STAR90 and continued convalescence.

Last Sunday was show day at Gaydon for part of the STAR90 celebrations. We were blessed with possibly the nicest day of the year so far, certainly a lot better than the weather I can see out of the window as I write this post! As always Amanda and I were organising the 2000 Register stand for the event and had arranged (we felt) a good selection of mk1 and 2 cars for visitors to enjoy.

We also had a row of big saloons opposite the stand, basking in the sun, the whole day was a very enjoyable affair and I must publicly thank everyone who provided cars and helped with the stand including Sharon, Derek and Jamie Furnell and Amanda. She not only does all the driving at the moment, but had to do the lion's share of the stand setting up as I still have a cast on my ankle.

There were lots of superb Standards and Triumphs on display and in attendance, my favourite has to be the Stag fastback though, a car that Triumph surely should have put into production (GT8?).

Back at home this week I have managed to do a few small jobs on HOE.

The offside rear door handle had decided to stop working over the weekend, the button seemed a liitle proud of it's normal position. A quick strip of the trim panel and removal of the handle proved all that was needed, the bolt in the back that presses against the lock mechanism had loosened off. So that was sorted.

The temperature gauge had stopped working, so after proving the gauge by earthing down the sender cable I replaced the sender with a second hand one and the gauge reads far more accurately than the outgoing Lincolnshire sourced temp. sender ever did!

Also the standard S steering wheel has developed a split in the leather at the 2 o'clock position, the stitching had also started to come apart in the same place.

Pete Johnson at Yorkshire Triumphs had given me a very good late Stag wheel (the same apart from the centre pad). After some cleaing of the spokes with Autosol it was installed. It looks far better than the old one did even when we bought the car in early 2008. Amanda assures me it is much nicer to drive with too.

Yesterday I spent the day at Yorkshire Triumphs helping out with some admin and words of encouragement. I think the lads have taken pity on me and are trying to reieve my boredom.

Pete currently has a GT6 with a difference in for some bodywork. The front and rear arch flares have been fabricated on site in steel, even though the bonnet is fibreglass. Pete is having to use a skim of filler here and there to blend in. The engine is a Volvo T4 unit which has over 250bhp, the rear end is an un-narrowed Sierra Cosworth item (I think), the car is fully caged and has a lowered drivers side floor to gain some headroom. In the flesh it looks like a GT6 which has been morphed with an early 911 RS. Looking foward to seeing this on the road and at Blyton with it's owner Ian Cottam.

Richard at Yorkshire Triumphs was getting a customers TR6 running after a body resto and general freshen up, the injection system can be a challenge to work on and everyday is a school day.........we got it there in the end.