"Sadie" (SAD 971N) - a rather sad 2000

On the fifth of August 2021 I became the proud owner of an extremely dirty Triumph 2000. The previous owner bought the car new in August 1974 and it had covered only 77,000 miles before being laid up in 1992. She is a real "barn find", having lain in a farmer's barn for nearly 30 years.

Unused but definitely not unloved, she was laid up with some care, various parts being treated with several different preservatives. Her previous owner had hoped to restore her, but sadly that was not to be. At least not yet - I plan to get her back on the road before too long. Probably not until after the RBRR though!

The first step was to get her home - a journey of over 150 miles.

6 August 2021

Once off the trailer, it was obvious that there was a lot of cleaning to do! She was so dirty that it was very difficult to know what colour she was (she's Pimento red).

 

Now the hard work could begin. (No, she's not destined for the skip.)

A whole day spent washing and cleaning, and the paintwork is still only half done. But what an improvement! A lot of elbow grease and a bit of T-Cut works wonders.

                                 

She's in good company next to my Del Lines Stag Estate, with Maggie's 2500 S in the background. (Janey is hiding in the garage.)

8 August 2021
Rain stopped play this weekend, but I guess another full day should see all the paintwork cleaned up.

9 August 2021
Today it was too hot to do any more cleaning of the paintwork, so I cleared out the inside of the car. There was a lot of junk, but some Triumph parts too.

Then I emptied the boot (not much in there) but underneath the damp and dirty carpet and the warped floor board there was a very clean and tidy spare wheel!

The tyre is of course not much good after sitting for 30 years but it holds air and will hold up the right hand front corner of the car until I can pick up the wheels that I'm going to fit: the alloys that were on Janey before she got the Revolutions.

10 August 2021
Next I decided to investigate the engine compartment. All the plugs were loose so I removed them. It looks like oil has been put down the bores. The engine didn't move when I tried to turn it over using the fan, so I realised I was going to have to exercise some caution. So I removed the radiator and the fan and in due course I will see it I can turn it over using a spanner on the crank pulley bolt.

Then I found the first bit of serious rot, possibly the reason the car was taken off the road all those years ago.

It shouldn't be too difficult to fix (says he!) but my welding skills are pretty much non-existent so I'll have to find someone to do that for me. There's oil, grease and underseal everywhere under there so some serious cleaning is called for.

24 August 2021
The brake master cylinder is full of fluid and it's a nice golden colour but I'm not going to try the brakes until I've at least taken the rear drums off and had a look at the wheel cylinders and hand brake expanders. The car moves freely right now and I don't want to risk causing the brakes to bind. I have bought new flexible brake hoses as previous experience tells me that the originals have most likely deteriorated internally so I will replace them. At first sight the steel brake lines seem OK but I will of course be checking them! I have also bought a brake master cylinder repair kit, which I will fit in due course.

The clutch, however, doesn't work. The master cylinder is empty so there's probably a leak from the slave. I have removed the clutch master cylinder and will refurbish it as a precaution. I have yet to examine the slave cylinder.

25 August 2021

I removed the clutch master cylinder for further investigation. All seems in order, even the spring (which usually breaks) but as a precaution I will fit new seals. Thankfully this is a later cylinder with a ring seal, much easier to deal with than the early type with the cup seal.

Further investigation of the bodywork reveals that the channel that should hold the draught excluder is missing from the bottom of all the doors. This is a shame, as the doors are otherwise mostly in good condition.

There will now be a break in proceedings as I have to prepare for the forthcoming Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run.