Bill.P.
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Posts posted by Bill.P.
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Does anyone have an old but legal /serviceable 155x15 tyre I can use as a "get you home " spare ? On my early TR2 a 165 tyre won't fit the spare wheel compartment, even deflated--a well known problem with early TRs built for 5.50x15 cross-plies. Bill Piggott
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Can't agree about Roy North being the first to fit a TR2 with an anti-roll bar Roger....the factory tried them in early '54 and Vic Derrington was marketing his as early as late '54, Bill P.
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Hello Tom, ah, so it was Roy North's car.....he used to run a motor accessory and tuning bits business in Watford in the late 60's....used to advertise in that wonderful rag Cars and Car Conversions , our bible in the University of Bristol Motor Club circa 1968, when we all had tuned 850 Minis with Peco exhausts......would that I still had my '59 Mini now that they are making joke prices....
I patronised Roy's shop a few times....even stumped up £25 for an exchange polished and ported Mini head once and carried it home on the bus !
As to TFN 500, no details ever on the Register as far as I know, and DVLA doesn't list it as current......Bill P.
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It is my guess that this IS a TR3A block (from a later car) , but that the "T" that should be in front of the "S" is very feint.....I have seen similar cases over the years and suggest minute inspection with a torch and magnifying glass after cleaning that part of the block may reveal traces of it.....Vanguard blocks usually commence with a "V" prefix not surprisingly, Bill P.
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Yes, a team of vicars will help you on your way to Rhode Island...………….BP
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It's worse than "difficult", it is downright impossible in many cases...….always remember that of the 55 or so D type Jags built only around 100 still exist ! ! BP
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This car was on the Register some years ago according to my records....TS 5567. Mike Ellis should therefore have a member's form for it.
A rarity as it carries a Great Yarmouth "EX" reg number, one of the very few English authorities still issuing the original two letter, four number registrations well into the fifties as so few new cars were registered there ! Possibly the only TR2 ever registered new in Gt Yarmouth? Bill P.
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All 3 TR2s DID indeed finish the '55 Le Mans.....375 was not "wrecked"......I know nothing of a list of scrapped TR 2s , and certainly wouldn't set any store by such a thing....how does anyone know what was scrapped, when and by whom, and anyway, what does "scrapped" actually mean in the context of a car ? A dismantled car can always be "re-mantled". Graham Robson did not inspect the car, but it WAS inspected in the scrapyard circa 1972 by the late Jan Pearce, owner since 1970 of PKV374. He told me so himself. Thomas Volgar owns 376 as far as I know and is not connected with 375. I do have some knowledge of the history of 375, but this is a particularly sensitive subject...... BP
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Presumably Paul you have asked Mike Ellis and drawn a blank? And have you asked me Roy....I have a lot of my own records built up over nearly 50 years.....BP
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I too know something of this matter.....suffice to say that when I was the club;'s V765 car authentication officer, which I was for 26 years , I was never afforded the opportunity to view either claimant car to the "PKV 375" appellation, despite requests...…. BP
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Morris's (of Shrewsbury) 20-50 Golden Film Classic oil is what you want.....a family firm, been in business for ever and supply all the Heritage steam railways and traction engine boys with their oils....brilliant stuff, used it for years in all my classics and very reasonably priced....18 quid a gallon or thereabouts at my local factors, BP
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Very sad to hear that Don had died....I knew him well and he stayed chez moi on a couple of occasions. An irreplaceable fount of TR knowledge.
This has set me pondering as to how many owners of sidescreen TRs there are remaining who have owned their cars from new.......besides Don, the only other one I know is a splendid NSW Aussie called Bob Slender, who has had his BRG 3A from new. Are there other contenders? To have owned any sidescreen TR from new would, by my calculations, mean an age of owner now of not less than about 75, and even that would pre-suppose that they could have afforded what was a relatively expensive car at the age of about 18.........to have owned a TR2 from new would mean a minimum age now of 80 plus. As an aside we do have in the UK a gent who has owned his Austin Healey 100 from new in 1954, and who is now nearly 89 although not in the best of health and no longer able to drive, John Wheatley of Worcester by name........ are there any TR2 owners who can match this anywhere in the World? Bill P.
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No.idea what a PM is or how to deal with it, which is why you had no answer ! Which book? I've written 12 I think .....Bill P.
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Having put my lawyers hat back on temporarily to read the new DVLA guidelines on what, after the 18th May, will constitute a "Historic Vehicle" exempt from MOT if over 40 years old, it seems to me that there will be a problem for all sidescreen TRs fitted with rack and pinion steering......has anyone else thought of this?
The guidelines quite specifically say that "alteration of the type or method of steering DOES constitute a material change", ie one that will prevent the TR so modified from claiming MOT exemption....but worse than that, pre 1960 TRs with rack and pinion that were formerly MOT exempt WILL now need one !!! HMMM....law of unintended consequences anyone?
There are two potential "get-outs" to this problem....one if it can be shown that this type of modification was being done within 10 years of the vehicle type ceasing production, ie 1972 in this case....well, it wasn't-I was there and I know of no case where anyone did this at that time, nor were any kits available for at least another 15 years.
Two-- if the mod can be shown, in respect of "axles and running gear" (does that include steering? it doesn't say) to have improved "efficiency, safety or environmental performance".....well, in my view, that is very subjective and arguable.....there's nothing wrong with the original steering in my view, and you could argue that cars with steering deviating from the manufacturer's spec are LESS safe inherently, and less efficient in that the steering lock on rack and pinion cars is in my experience always rubbish compared to original steering TRs....
So looks like ALL sidescreen TRs modified with rack and pinion steering might always need MOTs.....I can see the value of those old RHD steering boxes/columns propped in the corner of the garage rising exponentially.....
What fun, eh? Bill Piggott
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No TR2s were locally assembled in South Africa....Bill P.
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Thanks Deggers.....didn't know of this link/collection.....a good many old favourite pics, but lots of "new" ones too, Bill P.
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Forgot to add that OS 9049 is an exceedingly rare registration, "OS" being Wigtownshire in South West Scotland,,,,,,it was probably the only TR2 ever sold there ! BP
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Hello Deggers, yes, a very interesting picture....definitely taken on the RAC rally in early March 1954 where OS 9049 was a competitor (see my published articles on that event)....it is an RAC man, not Mr Plod of course. This car (TS 556) was only two weeks old at the time of the pic, and it WAS on the Register in the early days of the club, but not I think now. It was Black with Geranium trim , hood and sidescreens, as per Tom Davenport's old TR2, TS 477.
There are plenty of photos of the 14 TR2s on this Rally, nearly all are front views.....rear views are very rare....where did the pic come from may we ask? Bill Piggott
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Worth knowing that the hardtop mounted swivelling spotlights used in 50s rallying are, I'm pretty sure, illegal these days !! However, Mr Plod and modern MOT Testers will almost certainly not know that......I had one on the TR2 for some years, and it was never objected to. I seem to recall that it is the swivelling-ness that is the illegal bit.....fixed ones on the roof are ok I think. Bill P.
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I am very sorry to have to say that my old friend, early TR expert and all round good bloke John Saunders died on Sunday 10th Sept at the nursing home in Wiltshire where he had been cared for for some months, ever since he had a debilitating stroke in 2016. John had been a TRR member since 1972 and was a founder of the White Rose group (originally called South Yorkshire group)
I will be helping put together an obituary for him that will appear in TRaction in due course. Bill Piggott
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This one has been kicking around within and without the Register for many years.....as Graham says, NOT a team car, and no evidence that it was ever other than a car which happened to be registered in Coventry along with the 3 proper team cars......just possibly might have been a factory development car, but no actual evidence of this that I know of.....Bill P.
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Good to hear that another early TR2 (built 3rd November 1953) has been brought back....however, very early missing parts are now getting very hard to find....hope the double bonnet lock system is there......very difficult to come by if not......
If the Heritage Cert doesn't tell you the original engine no., contact me as I know it ! Best wishes with the project, Bill Piggott
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I owned this car around 1984/5 time, so it certainly existed then, and in running order, so it almost certainly exists now, as no one was breaking complete runners by then....a rather nasty metallic blue it was. Bought it from Carmarthenshire, sold it in Oxfordshire.....never heard of it since. Does Mike Ellis know of it? It still shows on DVLA database as on SORN.....Bill Piggott
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Well, I've never seen nor heard of an original plate like that shown in Don H's posting, but it certainly looks pretty original to me, the border outline looks to be the real thing in particular.......if it is original, they must have been used for a very short period, or one would have come up for discussion/analysis before now......nearly 50 years with sidescreen cars has, however, taught me never to say "never" ! Bill P.
My old Pirelli tyres stamped 367F
in TR4/4A Forum
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Hello Rob G, Ian Cornish has just tipped me off re this thread, which I don't usually view......yes, I would be happy to give your aged Cints a home if they are indeed 155x 15 size and not 165s.....whereabouts are you based? Bill P.