possibly in May 06

2. Wales, 3 nights, possibly in September 06.

More details to follow in the new-year. They would like some early feedback to gauge the level of interest, and to let them know what would we prefer, camping or B&B?

AND FINALLY: Shock New: Latest Beer Study Findings

Yesterday health scientists suggested that men should consider their beer consumption, following the results of a recent analysis revealing the presence of female hormones in beer.

The theory is that drinking beer makes men turn into women.

To test the theory, 100 men were fed 6 pints of beer each within a one hour period. It was observed that 100% of the men gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became overly emotional, couldn’t drive, failed to think rationally, argued over nothing and refused to apologise when wrong.

No further testing is planned.

Next meeting Thursday 17^th November 2005, the Rose & Crown, Tilton on the Hill.

This is of course the AGM, so if anyone wants to raise any issue at the AGM, please let Phil know ASAP so he can include it on the agenda.

There will also be the elections for the following officers. Positions available are:

Group Leader

Deputy Group Leader

Treasurer

Social Scene Scribe

Secretary (TRipe Scribe)

Events co-ordinator

Please do come along and have your say in the running of one of the premier

TR Register Groups.

See you there,

Martin & Sue.