ianc

Have just read this clip from the Daily Express: Last year, Adrian Flux warned ethanol is "corrosive" with E10 fuel offering a higher risk of damaging metal, plastic and rubber in the fuel system. This can lead to many problems such as issues with the carburettor and may even lead to broken fuel lines. The motoring group also stressed the extra water consumption found in E10 fuel could also backfire for those who store their classic cars. They added: "Water absorption is a problem if your classic car sits idle for long periods of time, as many classics do. The longer you l

Rather than just coat underside of wings with stone-chip, I recommend that you fit under-arm - sorry, wing - protection. You TR will last decades longer should you do so. You can slap the stone-chip onto those. Ian Cornish

The overdrive relay can click, but fail to supply power to the solenoid. In 30 years, I have had to replace my overdrive relay on four occasions, the most recent being just a fortnight ago. Each time, it has been because the contact inside the relay (a Lucas 6RA type) although moving was no longer making contact - hence no power to the solenoid. When at autojumbles, I keep an eye open for old (original) Lucas 6RA relays - they seem to last rather longer. Ian Cornish

TR Rob: that cover looks neat. Do you think this cover would this fit a TR4 (4VC) with a pair of 7" spotlamps at the front (no bumper) and reversing lamp (5" spotlamp) on the back of the bootlid, but no bumper. TR4 is slightly wider, too. Thanks, Ian Cornish

If it is the anti-rattle device, which seems very likely from the description, the transmission tunnel can stay in place as only the rubber gaiter and the gear lever need be removed. Be careful not to lose the anti-rattle device - it is very small ( Moss has repalcements) and can drop out To ensure it doesn't fall out of its little hole, one needs to hold it into its hole when installing the lever. Ian Cornish

To avoid the problem of most or all lights being extinguished in the event of a short-circuit, the Works' TR4s have a fuse for each of the filaments in the headlamps (i.e. 4 fuses) and separate fuse for each of left, right and centre spotlamps and for reversing lamp (single filaments, of course). Centre was fitted on top of the bonnet for some rallies, and Mike North has copied this on his TR4 (LNK). Ian Cornish

I'm afraid that TRs in standard form have insufficient fuses - just a couple in the TR2/3/4. As you are going to have to carry out significant re-wiring, I suggest you get Autosparks to incorporate more fuses. Back in 1962, the Works' Competition Department employed a Lucas technician to wire the four TR4s. and each car has 4 fuseboxes with 4 fuses in each. Mine has a few more as I have modified the electrics over the 54 years I have owned the car. Ian Cornish

I wouldn't say "lucky". Why ? Because Pete Buckles above all believed in "Preserving the Marque" (once the mantra for the TR Register - remember) and he pursued this policy with dogged determination, and was followed by others of similar ilk. We have been exceedingly fortunate to have benefitted enormously from Pete's farsightedness, which has meant that parts for TRs are, on the whole, readily available and not expensive - anyone who owns a modern will have knowledge of difficulties with parts and the cost thereof. Has anyone explored the record of the group acquiring Moss

I have TR6 U'Js at each end. Revington can sell you a column with a U/J welded to each end, which means just 2 (instead of 4) bolts. Ian Cornish

I have been using Evans Waterless for some years in my modified cooling system, which has a sealed expansion tank (see TR Action112 (Feb '94) or Technicalities B18). It is expensive, so you don't want to lose any of it, When working on the cooling system, I drain it into a container and pour it back afterwards. The coolant has been in there since 2017, always comes out clean as a whistle and, with a sealed system, I never need change it nor to top up. Ian Cornish

Many years ago, Maddy and I had a fascinating tour of the Coldridge Collection from Michael Thorne, the man who had created the Collectiom. In Chapter 14 of Michael's "Ferguson TE20 in Detail", there's a description of the special Fergies built for the expedition to the South Pole. We don't believe we saw one of those specials in the Collection, which it seems is now closed - presumably whilst its future is decided. Michael died last year - a true enthusiast, much missed by the Fergie fraternity. It was Standard (not Standard Triumph) which set up production of the little g

I asked Maddy to take shots of the buckles of the navigator's and driver's side by side, showing what an excellent repair was made by Roger. Ian Cornish VOLVO SEAT BELT BUCKLE REPAIR BY ROGER HOGARTH.docx

Ahem - as it is torque, it is 14 lb.ft. The unit ft.lb is for work done, as in calculating horsepower, which I seem to recall us 550 ft.lb per second. Ian Cornish (will now crawl back inside my shell)

To conclude this narrative, I can report that the fellow on the Volvo forum (discovered through Andy Canning) had no old belts with the buckle which I required, but the very resourceful and clever Roger Hogarth took my belt, removed the rivets and found - as we expected - that the steel spring had fractured. Roger obtained some spring steel, cleaned off the flaking plating from the outside covers and had Bright Zinc coating applied (much cheaper than other plating). As making tiny rivets didn't work, Roger used 3 chrome countersunk BA screws (I think he said 3BA), used nuts as space

Dismantle the tap and, using fine grinding paste, lap the swivelling part into the outer casting - I must thank Carl at Revington for demonstrating this simple fix to me many moons ago. Ian Cornish