The International Club for TR7 & TR8 Owners …€¦ · The International Club for TR7 & TR8 Owners...

Inside Your December Issue of TWOA

TWOA Club Update Wedge Stopping Distance Decel/Bpyaa Valve Interior Door Lights Alternator Swap Wedgemedia TR8 ZS Carb Upgrade TWOA Club Corner & More

Triumph Wedge Owners

Association (www.triumphwedgeowners.org)

The International Club for TR7 & TR8 Owners

December 2010 Issue #13

Season’s Greetings to TWOA Members Everywhere

Above- Thanks to Jim Tencate for the map which shows where our 300 plus members are spread out throughout the USA.

Below –Phil Coe’s wire wheels on his TR7 collect the last remnants of fall before winter sets in.

2

As I write this we had our first snow fall last Friday. I can't believe Christmas is

less then a week away! I know most of you may not drive your cars as much in the

winter, but use the down time mainly for repairs and upgrades. My Wedge cars

have always been a creative outlet and therapy for me. While some enjoy playing a

musical instrument I prefer to wrench. Over the past 20 plus years I have worked

on some of the finest and fastest Wedges known. I recently, through the help of

Mike Perkins picked up a bone stock 40k mile TR8 coupe. This car was outside for

over 20 years. Mike stumbled on this in the DC area. We met the 2nd owner who

purchased this car back in the mid 80's.He was very happy that we came along

and saved it from the bone yard. This thing was a time capsule, we even found a

TR8 newsletter. I have been working on this for the past 4 weekends and started it

up on Saturday. The bad thing is that I made a choice to complete the startup of

the TR8 versus Christmas shopping. Stay tuned because we will do a write-up on

this for one of the upcoming newsletters. The TWOA

finished the year strong. We had great turnouts on all of

our events. The club received a special thank you gift

from the Triumph Sports Car Club San Diego for helping

with Triumphest 2010. I would like to personally thank all

club members for doing their part in making all of the

2010 events a success. The focus for 2011 will be to do more of a series of re-

gional events. For example, Maryland has a British car day on June 5th. There is

another event in Texas. The plan is to announce more of these events and depend-

ing on what part of the country you are from try to make it. The original club was

based on smaller car shows, sort of a meet and greet format. We will have most of

these events listed on the Website so stay tuned. Merry Christmas to all and have

a happy and safe holiday!! Tim Lanocha TWOA President

TWOA Club Update

Triumph Wedge Owners Association December 2010

2010 TWOA

Board of Directors Founder Mike de Andrade

671/564-7036

[email protected]

President Tim Lanocha

410/557-0081

[email protected]

Vice President Rand Torman

508/951-0199

[email protected]

Treasurer Joe Worsley

336/998-6501

[email protected]

Secretary Bruce Quackenbush

410/557-0081

Bruce.quakenbush@american

-contracting.com

Editor Ed Krakowiak

630/240-1134

[email protected]

Events Zach Torman

Coordinator

[email protected]

NE Regional Wayne Simpson

Director 732/477-3878

[email protected]

Southern David Massey

Regional 314/603-7084

Director [email protected]

SE Regional Chris Hansel

Director 602/370-8226

[email protected]

Fuel Injection Jim TenCate

& SW Regional 505/672/1953

Director [email protected]

Tech Rep Woody Cooper

508/880-5448

[email protected]

Web Master Clint Cooper

[email protected]

TWOA Member count 296 U.S.

52 Overseas

A Letter From the Prez

Thought I would send a quick note out to mention the 2011 Maryland British

Car Day on Sunday June 5th. It is held in Adamstown near Frederick MD . Check

it out at www.chesapeakechaptermgtclub.com/OBCD_main.htm

Some of you may remember years ago when the club first started we use to

attend this show when it was held in Bowie MD at Allens Pond. The show got too

big so they had to move it and it wound up in Frederick. I have been out of the

area for the last 15 years and recently moved back to MD. I have never attended

this show at its new location but hear it is an excellent show with 400 + cars in

attendance in good weather. We have been pushing The Roadster Factory show

for the past few years and since that seems to be cutting back next year figured

maybe this is a good time to push a new venue for a club organized event. Many

of us core members live in this area so I would like to resurrect “the good old

days” and plan something special around this show. Close by the show are a

couple of dragstrips and there is a strong SCCA autocross presence in that area.

We already have a volunteer to coordinate the Bill Sweeting cruise and dinner

night for Thursday or Saturday and I’m researching coordinating a night at the

drags on Friday and an autocross event if at all possible on Saturday. There are

lots of hotels in that area as well so we will look at getting a club discount at one

of them and have a host hotel. We are still working out the details but just wanted

to get the bug in everybody’s ear as early as possible to start planning now. We

would try to get other local British car clubs involved as well. Of course some of

us will still attend the TRF show but am told there are no drags or autocross there

this year. Mike de Andrade TR8CCA/TWOA Club Founder

A Letter From the Club Founder

3

Wedge Stopping Distances Revealed - Jim Tencate


Thanks to a G-Tech I got off eBay, I now have some real data from a G-TechPro on 60-0 mph braking for a stock TR8 and

Larry did the same for his TR7. So far, just a few runs to date. We're hoping to add to our "database"! Interested? I can

loan out my G-Tech.

Details:

* 1980 FI Triumph TR8 DHC

* Wheels/Tires: 14 inch Superlites, Michelin Pilot Exaltos 195-60R14, recently new

* 1/2 tank of gas, miscellaneous junk in the trunk, just me driving (about 160 lbs)

* Rear brakes, stock. Functioning.

* Front brakes, stock rotors, some semi-metallic pads I got from Ted S. years ago.

* Brake Fluid: Ate Super Blue Racing brake fluid ($13.99 a litre on Amazon)

* Stock springs all around (really)

* KYB front struts, MonroeMatic 1194 shocks rear (really)

* Extra packing piece "anti-dive" kit (Richard Hurdwell)

* Test details: 19 Sept 2010 ~21:00, flat stretch of moonlit road, only passed one coyote on the way to the test stretch, fog

lights on, high beams on, ~7000 ft altitude, 65 F outside temp

I'm SURE the STOCK, non-modified brake pressure reducing valve works, I stuck a brake pressure gauge on it and

watched it and measured it to be sure it was working (there's a fuzzy YouTube video I posted showing that if you search just

a bit). Brakes were thoroughly bled with SpeedBleeders. Out with ALL the stock yellow Valvoline brake fluid, in with the

BLUE, nothing fancy. Just a complete and thorough flush about a week before the test.

The GTech is mounted firmly (rubber bands) to an old 1976 TR7 center speaker grill (the grooved holes were handy) and

aligned with the lines on the grill to point straight ahead. See the photo below. I leveled it before starting. The test is sim-

ple. You put the GTech in acceleration mode, it says Go! and you accelerate up to and beyond 60 mph, it displays your 0-60

time and then you mash the brake and the thing measures how many feet it takes to go from 60-0 mph (it knows how fast

you're going) and displays the whole thing in a series of flashing numbers, first the 0-60 time in seconds, then the 60-0 mph

time in feet. Claim is that the braking distance is good to plus or minus 2 feet. Not sure I believe that yet. It DOES say to do

a series of tests and average and I'll bet it's that AVERAGE number which is good to within plus or minus 2 feet. We'll see as

I do more runs

I had tried this earlier with mixed success and finally got it down

to where I could make it work reliably. Took it out tonight and drove

out to the start point (this IS a deserted road this time of night),

pushed the button on the GTech, waited for Go! and took off. A lei-

surely 12 second later I hit 60 mph and then I mashed the brake.

I took a movie of the flashing display. The relevant braking dis-

play numbers are shown as three snapshots below.

For those of you that can't read it, it's 137 feet. ALL the tires were starting to squawk and I was trying VERY hard not to

let any of them lock up. Very solid brake feel, a little squirmy on straight line braking but generally a pretty good stop. I was

surprised and pleased as I was expecting something more along the lines of 150 ft or more. That's equivalent to the X1/9 of

the day, right? Anyone know what the "press" reported back then? Over 170 ft if I recall. This result seems massively bet-

ter than the first press reports, even better than the original TR7's 150 feet.

As Bob Lang or Jack McGahey will remind us, it's the wonder of modern tires people.

Larry got his G-Tech out and promptly recorded 130 ft with a 76 TR7 converted to a 5 speed. We're waiting on more re-

sults with different brake setups and wheels and tires. Woody has a 50-0 mph movie posted on his site and we still haven't

recorded times with one of Ted's modified brake valves either. Too much to do and the snow is flying. Wayne and Jack

both want to try, Jack with sticky auto-x tires. We'll see. Funny thing? I think I could actually do BETTER with a little prac-

tice!

G-TechPro mounted on the front speaker grill on the

"test" car, nearly reading zero (which is what it says

when you get it perfectly level). Jim's best TR8 braking distance, stock TR8

4

Wedge Door Lights NLA - Jim Tencate, Ivan Love & Mick Harper

Triumph Wedge Owners Association

December 2010

This is bad, really bad, especially if you're a Concours nut. You know those neat little adjustable courtesy door lights on

later model wedge cars? (1) Push them down and they light up only when the door opens, (2) push them up and they just

turn on and (3) in the neutral-middle position they just blend into the door. They're rather nice when they work, but lots of

times they don't. Either the bulb has burned out, the mechanism inside has failed, or the door switch has gotten corroded

up. The door panel needs to be removed to replace the bulb too, not a job you'll tackle lightly. Plus, after a recent pretty

exhaustive search, it seems they've essentially become as hard to find as a working TR7 Solex Fully Automatic Starting De-

vice. If you have two working ones, thank your lucky stars. If you break one, good luck trying to fix it, they usually break

rather badly as you'll see. Old plastic is brittle plastic. To find a new working one, you may have to prowl eBay for months.

Below is a photo of my door light collection. Only one of these is perfectly "whole". They came in black (early cars) and

then chromed plastic. They're not terribly well made and the lens (the switch "paddle") actually has as a mechanical as well

as electrical function. They often have a batch number and a date stamped on them (the black one says 78 and the others

are all from 1980). The lens says SEIMA 35 310 at the top and MADE IN FRANCE at the bottom. They were used on our

wedge cars, many early Renault vehicles from that time period, and apparently the first Hummer H1 has lights which fit too

but I don't know if they're the same. They came in lots of colors for the Renault version, and the Hummer version is just

black. For reference, the Renault part number is 7701349760, maybe someone else has the Hummer H1 version? One more

detail, the Renault lights have slightly thinner spade connectors, one bent the other way from the wedge door light. Accord-

ing to Ivan, the newest version of the Renault light remain the same from the front, but use a single three prong connector

for the electrical connection at the back.

So, what goes wrong? The little electrical roller contact on the lens sometimes pops off or (usually), the clips break off,

sometimes pretty dramatically. See the photos below right.

The clear lens can be pried out if you're careful (warm up the door light

with a hair dryer before trying this) and the roller contact replaced and the

contacts inside cleaned up (I used a bit of conducting grease on the roller to

keep corrosion away). As for broken clips, well, you can try velcro to hold

that side of the light in place on the door panel, I think. Anyone have any

good ideas on that?

Finally, there's the bulb itself. Since these lights are so fragile and rare,

next time a door light bulb burns out, replace it with an LED version of the

bulb. Victoria British stocks them (around $7 vs about 0.39 for an original),

and they're probably available elsewhere too. That way you'll never have to

pull that switch out of the door panel again! An LED light also won't get hot

and melt the lens like the original bulb usually does! Odd Hedberg sent me a nice quote about using LED bulbs: "If you do

it right - you don't have to do it twice!"

If you know of someone who has a box of these door lights somewhere in their garage, please let us know?

5

Decel/Bypass Valves- Jim Tencate


Decel/Bypass Valve Pulled Apart

How many times have you guys rebuilt these

things? The adjuster on the decel valve on the TR7 FASD'd

carb I just took apart had been turned out so far that the

adjustment nut INSIDE wasn't in place.

Incorrect Decel/Bypass Valve

And the rebuild kit gasket pieces? Crappy compared

with the quality of the old ones. I finally pulled them all

apart and compared with the new ones in the rebuild kit. In

spite of me thinking this decel/bypass valve was OK when I

first looked at it, it had clearly been apart once before *I*

checked it and had put back together wrong. We'll see what

the other one shows when I take it apart a bit later. The

FASD front carb was the one that (1) wasn't flowing well (if

at all) and (2) had a rag stuck in its side of the intake mani-

fold, neither of which is conducive to getting a TR7 running

correctly.

Maybe this (below) is obvious to everyone? You guys

are going to tell me I've been a "fuelie" for too long and

have forgotten my roots, right?

Decel /Bypass Valve Comparison

Original diaphragm is WAY stiffer than the replacements

in the rebuild kits I just got. The original is nicely intact

and in pretty good shape. The replacement seems VERY

flimsy, like it'd tear with one good blat and snap-throttle-

closed-after-a-hard-acceleration. I'm not impressed.

And when you pull the diaphragm gasket set all apart,

even the old *gaskets* are better quality than the paper

ones. I'm tempted to reuse the old ones as they seem to

be made out of some sort of phenolic instead of just pa-

per. But finally, look what I found when I looked inside

carefully. Look carefully at the photo, upper left, and

compare to the photo below. What’s wrong? Yup, the

adjustment nut had come out of its guide and then had

been put together wrong. THAT's why it was hard to turn

(besides just being hard to get to). See, that nut is sup-

posed to sit down in here (see below). I NEVER knew that

there was a shaped recess for it you know, probably be-

cause mine were always fine when I took them apart!

Learned something new! On to rebuild the other one so I

can get this car running tomorrow!

6

Group 44 archive photos courtesy of TWOA member Mike Perkins and self proclaimed Group 44 authority and nut .

Headlight Relay Update– Odd Heberg


Odd Hedberg’s headlight relay article was well received by many of our TWOA members as over two dozen requested CD

copies of Odd’s article. One TWOA member Karl Schmitt of St. Louis MO had difficulty tracking down some the equivalent

parts Odd used in his headlight rebuild project here in the United States. The part in question was the “relays with a built in

fuse holder” which employs a “spade type fuse” . Odd has provided a sourrce for the part located in the UK called Vehicle

Wiring Products. The relay R30AF can be found at the URL below

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/relays/relays.php

And the fuses can be found at the URL below

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/fuses/fuses.php

As indicated in the TWOA Newsletter Issue #12 drop me a line at “[email protected]” and I will get a copy of the

CD out to you in the mail.

Wedge Heater Valves

Group 44 Archives Photos– Mike Perkins

Wedge heater valves are one of those parts that

falls into the No Longer Available category. There

are several options to adapt heater valves from

other cars to replace your leaking heater valve that

have been discussed in previous issues of the old

TR8CCA Newsletters. However, if you are persis-

tent you may be lucky enough to score what may have been the last NOS one

on eBay like I did. The seller clearly knew the rarity of the part and it was

priced with quite a high reserve price which the bidding did not meet. But con-

tacting the seller after the auction ended with a no sale resulted in a more rea-

sonable priced heater valve to replace my leaky one.

7

Here's another idea for a third light. One I purchased from Moss. California. A really nice chrome version that's supplied

with an equally nice chrome pedestal you'll though note I here didn't use. Only because I installed it on the luggage carrier.

An installation to which I gave considerable thought and placement. Not as you'll see on the lower rung of the carrier to avoid

compromising its strength; but under the top bar against which not too much pressure is experienced when in use. In instal-

lation I turned the third light upside down. Drilling two holes through the top bar through which I used longer bolts to attach

the third light. The longer separately purchased sourced male bolt excellently accommodating the female portion of the third

light: so not requiring holding nuts. As to wiring; it requires a third hole through the top bar. With the wiring running to the left

leg of the top bars support, down through the trunk lid to the cars brake light wiring. With all the installed wiring hidden within

the luggage carriers top bar and support leg: except if one looks really close to the inside of the luggage carriers left support

it is just noticeable. But look really close! As I chose black wiring: itself of excellent hiding quality. The most difficult portion

of installation was actually forming a not too large a hole through the left leg through which to pass the wiring down into the

trunk. But as it turned out, there was more than adequate metal not to worry about that aspect.

No luggage carrier! The very nice Moss third light could be mounted on its pedestal to the rear of the convertible top when

up; or the rear of the tonneau cover. Then in full view of following traffic I'll forward a second photo that's a close up of the

installation


More Third Brake Light Option– Mike Coe

More TR8 Valve Cover Options– Ed Krakowiak

Back in Issue #9 of the TWOA Newsletter I cov-

ered some options on valve covers for your TR8.

Well as it turns out there is one more option you can

use to dress up the engine compartment of your

TR8. If you acquire a set of “Rover” valve covers

from an earlier Land Rover they too can be polished

to a really nice finish. I was able to obtain a single

NOS one from the U.K for $1.99 and several used

ones for around $25.00 per set. You will need to

look at your current oil filler neck, oil breather canis-

ter and hose connections on your TR8 to determine

which Land Rover ones will work. There are several

different configurations I have come across so re-

view your set up before buying some used valve

covers. They all will fit on top of the cylinder head it

is just a matter of obtaining the correct one that al-

low you to install the oil filler neck, oil breather can-

ister and hoses.

8

Wedge Air Horns-Mike Coe


For another version of the electric radiator fan switch, I

thought members would be interested in how I've installed an

override switch on my 1982 TR8. Just an ordinary parts store

purchased switch: albeit one handling correct amperage and

wiring. With an incorporated light denoting the switch is on or

off. The double wiring threaded from under the dash and

through an existing firewall hole running to and fro the radia-

tor fan [an excellent fan purchased from Woody]. And notice-

able: the correct switch panel in which the switch it's installed,

is a panel I purchased from Rimmers when back visiting U.K.

relatives. I simply made a large enough hole to accommodate

the switch. The original panel that came with the car I

still have if anyone is in need of such an item. Mike Coe coe-

[email protected]

As a Bosch dual horn sound system controlled by the usual steering wheel button. But connected to a controlling switch on

the dash that can be switched back and forth to activate the sound of all three horns. Or an alternating musical sound of

each horn [the kids like to hear at a show for example]. The control switch as outlined in the photograph is third right from

the left. And a switch I purchased from Rimmer Bros. when I was last in the U.K. That's actually a headlight switch I

adapted for dual horn control. The only change I'd make to this arrangement is to swap the driving light switch with this horn

switch; as I occasionally forget to turn off the driving light by confusing my hands! So that'll be done this winter! Oh yes,

and the wiring is obviously back and forth through the firewall through an existing access hole. Plus I wired the horns to the

existing wiring at the cars front. And added a further switch at the cars front so as if one wishes, one can still use the horns

the car came with {but it's a bit redundant doing this}.

Two of the photos below show where I last year installed a triple horn system at the front left hand side of the engine bay

just behind the headlight.

Ebay Find-Ed Krakowiak

I found these on ebay and I thought they were kind of cool. Basically these are Rover decals for the valve covers on your

TR8 or Rover V8 that go on the rectangular area between the raised fins on the valve cover. I have seen “V8” ones before

but I have not been able to source them. So when these appeared on eBay from the UK I snapped up the set of four .

9

TR7 and TR8 Alternator Swap and Conversion –James Tencate and RandyTess


Background It's well-known that Jaguar/Rover/Triumph used some of the beefiest alternators that were available at the time for the

TR7 and TR8 but they're really not quite good enough. Like a good audio system, it's essential to have headroom and the

stock Lucas alternators aren't quite up to providing that electrical "headroom." Many of you have upgraded to a beefier

Delco-Remy alternator but there's nowhere you can go for a quick, concise summary of what to do. There IS an excellent

and thorough write-up for the TR7 conversion which has way more information than you may need to know at Greg Bober's

site. You may remember Greg, he's got a TR7 Spider and wrote the clock "repair" article for TWOA a while back. We're going

to assume that you can download his TR7 conversion article and read through it if you need more information or details than

provided here. The link is here for those of you near internet: http://www.smallscalerailway.com/

TR7_Alternator_7Sept08.pdf. Greg tabulated how much power the electrical stuff on his TR7 Spider typically con-

sumes; you'd be surprised at what he got when he added up all the numbers, almost more than the standard Lucas alterna-

tor can supply. So, we're suggesting you upgrade your wedge to a more modern, ubiquitous, readily-available alternator

that'll give you extra "headroom" and keep the Lucas original for Concours events. That's exactly what we have done and

that's the reason for this article. We note that there are a few old TR8CCA newsletters with Delco-Remy conversion details

too but that information is pretty scattered and old. Finally, there's a very nice YouTube video that's worth watching once

you read through this. Although it deals just with the TR8 and suggests a somewhat different wiring scheme with the sense

wire, it's quite good. It's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPkhPbojUKs

The Alternator The easiest thing to do is to get an alternator for a 1993 GM/Saturn SL series cars equipped with the old 1.9 litre gas en-

gine. Actually Greg says any alternator from the years 1991-96 for this series Saturn will work. It's a Delco-Remy CS130

(which comes in several varieties from 85-105 amps). Greg's article gives you the Bosch equivalent part 8215 and other

cross-reference possibilities if you have trouble finding one. You can easily locate a remanufactured, a new, or a lifetime

warranty version at places like AutoZone, NAPAonline, RockAuto, etc. Be sure to get at least the 95 amp version however

since there's an 85 amp version out there too. Higher output versions are ok as well but not really necessary unless you've

added LOTS of electrically hungry killer stereo gear, etc. This alternator is about 3 pounds lighter than the stock 75 amp Lu-

cas A133 found on the TR8s, a bit smaller, and no additional brackets or mounting fussing are needed. Conversion/

swapping is a piece

of cake on a TR7, not

much harder on a

TR8. (Continued on

page 11.)

Stock Lucas A133

alternator (right) vs

S a t u r n C S - 1 3 0

(left). Note the

mounting ear in the

rear of the Saturn

alternator is located

wrong for the TR8

10

TR7 and TR8 Alternator Swap and Conversion –James Tencate and Randy Tess


You can also prowl eBay or your local "auto recycler" and find better bargains but be very careful to get the right

one. This is a very popular conversion for lots of older collectable cars so you might actually have trouble finding a junked

Saturn that still has its alternator. In addition, we'd like to make a recommendation: once you get an alternator from either

eBay or an auto recycler, take it and test it immediately. Jim, for example, got a really good deal from eBay on a remanufac-

tured alternator which looked beautiful, and the seller had lots of positive feedback and a good score. His great deal turned

sour. He put it in the car, it didn't seem to work, took it out, took it to Autozone for testing, and it failed all three tests. The

eBay seller, in the meantime, had disappeared off the face of the earth. Jim, somewhat wiser, at least has a core in case he

needs another one for one of his other wedge cars.

The V-belt pulley Alas, the stock Lucas V-belt pulley won't fit on the CS-130. The stock GM/Saturn alternator uses a serpentine belt pulley

and our wedges use a V-belt for accessory drive. It's easy to remove the serpentine belt pulley; any old impact "wrench" will

make quick work of removing the nut. Jim borrowed his neighbor's impact wrench, Randy had the guy at the alternator

shop do it. Greg says any V belt pulley from 2.5 inch to 3.6 inch diameter from a Ford from about 1975 to 1990 can be used

as long as the shaft hole is 0.67 inches. These used to be easy to find, it's much harder now. Jim used a 2.6 inch diameter

pulley he snagged off eBay after getting a too wide one that did NOT fit, Randy's alternator/starter shop just gave him one

which fit the first time. For those of you who care or may race your cars, Greg has an entire appendix discussing choice of

pulley size too. A larger diameter might be probably safer for those of you who race near redline.

Electrical connections You'll need a CS-130 alter-

nator pigtail to connect to

the Saturn alternator. You

can find one on eBay, or at

internet places like JayRac-

ing, or even AutoZone,

etc. Prices range from

about $8 to $15. Just

search on GM or Saturn

alternator pigtail with your

favorite search engine and

you'll likely turn something

up. There are eBay sellers

that offer this too. If you get

your alternator off a Saturn

from an Auto Recycler, take

the alternator harness plug

too.

Be sure to get the right pulley to match the width of your current belt and one of the right diame-

ter too.

Originally the TR8 electrical system used a battery sense lead that was connected to

the multi-pin connector located in the upper right hand corner of the passenger foot-

well. This didn't work out very well when that wire failed (leading to boiled/

overcharged batteries) so the Lucas Factory issued a service bulletin telling you to

CUT the thin brown sense lead midway in the harness and hook it up to the starter

battery terminal instead. You can remove the remaining sense lead inside the car as

you no longer need it. That leaves you with an extra always "hot" connection inside

the car for things like subwoofers, alarms and the like, and simplifies the wiring

somewhat too. There's a copy of this Lucas Factory Service Bulletin in the very 1st

TR8CCA newsletter if you'd like to read it. (continued on page 12.)

Jim got this pigtail for about $8 on eBay.

11



Wiring the CS-130 is simple. Disconnect the battery if you haven't, reconnect it only when you're done. The pigtail has 4

wires, you only need 2 of them. Of course, there's also the main battery B+ terminal on the back of the alternator but we'll

talk about the pigtail connections first. They're labeled S, F, L, P Jim hooked up the fat red "S, Sense" lead on the pigtail to

the battery B+ post on the alternator rather than hooking to the Factory wiring thin brown sense lead. The fat brown battery

starter wire that goes to the B+ alternator terminal is a much more reliable battery sense than that thin brown wire which

snakes around the exhaust manifold. As noted already, the B+ battery terminal is also going to have the big fat brown fac-

tory wire from the starter/battery terminal. Now fold the existing factory wiring thin brown sense wire out of the way and tape

it up (it connects to the battery terminal on the starter so don't let it just dangle). (Jim kept this wire in case he wants to in-

stall the original alternator for Concours some day.) The brown/yellow striped wire of the original factory alternator wiring

connects to the dash IGN light and must be connected to the L (lamp) wire on the Saturn alternator pigtail, needed for the

alternator field current supply when the car is starting. See Wikipedia if you'd like to know what the dash light is for and why

the alternator needs this circuit. That's it! F and P on the pigtail aren't needed at all. Clip them and carefully heat shrink or

tape them up. F is field positive (used for fault diagnosis), and P is for Pulse (we think) and is used for tachometer connec-

tions we don't need. (continued on page 12.)

This is what the multi-pin connector/

junction in the corner of the passenger

foot well looks like without the protective

plastic cap. The original factory thin

brown sense lead is lower left. If the car

has been modified as per the Lucas Fac-

tory Service Bulletin, this wire can be

removed entirely. It's not needed for the

Saturn alternator conversion either. Use

the battery lead on the starter for the al-

ternator sense lead.

The wiring on Jim's alternator looks a bit messy still

but you can see the two wires from the connector hid-

den from view, the heavy red sense wire and the 3rd

brown wire which connects to the brown/yellow stripe

wire going to the dash light. The rubber boot protect-

ing the positive battery lead isn't the best but at least it

stops you from getting a wrench across that terminal

and the alternator bracket ground! Make all your con-

nections with the battery disconnected.

12



Mounting details The alternator on the TR7 just bolts on, once the spacer is adjusted. Greg shows and describes this nicely, so we won't

repeat or discuss that here. However, on the TR8 the alternator must be re-clocked first and then you can adjust the spacer

for fit. The YouTube video shows this nicely and why it's necessary. Re-clocking is easily done with a star socket of the

right size. Remove three long screws holding the face of the alternator in place, rotate the head in the direction shown and

put the screws back in. There's really only one way to do it and we cannot imagine getting it wrong. One warning. If you've

got the pulley and nuts off while you're doing the re-clocking (like in the video), the whole alternator can come apart and the

brushes might pop out. Do the re-clocking with the fan and pulley and nut in place and you shouldn't have to worry about

the alternator coming apart. Once re-clocked, the spacer on the ear can be removed (see photo) and tapped back in the other

way around to fit the existing alternator bracket on the car perfectly.

Finally, that B+ terminal post on the alternator that has

the Red pigtail sense lead and the brown battery + ca-

ble? Please get a cover for the battery terminal on the

back of the alternator. It's very close to the mounting

bracket (which is ground)! Dorman 85684 or something

similar is a very good idea here. I found something

close at NAPA who had a drawer full of them.

After plugging everything in, tensioning the belt, recon-

nect the battery, start the car and enjoy your new elec-

trical headroom! James Tencate and Randy Tess

Above left-This pressed-in spacer on the rear alter-

nator mounting ear can be tapped out and repositioned

and tapped back in as needed so the alternator fits

snugly between the mounting bracket.

Above right and below right- Not much to the re-

clocking. Loosen the three screws holding the front

cover on, then rotate it in the direction shown and put

the screws back in. Careful not to let the alternator

come apart here or the brushes will pop out at the

back. You may find that the front cover is sealed to the

black paint if your alternator has been rebuilt recently

so it may take some coaxing. You'll also need a special

s ta r so cke t fo r th ese long sc rews .

13

Wedgemedia


In the Fall 2010 Issue of “British Motoring” published by Moss Motors

on page 5 there is great picture of the TR8 wearing “BRIT V8” vanity

plates from the great state of Maine. Any TWOA member want to claim

ownership of this TR8 so we can credit you in the next newsletter.

In the December 2010 issue of “Classic Mo-

torsports” magazine a really nice “Cars of the

United Kingdom” 2011 calendar is included. If

you are lucky enough to already be a subscriber

or happen to pick one up on at your favorite

bookstore then you would have scored the cool

calendar. For those of you who missed out Miss

December is Triumph TR8. Any TWOA member

want to claim ownership of this wedge car so we

may credit you in the next newsletter as well.

Our counterparts across the pond called the “TR Drivers

Club’ puts together a really nice bimonthly club newslet-

ter called the “The TR Driver”. Val McMillian the editor is

able to collect nearly 50 pages worth of articles about club

events, outings, wedge projects, owner car profiles, Tri-

umph vendor ads and more. In their 2010 issue #5 they

also featured TWOA member Steve Olson’s third brake

light article from our TWOA club newsletter issue #11.

Their club website is www.trdrivers.com if you are inter-

ested.

14

TR8 ZS Carb Upgrade


Sure I would love to send my car off to Woody at the Wedge Shop for a full on make over. But until I win the lotto or find

a bunch Canadian Maple leafs gold coins buried in the ground with my metal detector that is not going to happen anytime

soon. I like to keep my TR8 stock looking in appearance as much as possible, but I also like to upgrade certain aspects of

the car in search of better handling, braking, acceleration, etc. Now the factory Zenith Stromberg carbs are one part of my

TR8 that I have never touched and consequently they have never given me any trouble. Now I have seen online where other

TR8 owners have upgraded or improved the stock Zenith Stromberg carbs but I was not sure exactly where to start.

I contacted TWOA member Paul MacDonald because I had seen pics of his TR8 ZS carb setup and I wanted to know what

ZS upgrades he had performed. Paul was a great resource and provided me with a complete list of what he used to up-

grade his ZS carbs. Here is list of parts needed along with cost and source:

2- K & N air filters #RC 2600. Summit Racing $70 set of 2 each plus shipping.

2– Non Standard Richer carb needles for use with headers. Rimmer Brothers UK #RB7468. $48.00 set of 2

2– #ERC9213 Early Land Rover UK Carb adapters. P.A. Blanchard & CO UK $90 set of 2

So for about $200. 00 I was able to obtain all the required parts need to upgrade the ZS carbs on my TR8. The first step

was to install the Land Rover Carb Adapters which bolt right on to the Zenith Stomberg carbs and then install K & N air high-

flow air filters. Once I installed the K & N air filters I took the car for test drive and noticed an improvement right away in

the acceleration of the car. Next I had a set of used TR8 Zenith Stomberg carbs I had acquired several years ago to keep

for spare parts. Before I did anything I marked which one was the driver side carb and which one was the passenger side

carb. I ended up pulling the dashpots and plungers off of them to use with the new set of carb needles I had purchased

from Rimmer Brothers. I removed the existing dashpots and plungers from my TR8 carefully marking which side was driver

and passenger. I wanted to save them in case I wanted to reinstall them to put the car back to stock or in case the new

setup gave me any issues. I also noted exactly the height the stock needles were set in the plunger. I used this as my base-

line because at this point because the car running great with the stock setup and had passed emissions before without any

issues. I installed the new Rimmer Brothers Non Standard needles in my spare plungers and set them at the same height

as the stock needles and gave the dashpots and plungers a good cleaning as well. Finally I installed the dashpots and

plungers with the new Rimmer Brothers Non Standard

carb needles into the respective carbs on my TR8. The

car fired right up and ran great. It was easily a full second

faster 0 to 60 now and the power band is much broader

coming on earlier and staying on longer than the stock

setup. I drove the car about 70 miles and pulled the plugs

and noted a slight lean condition. I richened up the carbs

just a bit and installed a new set of spark plugs and will re-

inspect them again and adjust if necessary.

This setup took some trail and error tuning to get the

car running right. That is why I kept the original dashpots

and needles on the side to set the carbs back to its origi-

nal spec if need be . The other concern is getting fresh

cold air to the K & N air filters. Here in the Midwest it is

not that big of an issue as it might be in the south.

Ed Krakowiak

#RB7468

#ERC9213 #RC-2600

15

TWOA Club Corner


TSI Imported Auto

108 South Jefferson Street

Pandora, OH

www.tsimportedautomotive.com

[email protected] or (800) 543-6648

Ted Schumacher

The Wedge Shop

Tauton, MA

www.thewedgeshop.com

[email protected] or (508) 880-5448

Woody Cooper

Lanocha Racing

www.lanocharacing.com

[email protected]

Tim Lanocha

Wedgeparts

www.wedgeparts.com

[email protected]

Brad Wilson

Wedge Parts Suppliers

The user name and password for the “Members Only”

changes with each newsletter. They currently are:

User Name : (blank not required)

Password: grinnal2010

www.TriumphWedgeOwners.org

You can now renew your

existing TWOA club member-

ship or join the TWOA club via

the website and make your

payment using PayPal.

Please check below your mailing address of this newsletter

for the status if your TWOA club membership dues. Please

note that due to increased printing and postage cost that dues

increased $5.00 effective August 1, 2010. This is the first dues

increase the club has had since our inception.

TWOA Membership Dues

Members Only

TWOA Club Services Just a reminder that for TWOA club members, we'll fix (or try

to fix) any TR8 fuel injection ECU (brain) for free (you pay ship-

ping). You just need to be a paid-up member. We even do this

for non-members (the "fee" is they have to sign up to the TWOA

for a couple of years). Contact Jim TenCate for details if you've

got an ECU giving you trouble. [email protected] or (505) 672-

1953.

Newsletter Submissions Email your newsletter submissions to

“[email protected]” . The newsletter is published

quarterly so the deadline for your submission for the

next newsletter is March 15th, 2011. Please also note

I will also include your email address on your submis-

sion (unless you specify that you would prefer it not be

published).

Ed Krakowiak

TWOA Club Window Stickers Extra window stickers can be purchased for $1.00 each

plus $1.00 shipping and handling. Order more than one

to combine on the shipping and handling and save. To

order send your payment to :

Ed Krakowiak

1713 Valley Forge

Downers Grove, IL 60516

Think Spring

Courtesy of ISOA member Jon Snyder who snapped this

photo of his neighbors 74 TR6 that has spent its entire life out-

side. The license plate has been black out to protect the guilty.

16

Mail Checks payable to Triumph Wedge Owners Association

to: Joe Worsley, 1591 Peoples Creek Rd., Advance, NC 27006 ONE YEAR MEMBERSHIP: US & CANADIAN $20.00 US FUNDS OVERSEAS $25.00 US FUNDS ( I encourage 2 years - makes less work for me! THANKS!) RENEWAL_______ NEW MEMBER________

NAME___________________________________ ADDRESS________________________________ __________________________________________

_________________________________________ PHONE(optional) ________________________ EMAIL ADDRESS:________________________________ SOME INFO ON YOUR CAR (if not already provided): Auto___ 4 SPEED ____ 5 SPEED ____ Year:____ Coupe____ Convertible____ Color______________ Color Code ________ Build Date _______ Vehicle ID # ___________________________________________ (windshield, drivers side door) ARE YOU OPEN TO RECEIVING NEWSLETTER BY EMAIL YES______ NO______

1591 PEOPLES CREEK RD. ADVANCE, NC 27006 USA

Triumph Wedge Owners Association

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