Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club Magazine 342

Issue 342 December 2015“GLORIA” AT THE NEC!

PRE-1940 TRIUMPH MOTOR CLUB LTD MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN TREASURER/MEMBERSHIP David Mason and COMPANY SECRETARY Hawthorn Hollow, 13 Whitegate Hill Caistor, Lincs. LN7 6SW Jon Quiney Tel: 01472 859555 2 Duncroft Close Reigate, Surrey RH2 9DE Email: [email protected] Tel: 01737 247218 SECRETARY Email: [email protected] Tony Miles MAGAZINE EDITOR Spring Lodge, Stonehills Steve Jacobs Fawley, Hants. SO45 1DU Hayloft Cottage, Carr Lane Tel: 02380 891484 Wadworth, Doncaster DN11 9AS Email: [email protected] Tel: 01302 850727 Email: [email protected] MOTOR SPORT/VSCC LIAISON Derry Aust REGALIA Roy Potton13 Davenport Road, Witney, Oxon OX28 6EL Shepard Lodge, Ellingham Road Tel: 01993 778699 Scoulton, Norwich, Norfolk NR9 4NT Tel: 01953 852337 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] SPARES OFFICER INTERNET/WEB SITE MATTERS Richard Mack (Co-opted) Rob Johnson-Howe (Co-opted) Acacia, 40 Queen Street, Spooner Row, Wymondham, Email: [email protected] Norfolk NR18 9JU PR AND PRESS MATTERS Tel: 01953 603773 David Thomas Email: richard @onebillinternet.co.uk Caixa 207-Z, Alfontes REGISTRAR & LIBRARIAN 8100-062 Boliqueime, Portugal Graham Shipman Tel: (0035) 1289 366 860 Brick Kiln Farm, Shropham, Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 1ED Email: [email protected] Tel: 01953 498180 EVENTS ORGANISER AND TRIUMPH FORUM REPRESENTATIVEEmail: [email protected] Martin Johnson-Howe 20 Magnolia Drive, Lutterworth, Leicester LE17 4RS Tel: 01455 554624 Email: [email protected] The Club’s network of Regional Representatives is detailed on the back inner cover. These members are pleased to help with all aspects of the Club and the provision of its services. Local meetings may be available and you are encouraged to make contact. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Rob Green 8 Queen’s Avenue Wallingford, Oxon OX10 0NB Tel: Day 01491 874024/Eve 01491 835928 Club Website: www.pre-1940triumphmotorclub.orgData Protection Act: In accordance with the DPA 1998, no member is to use or compile a mailing list from any name oraddress of a new/existing member published in this magazine or divulge them to non-members.The views expressed in this magazine are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club.Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy of advice or information, neither the Club, the author or any individual shall bein any way liable for injury, damage or loss resulting from the reliance, either directly or indirectly, on such advice orinformation published. Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club Limited is a private company limited by guarantee. Registered in England/Wales No. 7356114. Registered office: 2 Duncroft Close RH2 9DE.

THE EDITORIALIt’s the window envelope again – and that always means one thing. It’s the timeto renew your subscription! We all hope you have had another year happy withthe Club’s service and sociability and that you will renew promptly. Pleaseremember to enclose the form, duly signed, to Jon with your subs and promptaction is always appreciated as it saves the need for reminders and separatemailing of the February magazine. Thank you!It’s been another busy period for Club activity. Firstly, and from all points ofview, the best major change is that the new and remanufactured spares have nowleft South Yorkshire and are safely housed with Richard and Jackie Mack inNorfolk. I’m particularly grateful to them both for relieving me of the task ofSpares Officer and I also want to acknowledge the unstinting efforts of Grahamwho spent time with me stock checking, re-packing and pricing all our preciousstock, gave both me and Richard and Jackie lessons in Excel spreadsheets andthen used his car and box trailer to pack the stuff up and cart it all south. TheClassic Car Show at the NEC was a great success, as was our annual end of yearChristmas Dinner. Full reports follow!Another offer of help to the Committee, this time by Mike Botting, has beengratefully received. Mike’s long ownership and detailed knowledge of hisGloria, together with his career experience in journalism will be of great benefitand he has already stepped up and agreed to co-ordinate the events page of bothour journal and website. As space in the magazine is usually at a premium, I’vealways concentrated on the main events but the website has no such constraintsso, Regional Representatives - look out! Mike will soon be contacting you to askif you have local events that you would like to list. Other contributions arewelcome too and you can pass any information to Mike [email protected] I’ll sign off with the timely reminder to wrap your car up snugly. We’vealready had some icy blasts up north and there are sure to be more to come overthe next couple of months. I seem to hear increasingly of members wrestlingwith problems of cracked engines and suitable donor blocks in Club stocks arejust about exhausted. It’s more important than ever to check the antifreeze (blue– of course! Not the corrosive reds and greens that don’t suit our engines), sealup the gaps around the garage door and even face the car inwards! I’ll remindyou of the little trick I use of fitting a cheap “froststat” in the garage. This plugsinto the power supply and has a simple old fashioned 40 watt bulb mounted on atimber batten connected to it and positioned under the sump. At about 2 degreesit comes on and the small amount of heat just keeps the frost away. It also helpsthat the car is covered too.Kind regards and best wishes for the festive season from Sharon and me.Steve 1

Chairman’s Chat, December 2015Firstly, as last year at this time let me thank Martin again, for organising ourClub’s appearance at the Classic Motor Show in mid November and to him, andthe three other brave souls, Steve Jacobs, Brian Bromwich and Bernard Bollonswho took their cars to the event over the 4 necessary days, with two eveningdrives involved. Thanks too, to Club members who visited and spent time on thestand, fielding visitor’s questions. Graham Shipman and Steve Jacobsparticipated too, in preparing and displaying the presentation boards to meet theShow Theme of ‘She’s a Beauty’. Paula Cornwell, beautifully supported ourdisplay of cars. Martin organised for Paula to attend the show, and display ourcars off to their best advantage. The “Then and Now” images that Graham hascirculated are a credit to his ingenuity and patience and to the photographicability of Jon Quiney. Marvellous pictures! Those of you that attended theChristmas Dinner at Wroxhall Abbey, will have seen and met Paula, as she wasour guest during the meal and was ’singing for her supper’ as she gave a lighthearted talk about motoring in the 20’s and 30’s especially, by and for, theladies. Many thanks to Martin for researching and suggesting the Venue, and toTony, for ensuring reservations were made and we were all served what weexpected to be served.Those of you that attended the Christmas dinner will know that I took time tothink of those club members, living outside Europe: “We have 13 members inAustralia, 4 members in New Zealand; 12 members in North America; 1 inSingapore and 1 in South Africa. I have received warm wishes and some reportsfrom each of the Regional Reps of the groups mentioned. From Australia, JonShepherd reports next April, there will be an Australian VSCC rally atBeechworth in Victoria, where he hopes some 10 pre-1940 Triumphs will be inattendance. Phil Redmond in New Zealand has his car ready for the imminentsummer, and asks that any members contact him if visiting New Zealand; In theUSA Duncan Wood took two first prizes with his 14-60 engined Southern Cross,that Roy Potton knew so well. Duncan’s local club is planning the 2016 NationalTriumph Convention, October 3-7 2016 in Texas, and would welcome anyvisitors from the UK. Graham Robson and Richard Langworth are travelling tothe US as guest speakers for the event. Also from North America, but this timeCanada, Steve Jacobs featured our new members, Ralph and Kimberly Evans inthe most recent magazine, with a wonderful front cover of Ralph having a hairtrim, courtesy of a flame show from his engine under restoration. Two otheritems of real note: our Singapore member, Peter Souw, not only drove theSingapore GP track in his Dolomite, carrying one of the GP drivers, his car wasthen shipped to India to a Vintage rally in Delhi, all transport costs paid by theorganisers. Finally, in this section, I want to mention the huge Club effort ,especially from Bernhard Ruest in Switzerland, to find a new home for therolling chassis Triumph that moved from its’ existing owner in South Africa, to 2

a new owner in that same country”.Both my cars have been serviced, and been reviewed as though they wereundertaking an MOT test. Thanks to the beautiful mild weather, both were alsotaken out for a run in the first week of November. The Southern Cross to theHumber Bridge, and an excellent coffee shop in the old Ropery works. I calledin at a Garden Centre too, to drop off some catalogues. That was a ‘top down’journey, and the weather was such that even my regular passenger didn’tcomplain. The journey in the Vitesse was with roof open but just locally to aRotary meeting at Market Rasen Racecourse. As cars had been serviced, nextthought was about my own personal annual check with the Surgery nurse. Afterat least a litre of blood was removed to make her samples she eventuallyreported all was well. 3 years ago, at the same time as my Vitesse was having anengine rebuild, (broken rings), I had to undergo an investigative ‘procedure’ andwhilst investigating,the surgeon removedsome unwanted andinappropriate bits.After 3 years I wasto go back and havea review, which Ihave now done andall was also well!Steve Jacobs, ourinvestigativejournalist probedmore however, andasked, prior to theprocedure, if I couldsupply a photo of the investigation. Never one to refuse, I take pleasure insupplying the attached photo, taken by the surgeon, when investigating myinsides!Now, I have put you off your meal, let me wish you all a very Happy Christmasand a healthy enjoyable 2016.David Mason.(We - Cynthia and I, will not be sending Christmas cards out again this year, butwill be contributing through Rotary, to the Nomad Trust in Lincoln. A charitywho help the homeless and those who have fallen on hard times, including ex-servicemen, to get back on their feet. I think their need is greater than atransitory Xmas wish, benefitting the card manufacturers. So please excuse thelack of a card from us.) 3

REGISTRAR’S REPORTThe Club gives a warm welcome to the following new members:No.454 Stephen Day, Surrey.‘CXT 691’ 1936 Gloria 2-LitreVitesse Foursome Drophead CoupeWe are pleased that Stephen has re-joined with his rare Cross & Ellisbodied Gloria after 18 years absence.He has continued to maintain it in fineroadworthy condition. The last time Isaw this car was at our Annual Rallyat Brooklands back in the 1990s, butthese photos (taken by DonBaxendale) go back to 1985 - with ayoung looking Rod Jones talking to Iguess Stephen.We have recorded 7 Gloria 2-LitreVitesse Foursome Drophead Coupesand 3 survive with their original stylebodywork.No.998 Robert Holme, London.‘HG 6782’ 1938 Dolomite 14/65Roadster CoupeRobert has just purchased this finelooking Dolomite that had beenrestored a couple of years ago byMike Burge. I understand that tocomplete the car the side windowsand mechanism will soon be fitted.We have recorded 50 Dolomite 14/65Roadster Coupes and 13 survive withtheir original style bodywork.Graham 4

EVENTS FOR 2016As I will be retiring from my job next July, I have volunteered to assist thecommittee now by taking on the role of coordinator for the events page. As youcan see, we already have a few dates in place, but I would be grateful if theregional representatives could keep me advised of any major, rather thansmaller local, events coming up in their regions in 2016.Mike Botting. Tel 01953 885210. Email: [email protected] always, this listing is not the definitive one – I’m sure that many othergatherings will come to the notice of our Regional Representatives. These,however, will provide a good start to filling your diary!5th/6th March The Practical Classics Restoration Show Martin has21st March27th/28th March booked our stand at the NEC. Further details from him.April24th April The MG and Triumph Spares and Show Day at6th to 8th May Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. Again, handled by Martin so11th/12th June further details from him in due course.OctoberNovember The Chatham Dockyard Festival of Steam and Transport. Denis Redrupp’s annual nostalgic event at this historic location, Call him for details or view their website. The Daffodil Run, once again organised by The Bean Car Club and running from Heckfield to Christchurch. Entry forms and details from The Bean Club’s Lilian Lovelock, Email [email protected] 5th The Federation’s “Drive it Day” when we are all encouraged to display our vehicles to the wider world to show their wonderful historical legacy and the importance of our restoration hobby. East Anglia weekend when the Club descends on Roy and Jenny for a few days of fun and friendship. They are already planning visits and runs for our entertainment and enjoyment including Saturday evening dinner at the lovely Broome Hall Hotel Contact Roy Potton to book in and for accommodation details. Annual Rally and AGM at the beautiful Sulgrave Manor – the ancestral home of George Washington. Accommodation and our Saturday night’s dinner and entertainments will be at the Daventry Court Hotel which Martin has inspected for us and given the “thumbs up” More details as they develop and bookings through Tony will be taken in the New Year. The Restoration Show at Stoneleigh. The Classic Car Show. National Exhibition Centre. Birmingham. All the details to follow - it’ll be Martin!Mike B 5

SUPER 9 AND “TEN” SERIES LOWER WATER ELBOWThese Climax engine earlier carswere not fitted with water pumps.Instead an aluminium elbow andhose were used to connect theblock to the bottom of the radiatorand, being aluminium, the elbownaturally corroded to the state ofuseless! As they are not available from Club spares, I decided to make a replacement from standard plumbing parts. The complex part was making the flange which was cut from a piece of 3/8” brass plate – I used my lathe to cut the central hole but a hole saw could equally be used – and then it was the simple application of some 35mm standard plumbing parts which are correct for the 1 ¼” hose. The flange is silver soldered to the first socket and the rest soft soldered together.Check the dimensions before finally soldering it all together. Note that I haveused 5/16” socket cap screws to bolt the flange to the block as the pipe diametermeans there is insufficient clearance for hexagon nuts.Denis Redrupp *****************************FOR SALE1935 GLORIA ‘TWELVE’ VITESSE TOURER.Price - £35,000.This is a rare opportunity to purchase aGloria Tourer. Powered by the CoventryClimax designed 1,232cc 10.8hp engine,this car is in excellent condition throughout. The Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club has recorded 16 from which 7 survive with their original style bodywork. For enquiries and further details please contact Luc Hollevoet on [email protected] 6

OUR USED AND SECONDHAND SPARESFollowing a number of conversations with Club members at the NEC, Ithought I should remind you all of their presence and invite you to Wood Farmif you need second hand spares. The out-buildings housing the spares at WoodFarm are attached to a Micro Brewery and Restaurant !! They are open 6 days aweek but closed on Mondays. I would be happy to meet anyone at the farm andshow you round, so please give me a call preferably on my landline 01455554624.Whilst writing this bit for the magazine I thought I would share a littleexperience with you concerning ourcar’s instruments.As some of you will know, I am tryingto restore a late 14/60 engined Gloria SixLight Saloon - on a somewhat tightbudget - and I have asked manymembers who they have used and thecosts involved. With a lot of mixed ideasof who to choose, I sent my Temp/ Fuelgauge, together with the sender unit outof the tank, and a letter asking for aquote to have these repaired BUTrequesting that I do not wish to have any cosmetic work carried out, to SpeedyCables in Swansea 6 weeks later a quote duly arrived - Fuel Gauge overhaul: £55, Water Temp Gauge overhaul: £65, the fuel sender was u/s but they offered me a modern replacement unit for just £38, all plus Vat and postage of course Another 6 weeks passed and back they came, and I am pleased with the result. It seems that it is the cosmetic refurbishing and refacing that takes the price up to 3 or 4 hundred pounds!One final note: we need some additional Later Gloria/Dolomite brake shoes toput into the Hardy scheme, so if you have any spare shoes you don’t need, canthe Club please have them? - OR if you have had replacement shoes through ourservice/exchange scheme and forgotten to send your old ones back, please do so.Martin. 7

AN SU ODDITYDavid Thomas’s lovely Gloria SX that I’ve featured on many occasions is aregularly used car, suiting its home in Portugal nicely where the lovely weathergenerally means year round motoring but recently David found all was not well.Travelling along in a hot summer’s day at 70 mph on the motorway what couldpossibly go wrong? Well quite a lot actually; as suddenly the engine cut out, nomisfiring it just stopped. The ignition light was on, engine turned over but wouldnot fire. No big holes in the engine and no oil or water on the road. At this pointhow many readers would like to guess what had happened?Once home there was much head scratching and with suspicions of a blown headgasket – or worse deep in the engine, David called our guru, Denis Redrupp,who over the next month offered much advice, which although David followedwas to no avail. With the realization that it was extremely unlikely that anyonein Portugal had ever worked on a Coventry Climax engine and the possibility ofhaving to send it to the UK, David called Denis who promptly packed a smallsuitcase and not so small toolbox andboarded Easyjet’s flight to Faro!Several days under David’s vine-covered car port with the two of thempulling the engine apart revealed oneimportant snag. It appeared that thetiming chain had slipped on the slightlyworn sprockets by almost 20 degrees; anew head gasket and compression testswere deemed satisfactory; new parts inthe distributor and a thorough re-timing of the ignition and would it start? Wouldit hell! Calls were made home for suggestions and advice and the spotlightfocussed on the fuel supply but what could have gone wrong there?By experimenting – and now in a state of panic as the return flight was looming,and time was running out to consume the local sardines and flagons of localwine, – Denis discovered that the car would run reasonably satisfactorily on themain down draught unit but when they tried the little side draught or them bothlinked together it just wouldn’t fire. A disappointed Denis returned to the UKbut the more he thought about the problem and discussed it with fellow owners,the more it pointed to a major snag with the little carburettor so he asked Davidto post it to the UK so he could get it on his work bench and have a careful look.Denis now reports:The SU carburettor was returned to me, and I fitted it to my Triumph Super 9.The car started but ran badly, stopped, started, stopped etc. I did not perseverefurther. I noticed a lot of fuel around the jet area, though the fuel level wascorrect. I removed the carb and dismantled it. Removing the jet tube I noticed it 8

got tight as I withdrew it. Investigationshowed a fine crack in the tube but I stilldidn’t notice the real problem until I got outa spare jet tube. There was 5mm hole in theend instead of a 2mm jet. The jet tube wasmade in 3 pieces, the jet was a very smallitem pressed in the end which had fallen out.This cannot fall out until the dashpot andpiston assembly is removed. This would havehappened when the car was beinginvestigated very early on. The jet wouldhave stuck to the needle then dropped into the carburettor unnoticed. Consequently there was no control of fuel flow. When I arrived later on the scene to repair the SX in Portugal and removed the inlet manifold we noticed a small brass object sitting in the bottom, we didn’t recognise it, just assuming it was a washer from something. We now know it to be the errant jet. The original jet tubes were made just in 2 pieces, a tube and a bottom eye or fork. So - I wonder if this was a modification made by Southern Carburettors to re-cycle old jet tubes by inserting a new jet and the press in fit was just too tight. Anyway,whatever the reason, luckily amongst my old bits and pieces I had an unused jetwhich immediately stopped all the flooding and once refitted to the car, ranfaultlessly. It’s now back in Portugal, fitted and all is well. David can now enjoyhis sunny winter weekends and I’ll reflect that there’s always something new tolearn!DenisI am very grateful to Denis in particular and all the Club members who gavetheir support and advice to help get the car back on the road. When it is usedregularly almost daily during the summer, 3 months of the road has been veryfrustrating. It also highlights the difficulty sometimes when living overseaswhen there is little expertise or services available, and you have run out ofideas. Everything is not finished yet as Denis notice a broken leaf in one of therear springs no doubt as a result of repeated slaloms in recent rallies here inPortugal. David 9

THE LANCASTER INSURANCE CLASSIC CAR SHOWNEC BIRMINGHAMThe theme of this year’s show was“She’s a Beauty” so it was appropriatethat we reminded the world of “MissGloria” and her involvement with theTriumph Motor Company. Ourorganiser-in-chief, Martin Johnson-Howe had booked our place; we hadbeen allocated a four car spot near theentrance to Hall 4 next to our pals in theTriumph Roadster Club; Graham hadproduced the artwork for our displaypanels and trawled our archives forapplicable photographs and theCompany adverts which appeared in themotoring press of the 1930s; Martin hadsought volunteers (for that read -cajoled, persuaded, bullied and press-ganged!) to bring their cars to thedisplay but what was that little bit of extra pizzazz that we needed?Again MJ-H came up trumps as, through the course of this year’s motoringevents, he had come to know Ms. Paula Cornwell. Despite her full time job shestill finds time to recount the exploits of the redoubtable Mrs Victor Bruce, apioneering woman of the 1930s whose long life embraced motor racing,aviation, speed boat racing and the world of business. Her internationalreputation was made in 1930 when she flew single-handedly around the world ina biplane known as “Bluebird”. Would Paula provide our “Gloria”? You betand she really took to the task!So, having polished and pimped our Gloria Tourer, she was loaded on to arecovery truck for the journey to Birmingham. Driving her there and back reallyweren’t the preferred options on wet and windy November days. Set-up was onThursday, for us at 10.00am, so once unloaded, I joined up with Martin in hissplendid 2 litre Gloria Vitesse saloon, Jody Bennett, driving the beautifullyrestored Gloria Southern Cross owned by Bernard Bollons (the green one of thetwo he owns!) and Brian Bromwich with his wonderful 14/65 DolomiteRoadster and, once the “elf and safety” stuff was completed and they werehappy with our hi-viz vests, we were allowed to process into the hall. Martin’scar is known for its Tardis like quality and from every cubic inch of availablespace he pulls out the display boards, tables, chairs, bunting, flags, poles, books,magazines, sandwiches, pork pies and other sundry kit. Under his expert 10

guidance we were soon finished and on our way. We left the place in utter chaoswith me doubting others could ever complete their tasks in time!Back early on Friday morning to put the duster over the car again, check thefinal details and prepare to meet our adoring public. By 10.00am it was all in fullswing and we werejoined by the lovely“Miss Gloria”, wearinga little black number,fox furs and cloche hatand looking every inchour supermodel of the1930s. She posed,smiled, chatted and, intruth, attracted moreinterest than the cars.It’s a long day, on yourfeet, talking to thepublic about the cars,the old Company andthe Club.Occasionally some crazy bod turns up who regales you with stories of how heonce rescued a straight eight Dolomite from a peat bog, restored it and used it incompetition before it disappeared when the Martians landed on his village green,but generally people are very appreciative of what we’ve got and are alwaysvery complimentary about the designs, intrinsic quality and rarity of what allhave.Saturday, when the stand was manned by Martin and Brian, together withGraham Shipman, Jon Quiney and our “glamour girl”, was manic withthousands passing by – and many stopping. Club members were welcomed,many photos taken (and particularly of Miss Gloria recreating poses in andaround the cars), stories exchanged and queries answered. Weary legs again!And Sunday it was much the same, but without Paula to lighten the day. Andthen it was over. The public address system announcement was made that theshow was over – three hundred cars hooted and tooted, the public were usheredaway and MJ-H demonstrated the good sense in the old adage “a place foreverything and everything in its place”. By 6.05pm we were out of Hall 4; theothers bravely joined the M42 but I chased up to car park North 12 (yes – therereally are that many!) where my pal with the transporter was waiting. I collectedour “normal” car from the car park and reflected during my journey home justhow worthwhile it all had been.Home by 8.30pm, car in the garage by 8.45 and a glass of red by 8.50! Thankyou and goodnight. Steve Jacobs 11

GRAHAM’S RECREATIONS OF TRIUMPH’S ORIGINAL PUBLICITYPHOTOGRAPHS. (It’s just a shame that Colonel Holbrook hasn’t aged verywell!) 12

13

A “SPECIAL CAR”1933 TRIUMPH GLORIA ch. no. 4/774During the late 1990’s I built a Riley special and proceeded to enjoy it for a fewyears. True to my restless nature I started to cast around for my next projectwithout being sure for what I was seeking. I didn’t want to get involved inanother Riley and took an interest in the offer of an Alvis rolling chassis whichwas for sale locally. On the day I viewed and rejected the Alvis chassis becauseof its size I was introduced to ex member Chris Gregory. Chris who lived but afew miles away in Brecon offered me chassis 4/774 upon which he hadcompleted all the dirty work.I acquired the chassis from Chris along with steering box, gearbox and whatappeared to be a fairly complete 14/60 engine and sundry parts. Springs,shackles etc. had all been bushed refurbished or renewed. The chassis had beenshot blasted, zinc coated and painted. It seemed like a good eight hundredpounds worth to me. At this point I thought it a good idea to join the Pre 1940Triumph Owners Club.There followed a quest to obtain the missing parts as I had every intention ofrebuilding a saloon body on the chassis. I met Steve Jacobs for the first timeand acquired a reconditioned radiator and some other parts from club spares. .During the first eight years of this century my classic bicycle restoration business demanded most of my waking hours, such was the demand for my frame finishing skills. This meant that the Triumph and a 1929 Aero Morgan which I had purchased had to languish in various parts of my workshop until I could find time to work on them. Upon my retirement I decided to tackle the Morgan first simply because there was more of it! It took three years to bring the Morgan to a state of roadreadiness during which time I commenced work on the Triumph .All the usual procedures were carried out in the usual order, wheels shot blastedand painted, chassis rubbed down and finished in gloss black along with thefront axle and other parts.During the summer I cut, chopped and reshaped the Gloria mudguards to aprofile which more resembles those of a Monte Carlo. My local garage made anexcellent job of the welding repairs after which I crimped the edges and beat in 14

yards of galvanised wire. The rear mudguards were formed by welding twopairs of Gloria items back to back, the originals, of which the inner edges werebadly corroded and had to be cut away, with another pair bought from RobGreen to complete the shape required.At this time a new dumb iron cover and lower bonnet/chassis valances weremade along with some repairs to the running boards and the radiator reduced inheight. The Gloria bonnet was reduced in width, length and shape and a bonnethinge from club stores fitted. This work was more or less complete by Augustand a start made on the woodwork with the cutting and placing of the Rockerboards onto the chassis. These substantial pieces of timber form the foundationof the wooden body structure, which are supported on outrigger brackets boltedto the chassis.Meanwhile the 14/60 engine was taken to my friend who is an automobileengineer for machining and refurbishing, it was at this point that serious crackswere discovered in the bottom cylinder lands. A suitable repairer wasrecommended who turned out to be anything but and there followed a veryfrustrating eight months which sadly almost ended up with legal action. On itsreturn to me the block was a home to even more cracks than when it left me. Theblock was ruined and I was beginning to despair when Rob Green saved mybacon with a complete engine which is presently being attended to.I commenced work on the bulkhead and scuttle woodwork in November 2014making a softwood pattern which was erected onto the rockers to align thebonnet sides and check for a good flow from radiator to 'B' posts. The realstructure was then produced in ash and fitted in position, this formed the datumfor the rear body structure, working from a string line tied to the radiator cap andrunning back through the windscreen opening to a vertical rod fixed to the rear of the chassis. All dimensions were taken from this line while constructing the rear body frame. By Christmas 2014 the 'B' posts were in position and some of the horizontal rear body framing in place along with the wheel arch framing. I hadpicked up on the report and photograph of Bill Bradford’s 'collapsed ' Gloria andas he stated that he would be rebuilding his car with an open body I telephonedhim to ask if the roof structure including the sliding head would be available for 15

sale. Bill agreed to sell me thecomplete frame and a journey toPortsmouth was made in February2015 to collect it. After reducingthe roof by about nine inches inlength I restored what wasrestorable and replaced whatwasn't, splicing in timber whererequired. Luckily all the stiffeningbrackets and the rear windowpanel came with the roof and allhave been reused after someprettyfying. The rear window panel fitted to my woodwork with some very minor adjustments. I intend to panel the roof with aluminium sheet and then cover it with a rexine hooding type material. By July I had installed all the brake and petrol pipes and made the connections to the various fittings, there followed the onerous task of making and fixing the many steel angle brackets and plates to stiffen the structure, this seemed to take a long time. Any adjustments that were needed were made at this stage. The next job of forming the inner wheel arches from exterior quality plywood was pleasant and interesting to do and they turned out as I wanted them, fitting well into the framing. At the present time I have just finished the boot structure and prepared the petrol tank for fitting.The next job will be the boot lidand hinges and the spare wheelcarrier, before starting work onthe doors for which I have mostof the original parts.So far so good! All this wouldhave been much more difficultwithout the sound advice andhelp of the following clubmembers whom I would like tothank sincerely: the irrepressibleDerry Aust for his patience and 16

time with my enquiries and requests forinformation and for parts from the club's spares; Steve Jacobs with hisencyclopedic knowledge of Glorias for his advice and supply of odd parts; RobGreen for his interest and advice.My sincere thanks too, to all those other members who have helped along theway. And finally I'd like to state that it's a refreshing pleasure to belong to such afriendly group of enthusiasts. This is a very good club.Mike Baker ************************** STERLING WORKOver the time that I’ve owned my Gloria I have been both impressed andalarmed by some of the work that has been carried out by previous owners, withobviously differing degrees of knowledge and expertise. I dare say at timesingenuity has had to be adopted due to lack of available spares.I suspect that there may have been availability issues regarding engine coreplugs in the past. When recently cleaning the engine around the core plugs toensure there were no signs of leakage, on removing verdigris, I was confrontednot by a core plug, but by a pound coin. See the attached photo. I’m assumingthat core plugs weren’t available some time post decimalisation, as I believecurrently core plugs are supplied bythe club for less than a pound now.If they were available it may havebeen just a wealthy previous owner.Anyway, it would seem that if youare out on a long journey and yourCoventry Climax engine Triumphblows a core plug, you don’t need abreakdown truck. You just need amallet, a drift and a pound coin!Trevor Sherwood 17

OUR PRE-CHRISTMAS GATHERINGThose who couldn’t, wouldn’t or just didn’t bother to join the party at the lovelyWroxall Abbey Hotel, near Warwick, at the end of November really missed atreat. This splendid venue was chosen by Martin J-H and it truly lived up to ourexpectations with comfy rooms, our own dedicated dining room and bar andexcellent food. Tony Miles had coordinated everyone’s requirements so it ran seamlessly and our entertainment was complete when our very own “Miss Gloria” got to her feet, this time to do her “party piece” of playing the Honourable Mrs Victor Bruce, as I mentioned on page 10. “Mind Your Motoring Manners” was her theme in which she presented a theory class to aspiring ladymotorists in the 1930’s. It was all very funny and an eye-watering reflection of awoman’s place in those bygone days! Jenny’s raffle rounded off the eveningwith a stunning cornucopia of donated prizes raising over £100 towards theClub’s funds.Surprisingly, for such a sociable organisation, we only mustered a turnout of 40– and of that number only 21 members - or less than 10% of our car owningmembership list.Why is that? Does it not appeal, too expensive, the wrong time of the year or isthe social side just not whatthe majority of memberswant? Your views are valuedon this as we are alreadyplanning next year’s outing!Steve 18

19

BADGES AND BADGE COLLECTORS 20

ON THE SAME THEMEI received the following emailed note and thought it might be of interestto those of you who collect badges and Triumph related memorabilia.Please excuse the nature of the email. Iam writing for Don Rawson, with whom Ishare time & workshop space, and whereDon is not a computer technology personat all! He wishes me to forward theattached photo of his enamel radiatorbadge, and outline the details. Iunderstand that Don has already spokenon the phone with you in regards to thesebadges.I am sending the attached photo of one ofthe few remaining enamel badges thatDon Rawson wishes to sell. Doncommissioned these using an original Vale radiator badge as the copy-sample. He would like to sell these last few at £30 each plus £3.50 p&p tointerested Vale owners. There are about a dozen of the small batch leftand as Don only has two Vale motor-cars and is already over 80, it wouldseem sensible to find homes for the rest.Regards Jim WoodYou can contact Jim on [email protected] ********************************CAR WANTEDMy wife and I met Graham Shipman this year at the Triumph 2000Register National in Derbyshire, having seen his car we both want to buya Gloria Saloon.We have only just started to look but not found any for sale do you knowof any? I would like one that was road worthy as I already have a longterm project on the go!Please contact me on 07866961680 or by e [email protected] live in Saltburn By The Sea, Cleveland and hope to join the Clubonce we have found a car!Regards Dave and Chris Ferguson 21

ITEMS FOR SALEFollowing the successful February advert my actual vehicle sold and isnow at its new home. I have a few spares which I would like to sellseparately as the new owner did not require them.Engine (no manifolds) - £350Inlet manifold - £20Radiator grille (£70 from club) - £70Radiator grille damaged, but stripped back to brass - £50Windscreen chrome surround - £60Windscreen 2 \"racey\" fold-downs - £30The windscreen chrome surround is 41 and an 1/8th inches wide, 8 and a1/4 inches high at centre and 11 inches at ends. Bought originallyfrom club as Super 7 but size may suit other models?Contact Trevor Larcombe by email at [email protected] ***************************************A LITTLE NOTE OF APPRECIATIONSteve / Martin,Thank you very much for giving up your time to meet with me and help me to select agearbox for my Gloria. I have to say that from the short time I have been a member of'our little club', I have been really impressed by the enthusiasm, friendliness and just adesire to offer help, from all the members I have either met or spoken with on the phone!And Steve, if you can put that as a bi-line in the mag I would be very grateful.And just to let you know that a Gloria gearbox will alsofit in to the 'new' Bentley GT Speed - in fact it was abetter fit in the new loan car as it does not have theNaim stereo system box in the boot.Bentley Cheltenham service staff were very impressedwith the gearbox and the service adviser had actuallyseen the Club members cars at Shelsey.Dave Webster 22

CAR FOR SALE – 14/60 DOLOMITE DE-LUXE SALOON£5000 onoLong time member Tom Sutcliffe has owned his Dolomite for many years buthas decided to sell it as an ongoing restoration project. Work was conducted onthe body some years ago to a value of some £6000 but it has stood outside for awhile so some degree of further repair and renovation is required.At the time of its initial strip down allthe loose parts were stripped off, cratedand dry stored. It is a verycomprehensive collection of parts whichwill greatly aid the car’s rebuild. Thecar is in Lancashire, near Burnley andyou can contact Tom’s son, ChrisSutcliffe on 01282814656 and his e-mail is [email protected] if youfancy a detailed winter project! *********************************WANTEDTo re-run a previous advert – member Robin Jordan still needs the sliding panelof his Gloria sunroof. Can anyone help please?Contact Robin on [email protected] Baker is looking for Gloria rear window inserts, a wiper motor and a pairof good working trumpet horns for dumb iron mounting. Please reply to Mike on01547-550606 or [email protected] of our Australian pals, Jon Elbourne, asks if anyone has a set of new (orgood, re-useable) exhaust valves for his Super Seven engine rebuild. Contact Jonby email on [email protected] if you can help - or perhaps know of suitablesubstitutes. 23

SPARES OFFICER’S REPORT The transfer is made and, with a great deal of help from Jackie, the Club’s new and remanufactured spares stock is now housed in Norfolk. An area of my workshop/ garaging was cleared and made ready; Graham and Steve had reviewed it all, made sure it was all identified properly, packed and counted and on an early November day Graham and I hitched up his box trailer onto the back of his car and we made the journey to Wadworth. Three hours later, and after aquick lesson on what each bit was, we loaded it all in to take it to its new home.As I tell you this, it is now racked and cared for, all behind Jackie’s“TRIUMPH” curtains and we are already in the swing of providing the helpfulservice that our Club has been renowned for over many years. Of course,running a business – and particularly one where I am on call – means that wemight not be in to take your call but leave amessage and I’ll get things answered just asquickly as I can.Just one recent addition to our stocks is thearrival of inlet and exhaust valves for theClimax 10.8hp engine. I understand that overthe years, every stone has been turned over tofind old stocks but we have had to commissionnewly manufactured ones from the premiersuppliers, G&S Valves Ltd. As their Directorpointed out to Steve at the time of ordering, these little chaps are the unsungheroes of the internal combustion engine, working in the most awful ofconditions. At 6000 rpm, each valve is opening and closing 50 times a second –and the exhaust one is running either at or close to red hot! No wonder they’re soexpensive!Richard MackFrom the “Hens Teeth” box, member Tom Rollason has producedtwo items of true rarity. Firstly, a genuine Super Seven fuel gauge -well - “fuel rule” really, to use in the bulkhead mounted tank.Graduated in gallons, it even has a chamfer on the bottom end toaccommodate the precise shape of the tank! £20 plus postageAnd then new-old stock dip switches to replace that always-broken part£35 plus postage.Contact Steve if you require either 24

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVESUKSCOTLAND DREW SCOTT 01307 463999 [email protected] (N and S) ALBERT CROZIER 02870 836443 [email protected] WALES MIKE BAKER 01547 550606Incl Avon and Gloucs [email protected] and W WALES RICHARD HILLNW ENGLAND [email protected] Cumbria, Deeside, Cheshire, Wirral and LancsWEST MIDLANDS MARTIN JOHNSON-HOWE 01455 554624Incl Leics and Warks [email protected] WEST ADRIAN THOMPSON 0777 885 2895Incl Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset [email protected] EAST STEVE JACOBS 01302 850727Incl Yorks and Met Areas of Newcastle, Northumberland, [email protected] and TynesideSOUTH EAST DENIS REDRUPP 020 8651 5082Incl Kent, Surrey and Sussex [email protected] VACANT POSITIONIncl Bucks, Oxon and N’HantsLONDON/N Home counties DAVID CARTMELL 020 8346 3903Incl Middx Herts and Beds. [email protected] ANGLIA CECIL WILLCOCKS 01223 811486Incl. Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambs [email protected] MIDS PETER HOWAT 0115 9178839Incl Lincs, Notts and Derbys [email protected] CENTRAL BEN STEPHENS 01276 603531Incl Hants, Wilts, Berks and I of W [email protected] WEST PETER WOODCOCK 01270 876008Incl Staffs, Worcs, Salop and Hereford [email protected]/CANADA DUNCAN WOOD 001 817 251 0912AUSTRALIA JOHN SHEPHERD [email protected] ZEALAND PHIL REDMOND 61 248 837031 [email protected] 006433 520374 [email protected] BERNHARD RUEST 0041 44 880 7995 [email protected] Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Austria 0032 235 374018BENELUX BERT MOOIJEKIND [email protected] Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg 0035 1289 366860 [email protected] DAVID THOMASIncl Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, GibraltarSingle members in S. Africa and Singapore

THE CLUB’S DISPLAY AT THERESTORATION SHOW,STONLEIGH, IN NOVEMBER