History
Bought as a project in 2007 as a replacement for the crashed TR6 from Classic Adelaide, this car came as 1 straight body shell with little rust and a rusted out running car with a slightly modified engine and running gear. Over a period of 5 years and 4 different garages it finally morphed into 1 dedicated race/tarmac rally car. A written off Mk2 saloon was sourced for a myriad of running gear spares and the wiring loom, whilst other componenets were stripped and traded against work or parts for the re-build of the race car.
Everything was slowly progressing with no great rush when an entry was received threough a sponsor in Targa Adealaide for 2012 and with 8 weeks to start date a plan was hatched. The shell (complete with tarmac spec steel cage) came back from paint and over the period of 7 weeks the bare shell gained engine, 4 wheel disk brakes, gearbox, diff, tailshaft, drive shafts, extractors, custom exhaust, dashboard, lights, wipers, Terra Trip, Terraphone, seats, harnesses, electrics to CAMS spec, purpose built fuel filter and pumps rig, tank, high-pressure lines.....oh yeah and some signage. In week 8 the car with still curing silicone on the screens was loaded onto a truck and shipped from Perth to Adelaide for Targa. After 4 days of competition and only 1 minor electrical gremlin and an alternator failure, we picked up a nice Silver Plate.
Returning with significant mods the following year and a large increase in horsepower, we again went home with another nice piece of silverwear.
More mods in the last 6 months and looking forward to Targa Adelaide and maybe a few more Targas across Australia.
It is worth noting that the majority of the work in the build and re-prep for year 2 were completed in a tin shed with limited specialist tools - a vice, Sidchrome ratchet and spanner set, parts washer, axle stands, ramps, Bosch angle grinder and 2 speed drill, hand files, hack saw, jigsaw, stanley screwdriver set, allen key set, mallet, hammer, pliers, a fair volume of red wine and bourbon, a gas heater (it was bloody July) and a few good mates - 1 that knew a fair bit about Triumphs.
Modifications
Engine line bored and stroked to 2,700cc, balanced, lightened flywheel, extensive head flow work with porting, polishing high performance spec valves and headers tuned to the modified head. Camshaft ground to LeMans spec and tuned with head work, new dual system exhausts, modified extractors with ceramic coating, Nissan R34 drilled and ventilated disk brakes - 300mm front 270mm rear, Rover brake booster, Nissan half shafts, 3.7 limited slip dif, extensive body lightening with all superfluous weight removed, replacement front bulkhead, custom spec fuel rig with swirl pot, facet pump and CAT filter and inboard high-pressure lines, CAMS spec safety standards for electrical system, custom aluminium face dashboard, Suzuka Race Seats, Willans 5 point harnesses, custom pedal box, full steel roll cage (with knee- bar, door, roof and main hop crossovers), oil cooler and high flow fan, Superlight Alloys with Toyo R Spec 888 tyres.
