Break Down Story Number 9
The Broken Dizzy Cap.
I had decided to enter the Riverina Run, a two day navigational rally of some 900 km’s, starting in Goulburn and heading south and west, travelling through Hardin with an overnight stop at Yass, and finishing back in Goulburn.
I picked up my navigator, Gary Phillips, a Classic Rally Club member, on Friday afternoon as we had decided to stay in Goulburn Friday night ready for an early start on Saturday morning.
The plan sounded OK. but ‘Humphrey’ had other ideas, developing a severe case of indigestion on the way down to Goulburn. We managed to hiccup our way to the motel and began a series of exploratory surgery. Points, spark plugs, leads, coil, carburettors, etc were dismantled/replaced/adjusted, without much success and eventually, on Saturday morning we replaced the fuel pump with a new u/beaut electric model. This seemed to be to Humphrey’s liking as all six cylinders were now doing what they do best!!!
So we made it to the start in time, completed all the formalities and armed with Director, Jeff West’s magic instructions set off into the great unknown.
Gary was an experienced navigator, and just as well, because I was totally confused convinced that ‘north’ was ‘south’ and ‘up’ was ‘down’ even left and right were doubtful!! So – dutifully doing what I was told, we managed to find the right control points and route check boards etc to arrive at the overnight pare ferme (Yass) feeling pretty much on top of it!!
Humphrey seemed happy with the new fuel pump and we looked forward to day two.
The start was pretty much OK. – Garry had the measure of the instructions, the weather was great, the roads good so our main concern was locating all the route check boards and answering the many questions.
Alas – Humphrey had a different set of instructions!! About 15 or 20 km’s into the event the malady returned! The engine would just splutter and stop!!! – out and under – nothing obvious, checked the fuel, spark etc, reattached leads and bingo! were off and running!! Not for long – about 10 km’s – same performance!!! much head scratching, lased with the odd profanity and so it continued for the rest of the day – we even had the local highway patrol constabulary trying to help – but Humphrey wasn’t buying it. Needless to say we were forced to withdraw from the event and try to make it home!!
Even this was not going to happen easily – Humphrey continued to behave badly until nearing the Bargo exit off the freeway he seemed to decide that a reasonably lit grassed verge would be the place for a nap!!
So Garry phoned his friend and fellow competitor, Bob Williams who arrived and picked him up and I phoned Jim, my son, in Wyong for help. By the time he collected some spare bits and pieces and organised my son in law to accompany him it was quite late (about 9.00 pm) and a two hour drive to Bargo!!
So here I am, on the side of the road in the middle of the night, in the middle of no where, with a broken Triumph.
Jim arrived about 11.00 pm, had a bit of a look at things and for no real reason decided to change the condenser. As he lifted the condenser out he said, ‘hello what’s this’. Underneath the condenser there was a small piece of, what looked like carbon. A quick look in the dizzy cap revealed that the carbon connector in the top of the dizzy cap was broken and therefore it was not making a good contact with the rotor button. We fitted an old second hand Dizzy cap that Jim had bought with him and the engine started up, no worries.
We travelled home without further problems. My two MK I’s and my daughters MK I now have a box of spare electrical parts in the boot, just in case. And as all these cars have their batteries located in the boot, we have bolted a spare coil to where the battery once was, so we are covered in case we have any further electrical break downs. So ends another break down adventure.
Ron Pope