GSKTR4 Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 Ade Bennett and myself are entering my 1961 TR4 in LEJOG, which is about 2 weeks off - unfortunately we are the only TR entered in the main rally, this is our first historic event and the rest of our class comprises MGBs and a Volvo P1800, so there's a lot of pride riding on very inexperienced shoulders ANY help gratefully received, we're getting a bit panicky now, especially as I'm in the middle of fitting twin 45's and the Triumphtune inlet manifolds don't match the new stainless exhaust manifold so some major grinding and bodging is called for - advice on the conversion to cable throttle very gratefully received - I've got the alloy block thingy arriving from Moss tomorrow but haven't a clue where it goes. ??? We've got a new engine (stage 2), rear axle (3.45:1) and battery, alloy sump guard, Retrotrip and Branz rally timer, Miniltes and Emjos, elec fuel pump, Filter King, roll-over hoops, thick anti-roll bar (11/16 I think), alternator, narrow belt, Kenlowe, sports coil, reversing light, TRS 4-point harnesses, Cobra Classic bucket seats, etc. etc. -- HELP!!! Many thanks in advance Andy Lane Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mrodbert Posted November 18, 2003 Report Share Posted November 18, 2003 Andy, We did Le Jog last year (and finished) and the Winter Challenge the year before. Happy to give you advise based on our experience. There's too much to fill a bulletin board with, but off the top of my head: - event management is key. (ie knowing whats happening when and where) - start sleeping in now. - make sure you've got a potti with spare bulbs/ fuses. - lights and brakes make cars go faster. I will contact you off-line, and may post a general reply later anyway, if I get time, but best of luck. Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmathias Posted November 21, 2003 Report Share Posted November 21, 2003 cmon mrodbert, don't be shy ! cast your pearls of wisdom before us swine btw, that irish gig sounds great Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Taffy TR Man Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 If you look back through the archives of this section, somewhere you will find a bucket load of really excellent advice alot of people gave me when considering the same thing earlier in the year. Needless to say my car is now further from completion than it was in June so best of luck and I may join you in Le Jog 2004... TTRM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Taffy TR Man Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 Here's one of the items - courtesy Mrodbert...! ____-- Agree with Tony on the spot bar front. There were a number of cars on this years Le Jog with what looked like Longrangers attached to bumpers and they seemed to work well. I wish I'd known about the TRE spot bar as drilling holes and attaching the bar was a right pain. However, we can probably suspend the car from the spot bar - whish is probably what you want. Re. your other mail, I dont think GRP panels will be allowed, but you should check in the MSA blue book or in the technical sections of the HERO and HRCR websites. The HERO one probably has the regs for last years JOG which will help. If not I've probably got a copy that I could fax if you want. From memory it says body panels should be as per standard unless modified in period (the works 4s had alloy panels I think). As far as what to do for Le Jog - Reliability, reliability, reliability. Everything on the car will be shaken for 3 days solid and some major stuff WILL come loose. Suspension first: we spent most of the night sections and some of the days with the live rear axle hitting the bump stops about once a second, so they need to be able to take the strain. Also we had a botched brake pipe fix that routed the pipe between axle and bump stop and would have caused squished brake pipe and brown trousers if we hadnt fixed it before the event. The 4 has low clearance as well so a chunky sump guard is vital and raised suspension definitely nice to have. Ancilliaries also have a habit of going, so I would replace dynamo/alternator, fuel pump, and water pump and carry the old ones as spares (a good plan for all replacement parts). The other thing is make sure your electrics are bullit and water proof. Wiring spots on a separate circuit to the mains is also a good idea - we lost mains in Epynt and drove on with spots only. If both had gone the alternatives would have been - fix it; retire; drive backwards all night using the reversing light Also, as far as I can tell what makes cars go faster is brakes, lights, weight and engine, in that order. The HERO site have some good info on preparing cars for these sort of events and the CRA publish a book, which is pretty good. Hope this helps, but mail me if you want some more specific Le Jog tips. By the way, I'm probably doing some HRCR stuff this year - starting with Ilkley if anyone's interested. Would be great to find out what others are doing. Cheers, Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GSKTR4 Posted November 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 Well, thank you to all who have contacted me, on and off this board. It's Sunday night and we set off on Thursday, but still I don't have the TR at home! I went to pick it up this evening and it had no petrol! The last 3 weeks have been spent trying to get the right parts to make the twin 45 DCOEs work properly, failures of the Royal Mail mainly to blame. Lots of time sorting out the alternator conversion, narrow belt conversion, Kenlowe, lighting system, leaking rear axle dripping oil onto the new Alfins, altering the depth of foam on the seats, fitting extra lighting for navigation, taking off the Halda Speedmaster V and fitting a Brantz Rally Timer, fitting foam to the roll-over bars, fitting spots (bumper brackets work at treat (thanks to Mark Rodbert for the tip to point them across each other for seeing round corners!) and 100/130 watt H4 bulbs (separate relays for dip and main beams to save the wiring, making the ammeter work properly to show charge with the alternator attached (a hard one that!) ... and a million and one other things that will never ever be finished, so we'll just have to set off and hope. You can follow our progress at www.hero.org.uk, I know the Cumbria group are coming to cheer us on at Carlisle Airport on Monday morning (starts about 8 am!). Holker Hall on Sunday afternoon would also be a good place to watch us as we have a tea break there - make yourselves known!! We're the only TR this time, and only 3 Triumphs in total so we've teamed up with a Triumph 200 Mk 1 and a 2.5PI to form "Team Triumph" - wishful thinking I expect!! We're raising money for "Wendy's Way", a cancer charity (see www.wendysway.co.uk) so do send donations!! Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmathias Posted December 9, 2003 Report Share Posted December 9, 2003 well done to Andy and Ade - 3rd in class on their first LEJOG you'd have soundly beaten mrodbert and I as well nice one - we await the gory details (must be getting easier - 5 gold medals this year !) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted December 9, 2003 Report Share Posted December 9, 2003 Yes Congratulations you two, as for Cumbria Group Going well I made it, I think I was th e single spectator at carlisle airport, and it may have been an illusion but when you swung round the two cones in a broad 180, and I cheered and clapped, I think you gunned it just a little bit more than otherwise, 2000 wa s nice but the stag and 2.5 PI didn't come through. May try and do this one year. stay in touch, john. P.S. Bet you were not as cold as I was. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ade Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Hi all, cheers for your support (yes we did see you at the airport - much appreciated!!!!). I'll leave it to andy to divulge the gory details (and there are a few). the car was awesome - even the guy with the 4.2L V8 Sunbeam Tiger said we sounded great!!! We also met John Hopwood, driver of 4VC in the 60's, he was a "guest marshall" -- really nice down to earth guy (he liked the car too!) we'll be back next year to properly wipe the floor with the MGs, you'll see... Ade Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GSKTR4 Posted December 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Thanks for the support guys, much appreciated Good news was we were fastest in class on virtually all the tests, beating most of the MGBs by some margin. Oh, and we came runners up in the "Concours" Ade and I had a wonderful time and I should be tucked up in bed recovering but I'll give you a quick run down on what went wrong. Unfortunately things went badly wrong at the start line - we were spotted by the Clerk of the Course pouring fuel out of a cracked fuel line as it passes somewhere under the passenger seat, fortunately we were allowed through MC1 and able to fix it before Test 1 20 yds later - we then started Test 1 32 minutes late and all our medal chances had gone out of the window, although we got "gold" on everything we attempted on Saturday up to Magor - it was there that we discovered that the newly fitted alternator had come loose, cracked the housing and been running at a jaunty angle for some time. The RAC boys and their excellent operation soon had us back on track and we set off into Wales with renewed vigor, starting with a very long and complicated regularity around Caerwent, which we golded for every control apart from the card we "lost" somewhere. At Chester the RAC tightened up the front wheel bearings because on anything requiring quite a lot of lock (almost everything) we completely lost the brake pedal until it had been pumped a couple of times - quite disconcerting - oh, and we also developed a problem with the cable to the starter motor, which was too short given the amount of hammer the engine and its mountings were being given and had snapped. This was fixed temporarily, but for most of the rally I had to be careful not to stall as restarting required Ade to dash out and hold the cable in contact while I cranked the engine - gave him a bit of a boost I think! Worst example was parked sideways across a main road (in the middle of a 3-point turn after wrong slotting) with the bonnet open and several equally lost 911's bearing down on us!! The alternator finally packed in completely during the night in the Lakes, leaving us stranded a couple of hundred yards short of the summit of the Hard Knott Pass. By some miracle the car re-started after a 10 minute cool down and we struggled to the top. It was a moonlit night so we free-wheeled all the way down by torch light - boy! we didn't half give the marshalls a shock at the next control, they thought we were a mountain bike or something! Finally we got as far as the George IV pub in Eskdale Green under our own steam and the recovery truck turned up at the same time as our food. We arrived in Carlisle after the MC had closed, so picked up a full 1000 points. The RAC boys got busy when we arrived but finally gave up and suggested we see what the morning brings - fully expecting to be recovered home - but by some miracle a genius by the name of Bernard had fitted a replacment alternator (Ford Sierra alternator fits perfectly!) and pulley and was just about to start the car as we rolled up at 8am. Back on track we had a fantastic and virtually trouble free day through Scotland, arriving in John O'Groats at about 10am. The TR4 was amazing, what a fantastic car, the tyres (Colway Emjo's) were perfect for the entire rally, from greasy Welsh lanes, through dusty airfileds to rough gravel forests of Scotland and wet roads all the way home. LEJOG's an amazing event, fantastically well organised, run on the most amazing roads in the UK with some lovely cars/people for company and we will certainly be back for more next year! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mrodbert Posted December 11, 2003 Report Share Posted December 11, 2003 Fantastically well done. Fun, fettling and a result - rallying doesn't get much better than that. I'm massively jealous. Not quite sure about the concours though. Are you positive that's something to be proud of ? In any case, what we need is more words and some pictures. How about an article for TRAction? Well done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Yes Andy, now you're the expert on the event PLEASE share the experience with us all via the mag. john. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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