Monday 29 April 2013

Dirty vice..Stole some shed time...

Manged to sneak into the Shed for an hour or so over the weekend,rescued the vice from the bats in the old shed and mounted it on my nice new bench and set about getting it dirty -taking bits off the the Scimitar,stripping them down ready for new bits.

I also had a bent tractor axle to sort out which took priority over all other jobs

Clutch master cylinder will go again
Clutch Slave cylinder wont!
Calipers will go again
Caliper pistons wont!


Brake master appears to be working OK-IE its not leaking and pushing fluid round the system,and would probably go again on a re-rubber- all though I haven't stripped to check the cylinder bore- but I would rather use new for peace of mind when I take the car on our European run - will be covering over 2,000 miles in a little over 4 days over some grueling roads so the original will get packed as a spare - a new replacement sourced through the very  helpful  Reliant Sabre and Scimitar Owners Club of which I am now a member

The P6 hasn't been forgotten a manual gearbox prop-shaft was dropped off at Shedtune HQ at 11.00pm Saturday night...long story but I love how the "Classic Car pony express system" works!

Dirty Vice








Thursday 25 April 2013

Shed movements

Well the Spitfire left the Shed last weekend ,I hope it provides as much fun for the new owner as it did for me,to make myself feel better about it going I bought some cider and cut the grass,still grumpy on the Sunday I started making a new work bench for the  new shed ,sorted some bits out from the old falling down shed and during the week, when Daddy duties permitted, started taking the Scimitar apart.

(I also started paid work on Wednesday so shed time will become very precious over the next few months)

Ive left the camera in the shed so will post some pictures up next time with details of work done so in the meantime here is a picture of the work bench and the tree it was made out of!



 

 Ive also been trying to learn about the various combinations of parts bins that were raided to build the Scimitar SE6a- Ive got it in my head that the brake master cylinder from a stag is very similar and could be a viable cheaper  "plan B mod" than the original expensive item - I'm sure the Stag was a 7/8" bore tandem Lockheed  master with 10.6" discs using Lockheed calipers (which I have put on my MK1 2000 they work bloody great over the originals) 

The later Scimitar SE6a uses Lockheed the earlier SE6 uses Girling - SE6 changed into SE6a (around 1976) Ive found a listing for SE6 brake discs at 275mm which in old money is 10.8- Its been mentioned on the very helpful www.scimitarweb.co.uk forum that the SE6 disc was slightly larger than the  SE6a disc - I wonder if a Stag disc would also fit ? Who knows until I can get back in the shed and have a measure up - glad I fitted the stag set up to the 2000 now

-interestingly the Stag compared its self to the Scimitar GTE and classed it as a rival- see  table below




Max speed
0-60mph
30-50mph
Overall

(mph)
(sec)
(sec)
mpg
Triumph Stag
116
9.3
8.1
20.7
MGB GT V8
125
7.7
6.2
19.8
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
115
8.9
10.9
20.8
Datsun 240Z
125
8.3
9.0
25.7
Lotus Elan +2S
121
7.7
8.5
21.0
Mercedes-Benz 280SL
121
9.3
8.8
19.0
Peugeot 504 V6 coupe
117
9.3
-
18.0
Ford Capri 3000GT
113
10.3
-
19.3
Reliant Scimitar GTE
120
8.7
7.6
21.7

Saturday 13 April 2013

Sad day......


The time has come to sell my 1978 Triumph spitfire to allow room for other projects and prevent marital discord full details can be found on the Shedtune web site click on the link above and click on Shed Sales

Details and pictures of the rebuild can also be found on the view from the edge blog -link  or this one link note its had a new diff since the 10CR !
I am after £2.3k please get in touch if intrested

shedtune@gmail.com  or leave a message here etc
SPITFIRE ON 2011 CLUB TRIUMPH 10CR

Please buy it so I can have my testicles back and some shed funds to get the GTE and P6 back on the road ..oh and the MK1 2000 ....


















Tuesday 2 April 2013

P6 plans,plastic fantastic, which shed to the Med ?

Well due to the fact I can't get into the shed at the moment for fear of losing testicles I have plenty of time to think about what I will do once allowed back in the shed ...
I nip in and out of the shed to forage for tools to bash the house with and always end up taking 5 mins longer than I meant to - I can help myself just staring at the P6 and poking at little bits of it- planning how I will weld that bit up, how to fabricate that little bit so its easier to access etc- then I turn round and spy the plastic fantastic icon that is the Scimitar GTE- I'm drawn to looking at the tired front suspension thinking ohh that will only take a couple of days to refurb its just like a big Spitfire ....and before I know it the walkie talking is buzzing in my pocket- I'm am not allowed out to the shed without walkie talkie so I can be summoned into the house -with "oi get out the shed we have no bathroom"
Anyway here are some pics











So which one to the med in September?-first gut feelings as follows-your comments welcome.

P6 -needs welding will take longer to get ready but is very cool calm and relaxed,brickshit house enginering
GTE- quicker refurb time,comfy,bit more temperamental,more of a drivers car up the twisty bits