WWWedge Ezine
It's here to help you
Current readers: 228 October 18 1998, Year 1, no. 11
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The purpose of this newsletter is to give (technical) information
about the British classic cars Triumph TR7 and TR8.
To make this newsletter a success, I need your HELP:
o Let me know if this newsletter contains the information you're
looking for.
o Let me know if you want to write a feature article.
o Let me know if you have suggestions, improvements, etc.
o Let me know if you find this newsletter useful and practical, and
if there is anything you would like to see covered.
For comments, articles, etc. send an e-mail to
workshop@voskotan.demon.nl
WEBSITE at http://www.team.net/TR8/mp/html/ezine.html
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THE WEDGE TEAM
The WWWedge website is entirely maintained by volunteers.
Johan Vorsterman van Oijen is responsible for the design and the
daily updates. Mark Elbers is fully occupied with the Registry pages.
Eric Teunissen is responsible for the TR Scale Models pages.
The WWWedge Ezine newsletter is moderated by yours truly (Johan
Vorsterman van Oijen), and my native language isn't English.
But I'll do my utmost to create readable articles.
To save me from the biggest spelling mistakes, David Parnham (an
Englishman in Holland) will check the Wedge Ezine. Great huh?
To get started, the WWWedge Ezine newsletter is heavily based on
the Wedge Tips collected by Philip Johnstone from Australia.
Another source is the TR7/8 mailing list. I will extracts threads
from this list and publish them in this newsletter.
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INTRODUCTION
Another Ezine ready, it's no. 11.
I have a submission from Louis Juhasz who designed plates to protect
your precious headlights. Just read it.
Just received more pictures from my trip to Shepton Mallet (UK). Some
nice pictures of wedges. I'll publish them without any comment.
Also, I have finally published the article that was submitted by Joe
Gorin. It's very technical and detailed. Some things weren't suitable
for the text format of the Ezine so I scanned them and you can find
them on the web page. The article is about the quartz update for the
TR7/8 clock.
Two more picture submissions from wedge owners. One of John Holt with a
very nice FHC, and a couple of pictures of Jeffrey C. Majikas DHC.
An article by Gwyn Jones, about rallying in the Eighties.
And now for something serious: Readers, I'm running out of time. Both
my full time job and my private internet company are asking much of my
precious time. I barely have time to write articles for the Ezine. I
know you all like this Ezine, and I was hoping that someone (one or
two volunteers) could help me out.
I want to form an editorial team. Including myself, three members should
be enough. Your task will be collecting information about our beloved
wedges. Each member should compile an Ezine edition (approx. 600 lines
of text). If I'm counting correctly, each editor has to make an
edition every third month. Well that isn't too much to ask eh? FYI;
this Ezine is 560 lines.
This way I will have time to write decent articles for the Ezine. I also
have promises from a couple of readers to do some monthly
contributions, e.g. one reader who's taking on a V8 conversion.
I want to keep the Ezine alive, YOU TOO?
Cheers,
Johan Vorsterman van Oijen (Netherlands)
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o Headlamp protective plate
o Quartz accuracy?
o Introduction
o Rallying a TR7 in the Eighties
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DEAR WEDGE TEAM,
I spoke to you 3 weeks back about TSI (Ted Schumacher) and brake
calipers and prop. valve. I tried the prop valve first and there is a
great improvement, with better balancing of the braking system.
I would have gone for the modified calipers that accommodate tr6 pads,
but I would have to have my tr7 v8 off the road for 2-3 weeks. HMMMM well,
soon. I strongly suggest going with the upgraded prop valve, even as a
first step, and for sure for any person going for big front brakes
like: vitesse, princess, capri, volvo. It is true, TR7 rear brakes
don't work unless you get a modified prop valve.
Talk with you soon. Drive safely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS, thank you for the tip on TR7 coupes. I really want a complete
coupe, ready to drive, that might need some TLC or a good home. IT CAN
be a bit ratty but decent. A good coupe would be a good winter car
around here if it was sound and "reliable". OK got to go!!
Regards,
Robert Furman, Garden City, NY
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HEADLAMP PROTECTIVE PLATE
This article is submitted by Louis Juhasz, Canada.
When I bought my TR7 new in 1978, I noticed, while washing it, that
the headlights, while in the down position, could be seen very easily
between the bumper and the spoiler. I concluded that if I could see
them, then rocks, bugs, mud and other road debris would also probably
like to have a closer look. Since I had just invested in quartz
halogen conversion headlights, I did not want to see them broken.
It can be assumed that B/L engineers had made the headlights
retractable for looks, streamlining and protection, but had
overlooked a small detail and failed to provide headlight protection
in the retracted position.
So I designed a protective plate that would accomplish this, adding
to the function and safety of the car. The simplicity of the design
makes it very easy to apply this added protection, as drilling,
cutting or any modification of the body work is not required. The
parts needed for the modification are as follows:
1. (2) protective plates as per Figure 1 (see web page).
2. (4) angle brackets as per Figure 2 (see web page).
3. (10) 1/4 inch hex head bolts and nuts.
4. (20) 1/4 inch flat washers
Step 1 - Protective Plates Fabrication
The protective plate can be fabricated from either aluminum plate,
sheet metal, or (my preference) corrugated plastic sheeting (the kind
used in 'house for sale' signs). In any case you want it to be rigid
and lightweight. Cut the shape and hole locations as per Figure 1.
Remember you'll need two. Then, to give it that factory-made
appearance, paint them black on both sides and let dry.
Step 2 - Angle Brackets Fabrication
Either make the brackets from scratch, or buy them ready-made from
your local hardware store. These should be readily available.
You'll need four. Drill the mounting holes as per Figure 2.
Step 3 - Installation
Mount the angle brackets to the two existing holes on the outside of
the sub-frame. See installation Figure 3. Place the front of the
protective plate inside the bumper, on top of the bottom lip. Align
the hole in the protective plate with the existing hole in the bumper
that was originally made for fog/driving lights attachment.
If fog/driving lights are an installed option on your TR, use the
bolt that secures these lights. If they are not an option, reach
over the top of the protective plate and place a bolt and washer
through the aligned holes threading on a nut and washer. Reach over
once again, and place two bolts and washers through the aligned holes
of the angle brackets and protective plate, threading the nuts and
washers on these as well.
One side's done; repeat for the other side. Too easy. Now, stand
back - or should I say squat back - and admire your handywork, knowing
that your expensive lights are fully protected.
Louis Juhasz
Webpage: http://www.team.net/TR8/mp/html/protect.html
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QUESTION
I would like to subscribe to the WWWedge Ezine. I've found it, and
the web site, a very worthwhile source of information unavailable
elsewhere.
For your information:
Those of you who followed the information in the February 1998 issue
of the WWWedge Ezine on alternative wheels for the TR7/8 should check
out Rimmer Brothers (www.rimmerbros.co.uk). This UK supplier has
expanded their offerings of aftermarket wheels for the wedge,
including the AlleyCat in black, silver, and gold.
And now a question:
Has anyone out there put the dual Weber 40DCOE setup (as available
from Victoria British) on their stock-motored TR7? Assuming this is
used with a header and a low-restriction exhaust system, which jets
appear to work best?
Thank you
Dan Walters USA ( daw20@cornell.edu )
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QUARTZ ACCURACY?
Article submitted by Joe Gorin, USA.
Original hand drawings by Joe Gorin, digitized by Anne van Leeuwen
(a good friend of mine).
Here in the '90s, it seems silly to have an analog clock in your car,
especially one as inaccurate and failure prone as that in the wedge.
I have found that my failures were due to binding of the setting
cable, and that this problem could be fixed by fatiguing the spring
that pushes the setting knob out; when the spring exerts more force,
the setting cable doesn't bind the clock.
Fred Smith explained in a TR8CCA newsletter how to adjust the clock
for greater accuracy, and I later explained the "calibration factor"
to do so.
If one is very careful, the clock can be set to an accuracy of about
a quarter-second per hour, about a minute per week.
Late model TR7/8s are supposed to have push-button reset trip
odometers and quartz clocks. Quartz clocks are listed by some
suppliers for the same outrageous price as the listing for analog
replacement clocks, over $100 US. I think they require a hole in the
plastic transparent panel that covers the instruments. Woody Cooper
tells me he has never seen this clock on a US car; I have been unable
to find one in a junkyard.
I thought that it would be easy and fun to "graft" a $2 stick-on
clock module into the analog clock, and get quartz accuracy. Gary
Knutson (I may have misspelled his name) was kind enough to give me
his old clock for experimentation purposes.
It was not easy, but it was educational, and thus fun. I finally got
a circuit running using the $2 quartz stick-on clock, a $0.40 IC and
a dozen passive parts. I haven't installed it yet; it is going to be
a mechanical challenge, but possible.
The reason it is hard is that the Triumph clock runs at 2.5 Hz
(clicks per second); had it been 1 (or even 2), it would have been
much easier. I ended up "injection locking" the analog clock to the
stick-on clock module by "kicking" the clock at a 0.5-Hz rate
(every other second).
The task is harder than I anticipated. I would only recommend it for
those with extensive electronic experience, and an inexplicable desire
to get their car to 'work right' in the strangest small ways.
To do the update, you'll need to go through the following steps:
1. Adjust the clock to an accuracy of approx. 2 seconds/hour. The ROM
says the clock is to be replaced if it is poorer than 5min/day
(12s/hour), so there is a good chance your clock isn't close
enough to start with.
I know that my update fails at 2.5s/hour error, so I recommend
adjustment to better than 2s/hour that definitely works on my
clock.
To adjust the clock, you'll see a toothed adjusting lever through
a small hole in the top. First, measure the error with respect to
a quartz wristwatch over a one-day period. Then, move the lever
left to slow the clock, or right to speed it up. You'll need to
move it one tooth's width for each 8s/hour of error. Thus, you'll
need to move it to an accuracy of 1/4 toothwidth. The uncertainty
in its position is near this; it 'rattles' around its pivot.
I found it desirable to glue a tiny piece of a glossy color
magazine print under the lever, and look at it with a magnifying
glass. After adjustment, wait a day to re-measure its speed error,
and repeat if necessary.
2. Remove the clock from the car. Disassemble, while drawing for
yourself a re-assembly picture. Otherwise, you won't be able to get
it back together.
3. Follow the drawing here in.
4. Reassemble and reinstall.
Materials required: See web page.
What if the clock is broken?
The update only works if the clock is working very well - about five
times better than specified. The only failure mechanism that I have
seen was a failure of the setting cable to disengage, binding the
mechanism. If you have this problem, you can bend the spring that
pushes on the setting knob, until it pushes hard enough to always
disengage. You will be 'fatiguing' the metal into a different shape
with a higher force. I would think that, if this were proper spring
steel, you couldn't do this (and wouldn't have to either).
Assembly directions page: See web page
Theory of the operation.
The clock module is meant to drive a 4-digit display with flashing
(after setting) colon. The end connections to the LCD display are
'digit drive' signals.
The frequency is exactly 32Hz (within the tolerance of the 32768Hz
crystal). This signal is routed to a CMOS oscillator that nominally runs
at 32Hz, and is locked by injection. The analog clock is
based on a sping/mass 'resonator' or 'pendulum'. If left in motion,
it's motion will slowly decay while oscillating at 2,5Hz.
The circuit senses the motion of the pendulum past a coil, and kicks
it with a magnetic field from a second intertwined coil. To injection
lock this oscillator, the circuit divides the 32Hz reference to a
sub-multiple of the 2,5Hz (0,5Hz) and kicks the coil at this rate,
injection locking it.
Joe Gorin.
Moderator: I have partly scanned the document that was sent in by
Joe Gorin. The problem is that the format isn't very
suitable to put in a ASCII document.
Webpage: http://www.team.net/TR8/mp/html/quartz.html
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INTRODUCTION
Hello. My name is Jeff Majikas. I am a new suscriber the List, and
this is my first message; therefore, I will say a few things about
myself and my car.
I am 35, live in Hazleton, PA, USA and earn my living (and fund my
automotive hobby) by practicing law. I never owned a British car
before, but did own a few muscle cars in my youth. Well, enough about
me. Now the car.
I purchased my 1980 poseidon green 5-speed TR8 roadster (carbed) from
its original owners in May. It was originally purchased from the JRT
dealer in Easton, PA with a sticker price of $12,775. It has 55,000
miles on it, and I saw it advertised in a regional auto-trader mag for
$6,550. The V8 piqued my curiosity. After some negotiating and
research, it was mine for a fair price.
The car was rust-proofed when new, which undoubtedly helped it
survive our climate here in the Northeast. It was re-sprayed once
early on, allegedly under warranty due to a factory paint defect (I
have seen mention of defective paint of this color in old TR8CCA
newsletters). It is stock except for: headers welded to origial
exhaust w/resonators; 14" gold Panasports with 205/60R-14 Yokohamas;
and upgraded springs and shocks. The mods, and some transmission
work, were done by Mountjoy's Autoshop in MD.
I don't know how the prior owner heard of Mountjoy's, but I was
pleased to read about them in the earlier newletters. An interesting
note is the fact I discovered the words "use Redline only" engraved
on the trans. filler plug today! The guys at Mountjoy's were/are
really on top of things.
All the original parts, including the wheels, came with the car.
My learning curve has been steep. After some initial carefree drives,
the car quit while going down the road and stranded me twice. By this
time, I had heard of the TR8CCA (http://www.team.net/TR8/tr8cca/) but
was waiting for my bank account to recover before joining and buying
the newsletter archive. Out of some desperation, however, I joined up
and ordered the newsletters, not quite knowing what to expect in
exchange for my dwindling dollars. But it was a wise move. To make a
long, and somewhat agonizing (i.e. ignition amp) story short, my Eight
is running strong again with a new Mallory dist. purchased from Woody
@ the Wedge Shop. My thanks go out to Woody and Bill Sweeting for
their time and advice.
What I have learned from this experience is that the Eight is not
only a unique car within a unique class of British cars in general,
but that the Eight is also very fortunate to have been blessed with
the support of a group of enthusiastic and dedicated individuals in
the Club. By way of example, a colleague of mine who owns a Healey
(and helped convince me to buy my Eight) was green with envy when my
huge package of newsletters arrived!
I know this List is intended for technical questions and I have many
to ask. I will save them for later, however, so that my questions are
not missed by those who were too bored by my writing to get to the
END!
Jeff Majikas
Webpage: http://www.team.net/TR8/mp/html/majikas.html
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Dear Triumph Enthusiasts
I own a Triumph TR7/V8 and have been toying with the idea of making a
few improvements to my car, and I would like any/all information I
can find on the following subjects:-
- First and most important is improving the brakes. I read in some
of the articles that one person had used a Rover SDI master
cylinder on the standard TR7 Servo Unit, as well as Marina Calipers,
Etc. I looked at buying the uprated kit from Rimmer Bros, but living
on the other side of the world it meant doubling the cost because
of freight charges, and then tripling it for the exchange rate,
which made the price unbelievably expensive. What I need to know
is what parts to pick up second hand, and what modifications these
parts need to fit. Preferably I would stick with Rover or British
Leyland parts, as these are reasonably easily available from the wrecking
yards here in New Zealand.
- Suspension - I have put Koni shock absorbers front and rear on the
car. I would like to put progressively wound uprated springs on as
well. If anyone can give me specifications for these, I can get
them made, or failing this where I can buy them. I believe Rimmer
Bros springs are not progressively wound.
- Power Steering - Does anyone know what Triumph did when they fitted
power steering to the TR8? Was this the standard Rover SDI power
steer rack and pinion? If so does this fit in or need modifying to
fit.
- Fuel Injection - I would like to put fuel injection onto my 3.5 V8
SD1 motor. Were there different fuel injection units put on
Rovers, and if anyone has any opinion whether this is worthwhile,
or should I just stick to the standard SU carburators?
If you have information please mail me on ( LIL-GRUMP@xtra.co.nz ).
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RALLYING A TR7 IN THE EIGHTIES
I recently made contact with Johan Vorstemann via the world wide web
and he asked if I could prepare an article for your magazine. So here
goes.
My initial direct contact with the TR7 (or wedge in your terminology)
was back in the early eighties. Being a keen motorsport enthusiast,
and having competed in rallies etc over a number of years, I had seen
the TR in action on UK rallies like the Manx International and RAC
being driven extremely quickly by the likes of Tony Pond - a British
Leyland works driver. (Incidentally, he still drives and was seen by a
friend of mine at Silverstone in a works TR8 on 25/7/98)
I believe that the early TR7 rally teams used the Dolomite Sprint 16V
engine to gain a reasonable power output, and a good one of these was
reckoned to put out about 220 h.p. In my view its a shame that
Leyland (as they were then known) did not put these engines in as
Standard, but I suspect that the American market (that's why they
have those bulbuous bumpers) would not approve the exhaust emissions.
Sometime later - after some privateer tried a Rover V8 installation -
they produced the TR8 .
Anyway, I digress from writing about my personal experience with the
TR7. Having helped a friend of mine on several occasions as rally
mechanic, he decided to acquire a rally prepared wedge. The car was
built "professionally" from a variety of slightly (?) used parts and
consisted of strengthened shell, 2l Sprint engine, 5 speed close ratio
SD1 Rover gearbox and (I think) a Jaguar based lsd disced rear axle.
Neither the standard 4 speed box with overdrive nor the standard back
axle were considered strong enough for the rigours of rallying! The
car ran on 6J Minilites for loose surfaces, and 7J Minilites for
tarmac, shod with various knobbly and tarmac tyres, including
slicks, as appropriate.
Having eagerly awaited the delivery of the car, we went rallying - it
was certainly quick, and was generally more controllable on tarmac, but
had a mind of its own on loose surface events! This situation
inevitably led to one or two "offs"; one of which demolished the
front end! As neither of us were particularly "into doing body work
repairs" off it went to the repair shop. It came back looking good
again but had a seized gearbox!
Out came the "box" for a rebuild. After much difficulty in
dismantling it, and some head scratching, we decided that the cause of
the seizure was due to the car having been towed some 60 or so miles
to the repairers. The SD1 gearbox is a very nicely put together unit
with tapered roller bearings being used for all the major shafts. All
this is lubricated by a little oil pump driven by the layshaft - the
one that does not rotate when towing the car! Moral of this story is
to avoid towing the car for any length of time or alternatively have
an occupant dip the clutch and engage a gear from time to time to
circulate some oil around the shafts and bearings.
With the gearbox duly rebuilt, we were back in business again and the
car completed several events. As my archive record keeping is
non-existent I'm unable to recollect which events, or what the
results were.
One weak area of the Dolomite Sprint engine (and I reckon Triumph
engines in general) is the bottom end. As we experienced reducing oil
pressure on one event, it was time for an engine rebuild. So it was
duly removed and stripped, and shells, piston rings gaskets, etc. replaced.
My friend (the car's owner) decided to undertake this task himself.
Everything went well, but one or two events later, con rod no 4
decided to escape, and left an unhealthy looking hole in the block!
This situation required a bit more than a little rebuild, so yours
truly was commissioned to undertake the preparation of another block.
Luckily the cylinder head did not suffer too much damage.
Preparing another engine using specification sheets obtained from
Broadspeed was no trivial task, and could well be the subject of
another article if this is of interest to the more technical of you.
After this rebuild I had the opportunity of driving the TR
competitively (to help with running it in you understand!). It was
certainly very quick (much faster than my old rally car), and we had a
good time doing a tarmac sprint event and beat the opposition. My
only mistake was to also beat my mate - the cars owner!
The car went onto do some more rallies, required another bottom end
rebuild along the way, and was ultimately converted to take a 350 hp
V8 engine. This made a rather exciting beast to drive but its ultimate demise
was a huge accident, where the car was written off. My mate
as driver was only bruised, but his co-driver suffered a collar bone
fracture which hospitalised him for a week or two. My friend then
gave up rallying the TR and went on to do less expensive and gentler
forms of motorsport!
Gwyn Jones (author of this article) is a qualified engineer and has
worked in the Aerospace industry until recently taking over running
his own business of supplying car spares for both standard and
competition cars. Please let me have any comments on this article, and
if you have any technical questions or are thinking of modifying your
car, then feel free to e-mail me at ( gwyn.jones@which.net ) . I will
do my best to respond.
Best of luck with your motoring endeavours.
Gwyn Jones BSc ( gwyn.jones@which.net )
Sandhurst Motor Spares, UK.
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WWWedge Ezine is a free email newsletter for anyone who is interested
in the classic car Triumph TR7 and TR8.
Please note: the list of subscribers will not be shared with anyone.
The information is used to distribute the newsletter. This newsletter
is not SPAM. It's sent to you based on your subscription.
Advice, articles and opinions are offered 'as is'. The publisher
cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.
The newsletter may be freely copied and/or distributed in its
entirety.
(c) 1998, The World Wide Wedge (http://www.team.net/TR8/)
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