Camping with the TR6

This isn't a car project exactly, but i did finish a lot of small projects in the week or so getting ready for this trip:

  • Fixed the license plate light; cleaned up the sockets, new bulbs
  • Replaced the ignition switch lock; the key was sloppy, you could pull it out while the engine was running
  • Moved the radio to the auxiliary ignition terminal - before i fixed the ignition lock, i didn't even know there was an aux position
  • Made a new version of the interior light, with the same style of LED light strip but a new 3-d printed plinth and new switch with 3 positions: on, off, and door switch activated. Also cleaned the driver door switch so the light comes on when the door is open. The light is very bright.
  • While i had things apart to work on the interior light, i cleaned and painted a few rust spots and replaced the rear tunnel with a new plastic version that's much sturdier than the fiberglassed-over fiberboard original. I also cleaned up a few areas of carpeting that didn't fit well and generally tidied up some interior details that had been half-disassembled earlier in the summer.

I volunteered at the Waumandee Time Trials, a hill climb event in southern Wisconsin, the beautiful driftless area. I was late arranging a place to stay, so I decided to camp out for the weekend. Happily, the weather decided to cooperate, and it was perfect both for camping and racing up a hill.

I wasn't racing this year, but the TR6 worked great all weekend, about 300 miles there and back plus running around. Here's my trunk with camping gear:

packing the trunk for camping

That's a camp chair, tent, sleeping bag and pad, tarp, lantern, spare parts and tools, and jumper battery (just in case, because I drained the car battery working on electrics earlier last week). My clothes and camera gear were inside on the cargo shelf. Plenty of space for a light trip, probably could make it work for 2 just as easily, as long as the food is fairly minimal.

Here's the camp site, the only decent picture I got, since I wasn't really there while the sun was up.

TR6 at the camp site

I also took lots of photos of hill climb cars in action, they're posted on a Flickr album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/424621...h/50456212486/