Hi folks,
Saturday, 4-Jun-94, dawned bright and sunny. It was a little crisp (temps in the
low 50's F) but I had to do a few things to the TR6 prior to heading south to
the New England Triumphs Great Cape Escape. At any rate, I checked the fluids
and rinsed off the dust from my last journey so the car would look okay.
At 8:15, two of my TR6 friends showed up at my house for a caravan down to
Brewster, MA. I led a short detour through Woburn, MA to see a Triumph Herald
that is featured prominently at a local body shop... The fact that my speed-
ometer is not indicating correctly was instrumental in getting some surprised
looks while we drove through Winchester, MA at 3000 rpm's in 4th! However,
the looks from the other TR6 crews was more classic when they spotted the
Herald
purched atop the roof of the Holden St. Auto Body Shop! I have to admit that the
flashing blue lights are quite a site at dusk!
Anyway, off we went to meet SOLer Mike Hering and his companion Elizibeth
Williams on route. We arrived at the Burger King at the prescribed time. Mike
has a really nice TR4A IRS. It is white and very straight. After tire kicking
for about 5 min, we were off to the Cape.
I was leading for most of the way, and I had to keep slowing down to let the
others catch up. Let's see, 4000 rpms in 4th is ... well, at around Plymouth,
MA, I let one of the other Sixes lead, lest we all have to contribute to the
local constables!
Traffic was quite light considering the brilliant blue, CAVU (ceiling and
visability unlimited) sky and fresh breeze. It was a perfect day for driving
in an open top car.
As we approached the Cape, I was really taken in by the smells of the scrub
pines and Junipers. It was really intoxicating. Also a sign of things to come.
We arrived in Brewster, MA at around 10:15 where a TR3A, a TR7 and a TR8 were
already at the hosts house. The hosts, Jack and Jane Nixon, have a really nice
_original_ TR3 that is black. It was parked out in front of the house as a
beacon to other Triumphs.
By 11:30 or so, the assembled masses (18 Triumphs altogether) had been
chomping donuts and filling up with coffee, were ready for a tour of the
Brewster/ Orleans area. Off we went. Oh, there were 5 TR6'4, 2 TR250's, one
TR4A IRS (Hi Mike, hey, did you make it home okay?), 3 TR3's, 2 TR7's, 3 TR8's,
1 Spitfire and 1 Stag.
The first stop was a small beach right near the Nixon's house. We arrived to
find a number of beach combers already there. This made turning 18 TR's (and
a couple of Japanese TRs) around somewhat of a chore. We did it, however, and
we got to take in the salt air smell along with the fresh marsh grass. It
was really quite nice.
Then, IT HAPPENED. I sat in the Six, pressed the clutch and turned the key.
The car lurched forward as if the clutch was still engaged. Note: I nearly hit
the TR8 in front of me, and that was quite unnerving! "Boy, this is strange"
I thought. I pressed the clutch pedal a second time, this time feeling the
pressure relieve as I pushed.
"#%#&", I thought. A few folks came quickly over to help diagnose. No doubt
about it, the clutch slave had blown the seal. I popped the boot, and looked
in only to realize that I had left all of my spare hydraulic seals at home.
Drat!
Well, I take pride in the fact that I can shift most manual shift cars without
a clutch, and in 20+ years of driving this was the _second_ time I ever really
had to do it. So, after insuring folks that I was really going to be okay, I
placed it in first gear and turned the key...off I roared! Shifting went rather
smoothly, although a bit more tentative than usual. After all, I didn't want
a broken TRansmission too!
So, I missed the tour, but I heard it was nice.
The next part of the day was the Picnic/Mini-Concours/Bocci/More Tire-kicking
session. I, of course, was the first one there, and I spent the next 45 min.
or so trying to determine if I should try to fix it or just wait 'till I got
home. I decided to wait 'till I got back to the garage.
So the assemble masses hung around and ate grilled food and drank mass
quantities untill around 5pm or so. Then folks started wandering off.
I drove back to the north with my TR6 friend Jeff Creel leading the way. He
didn't want to follow, I suppose he wanted to keep the paint _on_ his car!
On the way back, there were two revenue producing traps. Ironically, the
first one was hidden up on the right side if the road in a stand of Junipers.
Like I said, the smell of the junipers was a sign. Of course Jeff has a
working speedometer, so we went by the traps at "civilized" speed.
Made it back home in good time and put the car right on the stands. It took
only about 1.5 hours of concentrated effort over the next 3 or so hours to
get the slave out, repair, reinstall and bleed. Oh, and I spilled about
1.5 pints of Castrol LMA on the floor of the garage when I pressurized the
EZ-Bleed due to the fact that the cap seal had fallen out when I was not paying
attention.
The clutch works fine now.
Hope this wasn't too long!
See you Later,
rml
p.s. If this nice weekend weather keeps up (it's been perfect Top-down weather
every weekend since late April!), I'm not going to get any work done on the
house!
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