Aiberdonian

Nae happy !! Doing a bit more last night and just about to load the last photo and internet crashes and lost the lot. With all the tools and raw materials gathered it was time to start dismantling, the chassis was levelled on two wooden blocks and rear bodywork supported by two adjustable scaffold feet and some aluminium tube under the boot top rail, wheels were removed, rear wings removed and all the interior trim from the back seat rearwards. It was evident that the rear body section was sinking causing the sides of the rear wings to bow out and the front of the doors to rise above the front bulkhead level. On the offside you can see the wooden chassis mount is tilted along with a broken bracket and a makeshift repair with some sheet steel. The nearside gives a better view of how it is constructed with the chassis attachment plate half lap jointed to the cross member, a fairly solid support block attached to a length of angle iron bolted to the steel inner wheel arch. The boot hinge is bolted up through the cross member with one bolt coming through a steel bracket coming round and up along the lower wheel arch frame which is again attached to the back of the support block. 80 year old wood screws are not the easiest of things to remove especially in such confined spaces but using small cutting discs in the dremel the slots were tidied up and with a selection of different sized flat screwdriver bits and various ratchets and sockets to fit all but two came out and I was lucky enough to have space to drill them out with a right angled drill and some short stumpy drill bits that I had bought for this job some time earlier. The bolts were also dispatched using the dremel and cutting discs but it was all too easy to shatter them and quite a number were used. I had to cut the crossmember to ease removal of all the bits but was still able to measure them and get dimensions for the new pieces, the chassis mounts and support blocks along with the crossmember were relatively easy to make as they were all straight sided, the lower wheel arch extension needed to be curved but after some trial and error I worked out the radius and used the router to form this piece. By fixing the workpiece and pivot block to a 8 x 4 x 3/4" sheet of plywood the radius was set and the inner radius cut then adjusting the threaded rod by the required thickness the outer radius was machined - a lot of playing about but it worked out OK. Behind the boot hinge bracket there was some evidence of a solid piece connecting the boot side rail, another body rail and the lower wheelarch extension which had been screwed from the outside before the aluminium had been formed around it, I managed to make a couple of pieces that would fit to all three wooden rails but just could not get the correct profile to fit the body. After two attempts and even trying some modelling clay I finally managed to get the correct profile by using one of my trial pieces, covering it in a good layer of body filler, covering it with a polythene bag and gently pressing it in to position.Once set I was able to use a profile gauge every 1/4" along the piece to copy to the new one. With all the new pieces made and trial fitted, broken bracket welded back together, pilot holes for the screws were marked and drilled and holes for the bolts drilled, final assembly took place with all pieces glued and screwed together. The rear body was now solid and firmly attached to the chassis for the first time in over sixty years. The fun really begins now.

So I retired in 2011 and built a new shed to house the Carlton to make space for all the bits that I would need to remove from the Gloria to gain access to all the rotten wood. The correct way would be to remove the aluminium skin from the ash frame and repair the frame but I just don't have the skills to undertake such a marathon job as it would have entailed removing hundreds of panel pins, prising the aluminium from the frame and then replacing it with all the panel beating and then a full respray. By this time my partner Alison was in poor health and required more and more help around the house until she passed away in 2016. I now needed a project, rather than just want one, and set to planning how I was going to achieve it without everything going belly up. I am not very skilled at carpentry so to make life easier I purchased a few woodworking tools, small band saw, bench sander, planer-thicknesser, dremel, grinder, multi tool, router and a rip-snorter. I already had a small bench saw and my brother in law had one with an adjustable table so I thought I would be able to make all the bits I needed. A neighbour who had worked in the lumber business for many years gave me some lengths of ash trees that he had cut several years earlier and I thought I was on my way but after making a couple of simple flat pieces that bolt to the chassis (4" x 1 1/8" x 12") I came out the following day to find them curled like bananas. Obviously you need to slice your timber and leave it to dry out for several years before it can be used and I wasn't about to wait for this lot to dry out. Found a sawmill beside Huntly that had some 1" and 2" thick well seasoned ash slabs about 10 Ft x 2 Ft and went off to pick them up, should have taken about an hour but got back 4 hours later as the 85 year old owner of the mill was also a Jaguar enthusiast and about 3 hours were spent talking cars and looking round his Series 3 V12 E Type. I had also done some research in to what glue should be used when assembling the frame and found so many different opinions that I ended up using Araldite 2 pack epoxy (the long setting time type). Since I was going to be working in some very tight spaces, using standard slotted head wood screws did not appeal as I would have found it difficult to work even the shortest screw driver so I opted to use torx headed stainless steel screws and a torx bit that I could drive with a small 1/4" drive ratchet or a 10mm ratchet ring key. I managed to get 200 off each 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50 an 60 mm screws for under £100 and bought about 12 double syringe packs of the araldite so that I didn't have an open pack sitting for weeks and slowly going hard. A few test samples of ash were cut and either screwed or glued together and pulled apart to confirm that these methods were going to be successful. This is the offcut of the 1" ash that i was left with.

The Scimitar was a great motor, had a rebuilt mildly tuned 3.1 litre V6 when I bought it but you had to watch it on a wet road. Back to the Gloria, I inherited it after my father died in 2003 and decided to get it back on the road in his memory. I joined the Pre 1940 Triumph Owners Club and discovered that they were getting hard to find essential components re-manufactured and were reconditioning brake master and wheel cylinders by boring them out and pressing in stainless steel sleeves and reassembling with new seals and springs. Having sold the Scimitar in 2005 there was some spare cash available and I spent most of it on new shiny bits for the Gloria - master cylinder, 4 wheel cylinders, 8 brake shoes, new front and rear splined hubs with new spinners, new wheel bearings, new water pump, new water manifold, new head gasket and a reconditioned steering box. First on was the master cylinder I then fitted new wheel bearings and the splined hubs followed by the wheel cylinders and brake shoes to the back axle and thought I would give the inner wheel arches a bit of clean and maybe a coat of paint while I had the wheels off. As we all know, that is the moment you find all of the horrors hiding under the mud and grime I had that sinking feeling and thought that this just might be the end of the old car. I decided to dig a bit further by removing the boot lid for a better look and it just got worse The wooden body support to the chassis was sinking, the plywood boot floor was warped and separating and the boot hinge brackets were nearly falling away and any exposed timber that I prodded seemed to be rotten. A few rums and fags later it became obvious that what was going to be a fairly straightforward mechanical 'restoration' had turned in to a nightmare and was going to need a lot of time and thought or professional help was needed. In the end it was decided that this was to become a retirement project for 2011 as it was going to need all my concentration and a hell of a lot of time.

Just paid my dues so that I can continue this post! Aye, the Westfield was the best fun per £ ever, really brought out the hooligan in me with it's 1700cc Ford X-Flow stage 3 engine and handling like a go cart. I did follow it with this A Carlton Carrera and then I restored this one

The Acquisition Not the usual agricultural machinery but it is mine, it's old and a machine of sorts. First of all a bit of history as to how I became the custodian of a 1937 Triumph Gloria Vitesse 4 seat Tourer. In 1963 my father was offered £5 for an old 10.8HP Coventry Climax engine that he had removed from a 1935 Gloria Saloon he used in the late 1950's if he put it in running condition but when he found out it was required for a Gloria tourer he refused to sell the engine and offered £5 for the car. A couple of months later he became the owner of SU3305 and soon found out why it needed another engine:- The above was sticking out of the engine block and had smashed the camshaft, engine mount, sump and front casing. As he was foreman of the machine shop in the local Albion agency in Aberdeen the spare engine was rebored, fitted with new Rover 10HP pistons, the crankshaft reground and the bearings re-metalled and line bored to suit. The engine was installed, bushes and pins were made for the front suspension, door trim was replaced with leather from a cut down Austin Seven rear seat and sponge backed domestic carpet used to replace carpeting that was falling apart. The mechanic at the local garage who owned a Singer 9 Le Mans tourer gave it a 'sympathetic' MOT and we enjoyed short runs on warm summer days around the Aberdeenshire B roads. Over the next twenty years every so often if money allowed - he did have three teenage kids to feed and clothe - it was insured, MOT'd and licenced for 4 months in the summer and once I reached 25 my name was added to the insurance and I was allowed to drive it. We attended local galas and some local car shows over the years until a problem with the brake master cylinder that we were unable to repair in 1988 put it off the road and it ended up at the back of the workshop collecting dust. I had been bitten by the kit car bug by this time A Burlington Chieftan A Westfield SE The Gloria was started and taken out to be dusted down now and then until 2005. To be continued.

Obviously a very rare beast, now it's running you'll be able to let us know if performance matches it's looks.

That looks nice, I used to have a Ransomes MG5 Dumper. Excuse my ignorance but what is it exactly and is the Mole Wrench a standard fitment?

You did tell me to do a write up on my Gloria resurrection in September last year and I have managed to get some photos together but I just haven't seemed able to get the time to do the write up. Once the nights get a bit darker and I have to walk the dog in the afternoon instead of evening I'll make an effort to start a topic on the subject.

That is a con rod from a 10.8 HP Coventry Climax engine in a 1937 Triumph Gloria that my father bought in 1963. Hence the price of £5 for the whole car. It took out the side of the block, split the camshaft, burst the timing case and the nearside engine mounting.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Rich

Maybe I'll do a topic in the restoration section about all the blood sweat and tears expended over the last three years on the Triumph but I don't have nearly as many photos of before, during and after that most folk seem to put up. I've still some back up logs to split yet. We had a lot of wind blown trees a few years ago and ran out of space.

Been doing the same these last two days and totally agree about the log splitter, I've had one for ten years and it has saved a lot of backache and time over the years. Have also been doing my bit to save the planet by using an old oil tank as a wood store Might not need so much this year as the project of the last three years, my 1937 Triumph Gloria Vitesse Tourer is now back on the road.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone from a rather chilly Aberdeenshire ( - 3 deg C at the moment)

Don't know what the top one is for but I think the lower one is a leaf spring lubricator.

My guess is some form of gun sight.

I don't think it's ebony, it's not dark enough but it is definitely some type of wood. New owner has a 1905 5HP hit and miss engine that he intends to drive it with(can't remember the make but it's not a common one)

It's not in the shed anymore, dragged it out today as it's on it's way to a new owner who has a collection of early stationary engines. I am hoping someone may be able to advise what it may have been used for. I saved it from being broken up for it's copper and brass by a local scrap dealer about 35 years ago, I just couldn't let him break it up as it should really be in a museum. It's a Crompton DC dynamo serial no.6270, 70 Volt 25 Amp output at 1280 RPM and I believe it could well be pre 1900 but I have no idea what it would have been used for and whether it had been driven by steam, petrol or maybe waterwheel or what equipment would have run off the 70 Volt output. Preston Services had a similar one a few years ago but it had 3 armature supports and was 110 Volt output.

We seem to be getting off lightly in our part of Aberdeenshire although wind is creating some nice drifts. Cleared way round to workshop with snow blade on back of Mitsubishi. While I was freezing my nuts off my 12 year old Staffie/Jack Russell cross was sitting in his armchair heating himself at the pot bellied wood burner. It's a dog's life! !

I should have kept that out of the photo! It's a 4.2 Litre straight six Jaguar mark 10 engine with 66,000 miles on the clock. I bought the whole car because I mistakenly thought it had a 3.8 Litre engine and I wanted the cylinder head for the 3.8 E Type engine in my Carlton Carrera kit car. The heads aren't interchangeable (additional waterways at the rear of the head) so I might swap the whole engine as 3.8 heads are as rare as hen's teeth. The rest of the car would have suited Fred Flintstone, there was nothing about the body worth keeping.

Brother in law has 10 acres of woodland just at the back of our houses and he gave me the contract (unpaid) to clear some of the trees that have been blown down over the years. We didn't want to cut down any standing trees so the Mitsubishi is fine and small for snaking around them dragging out the blown ones but about 4 years ago we had a really bad gale with about 25 trees down in one day just up from the houses with many more further up the wood that we just couldn't cope with so it's being professionally cleared and thinned at the moment. Unless we get some severe winters I should have enough logs for quite a few years already stockpiled, thank god for double ended log splitters, they don't half make an axe obsolete. Those cleats are 6" long by 2" deep and they do work well in soft ground, they are Bridgestone Farm Service LUG specials and came with the tractor.

Couple of other machines in the collection, the rotovator is semi retired since I turned the vegetable plot in to grass after a couple of years when nothing grew but it is handy for digging up rough patches of ground prior to leveling and the snow blower is waiting for a decent winter, It does have two tracks but I thought I would try it on a couple of old Howard wheels to see if it be easier to handle but there hasn't been enough snow to find out since I fitted them. Last photo shows it earning it's keep in 2010.

Another one that would fit in to the ride on category. You'll see that my machines are in what you would call working condition.

As requested, one or two photos of my Mitsubishi doing what it was bought for - taking fallen trees out of a 10 acre woodland at the back of the house. I initially bought a Ransomes MG 5 for the job but it couldn't cope with exposed tree roots and big stones sticking out of the ground used to knock the tracks off. It is amazing the size of trees it can deal with, and if it struggles you just cut another bit off the tree. The tarpaulin is covering one of three piles of logs waiting to be split and fed in to the pot bellied wood burner in the workshop.

Reiver, I have a Solex 26 FHG carburettor but I think it is off a car as the only Bamford engine that my father had was an SD1 that powered our lighting plant before we had mains electricity. I have had a look at some EG1 engines and it does appear very similar.