Noel Schmidt’s Concours winning TR3A from the 2010 Day of Triumph . . . .What a TRIUMPH!!

The day dawned dull, drizzly and quite cold for the mid week run on Wednesday 5th May, but it didn’t stop about 20 people meeting for coffee at Suzette’s Cafe at Hazelwood Park.  The run took us through picturesque valleys of the Adelaide Hills where the country was looking very good after the recent rains.   There was mist rising from the cold damp morning and autumn colours were the order of the day.   The destination for lunch was The Green Man Inn at Ashbourne at 12.30pm and unfortunately time did not permit a second coffee stop in Hahndorf.   The run was set by Andy, who is at present in the States, and took us on some different hills roads to normal.   Thanks Andy.

Despite a very gloomy weather forecast 60 cars turned out on what ended up a brilliant day weatherwise for the Day of Triumph at Civic Park at Modbury on Sunday 16th May.  The cars were displayed in a circle on the park and looked excellent, all gleaming in the sunshine.   Thanks to all those people who helped on the day, gate attendants Alex and Neil; score co-ordinators Alan and Lyle; and all the judges who had a good number of cars to judge.  Thanks also to Margie and Bill for providing the tent, tables and chairs, also Bob Cini for liaising with Tea Tree Gully Council staff and picking up the key.   Bob was at the vemuel very early to ensure entry to the park did not get blocked by other park users.

Congratulations to all trophy winners and especially Noel Schmidt with his newly restored red TR3A who took out the overall prize for the day.  We hope to see all trophy winners at the Christmas Dinner to collect their prizes on Saturday 4th December at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club.

The next ladies technical session is on Tuesday 8th June at Cafe Symphony Cnr Belair Rd and Princes Street Mitcham at 12 noon.   Hope to see you there.

Sue Gibson

Some dates to take note of:-
Monday 26 April (Anzac holiday) – Come & Try Hillclimb at Collingrove.

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 May – Rd 2 of the SA Circuit Racing Championship at Mallala.
Sunday 23 May – MSCA 6hr at Mallala. We have a couple of interested parties to form a team, but if more interest isn’t shown shortly there won’t be a TSOA team entered this year. Contact Roger Lange or myself soon.

Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 May – Winton Historics at Winton Motor Racing Circuit. There are usually a small number of TSOA members attending this.

Friday 25 – Sunday 27 June – Australian Rally Championships – Rally of SA

Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 June – All British Race Meeting and Sprint at Wakefield Park, NSW. Anyone interested in tagging along to or competing in this event please contact Myself or Roger Lange. Roger and myself are not competing this year however Rod Carey and Neil Martin are possible entries from SA.

Sunday 4 July – MSCA Sprint Rd 2 at Mallala. TSOA flaggies are required. Free lunch and drinks and a close up of action on the track. Please phone me to volunteer your time and show your support for the TSOA and those in our club who participate in motorsport. Please don’t make me phone you.
Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 August – Rd 3 of the SA Circuit Racing Championship at Mallala. A round of the Victorian MG Race series is being run as part of this meeting, and with “Invited Marques” allowed to take part, there could well be some Triumphs creating trouble for the MGs!

Sunday 19 September – MSCA Sprint Rd 3 at Mallala.
Sunday 24 October – MSCA Sprint Rd 4 at Mallala.

Saturday 30 & Sunday 31 October – Rd 4 of the SA Circuit Racing Championship at Mallala.
It would appear at this stage that the Classic Adelaide Rally may be at an end following the apparent collapse of Silverstone Events, the organising body.

Cheers,

Trevor Lindsay

The mid week run on 3rd March was well attended by 30 people and headed to Strathalbyn’s Victoria Hotel for lunch.  Members Peter & Jean Boxall from Hervey Bay joined us as they were visiting Adelaide at the time and came along to catch up with SA members.  We were also joined by Fay Esau’s sister and husband who were visiting from Brisbane.

The run through the hills to Woodside on 21st March saw over 35 people sample the sweet delights of Melba’s Chocolates, some doing their Easter shopping.  After leaving the chocolate factory we drove to Millies Bakery in Mt Barker for even more sweet treats and coffee.  Thanks to Arrand who put this run together.  It was great to see Richard and Deb out again in their newly acquired yellow TR7.

Don’t forget the Day of Triumph of Sunday 16th May at Civic Park opposite Tea Tree Plaza Shopping Centre with gates opening at 9.00am.   Judging will commence at 10.30am.   Even if you don’t want to enter your car, come along and put the car on display.   Bring a picnic lunch or buy from the shopping centre opposite.

The weekender on 5th/6th June is filling fast so if you are thinking of coming along please get in touch with either Sue or Margie to book your place.

All British Day dawned a beautiful morning and saw more than 46 TSOA members display their cars on Uraidla Oval.  All told there were well over 700 cars to be looked at during the course of the day.   The Uraidla Market was frequented by a number of the ladies.   Thanks to all those members who assisted on the day with marshalling, setting up the display area, putting up the shade tents etc.

There is not a lot to report this month but don’t forget the run on 21st March to Melba’s Chocolates and Millies Bakery at Mt Barker.  Details in TRak.

The annual Brekky run is again being set by Lyle & Sue and is on Sunday 11th April, so pack all your goodies for breakfast and come along, meeting at Burnside Townhall at 7.45am and heading, this year, to Gumeracha.

The next ladies Technical Lunch is at Market on Maxwell, Maxwell Terrace Glengowrie (off Morphett Rd south side of the tramline) at 12 noon.   Hope to see you there.

Bill & Margie have again put a lot of time and effort into organising this year’s weekender, which will be held over the weekend of 5/6th June.   This year they are taking us to the Fleurieu Peninsula and, if previous years events are anything to go on, this will be another excellent 2 days full of fun and frivolity.   More details in TRak.

Sunday 21 February     MSCA Picnic/Presentation Day at Peter Lehman’s Winery – Tanunda. Great venue for a relaxed lunch in the shade with fellow car enthusiasts. BYO or buy lunch there.

Friday 26 & Saturday 27 February     Ballarat Swap Meet. Boasts to be the biggest in Australia.

Saturday 27 February     Round 1 of the SA State Championships at Mallala. This is a twilight meeting that commences around lunch time and usually concludes around 10pm.

Saturday 28 February     Skills enhancement day run by Alfa Club in conjunction with the MSCA.

Sunday 7 March     Collingrove Hillclimb Round 1.

Monday 8 – Friday 12 March     Lake Gairdner Speed Trials. Cars from all over Australia and overseas travel to salt flats west of Port Augusta to compete. This year is the 20th anniversary. It is a 550km trip from Adelaide.

Friday 19 – Sunday 21 March     2010 Phillip Island Classic. A great weekend of historic and classic motor racing. Amongst others there are over 100 Group Sa, Sb and Sc sports cars entered and 35 Formula 5000’s, many from the recent McLaren Revival in New Zealand.

Sunday 28 March     MSCA Sprint Round 1 at Mallala

A reminder that TSOA volunteers are required for assisting with the MSCA Sprint on 4 July.

Please contact me if you require details of the above or know of other events that may be of interest to club members.

Cheers,     Trevor Lindsay

The Christmas dinner at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club was attended by 73 people and hopefully everyone enjoyed the evening.

The year ended with the mid week run on 30th December to the Pretoria Hotel at Mannum.   Despite a temperature of 39 degrees being forecast 40 people turned out for the run organised by Bill Smith.   The meeting place was the Crafers Hotel then on to the freeway, exiting at Mt Barker and on to Mannum on roads never travelled before.   It was a case of “spot the Triumph” as most people brought air conditioned cars, but it was still an enjoyable day.

Thanks to Tom and Judie Long who, for the 17th year running, organised another successful Ice Cream Run on 23rd January with over 40 people in attendance.

All British Day is the next event on the calendar on Sunday 14th February at Uraidla Oval.   This is followed a week later on Sunday 21st February by the MSCA presentation day at Peter Lehmann Winery at Tanunda.

This year it is the turn of NSW to host the TSOA National Meeting . . . . or as has become the custom over recent years, the TSOA National Rally. Or simply the TSOA Nationals.

The NSW Branch of the TSOA haS set a week long program centred around the Kangaroo Valley area south of Sydney that includes competition events at Wakefield Park, tours of areas including Marulan, the southern highlands and south coast, and jam packed with activities.

For more information, follow the link to tsoansw.com and click on the Nationals tab.

Talk to any of your committee if you are interested but may not have done a Nationals before – they are great fun, great value, and a great way to enjoy your Triumph.

Roger
President

As many of you may already be aware, Cherri and I had some problems with the TR8 on our recent trip accross the Nullabor for the WA Nationals.

We endured a very hot day travelling from Eulca to Norseman, with the temperature gauge virtually off the scale, even with the air con off. There was nowhere to stop – no shade, no emergency help . . . nothing really, so we pressed on and hoped for the best. On arrival at Norseman, the radiator boiled as soon as we slowed down to enter the first servo in town. It was clear that the thermo fan was not working at all and clearly this was the main cause of our problems.

Their equivalent of our RAA were very efficient – the local guy was there within 10 minutes and his garage just a few blocks away. We got the car there after it had cooled down sufficiently and after a coolant refill, allowed it to cool overnight, and scheduled a review of the problems first thing the following morning.

Nothing would get the thermo fan to go, so a new one was needed. Luckily, the only fan that this place had in stock was exactly the same as the one fitted to my car. How lucky was that! This was fitted with consumate ease, and given that it is a “puller” rather that a “pusher”, care was taken to ensure that the polarity of the motor was reversed.

We also took the opportunity to check the thermostat, and even thought his seemed okay, we replaced it with a new and cooler one. The water pump appeared okay, so after settling up the bill, we were on our way to Esperance.

For the following week, the car behaved reasonably well, but on the hotter days, or when sitting in traffic just idling, it still sent the temp gauge way past where it should have been.

On getting the car back home (covered transport from Perth) I set about considering what else could be wrong that would cause the car to overheat. All sorts of theories were considered, such as was the timing out? If the timing is too far retarded, this will cause the engine to run hotter than it should. I had the gauge checked – no problems with that. So, looking for some divine guidance, I called Ian Wilson who agreed to have a look, and possibly get the car onto a dyno to check the E.F.I. settings under load and see what the cooling system was doing.

First thing we found was the gauge was clearly not reading correctly. But why? It checked out fine by the VDO gauge shop. Ian put a temporary earth cable between engine and body . . . . an immediate reduction of 15 degrees at the gauge! Now I am at best an amateur about car electrics, especially Lucas. But my understanding is that there is a voltage stabiliser gizmo installed in these things that may not necessarily work with after market accessories. This may well have been the reason that the VDO Oil Pressure Gauge also seemed to provide odd readings and had already been removed in favour of the standard oil warning light.

So the solution here was to remove the VDO gauge and go back to the factory temp gauge that had been previously disconnected. Ian stressed the importance of a factory sender unit – nothing else would do. So back in my garage, I set about connecting another earth strap between engine and body, and reconnecting the factory temp gauge.

But here is the scoop . . . . as I had just been reading the instructions for the installation of a puller fan in a Datsun 240Z that I am helping to build for a friend of mine, it occured to me that the guys who installed the fan to my car way back in Norseman had not reversed the fan blades. I do remember them saying, make sure that the polarity of the motor was reversed, but no mention of changing the fan blade around. So I took out the thermo fan and sure enough, the side that said “This side of the fan must face to the rear of the vehicle” was the wrong way around.

Now I must confess, I was of the opinion that when installing these gadgets as a retrofit, all that neede to be done was to reverse the polarity of the motor. Clearly, this is incorrect. After turning the blades around, the additional airflow was astonishing. Interestingly, the previous airflow sort of seemed to be okay, but as is now clearly demonstrated, it was producing just a fraction of the flow required to cool the engine properly.

So there you have it – all very simple in the end. Stick to the factory gauge and sender unit . . . there is nothing wrong with them. Make sure the engine is really well earthed, and follow the instructions when retro-fitting a thermo fan.

Oh, and as an aside, I had noticed that the cold start was not as instant and smooth as I remembered from my previous ownership of this car. Previously, it would start first time every time no matter what. Now it was taking sometimes three goes before it would assume an idle. But after installing the additional earth strap . . . guess what? Instant start up has resumed! So perhaps the voltage drain and insufficient engine earth was causing a bad reading in the computer? Ah, the mysteries of older cars will keep my brain active for many years, I’m sure.

See you soon in my “cooler” TR8.

Roger Lange

Neil Martin looking cool alongside his TR7V8 – no helmet required for this outing Neil!