Mjit

A what is it if not a night dimmer It is - and it's pointless in modern traffic. B how do I test if it’s working These almost never fail (in a bad way) - you just need to check for continuity between pairs of in and out pins. C where do I get a replacement if it’s not? If it's actually failed so you don't have any continuity then delete it, linking like wires directly to one-another. D how do I wire up Would have to look to say (and I'm currently 400 miles from my car) but once you have pull the black earth lead. Looks original but as no earth switching on the side lights can't complete the circuit so can't energies the coil and can't dim the lights (which were hardly like looking at the sun when new, let alone 40yrs down the line when all the silver has come off the reflectors.

I think you're about to become familiar with the joys of Recoil thread inserts... Sounds like the thread is knackered for one of your bolts. There's enough of it left for the bolt the pull down when under no load but when you try to actually pull it tight the bolt threads are just pulling through the housing ones. Recoil thread insets come in kits with a special drill and tap. You use the drill to remove the last of the old thread then the tap to cut a new thread. This is obviously too big for your bolt but it's the correct size for an insert. You wind one of these in and while it fits in the new, over-sized thread on the outside it gives you an original sized thread on the inside for your bolt to go in to. You'll probably be OK with the same, new gasket but might want to invest in a tube of gasket sealing compound (to use in addition to the gasket) as it's a little better at filling in the corrosion in the thermostat cap than the gasket.

Something else to check - have the slave/handbrake cam worn the back plate? The slave cylinder is meant to slide in the grove, and the handbrake cam slide with it but 40 years of wear on my Spitfire had left a few groves and the assembly would momentarily get caught in the wear marks, then suddenly release and thump the shoes against the drum.

I had to buy a ratchet strap to get mine to fit too. Maybe the piece of wood method works if you have a friend to help you but trying to compress and align on your own is next to impossible with a piece of wood/easy as pie with a strap.

For brake/clutch bleeding I'm also on my own and have tried all sorts, from pressure systems like Gunson's Eezibleed (could never find an adapter cap that fitted properly) to vacuum ones (could never get a good-enough seal on the bleed nipple so you just end up sucking air past the nipple rather than fluid through it). The only I always come back to is also the cheapest, the Vizibleed ( http://r.ebay.com/xUayek ). That one's £3.48 with free shipping and, well they just work.

OK, so it seems the shop search is running on exact rather than wildcard or fuzzy matching. I searched for "cone" and only got back diff cone mounting kits. I also tried searching for the product code, as published in the printed accessory/regalia catalog but it doesn't look like that's used at all by the only shop, either as a code or included in the product content for searching.

Great - a shiny new store front (with a completely different pallet to the rest of the site), just a shame there's nothing in it. Any idea where the heavy duty bonnet cones are hidden (HDBC001)?

For MS I think you'd be looking at this for a kit - http://trigger-wheels.com/store/contents/en-uk/p270.html It's not Triumph 6-specific but has all the bits you need for any 6 cylinder engine and you just need to find a way to mount the trigger wheel on the crank pulley/the crank sensor so it's about 1mm from the trigger teeth. All of MegaJolt/MegaSquirt/MicroSquirt are open source, map-able ECUs that are available from a number of sources. MJ ECU just does sparks, using common Ford EDIS ignition bits. The two MS ECUs do sparks, again using Ford EDIS ignition but but can also control fuel injectors.

I've gone Megajolt for my Spitfire and wouldn't go back. The engine's 'tweaked' and no-one could get it to run well across the rev. range as it wanted a "U" shaped advance curve, with lots at low RPM, then less, then more again as you went up. I took the easy/sightly more expensive route of a conversion kit from Trigger Wheels (http://trigger-wheels.com/store/contents/en-uk/d46.html) and after a rolling road session have a solid, sensible tickover, and don't need 3,000RPM to pull away. Even John from JY Classics commented on how well it pulled for a 1300. I've left the dizzy in place (disconnected with the points/condenser/coil in the boot) as if you remove it you need to fabricate a blanking plate to cover the hole - and it's good for confusing people when the bonnet's up.

Electronic flasher units are a really simple and effective upgrade over the mechanical ones - https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/1061/category/35 Almost a direct replacement for the mechanical one, just requiring a new earth lead and you get indicators that flash as quickly as everyone else's and don't slow down and stop if a bulb earth gets a little grubby.

You're not alone - baffled me what that was for when I first got a 2.5.

...Or just pull the (black) earth connector off the relay, tuck it out of the way and close the boot. The default 'path' through the relay is not-dimmed and it's powering the sidelights that creates a circuit through the relay to the relay's earth connection that flicks things to dimmed. Take the earth off and the relay activation circuit can never complete so the lights never dim. Done this in both my Spitfire and 2.5PI with no issues.

It's very unusual to be able to buy "Antifreeze", normally all you can buy is "Antifreeze and Summer Coolant, with corrosion protection". Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Just unlike those guys fit yours the correct way around! The idea behind the vertical bar is that it helps stop your luggage shooting forwards off the rack in the event of an accident, taking your head off on it's way to the windscreen. It's not to stop is just sliding off the back of the rack.

I rarely wave at fellow classics on the road - but that's just because they've already passed by the time my brain kicks in that there's another classic comeing and works out if I'm going to wave or flash the lights!

@dougbgt6 I usually get mine done at the SEM and you just park up, walk over to the 'office' to book and pay, then join the (usually short) queue. If I remember correctly they were even taking card payments last time.

Umm, you might want to re-read this thread as I'm not sure anyone's expressed the opinion that the club doesn't use social media. A number of people have expressed the opinion they don't give a flying dingo's kidney about online advertising agencies like Facebook and Twitter and the opinion that it took far, far too long to reinstate these forums. I never have and most likely never will visit the TSSC Facebook page or view it's Twitter stream. I do use these forums and almost left the club when the forums went missing - I saw little point being a member of the TSSC if I was spending all my time on the Club Triumph forums...

Says who? The "you need to flush the system and change the seals" statement always seems to come out when anyone mentions DoT5 fluid but it's not what it says on the side of a bottle of DoT5 fluid. In fact it states you DON'T need to flush/change seals*. The bottle does recommend flushing as the result will be a (generally safe) blend but the DoT4 bit will still be hydroscopic. Of course chances are your seals are getting on a bit and they're cheap as chips really so a bit of a false economy NOT to change them while you're faffinf around with them. * Or didn't last time I was bored-enough to read one.

I've got a similar (first world) problem with my Spitfire exhaust and plan* to find a local exhaust specialist who makes custom exhausts and see what they recommend. I'm hoping they can pop the silencers open and add some sound absorbing material to them. These sorts of places tend to do most of their work in stainless so should be set up to re-weld the boxes. * I have to confess I've been saying this for about 10 years without actually doing it...

Got Uniroyal Rain Experts on my Spitfire and very happy with them. Used to have Michelins and was happy with them too. Had Pirellis years ago and it just seemed to eat those on the fronts!

An alternative method to stop the engine turning is to pop the starter motor out and clamp a pair of good quality mole grips on to the flywheel through the hole.

Vauxhall Vectra battery from Halfords. Fits in the battery tray and has the power to crank the engine for hours* without running flat. The terminals are the other way around/on the other side of the battery but there should be enough cable to reach without modification (was for me). Yes, they don't always last that long but come with at least a 3-year guarantee so keep your receipt as you can take it back and get a new one - with a new 3-year guarantee last time I had to do it (current one's still happy after about 6 years). * OK, so not ACTUAL hours but way longer than the 'correct' battery for a Spitfire.

First off I'd replace the mechanical flasher unit for a modern, 3 terminal electronic one. Much more reliable, more consistent flash rate and also a little more tollerent to bad earths (as it's electronically timed rather than relying on current through the circuit to heat up a bi-metalic strip). Easier than that to disable the night dimming relay. No need to bypass all the joints, just pull of the relay's earth lead. With no earth the relay circuit will never complete so you're always in 'day' mode.

On my Spitfire I managed to get away fitting the studs and torquing up the nuts, then cutting the studs flush with the top of the nuts. Gives just enough room for the cover to fit - but you do need to buy yourself a pair of half nuts should you ever need to remove the studs as there isn't enough stud to lock to normal nuts together on.

Got one of these earlier in the year and don't think either of my traditional torque wrenches have been out of their boxes since. Part of the reason was a growing lack of faith in my big wrench...which the new digital one showed to be way out. I know some people won't trust this new-fangled digital stuff but having spent time playing with stress gauges (what's doing the work inside the box) I'd trust them a lot further than I could throw a mechanical wrench.