T HE M AGAZINE O F T HE T O R O N to T RIU M PH C LUB S PRING 2 0 1 7 Ancaster starts the season NEC Show • My First LBC • Auto Salon "Keep‘em On The Road"® contents Parts and Accessories for Spring 2017 TR2, TR3, TR4, TR4A, TR250, TR6, TR7, TR8, GT6, Spitfire 12 14 Member Pages From the Editor .......................5 19 From the President . 7 Club Hub .............................9 23 Owner’s Manual......................10 Features Cover Feature: Ancaster in the Sun...................12 Triumph Travels: Birmingham NEC Classic Motor Show .14 Adventures in England ...............19 26 What else ya got? On the Hunt for the Perfect Car .......22 Historically Speaking Volkswagen was once British .........24 30 T HE M AGAZINE O F T HE T ORONTO T RIUMPH C LUB SPRING 2017 Restoration: My First LBC..........................26 The Way We Were: Inherited Heritage....................33 Maintenance: Moss Tech – Talking Points............38 VictoriaBritish.com (800) 255-0088 Ancaster Tech & Resto: Auto Salon ...........................41 On the Cover starts the Alternative Method of Removing the LBCs at Ancaster. season ©2016 Long Motor Corp. Front Suspension Coil Spring .........44 NEC Show • My First LBC • Auto Salon Photo by Larry Llewellyn Tail Lites.............................46 17 Ragtop 01 01.indd 1 17-05-08 8:13 AM RAGTOP I SPRING I 2017 www.TorontoTriumph.com 3 from the editor SUBMISSIONS Format: MS Word files are preferred. Send via email or on CD, 20Mb limit on email files. Send photos separately with clear cutline/captions; do NOT A Team Effort embed in the text file. Hard copy submissions are acceptable, but not preferred. Graphics must be in major graphics formats, jpeg, tiff or Photoshop What a different winter season we experienced files. In Person: To the editor at a monthly meeting, this year – it wasn’t just the stormy first 100 days other Club event or e-mail: E-mail: [email protected] south of the border! We had a few tantalizingly PROTECTING YOUR PASSION mild days in February when people started get- ADVERTISING ting their cars out of hibernation. Then March SINCE 1978 Contact the Club’s advertising representative for came in and continued like the proverbial lion details of dates and submissions. Submit ads as and we had two of the worst snowstorms of the high resolution (min 300 ppi) PDF files, saved for print in CMYK format, fonts embedded, by E-mail season. I was able to get my TR6 out for some to [email protected] short runs in late March but it wasn’t until the The advertising year is from Mar. 1 to Feb. 28. first week in April that the Stag had its first run. A copy of Ragtop is sent to all paid advertisers. After Easter, we were out on the west coast for a brief family visit and managed to take in the St. George’s Day British Car Show at Fort Langley, ADVERTISING RATES per year Rear Cover ....................... $500 per year BC. About 70 LBCs were on display in torrential rain, including a rare Jensen GT and a goodly Inside Front Cover .........................$475 number of well-turned-out Triumphs. Inside Back Cover ..........................$450 Not long after you will be reading this issue of Ragtop, Robin Searle and his cast of 20-odd Full Page Inside ............................$420 Half Page..................................$300 supporting Triumphs will be heading off on the circumnavigation of Lake Superior - a 12 day Quarter Page ..............................$230 odyssey covering an estimated distance of 2,155 miles (3,503 kms). You will be able to read all Business Cards .............................$70 Double page inside cover or centre spread...$840 about the trip in a future issue of Ragtop as, at great expense, we have commissioned several (All rates are for 4 issues) special reporters and photographers to record the epic journey. Special advertising rates apply to the BCD souve- Bringing the quarterly issues of Ragtop to publication is now a true team effort and I am nir programme [email protected] extremely grateful that Alison and Sean recently took on the respective roles of Sub- and As- sistant-Editor, providing sterling assistance in writing, proofing, editing and soliciting content 2017 SCHEDULE for your magazine. They join our long-time creative maestro, Art Director Michael Cleland, Issue Editorial Deadline Mailed who works wonders with the layout software and imagery and from whom I continue to Winter..............January 15 .....February 20 learn more about the intricacies surrounding the ‘black art’ of magazine publication. Equally Spring..............May 1 ..............June 15 Summer/BCD .......July 15 .......September 20 part of the team, new Advertising Manager, JP Gauthier and Club Treasurer, Clive Huizinga Fall.................October 15 ...November 30 effectively deal with the non-editorial, back-room concerns relating to our advertisers, as well as paying the printing and distribution bills. Last but by no means least; our thanks go out General Enquiries to all of the contributors this quarter for taking the time to share their Triumph experiences. I [email protected] encourage you to thank all of these volunteers when you have the opportunity and to proffer Ragtop is published quarterly by the Toronto Tri- your business to our advertisers when the occasion arises. umph Club Inc. (“TTC”) and is distributed to its In this issue, Derek McAllister provides a detailed account of the search for and the restora- members as part of their annual dues. The TTC or the Editors cannot accept responsibility for the tion of his Sapphire on Shadow blue TR6, while clearly inspired by Steve Plunkett’s car collec- safe return of any submitted material. We will do tion in London, Roger Elliott explains how he created his own auto salon on a more modest our best, but accidents do occur. scale and I have taken a look at the rebirth of that once British-owned marque — Volkswa- We accept no responsibility for errors or omis- gen. Rick Travaglini describes his quest for the perfect car while Tony Fox ruminates about Tri- sions. Opinions expressed are those of the authors umph Stags seen in the pastoral villages and environs of his former stomping grounds in the and do not necessarily reflect those of the TTC Ex- ecutive or Membership. British Midlands and John Lille provides a technical note on helices. UK-based Andrew Grace reports on the 2016 NEC Classic Car Show in Birmingham and Dave Sims, now in possession Non-profit groups may reprint articles from this of a complete set of Ragtop magazines dating back to 1982, has compiled the first of a new publication, where the author has not reserved rights, provided we get credited and both the au- regular feature called “The Way That We Were” which will provide an historical glimpse of club thor and TTC receive a copy of the publication in events from 10, 20 and 30 years ago. its entirety. Distribution by Pillar Direct. Printed by Printwell Offset for the Toronto Triumph Happy driving! Club. Copyright © 2017 by the TTC. Terence McKillen – Editor Canada Post Publications # 40022175 [email protected] RAGTOP I SPRING I 2017 www.TorontoTriumph.com 5 from the president Executives President . .Dave . Sims 905 .331 .1496 Spring is sprung, de grass is riz, Vice President . Wayne McGill 905 .847 .5532 Secretary . Terence McKillen 905 .855 .2463 Treasurer . Clive Huizinga 905 .884 .2091 I wonder where your Triumph is? Director of Communications . (Vacant) Membership Chair . Wayne McGill 905 .847 .5532 Director at Large . Derek McAllister 416 .435 .1235 Well, it’s the 2nd of May and mine is sitting Director at Large . Don Johnson 705 .721 .1231 Past President . David Tushingham 416 .419 .2201 in my garage as rain sweeps across the back yard. I’ve been lucky enough to have been Ragtop Magazine Ragtop Editor . Terence McKillen 647 .202 .8243 out and about for a number of spins already. Assistant Editor . Sean Doherty 416 .562 .2871 Last week, I met with Tony and Terence for a Sub-Editor . Alison Postma 705 .435 .2223 coffee and came home on the QEW to make Art Director . Michael Cleland 905 .873 .7704 Advertising Sales . J-P . Gauthier 416 .892 .3172 sure that the recent front-end alignment Publisher . David Fidler 905 .829 .9340 and wheel balancing has worked its magic. Distribution . Rod Jones – Pillar Direct 416 .755 .9494 OUR PARTS FINDER Last Sunday was the first ‘official’ LBC get- Meet Davin, Website together of the year at Ancaster and what a Web Manager/Classifieds . Keith Stewart 519 .660 .1916 glorious day it was. There were some great “SEARCHING FOR HARD-TO-FIND PARTS Club Coordinators cars to view and a good time was had by all! Meeting Coordinator . (Vacant) Interclub Coordinator . Tony Fox Sr . 905 .632 .0479 So far this year we’ve had three excellent club meetings with a very good attendance. Our IS A LOT LIKE PEELING AN ONION. YOU GO Ambassador-at-Large . Wayne McGill 905 .847 .5532 annual quiz in January, courtesy of our editor, was to say the least, challenging. In February, Regalia . Dion Widrich 416 .464 .6057 we ventured to Peninsula Imports where Tony and John Fedararo opened their facility and Historian . Frank Manning 905 .643 .2359 ONE LAYER AT A TIME AND TRY NOT TO CRY.” Volunteer Coordinator . Ron Etty 905 .929 .2419 we were able to enjoy viewing a great selection of cars. Then in March, Joe Dudovac of J.D. BCD Sponsors . Frank Manning 905 .643 .2359 Auto shared his insights into the mysteries of Triumph fuel delivery systems. Dave Sims 905 .331 .1496 Motorsports . Simon Rasmussen 905 .853 .2514 This spring and summer are going to be particularly busy, not just with TTC events but also with many other classic car offerings.