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1952
Triumph Mayflower
1247cc Flathead Four/3-speed |
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Triumph Mayflower Service Manual .pdf file |
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July 2, 2024 - Pumped, then Not - The fuel pump on the parts car looked pretty good, and it was supposedly running when the prior owner bought it. So I removed the chopped lines from the Mayflower, pulled the solid lines and pump from the parts car, and a full day later, finally got it finished. Only to have fuel leaking around the cover bolt. I tried to tighten it, and the threads in the pump (circled) stripped - or more likely, were already stripped. So I put it all back like it was. I did get the coil swapped out properly, and checked the heater core for obvious leaks - looks OK. |
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| June 28, 2024 - Plated, Stripped, and Modeled - The Triumph's antique tags arrived and I wasted no time getting them on. I still need to get the brake lights and parking brake working, and another issue suddenly popped up. The hood latch is a simple 'T' that is supposed to turn with the hood ornament. The hood ornament shaft is worn and the actual latch piece (circled) is stripped. The parts car is missing the latch, but does have a hood ornament to play with. I'll try to make a new latch piece and use the best ornament to put the latch back together. And lastly, I picked up a Model Railroad scale replica of the Mayflower on eBay that just arrived. |
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| June 21, 2024 - Cosmetics - A busy day taking care of silly stuff - the left parking light was missing the outer bezel and glued in place. I installed new rubber and the nice bezels and lens from the parts car, along with some wiring. The front bumper was pretty beat up, with badly bent over-riders and number plate, plus a lot of rust. I used hammers, channel locks, a vise, and other tools to straighten everything mostly back up, cleaned it with polish and steel wool, and reinstalled it. Looks better - not great, but better. | |
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June 18, 2024 - Progress! -I was able to put together a complete exhaust system using a flexible pipe over the axles, curved pieces from a the the junk system that had the muffler, and a long section of exhaust pipe that Chip gave me. I took the car out for a drive around the block - my first - and it did fine. I still want to fix the emergency brake and other things before I actually drive it somewhere. Then I swapped positions of the parts car and good car. The actual plates should be here (52 BRIT) in the next few days. Oh, the 'TAXI; sign is magnetic and was included with the car. You can click here to see a video of the car running. |
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| June 15, 2024 - Quiet Time -Good news and bad on the Triumph - turns out the manifold studs I so carefully installed were slightly bowed and would not accept the headpipe or gasket. I ended up pulling one stud out and getting the headpipe installed that way. Then I made a coupler from the exhaust pipe that Chip gave me and installed the muffler and a hanger to support the weight. The car is much quieter now. Unfortunately, the tailpipe section that goes over the axle is smaller than the headpipe, so I need to either replace it or figure a way to adapt it. I also was able to replace the parking light on the driver's side. It had black overspray on the lens, was missing an outer bezel and a lot of the rubber. The parts included new rubber for both sides and a new lens, and the parts car had the bezels. | |
| June 13, 2024 - Manifold Destiny - A couple of days have been spent trying to find pieces for an exhaust system. All the black car ahd was a very rusty and holed head pipe, and the parts car's muffler and tailpipe were shot. I was more concerned with the exhaust gasket, but then found that the studs on the exhaust manifold were damaged. I was able to use the parts car manifold with new studs and hardware, and cleaned a d swapped over the original carb and tubing. It will be this weekend before I can try putting the exhaust together, but Best Bud Chip gave me a long straight pipe that is an ideal size for making connectors, and I was able to salvage a muffler from something that came off another car. Best of all, when I pulled the parts car manifold apart, I discovered the exhaust flange gasket and carb spacer gaskets are good enough to be reused. |
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June 10, 2024 - Mine! - A surprisingly quick trip to the local full DMV netted me the title and temp tags, with the permanent '52 BRIT' plates coming in a week or so. I was able to get an appointment online, and was amazed to see they had already passed my number when I got there less than 15 minutes later. My number got called as soon as I texted I was there. One-inch ID exhaust pipe is due in tomorrow - I should have enough to piece together an exhaust system for the Mayflower with the good items from the parts car. |
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| June 8, 2024 - Point(s) Taken! - New points for the Triumph won't arrive until Tuesday, but I checked and saw no difference in TC points that I have plenty of spares of. So I swapped out the points and a new condenser and the car fired up and ran very well! It warms up to 182 degrees according to my laser temperature reader, and maintains 40 psi - very good for a hot idle. Then I took stock of tools - I think that I have most of the factory toolkit including the jack and lug wrench. I actually had a spare lug wrench, but Chip liked the one I used and when I found the spare I cleaned and painted it for him. | |
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June 7, 2024 - Bothersome Bonnet - A friend came over today to see the Triumphs, and of course, the hood latch on the black car wouldn't open. I was worried a bit, but kept trying it, and it finally opened. The latch is a simple metal bar that turns sideways with the hood ornament to open. It had loosened up and was turning on the shaft. I got everything cleaned and painted and installed a missing cotter pin to prevent the bar from loosening again, In the meantime, I have ordered new points and a rotor from Rock Auto (last ones!) and will give the car a good tune-up. I installed a key ignition switch, and found that the wipers work. Also, I plan to try using the rear window seal for a 1949-1970 Chevy Truck ($18 on Amazon) to replace the bad seal on the car - I will experiment with the parts car first. Follow-Up: The seal arrived today and I found out the glass is bigger than the opening - it requires an offset gasket. Oh, well! |
| June 3, 2024 - Troublesome Tank - Could be one reason the prior owner sold the Triumphs was the stubborn gas tank! The parts car tank came out fairly easily, but the tank in the black car was very stubborn. I could see where a few bolts had broken off when someone tries to remove them, others came loose OK. Naturally, the two in the far left corner which are behind the filler neck proved to be difficult. One came out OK after a little work, but the other took almost all day with an air chisel, sawzall, hammer and chisel, screwdriver, and socket wrench. I don't know if the tank is actually bad - the prior owner drilled into the tank itself to mount a fuel pump and the external feed line is packed solid with rust and debris. I was to get the new tank hooked up and swapped out the electric fuel pump - the started and ran for me! The lights all work as well. Click here to see a short video of the car running for me. |  |
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June 1, 2024 - Literature - With a birthday coming up (the Triumphs were my present to myself) Mom said 'get what you want from eBay.' While it was tempting to go crazy, I limited myself to three items that all arrived yesterday. The Illustrated Spare Parts Catalogue has breakouts of every part - very handy. And the owners Instruction Book is invaluable. The showroom sales folder? Well, just fun. Add to those a CD version of the factory repair manual and I have pretty much all of the important literature for the car. |
| May 31, 2024 - Stripping Begins! - First item from the parts car is the fuel tank, which appears to be fairly new and obviously replaced, I got it out today with no issues. Hopefully I can get it swapped out so the good car can be driven around some. I got the tires swapped back, and put the tow dolly in the back yard. |
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May 30, 2024 - And The Parts Car - The tow dolly did great and I was really happy to have added the winch. That said, Chip had a bum elbow from raising a garage window and I took a head dive checking the tire straps on the way back. So we are both suffering. The tires were badly cracked, so I pulled the new ones off the back of the good car and swapped them out. Things got a bit dicey when both cross wrenches turned out to NOT have the right size socket, and the one socket I had that did fit broke. Happily, Chip found the original and very nice lug wrench and we used that. Not only does the parts car have lot of good things on it that I need, there were NOS/New parts inside that hadn't even been opened! And it looks like an almost complete factory tool kit was in the parts car as well! |
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| May 28, 2024 - First One Home - Best Bud Chip and faithful hound Max joined me for a trip to pick up the first of the Triumphs. I'd forgotten that while the main car runs, it only does so from an external can which is not present now. So we ended up easing it onto the tow dolly using a tie-down strap. It took longer than expected, and I definitely will want a winch handy for the parts car. But the overall trip was easy, and the tow dolly worked great. |
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| May 25, 2024 - Two For One! Or maybe one for two? I've been watching this 1952 Triumph Mayflower Saloon on Facebook Marketplace all week. They are very unusual cars, with only 510 sold in the US from 1949-1953. The price dropped substantially, and I got Best Bud Chip to go along as a voice of reason (well, sometimes it works). The car was more than 1.5 hours drive away, which probably slowed the sale, as did the issue of getting it and its parts car moved and stored. The cars appear exactly as described, though the 'good' car refused to start. I did see a video of it being driven down the road. There is some rust around the lower corner of the left door, but it looks very sound structurally. The seats are still OK, though the door panels and headliner have to be made. It has new tires and brakes, and appears complete. Plus the parts car has pretty much everything on it as well, and was running and driving before parts were pulled for the black one. So of course, I bought them - an early birthday present for the man who has too much - junk. Now to get them home! (Here is a short clip of the car RUNNING and another of it DRIVING.) |
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