All good things must come to an end and so has my ownership of the Spider. It was sold last week to an AVID collector near South Beach, Miami. The new owner sent an 18 wheeler car carrier just to fetch the Spider. I watched it depart for the Interstate and she was gone.

The Spider will be long mis… hey, now I have room for a Porsche 911… or a E type Jaguar! Hmmm…. E-Type…

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Tags: triumph, tr7, spider

You learn something new everyday. From The Recorder:

NASCAR, like America, has never been “purely American.” The boys who came home from Europe after WWII brought with them a love and passion for the European sports car. The lightweight and nimble MGs (Morris Garage), Austin Healeys and Triumphs revolutionized the American motor sports outlook. Sports car road racing joined America’s sprint and indy car scene in the late 1940’s and NASCAR and the National Hot Rod Association formed and jumped aboard the wave. A British invasion occurred long before the arrival of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Between 1960 and 1963 four European marques actually raced on the NASCAR circuit (MG, Triumph, Austin Healey and the Italian-made Alfa Romeo). The 1960 International 200 at Bowman-Grey Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina saw a 1957 Triumph driven by Jack Hart take 14th place in race 22 of the 44 race schedule. On August 16, 1963, Smokey Cook took his MG to a 17th place finish against such greats as Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, Glen Wood, David Pearson, Wendell Scott and Ned Jarrett. His cut of the purse was $75. NASCAR’s humble roots were quite open to international competition.

Totally awesome.

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Concours de’Graylyn was held this past weekend at Graylyn Mansion in Winston-Salem under a perfect sky and with wonderful weather.

The event is a first stab on the path to being a world class Concours event like Pebble Beach, which was also this weekend. The event host was Corsa Rossa, the local Italian car club put a lot on their plate for the first time out on an event of this magnitude. To say that the event was robust is an understatement. To be the first of it’s kind, the Concours was crazy with events. Above and beyond the Concours and auction, there were numerous rallies, special dinner events, a world class art show, wine tasting and the usual showing off of classic and rare cars.

Even though event confusion was to be seen everywhere, it did not deter car fanatics from showing off their cars. Some of the highlights for me were THREE Renault Alpines, an Alpha Romeo Giulia SS, a Triumph Italia and this THING called a Stout Scarab.

What made this event unique was the fact it was a benefit for the Brenner Children’s Hospital. The method of voting for your favorite car was also unique. All display cars had a small bucket placed in the front of the car. To vote for that car, you put money in the bucket. The car with the most donations wins. This must be the Florida voting method.

And of course, my Triumph Club was at work here. Once the collecting had begun, we learned that the donation leader was a very nice Morgan with $20. We took a look at the money our club had garnered and found that our Italia was in a close second… so we all started dumping cash into the bucket until we got to $27.

Take THAT Morgan drivers!

I am sure next year, if the Corsa Rossa members are still alive, will be even better and more tightly run.

(photo gallery)

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Tags: ferrari, classic cars, vintage cars

Caterham is famed for producing some of the fastest cars in the world, but what about one capable of returning 131 miles per gallon?

That’s exactly what a modified Caterham Seven achieved at the recent Shell Eco-Marathon at Rockingham.

Customised by carbon fibre specialist Axon Automotive, with the support of Energy-Efficient Motorsport (EEMS), the standard Caterham Seven Roadsport 1.6-litre K Series used enhanced aerodynamics, new lightweight seating, narrow low rolling resistance tyres and economic driving techniques to ensure it maximised every drop of fuel. The sportscar smashed the team’s initial 100mpg target. (article)

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Tags: caterham, green, cars

I got new fuel lines and clamps and replaced all of them. Started the car and tested for gas leaks and all was well.

Now I was letting the engine heat up so I could see how efficient the new high performance radiator would be. So the water temp needle kept climbing and climbing until it was hotter than the old set-up!

*%@$!!!

Ok, so maybe the thermostat is stuck closed. Out comes the old rubber mallet and whap, whap, whap.

Still hot, but it stopped climbing. I took a reading with an infrared thermometer and the thermostat housing was reading 198 degrees, the block read 203 degrees - way too high. Then the a/c cooling fans switch on… first time that has happened. I guess I did need that new switch sensor!

Back to the temp, I let the car cool down and I rethought the issue. I can’t believe that new radiator would actually run hotter than the old clogged one. I got real suspicious about the new thermostat. I go fetch the box and surf to Advance Auto’s website and search for the part number printed on the box.

Ah… they sent me the 195 degree thermostat instead of the 170 I ordered.

I go looking to see if I can find another 170 thermostat locally and found one at Auto Zone. AND they stocked it in my local store.

If you want your own, it is the Duralast Thermostat (low temp, 170), part number 15397.

So I tore out the 195 unit and plopped in the new one, cranked the wedge and prayed. I had the infrared thermometer on the thermostat housing and watched the temp climb. On up it went until 174, then it opened and the collant flowed into the new radiator and after the coolant had flowed through the radiator, the outlet temperature was 98.

I was amazed. That is the best control of heating in any TR7 I have ever seen.

I took the car for a long deserved spin. I got about a mile and the muffler fell off. On a previous jaunt at the VIR, the badly rusted muffler melted in two and the tips were dragging the ground. Evidently my patch wasn’t worth a damn. The car sounds better though.

The rest of the drive was a vibrant reminder as to why I love these cars.

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I finally got all the parts back to do my cooling upgrade…

1. Upgrade radiator with performance 4-rod, 2-pass core.
2. 170 degree f thermostat (same as a 1981 Jaguar XJ6).
3. New thermostat gasket.
4. New radiator hoses.
5. Thermostatic fan sensor.
6. Sensor grommet.

Now, the upper radiator hose is the wrong one. The ones for the 1980 model year TR7 and later are different from early models. Advanced Auto online sucks. Need to return that.

I swapped in a 170 degree thermostat instead of the recommended 180 or 195. Many folks freak out if one of these very cool thermostats are installed. I am not so much of a purist. My main goal is to keep the engine running cool. My goal is to have the car as a daily driver, and that means stop and go traffic in the brutal heat of the American South. So I cleaned the housing and the head surface, gooed up the gasket and surfaces and closed the thermostat up and bolted down the housing.

I inserted into the new sensor into the radiator, wrangled the whole thing into the car, hooked up all hoses, poured in a bottle of Water Wetter, filled the system with coolant and started the engine.

The last part of this process is to star the car with the coolant filler cap off until the car heats up and the thermostat opens. There may be trapped air in the system and once the car heats up the coolant can flow and the trapped air is flushed out. Just keep fill the reservoir tank with coolant until the system is full.

I got the car cranked and it purred. Love the sound of a British car engine. but then I smelled gas. I looked around and thought it may be just from where the car has sat for weeks. But after looking around I saw some wet surfaces. “Damn, I must have a coolant leak somewhere.”

Then I saw it, gas shooting out from a pinhole in the fuel line.

A few mosre days before I am drivable.

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Ok, so I got a little bored.

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I had high hopes that I could get the radiator back by now and would be able to use my time off to plow through a pack of upgrades.

Oh well.

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I had high hopes that the unit would be back with its new high performance core yesterday. Nope.

Not back today.

Maybe Monday.

In the photo above, you can see the massive air conditioning radiator that is just forward of the engine radiator. This is the root cause why TR7s can freeze up the vents in no time.

My hope is now that I have the engine radiator fixed, I can hook up the AC and the engine won’t overheat under the extra load.

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Tags: triumph, tr7, radiator

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Tags: triumph, tr7, spider, interior