On 6 Jun 1997, Lindberg, Andrew (MN12) wrote:
> Is it possible to use a Triumph year round?
Yes.
> Which model?
Ideally, NOT a GT6+. Mine was pretty lousy in the snow. Tolerable, but
nowhere near as good as, say, a rusty Pinto with bald tires. ;-)
> Any experienced
> winter drivers out there? (I'm talking northern latitudes winter, not
> Florida fluff.)
Does lifetime spent in "upstate" New York count?
> Does the defroster work in cold weather? Heater?
Yes, and Yes. Unless the blower motor dies on you, which it did in the
GT6+ in the middle of a frozen lake whilst observing/working some Ice
Racing activities.
> Are weber downdrafts a good conversion for cold weather starting?
Don't know.
> Anything else?
Snow tires are a must. Keeping it as clean as possible is also a must.
Heck, we did this sort of thing all the time back when Triumphs were
contemporary cars. Dad's Herald was better than mine in the snow, but his
had much better snow tires and a less powerful engine. The Mk. 3 Spitfire
was pretty decent with snow tires on the back. The GT6+ was, as I noted
previously, pretty bad in snow and ice. The TR3A, admittedly with mostly
worn Dunlop Gold Seals, was a blast if you didn't actually care about
remaining parallel to your driving lane or the road in general. The TR3A
was the least warm, mostly because the aluminum aftermarket side curtains
had seen better days.
My last-ever experience with a Triumph over a winter was a 1974 Spitfire
1500, back in the winter of 1989-90 (had no choice; I'd used up all the
winter cars). With well-worn Dunlop SP4 radials all-round, it was not
ideal in slippery conditions, but it was always predictable (and light
enough so that grade-schoolers or an exuberant Golden Retriever could help
me get it back out of the ditch if necessary) and reasonably warm.
The only cold-starting problem occured just once during a thaw, when I
went through a horrendously large river masquerading as a county road. It
flooded out the ignition system completely; all attempts to dry and
restart the car were totally futile. Next day I rounded up a friend to
help me tow it home if necessary. By that time things had dried up and
seriously frozen over again. Of course, the car started immediately,
thanks mostly to the fact that I'd spent a half-hour searching the barn
for spare ignition bits -- just in case -- before going to get the car.
--Andy
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
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p.s. I wonder how well the Triumph 1300 (FWD) saloons went in snow?
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