So I bought a Triumph 2500 about 12 months ago. The story the seller gave me was that an older guy put the engine and gearbox (Leyland 4.4L V8 with a Celica 5 speed) in it about 8 years ago with the intention of entering it in Targa Adelaide, but he died before he could finish the project. His son then used it as a daily and left it ungaraged with leaky windscreens and between sun, water and cigarette/bong smoke, the interior was pretty much destroyed.

The seller had bought it to take to mallanats but had other projects so never got around to it. He claims the diff was broken when he got it so he got a new one from the wreckers. Guessing it has been used for skids at some point.

 

Didn't get any photos before I started working on it, but here's some near the start:

Edited October 25, 201312 yr by SimonM

Stripped out the interior and found a disturbing amount of hydroponic receipts :wasted: and about $10 in coins :wootjump:

 

Edited October 25, 201312 yr by SimonM

Also had to remove the steering lock and put in a push button start because the car didn't come with a key... Nothing suss. :hmm:

Little dash plate made from leftover checker plate that I used to cover the boot/petrol tank

I bought some SAAS bucket seats for it and spent several frustrating hours making adapter rails to bolt them in.

 

4mm x 40mm steel rails with threads tapped in them to bolt the seats to.

 

Slight set back when I took the drivers seat out and found this....

 

All fixed.

 

Got there eventually.

 

The harnesses were already in the shed from a previous project, so I chucked them in.

Edited October 25, 201312 yr by SimonM

Also, there was an annoying hole in the floor to fit the new gearbox/clutch in, so I took a panel beating course at the institute of wing it and patched it up. :P

 

Just placed a flat piece of roofing iron over the hole and kicked it repeatedly until it fit nicely. Screwed it into place as can be seen in the seats photo above

Paint came up surprisingly well with a cut and polish.

Got a new front bumper from the wreckers - never try to change a bumper on a triumph! Something like 14 tiny, rusty, impossible to reach bolts holding it on!

 

Cleaned up the engine a bit. New air filter, bypassed the heater, spaced the radiator forward so the thermo fan didn't rub on the engine.

And that's about it really... Took it up the Colingrove hill climb for a come and try day. Got down to 43.69 seconds, which is better than my dad's time from when he took his mini up there back in the day..

Video to come.

Looks awesome! Good to see some pics after hearing about her :)

looks pretty cool mate, should be a fun car!

It's great fun to drive. Heaps of torque and pulls fat skids :P

It's stock LSD and IRS but the diff is pretty tired and behaves like an open diff.

Handles surprisingly well. Big fat sway bar in the front and chopped springs all round. I think the V8 is lighter than the original straight 6 because it's an alloy block..

Needs semi slicks and bigger brakes to improve performance. I took it out to Mallala for a grip practice day and got in 30 laps before the brakes wore down to nothing. Was keeping up with and beating the nissans down the straights but handling and braking through the corners was no where near as good. (although that's partly due to my lack of experience)

Absolutely love it! I'll be watching!

haha, should get some vids of it!

Was bored today so I took the wooden door trims off, scraped all the cracked and disgusting varnish/lacquer off, sanded them down and gave them a few coats of linseed oil.

Came up pretty well :)

 

Before

 

During

 

After

 

On the car.

 

 

Adds a touch of class, don't you think? ;)

Edited October 27, 201312 yr by SimonM

Not sure if I should clean up the door cards and put them back on, make up some new ones or just leave them bare.

Opinions?

looks good mate, maybe put the door trims back on or maybe even some alloy door trims would be cool, good job mate