New member - Edinburgh '74 2000

[scooters]

Morning all,

On Friday the boy and I popped down to Skipton on the train to collect our new toy - a honeysuckle Triumph 2000 saloon - registered in '74 - possibly built before Jan 73 (will be digging around for confirmation)

The car seems to have started its life in Peterborough before moving to firstly south yorks and latterly the dales. It was owned in the early 2000's by a member of the register and comes with a cardboard box full of paperwork, MOT and Tax till December.

Good points:
interior - lovely poo brown velour and matching carpets - the wood on the dash is in good condition with no lacquer flake yet - the door tops are all unsunned (well, it has lived in the hills for years), only the rear parcel shelf wood trims are flaking - this due to water damage I suspect by dry and cracked rear quarter light rubbers. The car has an original Radiomobile and a retractable electric aerial out of the boot. Headlining is good an all but the clock work.

mechanics - the engine is honestly scruffy and pulls very well, can't fault it really - no aftermarket additions but the car had previously had electronic ignition fitted by an owner during the 1970s, this has been removed and points etc refitted - the alternator is about 10 years old, radiator etc all in good nick but it could use a set of hoses.

Drive train

well - the gears all work - 3rd is noisy under load but shuts up on overrun or idle, 4th is not as noisy but still there. Any ideas? I know these units are noisy but this one is rather too whiney for my liking. In fact, the whole drivetrain could do with a good service - I suspect that both the axle and gearbox haven't seen any oil for awhile so god knows what they are like. Before I start taking the gearbox and diff to bits I am going to replace the lube, UJs and bushes and then see what still plays up.

Steering and brakes are fine,

Suspension - could do with new bushes

Bodywork - well the paintwork is lovely and polishes up very nicely, the chrome is not bad, slightly pitted in the middle sections of the bumpers but no cracks yet - the outer rear bumpers look new. There are bubbles coming up at the driver end of the bonnet, the top of the near side C pillar and the arches have been done. The underside however needs about £700 of 3rd party welding in the not too distant future.

Rust - the car was ziebarted from new and religiously done every year - this has preserved the engine bay rather well. Underneath is a good lesson in why you can't paint and forget underseal - the car was regularly undersealed however, under this the car has suffered. Holes in the boot, crusty sills, very poor inner wheel arches, jacking points and other parts. I think the first and nasty job to do is to remove all the underseal, have a good poke around and draw up a priority list for welding in new tin. The bubbling on the paintwork I'll address with filler.

The car came back up from Yorkshire very well indeed - A65 to Kendal and then the M6 to Carlisle, A7 to Edinburgh via Hawick, Selkirk and Gala, a lovely sunny borders day and ideal countryside for driving a classic. The engine pulls very well and is responsive cruising at the national speed limit with no drama or clunks or wobbles - a bit of vibration from the back - I was suspecting a wheel bearing but suspect the drive shaft might be a wee bit out -out with the jubilee clips! On the A7 the car was a dream to drive, overdrive working fine in both 3rd and 4th. The scream in 3rd gear under load was there but seemed worse at mid revs.

Anyway, we got home after 4 hours of actual driving, 200 miles not bad considering the giffer speeds through the Dales - Yes - you Mr SLK dawdling along at 40mph with a line of over a hundered vehicles behind you. I have no problem with vehicles travelling at 40mph if they can only do 40mph but doing so in a 130mph sports car and not letting others past is just rude.

So - a nice example - I am delighted, the family love it. I'll get pics up this evening, perhaps someone will recognise the car.

A rolling restoration-
priorities:
welding underneath
drive train

then we'll think about leccy ignition but I do want to keep it nice and original as possible - the only mod I might be tempted to do is to add anti roll bars but as the body roll is minimal I wonder if they have already been fitted - too flippin wet to check today though!

what a great car - very cool as well - it's not a P6 and its not a Ford and the engine is a peach. Triumph straight six - you can't beat it!

[Alan Chatterton]

Welcome Scooters!

You say your car was owned by a register member, what's the number plate of your car and I'll see what info I can dig up for you.............. might even know some of the history to help fill in the gaps!

Also, the commission number will give us a good idea of build date, then work out if its worth pursuing for tax exempt status.

[scooters]

Hi Alan,

thanks for your kind welcome. I'mlooking forward to getting to know the car and fellow owners better.

Still extracting the photos from the telephone but the registration number is:

Reg: PCF 470M

chassis: ME96596 DL0

Paint: 39 trim: C63

[englishbull]

Welcome Scooters and enjoy your big 6 ownership.

Daft question but have you got scooters to?

[scooters]

lol - no I don't

I used to have an ancient Vespa in the late 90's when I lived in London.

It's been my 'car forum username' for many years now - I have owned a number of vehicles over the last ten years in my quest for a toy and have owned:

Reliant Scimitar GTE
Triumph Dolly 1875
Daf 44 (x2)
Daf 55 Marathon
1963 Morris 1000
1954 Morris Minor Series 2
1978 Daimler Sov
1989 Daimler Sov
1988 Jag Sov
1993 Daimler Double Six
1988 Chrysler Lebaron
1990 Citroen BX19 Gti
1990 Citroen BX16 Meteor
1987 Citroen CX 25Gti
1986 Citroen CX 22
1997 Citroen XM VSX Turbo
1990 BMW 535i
1992 Lexus LS400
1978 Austin Maxi 1800
1974 Volvo 244 Auto
1972 Volvo 144 Auto
1988 1990 Volvo 240 Torslanda Estate
1986 Volvo 240 GLT Saloon
1988 Volvo 240 DL Saloon
1997 Volvo 940 Sport Edition Estate in Red
1997 940 Sport Edition Estate in Silver
1997 Volvo 850 AWD Estate
1996 Volvo 960 Turbo Saloon
1988 Volvo 740 Auto Estate
1974 Leyland Sherpa Autosleeper
1996 Rover 820 Vitesse Turbo


Many of these cars I used to do huge miles when I had a 1000 mile a week job. The rest were toys.

I've now settled on the following fleet:
940 Sport Edition in Silver - these are the pinnacle of Volvo build quality. The factory where they were made was informed that car porduction would be ending with the model. The last 940s they made they took quality control to silly levels - the factory mods are: car has thicker anti-roll bars, is about 2 inches lower than usual, a wonderful Limited Slip Diff, a 960 interior with higher spec leather and a turbo plus system that holds the turbo open at full throttle. My one also has a manual boost controller added. This car has 7 seats, is as new and has done 275000miles to date. I have no intention of selling it, it just keeps going and is in mint condition.

The 1974 2000 - this will be my daily driver but it does need some work and also I need a car to do some distances every now and then and they don't get much cheaper than the Citroen BX Meteor. This was a high spec BX with a 1.6 XU performance Cam engine - the same they put in the 205Gti BUT instead of the EFI in the 205 it has a twin chimney solex carb fitted. This means 95BHP in a car that weights about 750 kilogrames. That in addition to the superb suspension and the direct suspension not to mention the traditional Citroen 'break your nose on the windscreen' brakes makes it a superbly capable long distance hack and daily driver as well. It costs sweeties to run - literally - is great fun to drive, is unusual these days and is easy to fix (even the suspension). It means that I have the funds to channel into the 2000 and I don;t have to use the 2000 for long distance legwork.

Forum wise I'm a member of most owners forums above and in addition several general sites - I am rarely on Retrorides and can sometimes be found on Autoshite.com my interests in cars have become increasingly oily/resto focused and less about the driving. I like unusual cars and I like early 70's vehicles. The 2000 with it's roarty 6, it's todo list and its handling is just about my perfect car. Although the 2500 has more oomph I prefer the 2000....odd eh?

[Raider]

Welcome to the site - ironic that I live about 6 miles from Skipton and was in Aberdeen and Inverurie this week on business!

Good luck with the 2000 - I am sure you will continue to love it

[bigstraight6]

Hi Scooters, I thought you're user name looked familiar, I'm also a regular on the 'Autoshite' forum. I've owned my first big 6 Triumph since Feb this year when I acquired it from another 'Autoshite' regular when he posted up on the forum for sale.

This is an excellent forum with some extremely knowledgable contributors, I hope you get as much pleasure from the car as I've already had with mine