Underpowered
and underdeveloped, the Triumph TR7 was never to be taken seriously as
a sports car; it's handling was suspect, the styling of the original closed
car was ungainly to say the least, and the engine felt as though it could
perhaps pull the skin off a rice pudding, but little more. The car was
born in the middle of that awful period in the history of what was then
British Leyland, the time when the money ran out, closely followed by much
of the corporation's design and development talent. The TR7 won a few friends
during its lifetime, and there were a few tears shed when production finally
ceased.
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Yet there were those who appreciated that the car had potential, who
could see what it might have been had the resources needed by the project
been made available right from the very beginning. Notable amongst The
Believers are the affable and talented team at S&S Preparations in
Ramsbottom, Lancashire. During the past three years the two founding partners,
Simon Carr and Steve Wilcox, have been unstinting in their devotion to
the model, steadily developing and refining it into what they (and their
many customers) feel Triumph ought to have produced years ago. Each area
of the standard car has been carefully considered, and remedial work has
been carried out as necessary - sometimes this involves a minor amendment
to the original specification, on the other occasions it means tugging
out an original piece of equipment and replacing it with something a little
more businesslike and substantial. It is quite understandable to learn
that one of their first moves was to yank out the 2-Litre four, and in
its place install a Rover V8 of three and a half litres.
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Triumph had, of course, explored that avenue themselves when
they built the TR8, but it fell some way short of being the success that
had been hoped for because of the need to fit the engine with a low-compression
set of pistons and full detoxification equipment so that it would satisfy
the stringent emission control regulations in the company's biggest marketplace,
North America. S&S Preparations originally set out to convert TR7's
to TR8 spec, but they soon decided that they could do a little better than
that; they are now offering a selection of conversions which are all appreciably
better than anything Triumph ever offered.
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The high-spot to date is the blue car pictured above. Naturally, this
is fitted with a Rover V8, the installation being carried out in the normal
S&S manner - once the 2-Litre has been lifted out then the subframe
which holds it is also removed and modified to take the Rover unit sitting
lower in the car than it would in a TR8 by some 2 inches. This particular
engine is overbored by 4.rmm, giving a total displacement of 3.9 Litres,
and fitted with Omega pistons which not only fill the bigger cylinders
but also increase the compression ratio to 10.5:1. The crank assembly has
been balanced throughout, and Tuftrided in the interests of longevity.
Sitting atop the two sides of the Vee are a pair of of Rally Equip big-valve
cylinder heads, the valves operated by a Piper HR285 camshaft with special
high-pressure lifters to overcome an earlier problem of excessive hydraulic
pump-up - the standard specification items proved themselves fond of extending
at higher engine speeds, leading to all sixteen valves opening at the same
time. This doesn't do a lot for engine power, as you'll no doubt agree.....
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To feed the engine with air and fuel, there were two routes worthy
of consideration. One was to use the entire injection system from a Rover
Vitesse, but this can soon get complicated as there are not only the intake
manifold and plenum chamber to accommodate, but also the distribution head,
the microprocessor unit, sensors and the rest. The other option was the
one selected by S&S Preparations, which makes use of a 465cfm American
Holley four-choke carburettor used in conjunction with an Offenhauser intake
manifold. Neat, tidy and simple, this combination gives slightly more power
than an injection system without any of the problems of trying to set up
an electronic fuel management system. The big carburettor is also reasonably
economical, as only the primary pair of chokes are active most of the time
- the secondary chokes (or barrels, as the Americans would have them described)
are vacuum operated and only open under high engine loads. Topped off with
a Moroso chrome air cleaner the installation looks good too.
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S&S offer a variety of specially-developed exhaust systems for
their V8 conversions, and the one on this particular car is what theydescribe
as the ultimate street-driven set-up. Starting with two tubular manifolds
the system runs out to atmosphere via four straight pipes with a pair of
silencers doing their best to quieten the noise to a socially-acceptable
level. The silencers are woefully inadequate and another pair will have
to be introduced towards the back end of the system before too long if
Simon Carr is to say on speaking terms with his neighbours - at present
the car sounds like a NASCAR racer.
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As the TR7 was designed to take the V8 from the very beginning there
are no problems involved in accomodating the lump beneath the car's sweeping
bonnet, and as the car was a later, five-speed, version of the roadster
the original transmission can also be left unchanged. Joining engine and
gearbox is a Rover bellhousing - although because of the engine's appreciable
boost in power whencompared to a standard V8 the Rover clutch assembly
was replaced by an A&P Racing set-up. Pedal pressure is high as a result
of this, but that is a small price to pay for the certain knowledge that
the driveplate will not break or burn out. The flywheel has been lightened
to 17lbs, to improve throttle response.
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The final drive ratio of the original TR7 was 3.9:1, a figure deliberately
low in the interests of getting the best possible acceleration from the
2-Litre engine. The S&S car now develops some 210bhp at the rear wheels
and the retention of that final drive would have succeeded only in rendering
half of the car's five speeds redundant. To give the right combination
of acceleration and cruising speed, the differential has been changed to
that from a Rover SD1 3.5 Vitesse which not only raises the final drive
to a far-more-suitable 3.08:1 but also brings with it the advantage of
a limited-slip capability. The car will now run at high speeds without
fear of the engine suffering a coronary, traction is excellent, and the
acceleration is scintillating.
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Standard TR7 suspension was deliberately soft and the cars were given
to wallowing ungraciously from one end of a bend to the other, a characteristic
totally at odds with what S&S Preparations were aiming to achieve.
The spring rates heve been increased to 200lbs/in front and rear,
and the new springs also lower the car by an inch. Spax dampers are
used, and all of the suspension bushes are replaced with appreciably more
positive solid items. The result is a car which is taut, responsive and
totally devoid of any tendancy towards wallowing - what little body roll
there is has a beautifully progressive nature. Completing the suspension
system is a set of 14 by 6.5 J Revolution cast alloy rims shod with Bridgestone
RE71 205/60VR 14s.
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The fianal piece of mechanical improvement is in the braking system
- it is no good having a car which goes and handles if stopping is to be
a major traumatic experience every time that the pedal is pushed. To ensure
that all is as it ought to be the car has thus been equipped with a set
of A&P Racing discs with four-pot calipers on its front axle, with
uprated friction materials within the standard rear drums. Servo assisatance
is progressive and well-proportioned, and pedal pressures are high without
being excessive.
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Settling into a TR7 for the first time in I can't remember how long,
I was immediately struck by how good the car's ergonomics are; the inter-relationship
between driver and all major controls is excellent, and substantially better
than many - or even most - sports cars. S&S Preparations have had the
demonstrator's entire interior retrimmed in a most pleasing, and superbly-executed,
red Connolly hide. The seats are comfortable and supportive, and offer
good lateral location when the temptation to take a yet-faster run at the
next bend becomes too strong to resist. There are also a couple of little
detail touches which aid driver location when attempting to defy the laws
of inertia, one being the footrest for the clutch foot and the other being
a leather-covered pad against which the left knee can be braced, to the
side of the centre console.
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It is a glorious noise that emerges from the four big tailpipes when
the throttle is blipped - what starts as a deep burble becomes a banshee
wail as the tachometer needle quickly passes 6500rpm. The clutch pedal
is heavy, worthy of an Aston Vantage, but the pressure only begins to register
when you are caught in stop-start town traffic - out in the open, which
is where the car really belongs, the pedal feels just right. S&S have
shortened the gearshift and this too feels just perfect as it clicks neatly
from one gear to the next. The weight of the steering is certainly noticeable
without being excessive, and there is a healthy degree of self-centering
present - a faster rack is availablefor the car, but this offers no great
advantage over the standard item, whilst increasing the amount of effort
required to a disproportionate level.
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The car is perfectly docile around the town, and showed no tendancy
to overheating whilst sitting in traffic jams. Tickover from the quite
highly tuned engine is surprisingly good, the slight tendancy to hunt being
attributable to the Piper camshaft and the Holley's primary jetting being
a shade on the rich side. Fortunately there is no tendency towards fluffing,
and the car pulls cleanly away without having to blip the throttle to clean
the plugs. When the opportunity arises, the knowledge that the limited
slip differential will preclude any traction problems enables the driver
to punch the compact V8 into any gap which comes available.
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But it's out on Lancashire's winding country roads that the Triumph
gives the best value. Thanks to the suspension changes the driver is given
a constant feedback from all four wheels, and knows not only what they
are doing but also what they are likely to do next. It pays to treat the
car with the respect it deserves, and drive it with a light but positive
touch - over-zealous applications of the brake pedal or steering wheel
will upset the car's line. Make full use of the car's excellent spread
of gear ratios, and there is little need to make much use of the brake
pedalbefore all but the tightest series of bends - the car simply swoops
effortlessly from bend to bend.
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The suspension is now very well sorted, and seems to make the Triumph
blissfully unaware of all but the most major imperfections in the road
surface. Even hitting a pot-hole in mid-bend was not enough to deflect
the car from its intended line, and the system is sufficiently compliant
to ensure that neither driver nor passenger are jarred by such an experience.
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A truly massive amount of torque is on instant call from the throttle
pedal, and during the test drive I tried hard to catch out the engine by
putting the gearlever into increasingly inappropriate high gears to see
if it would baulk. I eventually gave up, having decided that on a lazy
day this was one of those cars which the driver could stick into any gear
and let the torque do the rest. But if you give this engine full rein
60 mph comes up in under 6 seconds and if there happens to be a dragstip
handy the car will make the standing quarter mile in under fifteen seconds.
A slouch it isn't. The opportunity to explore the higher reaches of the
car's potential didn't arise during the test period, but given the power
output and gearing a top speed over 140 mph should be possible.
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The TR7 was never the lightest of sports cars for its size, weighing
in at just over 2300lbs and the substitution of the all-alloy V8 does not
lead to a dramatic increase - the federal spec TR8 was officially 2565
lbs unladed. And when that V8 has a flywheel power output nearing 250 bhp
you're looking at a power to weight ratio of around 101 lbs/hp, akin to
some genuine exotics and actually better than some recent Corvettes; what
a pity Triumph didn't persevere with it.......
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The TR7 Coupe was a strange concoction of angles and curves, but the
roadster which followed was a far more successful piece of styling. The
S&S treatment has developed the roadster's basic theme, adding front
and rear spoilers and a set of red Revolution wheels, and then finishing
the bodywork off in a subtle (really?-Ed.) blue which has a slightly pearlescent
finish. Both Simon and Steve are very pedantic about the quality of their
finished cars - a little too much so, they thought at one point. Having
surveyed the quality of finish on a number of exhibits at a recent classic
car show they decided that it was for them to keep to their high standards,
and for the the others to catch them up, rather than let their own standards
slip to match the rest. Their roadster is a rolling billboard for the restoration,
as well as the performance, side of their TR business and has consequently
been fitted with one of their excellent replacement hoods. These are guaranteed
weatherproof and draft-free, and can be raised and lowered quickly and
easily. As might be expected during a test in early February, the moment
that we put the hood down it rained, but did we let that put us off? No,
we left it down, increased the speed, and let the worst of the weather
be blown past. That was one of the pleasant surprises of the car, just
how comfortable it can be, even in adverse weather conditions - fortunately
the TR7 was always blessed with a particularly efficient heater!
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Considering that the car started life as a machine with an image best-described
as slightly effete, and this particular example could only be described
as masculine and hairy-chested, it is nothing less than a miracle of transformation.
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Naturally, S&S can build you a car to this spec or, if you want,
go yet further by installing a 4.2 Litre - or even 5100cc - version of
the Rover V8, with yet more power on tap. The ideal car is a late model
five-speed TR7 (although a four-speed model can be used as the basis for
conversion, the costs are greater due to the need to change more components)
and obviously, the better the condition of the basic car, then the less
the overall cost of the project. Prices vary depending upon the state of
tune required, whether the car needs re-trimming, a new hood, or whatever.
"Contact" S&S directly for
further details.
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