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What Did You Do With Your SSR Today?

1M views 15K replies 567 participants last post by  Stlhotrod 
Today gave the R a good detail wipe down, including wheels and some of the undercarriage. Put car cover on but just temporary, still have some nice days ahead.

Gave out $30 worth of candy in about an hour at local Wegmans Trunk or Treat. Was a top down test drive after installing a bunch of Mike's SE parts. All went well, but sure didn't set any records on the installs!

Over past week managed to get the front cross member kit, radiatior support, rear crossbar, upper and lower radiator hoses, heater hoses, and wind deflector installed. Before Hershey I had replaced the surge tank and cooling fan, and installed the front facia stabilizer kit. Over the winter plan to get more suspension parts replaced.
 

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Yesterday it was only about 44 degrees in the garage, so fired up the heat, jacked up the R and got Mike's SE stiffening plate installed, to complete all the crossover updates. TODAY IT was 60 degrees, so had to do the test drive, top down. Wheel Car Tire Sky Vehicle
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Was hoping my Uline blue vinyl flooring would "relax" and lay flat, as advertised, while I was out and about, but It didn't. Guess the floor is still too cold. Had it in the sun for a couple hours last week, never did lay flat. (Not actually blue, but grey, darn it).
 
Well @Krazy Ed, hope you got that check engine light to go out, I have had that before, on other vehicles but not the SSR. Sometimes it's just a loose cap but it still takes several sequences of start-stop to clear the code.

We had a few clear and dry days here in NE Maryland so took the covers off the garage King and Queen and took both for a good fluid stirring a couple days ago. Had installed new rear shocks and cargo cover struts from Simple Engineering and needed to flex those as well. Went to local parts store and picked up two Monroe strut mounts to go with the front struts. Over past several days received 5 boxes dropped in the driveway, in garage now, my Quick Jack. Raining today and tomorrow so time to get out there and get that dude assembled, then tackle the front struts!

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Nice looking Spitfire. Stock or modified? I like the exhaust. Last Triumph I had was a TR250. Does all your Lucas stuff work? Great looking SSR too. Same color as mine.(y)
The Spitfire is mostly stock, Lucas wiring too, 12V, with a generator and regulator. Has points and condenser, easily changed. Prince of darkness kept at bay by keeping grounds clean. Just like our SSRs. Switched from twin SU carbs to downdraft Weber & manifold, added the stainless dual (fake) exhaust at that time. Re-painted original color, Signal Red.
 
Boxes unpacked, lift assembled. Test runs to part then full height, all ok.
To (sort of) justify time and expense I took the opportunity to install Dick's permanent shift cable bolt kit. And yes, I used supplemental jack stands. All ok.
Lowered truck and lift completely, checked air pressure, one cylinder normal, the other almost empty. No bubbles on fittings leak test. Troubleshoot tomorrow.
 
Spent a couple more days in the garage, finally got the front shocks installed. Rears were easy, fronts not so easy! Had a couple hours invested in getting the front nut tightened on driver side top. I used new Monroe Strut-Mates and although the bolts were the same length as the factory ones, they were painted/coated so re-installing they had to be wrenched all the way down, about 1/4 turn at a time. Whew! Anyway, on now and all good. Wasn't going to change fronts until they actually "needed" to be changed, bounce tests and ride quality didn't indicate they needed changing. Once off I could see where the driver side had leaked badly, and the bump-stop was about 2/3 gone! The other 1/3 began to crumble as I examined it. The rubber from the shock mounts was beginning to fail on both sides as well, although wors on driver side.

Took a 20-minute test drive just before dark, up to about 75 mph (Friday rush traffic) and those Simple Engineering Touring Shocks do ride nice!

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Feels almost like May here in NE Maryland, was 60 degrees when I headed off to our local "small box" store for some electrical connectors for a wiring project in the basement. Had to take advantage of top down weather, and the red, white, and blue photo op.
Monday took the R to local Chevy dealer for front calipers, roters, pads, brake lines all around, and brake fluid flush. Should have done the job myself, just didn't want the brake fluid mess, and all the up and down with the bleeding routine. When I went to pick up the R, they left it parked next to a new Chevy Colorado, not quite Pac Blue but close. My black Colorado may be getting traded! Nah.

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Got up to 57 degrees this afternoon so had to do another top-down to my favorite country hardware store. Stopped by the vineyard-winery. Tasting room was open but deserted. Once a month during the summer they have cruise-ins, fill the parking lot and most of the grassy area.

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Rained most of the night Friday and Sat am, then wind came and dried the roads off. Was 63 degrees when we left for a ride through the country backroads. Stopped to read this sign...a new subdivision is going in next to this farm. While I was taking the picture a local bird left a deposit on my fender. Could have been worse, top was down and Mrs. Bowties could have been the target!
 

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Bicycles between Montrose and Silverton? Say it ain't so! I was born in Montrose, my parents lived in a mining camp on Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray, where my dad worked in the mines at the time. Spent a lot of summers in the mid-50's watching them "widen" the Million Dollar Highway, don't remember any bike lanes then, barely enough room for two cars to pass, and you had to honk your horn when rounding some of those cliff-hanging corners! Think Tail of the Dragon on steroids! Times have changed indeed. Have fun Dave.

But I digress, what did I do with/to my SSR today? Nothing today but yesterday I added a bolt to the head where the pre-tapped hole is, now my short-cabled booster has a good attachment point. It's kind of camouflaged, you may have to zoom in.
A couple of weeks ago I fabricated an addition to the SE ABS heat shield. See photos. Earlier discussions about why the driver's side caliper is prone to sticking, (as mine did) got me thinking that maybe the proximity to the catalytic converter is heating the brake lines and brake fluid. In a closed system if you increase the temperature, volume can't change so the pressure does, if I remember the PVT rule correctly, maybe just enough to affect the closest caliper, on the driver's side. Not sure about check valves, proportioning valves, etc, probably designed to relieve pressure? Just an experiment, will report periodically about results.
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Hey Mr Met, nice pics! Notice you had top down but windows up, haha, so did I. First full day of Spring here in Forest Hill too, 62 degrees at 3pm so took the R for a ride to warm the fluids. June was at work so I was flying solo. Made a stop at the ice cream shop, darn they were closed. Came home took some pics of the boys in the driveway.
Loading stuff in Colorado to take to Westminster, MD tomorrow for indoor swap meet 24th and 25th.

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I worked around the house, did a small paint project in the basement, then had to turn the outside water back on and hook up a hose, to clean the paint brush. Noticed it was quite warm, checked the thermometer, 75 degrees! Dropped the chores and headed for the garage. Did the top-down, windows down cruise to the ice cream shop. They were open this time. About 2-3 minutes prior to that second pic my cone looked much like the painting, I chose brain-freeze over melted ice cream on my truck!😁😁

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Getting ready for Branson, got the oil changed yesterday, managed to not spill more than a drop or two despite the stiffening plate configuration, thanks to Carguy tip to make a funnel of tin foil, for when the filter comes off. While on the Quickjack took a picture of Jack rails in relation to gas tank, and nope, tank will not drop straight down. (previous question from a different thread).
This morning headed to a local car show that was 10 am to 4pm, got there at 10:45...registration was closed! 😳 Took a few fat-fender pics and headed back home, before mother dropped rain/hail/wind on anyone still there at 4pm!

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Put just shy of 2500 mi on Pac Blu on Branson trip, past the 49k marker on way home. Was home a couple of days before getting the chance to clean & shine. Back in the nest now.
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After brunch with kids & grandkids we made a run to Costco, down Baltimore way, saw this 05 in parking lot when we went in, it was still there about an hour later, no idea who owns it.
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