TR Action 256
By the time that you read this in February, Christmas will be long gone, but I am starting this report with details of our Christmas meal at the Three Horseshoes. (Rosy Pugh bet me I wouldn’t start my report like this….)
As always the food was superb and everyone enjoyed themselves, as can be seen from the photograph. Unfortunately Terry and Sue couldn’t be with us - they were on the high seas, crossing the Atlantic in a hurricane! However, the rest of the group had a good time and many people went home with an early Christmas present courtesy of the Secret Santa lucky dip. Thanks must go to Sue for organising the booking and Bev for her organisation on the night.
There were not as many of us at the January meeting, although a goodly number turned up. However there was not one TR in the car park as Irving, (who’s TR is his only car) was not in”297 HOT” because it requires new pistons and liners, so he got a lift with John.
Terry was back with us, albeit with a broken wrist on one arm and a torn ligament on the other, caused when he fell over. This did not occur while he was on board ship in the hurricane but on dry land and Terry was at pains to point out that it happened while he was stone cold sober!
At the meeting, talk turned to a Wye Dean member who has been unwell for some time - Paul Gardner. We send him our best wishes and hope that one day we may see him back at the monthly meetings. We also send best wishes to Dick and Pam who we hope to see at the summer meetings and daytime events, as we realise that night driving is difficult for them.
The members then discussed a couple of changes to Wye Dean Group. One is a major change, in that Terry told us he felt that he was no longer able to provide the support that the group required. Jeff Mason Wenn has expressed an interest in taking over the Group Leader’s position, which Terry was happy to pass on to him, subject to the group and committee agreeing. I’m certain that all Wye Dean members would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Terry who “rescued” Wye Dean when it was moribund a decade or more years ago and has kept it going as our Group Leader since then.
Another, more minor, change is that we decided to purchase a new Wye Dean banner – one of the blue and white “sail” type that many other groups already possess.
Future plans include Wye Dean members attending the Winter Ball in Llandrindod Wells and some of us being involved with planning the International Weekend in Malvern next August. We also aim to send a Wye Dean contingent to the Coleford Carnival of Transport on April 9th (Easter Monday), alongside TR members from the Kennet Valley and Glavon groups.
TR Action 255
Due to TR Action's deadline dates, there have been two Wye Dean monthly meetings since the last report. The October meeting, which seems a long time ago, was one of our quieter meetings, with a small but select group in attendance. However there were plenty of people at the November meeting, even though the weather conditions were not of the best.
We were pleased to welcome Jeff to our October meeting – he hadn’t been for a while as the last time he set off for a Wye Dean meeting his car caught fire! He took it as a sign to avoid Wye Dean meetings for a long time – fortunately this time he arrived without mishap. Topics of conversation included the Malvern Classic Car Show in October where the Birmingham Group had a TR chassis with suspension and brake drums in situ, which received plenty of attention.
Nick Sanders is on the fourth year of rebuilding his TR4A and had plenty of questions including the right way up for the horn push, the difference between TR4 and TR4A gear lever gaiters and whether a TR6 windscreen wiper rack could be fitted to a TR4A? The answer to this last query was “don’t do it” as it is out by one pitch and Jeff once fitted one which flew off!
There were concerns expressed about the threat to add 10% ethanol to unleaded fuel as this will eat into the old rubber fuel lines on the fuel pump and carburettors. TR owners will either have to use an additive to counteract this or replace the fuel pipes with ones that will not be eaten away.
The next event on the Wye Dean calendar was the Classic Car Show at the NEC. A number of Wye Dean members visited the show and the new TR Register stand, (complete with rotating cube) was much admired, as were the cars on display. As always, members of the Register and those who were interested in TRs were made most welcome and the cake celebrating the 50th birthday of the TR4 was delicious.
Given the approach of winter a number of people wanted information about heated seats for TRs. Apparently MX5 seats fit all TRs as they are relatively narrow – now I just have to persuade Bill to fit some!
As I write this, Wye Dean members are looking forward to their Christmas meal at the Three Horseshoes on 14th December. Before that, we attended the Register AGM at Gaydon, where we said goodbye to Kevin Jones as our group co-ordinator. We will really miss his visits to Wye Dean and the support that he has given to the group over the years. Thanks Kevin – you know that you will always be welcome at our meetings!
TR Action 253
There was another good turn out of members at the Wye Dean August meeting – in fact so many people turned up that we had to forgo our usual meeting area and move into a larger space. We were pleased to have Jeff and Caroline with us – they “multi-group”, as they also attend the Glavon and Kennet Valley meetings. We also welcomed two new members – Chris and Alistair, who have a TR7, although it had tyre trouble so they could not bring it with them. In fact there was a distinct lack of TRs in the car park due to a variety of problems.
We did not go in the TR3 as Bill could not get into it. He hurt his back manhandling a four post lift into the garage, which he had just bought to avoid hurting his back when working on the cars! (One Wye Dean member misheard the story and thought that Bill had hurt his back in a four-poster bed!)
Irving’s car had passed its MOT but it was taken for a test drive with a Tapley meter to check the brakes – at which point the brake lights failed! It turned out that Irving had blown the brake light pressure switch, but what was really strange was that Nick had blown the pressure switch on his TR as well! This naturally led to a discussion on how to bleed the whole brake system, with lots of people recommending Easy Bleed and the use of a Dowty seal for the pressure switch.
Julian was not in a TR either as he had bent a push rod just driving around locally – ironically the car had performed perfectly driving to and from Harrogate. Julian arrived with Wye Dean’s youngest member – his son William who was proudly sporting his Wye Dean tee-shirt. William and Bev were there to help carry the enormous barbecue from Terry’s house into the van. This was then used at the Wye Dean barbecue that was held at Julian and Bev’s house and once again they, William and Charlotte looked after us really well, with wonderful food ably cooked by Terry and plenty to drink. The TR problems seemed to have been cured and a superb display of TRs was assembled on the field – one of every type except a TR3A – plus William’s miniature Landrover and Charles’ Mazda RX8…
Future events should include a Sunday afternoon car treasure hunt and the Christmas dinner on third Wednesday of December - yes, it’s that time of year already!
