Un necessarily changing bits before a road trip

[Trumpy]

Hi folks , I’m heading on a European road trip to the Laon historique next month and I find myself constantly doubting parts on the car which have never shown any signs of wear or problems .  
So far it’s been the water pump (£35 so why not ) alternator ( looked old ) and I’ve purchased a spare fuel pump ( works just fine ) to keep in the boot ( just incase ! ) .  A spare rotor arm ( well you never know ) and a distributor drive pin ( never had one go ).
Couple of spark plugs and injectors and a fan belt .  ( i have an electric fan )
Not wanting to add to my paranoia but anyone have any more suggestions? 
We should clock about 1100miles and we’re going with a mate in his Lotus Exel so I will never live it down if the Tr comes back on a low loader . 

Thanks .  Dave  Dave
 

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

My view is if it’s working don’t touch.  

Definitel take replacement spares if you doubt certain items.   Fitting new bits is not a guarantee of reliability   Be sure you have the right tools to do the job at the roadside.   And double check what fuel you are putting in the tank!

 

Remember the bathtub curve of reliability..   Most likely to fail when new.

Edited May 13 by BlueTR3A-5EKT

[John Morrison]

Dave, Dave, Dave, Calm down and if it aint broke don't fix it.

Seriously, carry all ignition stuff, (80% Plus of all breakdowns) hoses and some basic tools, 

and go and enjoy the trip.

John.

[keith1948]

 

Hi Dave

In my experience if you thrash the car for hours on a motorway it tends to object. Cruising along A and B roads is usually no problem. I suggest you drive the car plenty before you go and any problems will likely show up before you set off. No matter how many spares you take it's always the one you don't have that you seem to need. I pack spares around the fuel tank and spare wheel and to save me time searching for them I have a 'map' of where all the bits are located. One tip worth knowing is that old French tractors (Massey Ferguson) have some parts that fit a TR such as top hose, dynamo and fan belt. I have a spare coil bolted near to the one in use. Any faults just swap the leads from one to the other.

Add spare wiper blades to your list, spare fuses, spare light bulbs, warning triangle and Hi Viz vest under the seat. Also a torch and spare batteries.

Stick a post it note somewhere on the dash in front of you with "Drive on the Right" written on it. Sounds silly but very easy to forget when you pull out of a garage or cafe car park and end up on wrong side of the road.

Have a good trip

Keith

Edited May 13 by keith1948

[Trumpy]

Thanks for the replies,  my motto for many years has been ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ and now I find myself doing just the opposite.

I found myself checking the prop shaft ujs tonight ! All look fine so must leave alone !
 

I think I’ve got a good assortment of the essentials and a small toolkit just incase . 

That will have to do or else there won’t be room for Mrs Trumpy’s bags  

[Andy Moltu]

It’s just normal anxiety.

chuck the spares in the boot but only swap if obviously failing.

[Trumpy]

It all started back in March when I stupidly announced that after 5 years of ownership the car hadn’t let me down ! The very next run out the distributor drive came apart . 
 must not make that mistake again !

oops !  
 

[roy53]

I think you have it covered 

the only thing I had that stopped me was a core plug fail.  Only cost pence so carry a set . You might need a gasket set 

good trip Roy

[Bfg]

Tools are possibly more important as any spare part.  Many parts can be fixed at the roadside, for example points can be refaced if only you have a fine file or a little wet n' dry.  And a spare condenser, even in a bubble pack, doesn't take much space.  

I have a toolkit (in an old plastic Black & Decker drill case) that I use almost daily for all sorts of mechanical & electrical jobs ..so its tools are what I actually use, rather than what came as part of a set.  It generally lives in the passenger footwell, as a footrest for passengers with shorter legs. 

Aside from the car jack and wheel brace, I use the same toolkit on each of my cars and also on the boat, so it contains all sorts of things ..like a 6" long piece of tube to pull the Daimler's sparkplugs out of their deep tubes.  Odd bits like that and a few spare nuts n' bolts can make all the difference ..as can decent quality paper towels and rags and a couple of LED lamps.  I carry just the spare tyre, a single (used) spark-plug, half a dozen spare fuses, a fan belt, and a length of fuel pipe with a selection of jubilee clips, but otherwise a 18" length of binding wire, a coil of electrical wire, electrical and gaffer tape, gasket goo and a piece of cardboard (scissors in my tool kit as are small metal shears).  Other things include engine mineral oil (specific to my car), gearbox oil, and 2-litres of drinking water. That may not be enough to get me home should a disaster happen, but it should get me off a motorway or other dangerous place.  Many things like bulbs might fail, but they do not stop a vehicle, and are readily available abroad.  A single headlamp bulb and the combine tail/brake light bulb are all that's really necessary, although some countries might expect you to also carry spare side light and indicator bulbs.  Whatever you carry, it will something else that fails.   I replaced all the water pipes and other rubber bits, including tyres and inner-tubes on my car three years ago.  It's unlikely they will fail  ..So I'm an advocate of preparing the car (including each greasing point, and checking things like diff and gearbox oil levels), before you go.   

Remember ; a long distance is covered one step at time.  And if the single step is easily done at home, why shouldn't it likewise be done on the road to Laon.?  

In Europe it used to be law to carry a warning triangle in the boot. I don't know if still is.

Remember also ; a breakdown is just part of life and usually not a really big deal.  Laugh it off rather than be anxious - After all you are doing this for fun

Pete 

Edited May 20 by Bfg

[Phil Read]

I have just returned from a trip to Northern Spain with the Wharefedale group. Reading posts above I think most is covered. These are some of the problems we had. Broken fan belt on a 3A, loss of drivers side wiper arm and blade on a 6 (yes we had a lot of rain) My car ran rough under 2000 rpm, turned out to be 2 faulty new plugs, they had done about 1500 miles, another car started backfiring and eventally stopped, plenty of spark and fuel, it had us stumped as a last resort a good spray with WD40 over disrtibutor and coil and it fired up and ran ok.. In the past I had a propshaft UJ go so its useful to have at least one. if you have tubeless tyres a quick repair spray can is useful.

Check country requirements for items to be carried they vary from country to country, some require a fire extinquisher.

In Spain you need car registration documents as well as insurance etc.

[Chris Hale]

18 hours ago, Phil Read said:

In Spain you need car registration documents as well as insurance etc.

Think your find that’s true of anywhere in mainland Europe 

[Trumpy]

Thanks everyone,  I think ive got most common spares to take . 
Fan belt , coil , rotor arm ,couple of spark plugs and injectors . Dist drive pin , hose , fuel pump , tyre inflation can , spare wheel / jack etc . And a reasonable tool kit . I hadn’t included a prop shaft UJ as I didn’t think it was really repairable at the roadside . I guess it couldn’t hurt to have one onboard tho’ ( here I go again ) . 
I checked the uj s and they seem fine . No grease nipples though so obviously been changed at some point before I acquired the car . Shame I can’t give them a pump of grease though . I changed the drive shafts for the upgraded CV ones a while back so no worries there  🤞. 
‘C’est la vie ‘as they say across the water ! 
I’ve borrowed the euro bag from the m’home so have the necessary stuff for travel , thanks for the heads up tho’ .  


 

Edited May 22 by Trumpy
Addition

[RJSTR4A]

I've never really carried spare parts. But, I have recently updated my tools.  Here is my list, courtesy of the MGAGuru.  I will admit I additionally carry a spare cap and wires - not on my list.  I think in 25 years I have only been stranded twice. Once was a catastrophic failure of a prop shaft u-joint (flat bed tow required).  Other was distributor related, fixed at the side of the road

Bob

Triumph TR4A - Tools Survival Kit.docx

[DenisMc]

Hi Trumpy,

I am going on The Douro Experience in September and October so your post is very timely and useful. In a recent post that I made I mentioned that out on a drive out a faulty condenser caused a gradually worsening misfire and backfiring. In the end the car had to be recovered by the RAC. So definitely add a condenser to your spares. 
Regards,

Denis

[Z320]

Btw you can fit any condenser from any classic car OUTSIDE the distributor,

like most producers did, but Lucas not.

Edited May 30 by Z320

[Trumpy]

Hi folks , 
I’m pleased to confirm that the car ran faultlessly over the 950 ish miles we completed . So all the spares and the tool kit stayed in the boot  . 
The only complaint is the sports exhaust is to loud for long journeys . Something to look at before next time . 
 

[RogerH]

Little sponge ear plugs

 

Roger

[Andy Moltu]

Plugs, points, coil & condenser. Fan belt. Spare injector. Spare king lead and spare longest plug lead. Foot pump and cut down air bed adaptor to blow out a blocked injector. (99% of injector “fails” are bit of debris causing it to stick. Most of the time that debris comes from new seals in the metering unit bedding in.) If running on electronic ignition it is arguably worth chucking a spare electronic ignition module in the boot. Again for Lucas Pi a no5 and no1 injector lead in case of hamfisted damage spanner work! Spare fuel pump (Bosch equivalents like Sytec are inexpensive). U/J. Gasket paper. Wire and crimp terminals.

If you are running an electronic dizzy like a 321 or CSI, pack your old dizzy as you are stuffed if the module fails.

Spare bulbs, high viz vests and warning triangle are generally mandatory.

In many thousands of miles of continental trips changed 1 fuel pump, 1 coil, 1 fan belt and a U/J (but that was on the IOW so not abroad.) 

If going in a group it might be worth taking a spare alternator & water pump.

Simple spares can get you going quickly but otherwise you end up getting towed away and your holiday interrupted.

European recovery insurance. Not sure the TRR scheme with DAS is adequate from the experiences of those who’ve used them compared with the RAC.

 

 

[Chris Hale]

+1

but actually you changed two fan belts 😉😂😃

[Andy Moltu]

But only one was mine!

[Chris Hale]

True