Tuesday 15 February 2011

Bonding with Martin

The basic order was agreed but then the peripheral requests needed to be addressed.                                                          “How does the rocker box feed kit attach to the rocker box cover?”                                          
“It doesn’t, there is a bleeder nut at the back of the cylinder head which unscrews and accommodates the feed”
“Bloody hell, that’s clever, why didn’t Triumph think of that?”
“You can’t change old technology or those old buggers that ran Triumph. It pumps loads of oil into the rocker box which is an advantage, but it advisable to fit rubber valve seats to prevent the engine from smoking, because there is simply too much oil”
“Thrust washers, +5 or +10?”
“You only need +5, and then it’s best to lightly rub them down with emery paper as they will probably be too thick”
“Rocker overhaul kit, is it tidy money?”
“Magic, for what it is and what it will do it’s very humble money: it will really make the top end of the engine much quieter. Remember a quiet engine is a happy engine”.    
“Left hand drive headlamps, Lucas originals, with back plates and chrome shroud?”
“You will probably need 7 inch with halogens, same price but better. This does not include a sidelight but you don’t need one with those bullet wing lights from Morgan”
“Do you have an extra brake pedal?”
“Yeah, it’s a re-con but I can throw that in for nothing”.
“I notice that you are advertising a KPH speedo on the front of your last promotions leaflet, the car will spend its life in France so we need the correct clocks: what’s your best price Martin?”
“You know, I didn’t know that we had any, I’ll just check. Here they are, £65.00, less discount £42.00”.
“Bloody hell, the Herald ones are only £6.00. Why is that?”
“We happen to have 600 of them and only 4 of the KPH”.
What is the quality of your spoked wheels, I have heard conflicting reports about them, are they made in this country?”
“No, they are made where the people are brown. They are OK if you don’t want to drive the car. When you tighten the spinners don’t use a hammer, it’s best to use a block of lard. If you drive the car don’t turn any corners because the hubs will snap,
oh, and the chrome does have a tendency of peeling off after about a month. Apart from that they are fine”.
“In that case I don’t think that we shall bother with that product”
 The conversation finished with both ends of the phone line chuckling. Chris was happy with the honest, forthright information and Martin was pleased with an order to the tune of £2065.68p. When Rimmers receive the cheque they will dispatch the order the same day.                     
Colin Brockbank arrived late in the day to measure the position of the pedals and to site the gear lever. To accomplish this exercise I needed to be sat in the car with the steering wheel and the seat in the correct position. An extra brake lever will be altered to fabricate an accelerator pedal to be welded together to form a proper pedal box. 
The gear lever will be moved forward to be directly parallel with the edge of the steering wheel. The stick will also be shortened for a much more direct feel. These are ‘race plus comfort’ refinements, defining the riding position of the driver.
The project has had a constructive injection of enthusiasm today. Bon.

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