I've had them sitting in the garage for 2 years now trying to get the last of the tread wear out of the old set. As Laurie from the Detroit Triumph club kept urging "change those tires". She noticed my Polish tendencies. So waiting until there was almost no tread on the 2 front tires, I finally did. The interesting point was the reason I bought the tires 2 years ago was because through a posting on the Totally Triumph Network an admirer mentioned that these tires for 13" rims were hard to find. Tire Rack to the rescue. They had them listed. I checked locally and Bell Tire told me that only 13 tires existed in the country, at the Michelin warehouse (new owner). But they wanted $30 more per tire. On a Monday morning I place the order and they arrive the next morning (normal freight). Wow!, great service.
Bill from the Triumph Club recommended a local "old school" repair shop that knew how to align these old gems. It turned out we both picked the same day to go and get service. We arrived at Horner's Corner Garage at about the same time. After Bill had a steering rack boot replaced, here are the results:
When it came time for the alignment Al discovered the rear camber bracket for the tie rod had been welded to the frame. It was off a little but should not be a concern. The front alignment was set and with the new balanced tires the handling is much improved and lighter.
After removing my California emissions I stopped by John Coleman's Downriver Sports Car shop a year ago. John suggested I knock out the old stuff in the Catalytic Converter and "Let it breath better". It's just a fire hazard John told me. Well I took it a just a little farther and ordered a 4/2/1 stainless header and pipes back to the standard muffler (see stainless header project). After a year the tail pipe section broke off of the muffler and was just held on by the rubber bracket. But, the car ran better with the open tailpipe section and was just a bit louder.
Now the decision. Replace the old muffler with a stainless replacement or complete the rest of the sport system. After much thought and discussion I bit the bullet and bought the Dual exhaust stainless sport system. Everyone one said it was much quieter than the Monza system and had a nice throaty sound. Nigel from Spitbits said it might increase horsepower by up to 10%. OK, that sold me. But I couldn't stop there. Since the rest of the system was ceramic coated I wanted the new pipes coated black satin as well. Plus, I didn't like the burnt stainless look I see on stainless that gets hot. I left the last 6 inches bare so I had a semblance of chrome tail pipe tips. I can always polish the tips. This time I sent them to Jet Hot Coatings per a recommendation of a club member and my research. (They send you a quote and video the day after getting a web quote)
The mufflers and pipes returned several weeks ago. Now just before the Downriver Dream Cruise I needed a mental heath day and took the day off to get the tires and exhaust installed. I was concerned. Nigel said I would need to drill holes in my truck. But, when I lined them up earlier they looked like they would line up with the existing brackets for the mufflers. I hoped for the best, but I was wrong. You can see the upper sections are connected via rubber straps to the differential housing exactly where the existing mounting hole were located. The mounting kit is extra, but the rubber brackets are needed. The mufflers require 2 holes to be punched then self tapping screws installed. You can see one side mounted and the other with the screw waiting attachment.
This is not a do it yourself job. Al needed to bend the pipes at several locations for it to fit inside the tunnel and then to line up symmetrically under the bumper. Not a great engineering job. He needed to spread the V pipe apart to line everything up. When completed, I coated both sides of each truck hole with silicone to prevent any start of rust.
The verdict. Sounds nice and throaty. Like me with a bad cold, or some of the Mach 1 Mustangs running next to me at the Dream Cruise.. It also feels stronger. It might be my imagination, but after 3 days of constant driving I think I did gain some power. I kept the old pipe as well in case I ever change my mind. But as of today I like it.
I also noticed Transmission fluid on the drain plug. Al removed the side bolt and could not detect any Fluid. Must be low. I called John Coleman and he was nice enough to take me in the next day before I went to the Dream Cruise. He replace the fluid with the Mobil 1 75-90 rear end oil I brought. Hopefully this will not be another story.
Both shops are highly recommended.