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Discussion starter · #721 ·
Dallas – Thanks. :cool:

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MPTech – Cheers.

Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to even think about another build at the moment. ;)
But you are right, a second build would be easier given all the lessons I’ve learnt (many the hard way).

The most common guesses for the car are still a Cobra (from the front) and Jaguar (from the rear).
Although the BRG paint with a yellow nose band has led to a few suggestions that it is a Lotus.
As before, I will always point out the similarities between their guess and my car before telling them.

But, given how rare it is to see anything like this driving around, most people simply say “What is it?”
Depending on how interested they are, the conversation might end at “It’s a Triumph Swordfish.”.
If it continues, I then point out they will not have heard this name before, as the car is one of a kind.
( This seems to really reassure ‘car’ people, who feel they should know the answer without asking. )
Longer chats will cover the fact I built it myself, what it is based on, how long it took, modifications, etc.
If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I just wouldn’t believe the sheer joy that the sight of this car brings to others. :cool:

If I’m ever heading to the Mid-West I will definitely take you up on your kind offer.
Although, I think our next trip to the States will be to see my Uncle near White Plains, NY.
Likewise, if you are ever in London (perhaps for an NFL game at Wembley) let me know.

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Coughs & Colds
My wife and daughters all came down with a bug recently and eventually I got it too.
So my car time has been limited to peeling back the covers enough so I could at least start the engine.



Until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #722 ·
Winter Wonderland:
As you will see below, my car is currently ‘grounded’, but I thought you might like some snow photos…

Unfortunately, my camera couldn't capture just how 'blood red' the sun rise was.



This was the first day of snow arriving here.



After a few days the driveway was looking like this.



Whilst we've had snow here before, the icicles hanging off the car cover were something new.



Thankfully, I did get a chance to get out last week and went to visit a friend in a ‘trendy’ part of London.



Unbelievably, these little two bedroom terrace houses will now set you back over $1.1 million!
( Up from $130,000 20 years ago when my friend moved into the area and it was ‘unpopular’. )

Finally, I have posted a lot of photos of my car next to ‘normal’ cars to show how small it is.

But I couldn’t pass on this opportunity to show how small it is compared to an American style pick up.
( My cousin in New York has something similar, although I think he had bigger wheels on his. )



Thankfully, these are not as common over here as they are in the US.
( Note how it doesn't even come close to fitting in the parking space. )

Until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Very nice, thanks for posting. Expecting 8-12 inches here in Utah over the next few days. While my other UK friends are skiing La Thuile, Italy.
 
Discussion starter · #724 ·
Forbye4 - Cheers.

I think 12 inches of snow would bring most of the UK a complete halt, as we struggle to cope with a couple of inches. :rolleyes:

I've skied in Italy a few times in the BC* years and it was great. :cool:

One Italian instructor made it clear that, when in Italy, we had learn to ski with style. :D

I hope to return to the slopes one day.

Take care, Paul. :)

*BC =Before Children ;)
 
Discussion starter · #725 ·
Winter is Going…
After what seems like particularly long Winter this year, I was pleased to finally see some sunshine on my car.



Unfortunately, by the time I was parked at a set of temporary traffic lights/signals a long way from home, the sky was looking like this.



Which was a good reminder that I wasn’t over the worst of the weather just yet.

But the evenings are definitely getting brighter so I’ve been able to head out after work too.

This photo was taken around 7.45pm as I just got back from a drive and the some street lights were just coming on.



My first trip in the car to a local shopping centre/mall found a pretty empty floor in the car park.





Last weekend was the first proper warm day we’d had in months, so I was driving in a (polo) T-shirt.

OK, I admit I did leave a jumper/sweater in the passenger seat just in case.

Also, any time I was over 50mph, or in the shade, it was a bit chilly, but I wasn't going to complain.

Found a deserted modern industrial estate for a few more photos.
( Note – I am parked on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. ;) )







I’ve now clocked up just over 1,600 miles and the car continues to get extremely positive reactions wherever I go.

My favourite comment recently came as I was in slow moving traffic thru a small town.

"It even smells like an old racing car." :D

Unfortunately, that would be due to the oil leaking onto the hot exhaust pipe.

Which means this is a regular sight as I keep a close eye on the oil level.



Two other things to note from this photo:
- I still really enjoy opening the hood on hinges I made myself.
- The mud sprayed all over the inside of the hood reminds me that I really do need to wash the car at some point!

My “To Do” list includes building some front inner wheel arches/wells, but that will be another day.

Until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Paul-

Great to see you out enjoying your hard work! We have been struggling with the seemingly unnecessarily prolonged winter here as well. We are typically much warmer, with generally pleasant mornings as well by now. However, we have been waking to some quite chilly weather that takes far too long to moderate. Real spring can't be too far away!

I have to say that the comment regarding your car even smelling like a race car seems like high praise to me!

I look forward to seeing more posts of your car related adventures this summer. I always enjoy seeing what you are up to, and seeing your pictures in some pretty impressive places. Thank you for sharing them with us!

Regards,

Steve
 
Discussion starter · #727 ·
WIS89 – Cheers Steve. :cool:

I hope you like the following updates on what I’ve been up to lately….

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Hectic Times – Part 1
Improving weather is a good thing for driving a car with no roof, but it also brings our garden back to life.
Which means a lot of gardening chores need to be tackled before my spare time is actually spare!
There have also been some big project deadlines at work, which has led to a slightly manic few weeks.
But the fact we can now sit out as a family enjoying a Bar-B-Q makes all the work in the garden worthwhile.
Plus, even just a 30 minute drive in the car can work wonders in lifting your spirits.

However, I want to cover a few issues that have developed with the car lately first…

The micro heater appeared to have sprung a small leak into the cockpit.



So I ended up ‘upside down’ with my head in the passenger footwell and my feet hanging over the rear cockpit.

This wasn’t a great place to work, or take photos, so this was the best I could do.
(After removing the heat shield material from around the heater & hoses. )



I tightened up the slack in the jubilee clips, but also decided to reposition one clip to get a better angle at it.

Which resulted in engine coolant pouring down on me, in a space I could barely move it and struggled to get back out of. :cursing:

To make matters worse, the leak was still there the next day, so I’ll need to do this again some time.

I noticed another problem too, where I’ve clearly had a gas/petrol leak that has bubbled and stained the paint.



My only thought is that I didn't secure the cap properly when I last filled up, as I’m careful not to over fill it.

After driving the car over the winter, I washed it for the first time since I finished painting it last November.



The bad news is that the paintwork really is a 'survivor' finish, but the good news is it doesn’t matter…

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The reason it doesn’t matter is that I seem to the only one concerned with the paint finish, no one else cares.

For example, my 82 year old neighbour wanted me to take her to church one Sunday when the car was painted.
( Given all the mess and noise my neighbours had to put up with during the build, it was the least I could do. )

Now fair play to Betty, she was able to climb in and out of the car with no issues whatsoever.



Obviously, I took it easy and, with some glorious sunshine to enjoy, we had a very pleasant trip to church. :cool:

She wanted to make her own way home, so I carried on for a longer drive and my morning just got better…

As I passed an interesting looking car in front of a garage, turned around, parked up and stopped for a chat.

Turns out it was a two seater 1927 Lancia Lambda with a V4 engine and the owner, in his 70s/80s, was a complete star.





He knew all the car's history, originally owner by a Contessa, fibreglass front wings added by a later artist owner, bonnet extended, etc.

He also wins the prize for best 'What is it?' question asked about my car to date…

"Is that a Sprite based special?" :D

We could have chatted for hours, but we were both supposed to be somewhere else, so we said our goodbyes.

End of Part 1…
 
Discussion starter · #728 ·
Hectic Times – Part 2
I’d washed the car on Saturday evening before the church trip and then did a dry run to work out the best route there.

The fact I was able to drive wearing a T-shirt at 6pm went a long way to make me feel better about the paintwork.

But what happened along the way really sealed the deal…

At some point, my rear view mirror was filled with a white Rolls Royce Phantom Convertible with the roof down, something like this.



Moments later, the traffic ahead slowed to a snails pace and were both just crawling along for all around to see.

Honestly, you couldn't make up what happened for the next 10 minutes until we went our separate ways at a roundabout (traffic circle)…

I must have got 20, or so, positive reactions and the poor ‘Roller’ (which may have even been chauffeur driven) got zip.

From people walking past on both sides of the road saying nice things to children pointing & waving (obviously I wave back).

Plus cars coming the other way also commenting, flashing their lights, hooting, giving a thumbs up, etc. as they passed (even a bus driver).

If ever there was a journey to confirm that I am needlessly worrying about the standard of my paint job, this was it.

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Monday was a UK holiday, so in between family stuff and chores I was out for just under 3 hours / 70 miles.

I also fitted my GoPro so I could collect some footage for my next car video, so here are some screen shots…







Note:
I need to get out of London traffic before I get to open roads, hence the low average speed overall.

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In other news, I saw an advert on Ebay for some aluminium sheet ‘off cuts’ being sold by weight and took a chance.
( As despite having a full mix of sizes on display, the advert was clear what you got would be 'random'. )



The general idea is to create a ‘patchwork’ of panels to turn this...



Into something like this…



Unfortunately, as I offered up the panels it quickly became clear that this would not be a straight forward job.

Originally, I hoped to get away with just doing the cockpit sides, leaving the rear wall black with an alloy access plate.

As there are good/obvious places to end the front and bottom edges of the panels (when trimmed to fit).



But where would the rear edge of the sides stop, given the curve I made to pull the corners together?



Also, I can't see a way to get decent access to the whole side for drilling/screwing without removing the seats.

But removing the seats will mean I can't drive the car which would be a pain now the nice weather has arrived.

Given that pretty much every job on this build took longer that I thought, this may be a job for the Winter.

That’s all for now, so until next time, take care. Paul. :)

PS
One last thing…

I had a slight mishap when I started using the GoPro, as it spun around on its mount and faced the wrong way.

So here is a shot of me cursing as I had to pull over to the side of the road to sort the thing out.



This 'accidental' footage also reminded me that I was supposed to lose weight before my next car video.

As it currently looks like I am carrying the spare tyre around my waist. :rolleyes:
 
Discussion starter · #730 ·
Quick Update:
My car is currently in a specialist Triumph garage/shop to get the oil leak sorted out.



They also worked on my car last year, so I know it is in safe hands. :cool:

Just need to record a few more minutes of GoPro footage before I can complete my second car movie.

With a bit of luck that will be 'released' some time in June.

Cheers, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #731 ·
Ying & Yang – Part 1
The good news is that my car is back from the Triumph specialist.

The bad news is that the engine may need to be removed in the future to permanently cure the oil leak.

I missed last Summer while painting the car, so I was happy for some temporary fixes to keep me on the road.

They did trace the coolant leak to the heater itself, rather than the hoses I’d been trying to tighten.

Many long years ago I dropped my brand new micro heater when mocking up where to fit it. :rolleyes:

At the time, I thought I was lucky to get away with just a small dent…



But it now turns out that I weakened the whole area with the hose connectors, which has now failed.

I've ordered a replacement heater, but have to wait a while, as it is currently out of stock.

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To celebrate getting the car back, I took it out for a drive, but kept getting stuck in traffic.

But my day really went from bad to worse, when I stopped to fill up with gas.

As, before I knew what was happening, gas was overflowing out of the filler cap and all over the rear deck.

I then watched helplessly as the gas poured neatly into the gap around the trunk lid. :(

I mopped up the mess as best I could and headed straight home as carefully as I could.

I then used a watering can to rinse the rear deck area with water and then spotted one corner overflowing.

Sure enough, with the trunk lid removed, the driver's side drain hole was blocked.

So, I needed to insert a thin stick into both ends of the drain to free it up.





By now, the gas had mixed with the black paint inside the trunk lid rain channel and stained the body work.



At least my paint job already had the 'lived in' look, but I will still try to fix this mess at some point.

End of Part 1…
 
Discussion starter · #732 ·
Ying & Yang – Part 2
Thankfully, it hasn’t been all bad news and I’ve also had some great drives out with the sun shining.

I’ve taken some more GoPro footage, including at a nice hotel, which is reached via a long driveway.

It looked like there was a ‘Black Tie’ charity event going on as I arrived and there were a lot of exotic cars there.

To give you a general idea, this is what the car park looks like.



And this was just one example of the cars on display.



I just need my wife to operate the ‘camera car’ to get the final external shots I need of the car driving.

I’ve also be taking some conventional photos and found another industrial estate for some…





And a quite country lane for a few more.






I really like this photo. :cool:



Until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #733 ·
Car Movie - Filming Finished:
Just a quick update from me…

I recorded some more GoPro footage for my next car video.

I quite like this view of the mirror.



Before driving over the camera for this shot. :eek:



I also turned my wife's little Micra into a camera car for the last few shots.

Camera stuck to the hood.



Giving this view.



Note: I need to crop out the bits of her car that you can see in the bottom of the shot. :rolleyes:

Camera stuck to the trunk.



Giving this view.



With a bit of luck, I will have finished editing all the various clips together in the next few weeks.

So, for now, I will leave you with this 'out take' shot of me getting into the car.

As I had just pressed record button on the GoPro, I was in a bit of a rush to get going.

Which meant I appear to be flying over the side in true Le Mans style.



I will end this update by wishing you all a Happy Independence Day!

And leave you with this photo showing a perfect fit in my passenger footwell. :cool:



Until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #734 · (Edited)
Triumph Swordfish - The Summer Sequel

Introduction:
- This is only my second car video, so I’m still a novice when it comes to recording and editing GoPro clips.
- Still, the car looks much better now that it is painted, compared to being in just grey primer last time.
- The warm weather also meant that I didn’t need my woolly hat, fleece or thick gloves this time around.

Music:
- I used my iTunes account for the Matt Monro / “On days like these” sound track in my first movie.
- YouTube were happy with this arrangement, but Apple were not, causing a few technical problems.
- So for this video, I used YouTube’s own ‘copyright free‘ audio library to select the sound track.
- Which led me to some music that is over 200 years old… Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers, Paul. :)

Video Link:
Running Time = 6 mins 13 secs.

https://youtu.be/ipExTQmKEyk



Note:
Make sure you set the YouTube play back quality to the highest setting.
 
Discussion starter · #736 ·
MPTech – Thanks. :cool:

It has been fun trying to work out the best way to pull the video together.
( Like braking before the final clip when the car was going slowly. )

Now, if I could just get hold of a drone camera for the next one…

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Quick Catch Up
I was just about to leave a car park/parking lot when a very shiny Range Rover pulled up next to me.

So I just had to take this photo from the reflection in his paint.



My wife’s brother was over from Ireland last week, so I took him for a spin.



He is actually 6’ 5”, so I was amazed that he managed to get his long his legs into the cockpit.

I think the absence of a steering wheel on that side helps, as there is no way he would be able to drive the car.

We dropped in to the informal classic car night at the Ace Café on the way home.



This is actually the first time I’ve taken the car to any kind of show and it went down well. :cool:

Unfortunately, when I opened the hood that night, I spotted one of my pancake air filters was missing.

The second one was literally hanging on by a thread, so I removed it and stuck it behind my seat for safe keeping.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find a match for this style and have ended up with a new pair that are slightly different.



Top = New
Bottom = Old


I fitted the replacement filters yesterday.





And the car seemed to be running really well when I took it for a quick test drive afterwards. :cool:

Until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #737 ·
My Biggest Fan
Just a quick update from me…

I’ve often talked about the positive reaction my car gets and the fact that it appears to spread joy. :cool:

Well, early on Sunday morning, this joy spreading bar was raised to a new height.

I was making a ‘London Sight Seeing’ video at the time, so my GoPro was running…

Generally:
People taking photos – Happens all the time.
Taking photos while walking into the road / hanging out of a car window / etc – Does happen.
Bowing, blowing kisses & praying for me afterwards – Well, there is a first time for everything. ;)

This certainly brought a smile to my face, so I hope you enjoy it too.

https://youtu.be/eLS-QQwL5ss

Take care, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #738 ·
Another quick update from me, as I’ve been trying to make the most of the great summer we’re having over here.
( Off set by being really busy at work too. )

You can just about see the game of cricket going on in the background of this photo.



I do like seeing trees in the background.



I also met up with two guys from a UK kit car forum one evening after work.

Both of their cars are based on BMW Z3s.



It was nice to chat about our cars and builds face to face.



But with two of us powered by Lucas/The Prince of Darkness we didn’t wait until night fall. :rolleyes:



At the other end of the scale, this was dawn breaking for my sightseeing trip last Sunday.



Apart from the “Biggest Fan” video clip I put in my last post, the main video is still under construction.

So until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #739 ·
Triumph Swordfish 1500

I've been crazy busy with work lately, but at least the sun is still shining in September. :cool:

So here are a few photos that I took earlier today...









Until next time, take care, Paul. :)
 
Discussion starter · #740 ·
Happy Halloween!

It has been a while, but I'll start with this year's pumpkin.





Also, I finally managed to get this photo off my phone…



This is Donald Trump flying over my house during his visit to the UK.
( There were also two police helicopters at either end of this convoy. )

Here are a few photos of my car out and about.









And finally, here is my car making the modern Fiat 500 look HUGE!



Note:
By the time this last photo was taken, I had already switched to my Autumn/Fall wardrobe.



If you are interested, there will be some American Football photos in my next post….
 
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