Catastrophe!

[Hasbeen]

Haven't used the 7 much lately, as I have not been doing much other than shopping center trips to town.

I took it for a trip to town yesterday, as I would not be parking in a shopping center car park. Coming into summer it was hot, 29C, so I switched the air conditioning on. Nothing but hot air.

It is my own fault, it must be 6 months since I used it, so I suppose the unlubricated compressor shaft seal has leaked. With that large expanse of black plastic dash & our near vertical & hot sun, the 7 is no car for the Oz summer without air. Hope a recharge will fix it.

Hasbeen

[Beans]

Oh ... I briefly thought you'd crashed the car or something
Had the same problem with my black Defender earlier in the year.
At the time it was around 40°C, as the car was already booked for its annual inspection and service I decided to brave the heat ...

[simps]

First world problems, huh????

[Hasbeen]

Horrible drive into town today, [26Km] in 38 C heat. The air coming in the ventilation system was hotter than the ambient temperature, but I haven't looked for a reason.

My trusty auto electrician pressure tested the system, & found no leaks in an hour of holding pressure.

Regassed I drove home in beautiful cool, & for the 100th time said to myself, "I must drive this car more often". Now I have a new reason. Not using the air allows the seal to dry, & leak. Running it keeps it lubricated & gas tight.

Hasbeen

[Hasbeen]

I have been driving the 7 more often since the re gassing of the air.

My son convinced me there is not much use being the richest man in the cemetery, & I extended that to it was not much use being the owner of the most beautiful 7 in the cemetery.

I took it for a run to a new city & shopping centre being developed just 15 kilometres away. Still beautifully cool in 37C, so it looks like my loss of air conditioning gas was down to my lack of use.

With my new philosophy the paint will probably get more chips, but it looks like my air will continue to cool.

Hasbeen

[FI Spyder]

When I had the Integra I used the air even in winter (to take out the excess moist air) and never had any problems until the cabin inter cooler sprang a leak spraying coolant in a mist through the vents. I had just picked up my sister at the airport (she was looking after the housed/pets while I took the 7 to Portland all British Field Meet). "Is it supposed to do that?" she said as I didn't see it through my transition glasses. It cost more to fix it than the car was worth so I left it.

Since, I got a 2013 Volt and the air comes on automatically when needed for the auto defrost and temp setting year round.

[Hasbeen]

Mine sprayed me with coolant from the ventilation outlets the first time I took it for a run, & ran the revs up over 4000.

In our climate air is essential, but a heater is not, so I simply bypassed the heater, running the coolant from the back of the head direct to the water pump. The joys of a warm climate.

Hasbeen

[Hasbeen]

Unfortunately we had a real catastrophe here today.

That ex greenhouse shed,originally a greenhouse recovered with hypalon material that has been sheltering some of my cars for about 17 years was damaged, worse, it damaged the TR8.

We had a small thunderstorm with 31mm of rain this afternoon. During it we got a 5 minute squall from the west at about 60 knots, yes knots, not kilometres.

Some of the frame was torn apart, allowing some of the main hoop frames to be blown against the 8. One actually bent around the top of the rear fender.

Triumphs are made of old fashioned thick metal, but it is slightly dinged, & scratched. It isn't too bad, but it will be reasonably expensive. The thing is off the road at the moment, & not insured, unfortunately. Although it is a great car, it most definitely is not a lucky one.

[FI Spyder]

Oh, No! Not the 8! You have so much time and money into it. I too currently have my 7 stored (under a cheap car cover) under my "shed". I made mine out of 2" (or what ever size) ABS plumbing pipe with a tarp over it (on its third one last summer). While there are tall trees around, nothing of any size has fallen on it. Last year I had a large branch (our trees are very tall here in the Pacific North West) fall through the railings and never damaged anything except for some small gouges on the edges of planking when it could have taken out the whole railing section. It was all I could do to lift it out. Seems I used up all the TR storm luck that was left in the world. Sorry about that.

[Beans]

Sorry to hear that. Hope you'll be able to get it sorted properly. Very unfortunate it wasn't insured.
Probably could have been worse when I see how hard Australia has been hit by extreme weather lately.

[Hasbeen]

Yes Beans, it has been less than nice, but this is not unusual, Oz can be a tough place. We had bushfires in the area first, before they moved south. It is mostly the very large national parks with thousands of acres that are locked up & very overgrown with scrub where the fires are starting. We had less than a mile visibility for a month or so due to smoke. The drought has dried everything out set for fire.

No danger of that around here. It is mostly small holdings, 5 to 30 acres, that are usually overstocked with horses. In this drought we had one old retired horse eat our 15 acers right to the ground. Nothing left to burn for many miles.

Suddenly we get 7 inches, actually 185mm in a week, & everything looks green again. Rain water tanks are full, the river, dry for 3 months, is running again, & there is a couple of feet in the dam.

This one wasn't too bad. After the last big storm a couple of years back, it took about 15 Neighbors with chain saws about 3 hours to clear enough of the 6 fallen trees across the road, so family could get home or out.