OMG, it's nearly finished !

[tr7dan]

Can't believe it's almost ready to drive after 31 years....

Still a few small details - I need to adjust the doors. The drivers door shuts ok but isn't quite flush, the passenger door shuts and holds presumably on the anti burst catch but it's not closing tight and stands about an inch out of flush. Is it just a matter of adjusting the striker and if so, is it possible or even likely that I will end up with a similar situation to the bonnet problem whereby it locks shut but then won't open with little or no access to undo anything to get it open again ?

[FI Spyder]

Sounds like adjustments to me. The door that stands out, it may be adjusted too far in so it is only held on the first latch point. Try adjusting it out first so it latches on the second. As for the hood, if it's too tight it will lock shut but have too much resistance for the wire to unlock it. Try moving the latch so it isn't so tight and go from there. That happened to me after having the latch out. If too tight and the wire can't release it (on mine) there is a hole in the screen where you can place a large screwdriver on the latch to force it open.

[busheytrader]

The anti burst mechanisms can cause the doors to stick, solved by a light oiling.

I found replacement pattern door rubbers took a while to compress to a working profile and make it hard for the doors to close on their latches.

I found plate on the B post has a lot of adjustment, the lock on the door frame less so. You have good gaps on the door frame all round so don’t see why your door is sticking open, may just need adjusting at each point

[tr7dan]

Thanks for that, shall have a go at getting the doors right tomorrow.

Had a mess around with a multimeter today and in one fell swoop got the sidelights, fog lights, indicators, hazards and brake lights all working nicely. Just the wipers and a few small trim bits to finish and I reckon it'll be time for it's first outing down the road...... but what happens if I break down 100 yards into it's first journey ? I mean I've had the whole bloody car to pieces - there's bound to be something lurking, waiting to say 'gotcha'. Scary !!

Dan

[Beans]

I always adjust the door locks without the rubber door seals fitted.
First tighten the door strikers just enough for them to be moved a little under pressure.
Close the door (two clicks of the lock mechanism) and adjust by gently pulling the door in line.
After which the strikers can be tightened.

Final job (on a DHC) is fitting the anti burst locks. Same procedure as described above.
After that the seals can be fitted

[busheytrader]

...... but what happens if I break down 100 yards into it's first journey ? I mean I've had the whole bloody car to pieces - there's bound to be something lurking, waiting to say 'gotcha'. Scary !!
Dan

I thought the same after I converted mine to TR8 spec and countless other types of wedge open heart surgery.

In my boot I carry 5 litres of coolant, a coolant hose spanner, spare fuses and a couple of tools for tightening earthing points and discarnect clamps on the battery terminals. I also have the AA app on my phone as the AA man carries the rest of my tools.

Not long after my built not bought V8 conversion, I drove it to Le Mans and back for the 24 hour race. My shakedown consisted of idling the car on the drive for 30 minutes then driving it for an hour immediately afterwards, never more than 5 minutes from home.

[tr7dan]

You have more confidence in your mechanical abilities than I have in mine for sure.

There's a local garage about 1/2 a mile down the straight road from where I live and I know the guys there so I'm gonna drive there, turn round and drive back just for it's first tentative outing. They said if it goes pear shaped between my house and the garage they'll push it back for me, which is fair enough.

I've had it out of the garage onto my drive a couple of times now and there's seemingly nothing amiss so hopefully any troubles I have will be small ones. Only thing I will say though is it don't half sound TINNY. I don't recall it sounding like that when it was my daily driver back in the eighties..... but it has got a new full stainless exhaust on it which I believe doesn't give quite as mellow a note as a mild steel one ?

Looked great on my driveway in the sunshine today though, brought back some memories seeing it out of the garage in the daylight.....

[FI Spyder]

I'll bet you don't have the original muffler/resonator as well. When I bought mine it had original resonator, different muffler and Thrush twin chrome muffled tips. I put on SS Magnaflo muffler of same configuration. The Thrush fell off (broke off at the weld, dragging so I broke off and left it at the side of the road at Monterey) on my 3,000+ mile road trip to southern California. I like the sound now without the muffled tips, looking for twin chrome tips to retain the look.

[tr7dan]

I'll bet you don't have the original muffler/resonator as well. When I bought mine it had original resonator, different muffler and Thrush twin chrome muffled tips. I put on SS Magnaflo muffler of same configuration. The Thrush fell off (broke off at the weld, dragging so I broke off and left it at the side of the road at Monterey) on my 3,000+ mile road trip to southern California. I like the sound now without the muffled tips, looking for twin chrome tips to retain the look.

Wow, if only I knew what all that meant

Ha, just kidding. What I have is what looks like an identical reproduction of the original Triumph exhaust system.... but in stainless steel. The middle section (silencer) and rear section (back box) look exactly the same as the parts book drawings but of course, the internals may be different. I don't like the sound at all though - reminds me of an old BSA Bantam two stroke engine

Maybe it'll grow on me or maybe it will mellow down a bit with use, if not I s'pose I could go back to a mild steel system.

[Cobber]

The difference will be mostly in the internals, the material shouldn’t make that much difference….having said that a copper exhaust sounds best of all!
Good luck finding such a thing these days, they never lasted long, but were glorious while they did.
Off course modern car exhausts run much to hot for copper, ( and by “modern” I mean anything younger than @ 80 years )
It was a vintage thing.
Here in Oz we had a great tradition of specials, homemade cars nocked up by inventive blokes with not much money but plenty of enthusiasm in their back sheds, they’d use copper pipe because without pipe benders it was easier to form.
They usually had little more than a “Brooklands silencer” which was nothing more then the end of the tailpipe formed into a flattened fish tail shape.