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I had two of those and they're a lot better than the press gave them credit for. Only about 11,000 came to the UK so most self-proclaimed expert commentaries have never so much as sat in one.
That said, the Eibach spring and dampers upgrade available from new was well worth the money. The original set up was a bit fidgety at low speeds yet soft at high speed. Also, the handling is dramatically improved by ditching the 19mm rear anti-roll bar and replaced with the 21mm equivalent from the Mondeo ST200 / Contour SVT. You can feel it at housing estate speeds even.
[edit - it's clearly a Zetec]
That said, the Eibach spring and dampers upgrade available from new was well worth the money. The original set up was a bit fidgety at low speeds yet soft at high speed. Also, the handling is dramatically improved by ditching the 19mm rear anti-roll bar and replaced with the 21mm equivalent from the Mondeo ST200 / Contour SVT. You can feel it at housing estate speeds even.
[edit - it's clearly a Zetec]
Edited by jamieduff1981 on Tuesday 14th December 11:48
Well, semi-hot... so warm (?) On the heels of the Cougar, I've picked up a few more items of nuggetry. I had thought about not buying any more cars for a while, but then a lovely bit if British cheese was wave under my nose, and I do love a Triumph.
So, the latest acquisition is a TR7.
Or more specifically THREE TR7s! One of which has been converted to TR8 spec!
Theres a 4 speed hard top, which is mostly stock and reasonably solid too.
It has a good reg number on it too, AAB 350R, so ideal for a 3.5L V8 swap!
There is then a yellow shell that is LHD and was destined for America, but for some reason it never got there. It did have lots of nice bits on it that the previous owner snaffled away. But it's very solid, the floors have gone, but the rest of the body is very good. The car has never been registered, so its difficult to do much with it, so it will be carefully unpicked then the panels used to save other 7's.
The last one is the V8 converted car. The front wings are pretty good but most of the rest of it is rotten, so probably only a parts car. However the bits will transfer over to the white 4 speed nicely! Theres plenty of good bits on it mind you.
Another surprise at the farm was looking for a spare tractor tyre for our little Kubota was finding an seat from a Lotus Europa! My Dad had one many years ago that he bought in around 1978/9 and sold in the mid-80s. However he never changed the seats. His boss had one before that, but we don't see why he would have had a seat spare. Still a nice find. Probably worth more than one of the TR7s I've just bought!
So, the latest acquisition is a TR7.
Or more specifically THREE TR7s! One of which has been converted to TR8 spec!
Theres a 4 speed hard top, which is mostly stock and reasonably solid too.
It has a good reg number on it too, AAB 350R, so ideal for a 3.5L V8 swap!
There is then a yellow shell that is LHD and was destined for America, but for some reason it never got there. It did have lots of nice bits on it that the previous owner snaffled away. But it's very solid, the floors have gone, but the rest of the body is very good. The car has never been registered, so its difficult to do much with it, so it will be carefully unpicked then the panels used to save other 7's.
The last one is the V8 converted car. The front wings are pretty good but most of the rest of it is rotten, so probably only a parts car. However the bits will transfer over to the white 4 speed nicely! Theres plenty of good bits on it mind you.
Another surprise at the farm was looking for a spare tractor tyre for our little Kubota was finding an seat from a Lotus Europa! My Dad had one many years ago that he bought in around 1978/9 and sold in the mid-80s. However he never changed the seats. His boss had one before that, but we don't see why he would have had a seat spare. Still a nice find. Probably worth more than one of the TR7s I've just bought!
Indeed so, and prices are on the rise now. Genuine TR8s have never been cheap, but good examples of the 'lower spec' cars are catching up value wise.
I just don't understand why they put the 2L 8v engine in, to me it would make much more sense to have fitted the Sprint engine, and the V8 gives it some real shove too. No doubt internal politics had a lot to do with it.
I just don't understand why they put the 2L 8v engine in, to me it would make much more sense to have fitted the Sprint engine, and the V8 gives it some real shove too. No doubt internal politics had a lot to do with it.
No I could never understand why they didn't fit the Dolly Sprint engine. It wasn't like that was going to take sales from another BL 2- seater of that era.
Unless maybe they were concerned about warrany issues - it wasn't the most reliable engine BL made, although I think they can be now.
Unless maybe they were concerned about warrany issues - it wasn't the most reliable engine BL made, although I think they can be now.
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