Stephen Nutt
1968 Triumph TR5 PI CP865LO
TR5PI CP865LO was built on 10 January 1968 and dispatched to Switzerland on 14 February 1968, according to her British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certificate. The history of the car until I acquired it on 17 August 1974 is unclear. Repair records dating from December 1971 were with the car when it was purchased from Import Auto in Clarkson, Ontario; however, there was no record of when the car was imported into Canada. At the time of purchase, the car had an odometer reading of 66,723 km. It had been repainted Burgundy at some point in the past and had undergone considerable body work (unknown to me at the time). In 1978 when the body began to show considerable rust, it was taken off the road to await repair. Due to financial and other constraints, repairs were not initiated until 1989 at which time it had been moved in boxes twice – something most classic British car owners can identify with, I am sure. The car was ultimately repaired, repainted in British Racing Green, and put back on the road in September 1991. It now has 96,150 km on the odometer.
The Lucas petrol injection system does have a few unique characteristics. The fuel is delivered to the fuel metering unit and the injectors by a trunk (boot) mounted high-pressure Lucas electric fuel pump. At temperatures above about 30oC, the fuel pump vapour-locked, resulting in complete loss of power. With experience, cold wet towels or ice packs were always carried in the car on hot days to overcome the problem. In addition, the Lucas fuel pump was lubricated by lead in the gasoline, which resulted in wear problems and loss of pressure when lead was removed from gasoline. Ultimately, the Lucas fuel pump in this car was replaced with a Bosch unit which eliminated these problems. In addition, power can be lost due to aeration of the fuel and air lock in the fuel pump due to the return of excess fuel from the metering unit to the tank near the fuel pump intake. Apparently, this was solved in later fuel injected TR6’s by adding baffling to the fuel tank.
Since being returned to the road, she has provided us with relatively dependable service (considering its age and heritage), attending many British Car Days at Bronte Creek Park in Oakville, Ontario, one of the largest gatherings of British cars in North America. CP865LO was one of the anniversary cars (50th anniversary of the first TR5/TR250 builds) at the 2017 British |Car Day gathering on 17 September 2017. She was the subject of a featured model article in the 2017 Souvenir Program published by the Toronto Triumph Club (www.TorontoTriumph.com), sponsors of British Car Day.
Above is a photo of CP865LO at the 2017 Bronte Creek car show.