Mjit

Few more bits to it than that. From memory: Different gearstick (with O/D switch). If it doesn't come with the box you could mount the O/D switch anywhere/extend wiring to suit. O/D extension loom. Just 2 wires to run from bulkhead to base of gearstick so can make this yourself. Speedo drive cable. Drive it slightly further back than non-O/D so need slightly longer cable. Speedo angle drive. O/D prop. shaft. O/D box is slightly longer so you need a slightly shorter prop. Can't think of anything else.

Sounds a little unusual. Going weak is more common, usually due to air leaks elsewhere but not going rich. Couple of obvious things to check: Are the chokes returning correctly/fully? Once you've pushed the choke all the way in from the cockpit check that they are fully up in the engine bay. Should just see the bottom of the carb then the solid bit the flexible fuel feed from the float chamber connects to. If there's any gap/you can see the metal pipe that comes out the top of this bit they haven't returned home so although the button's in on the dash the chose is still out. There ARE a springs around the mixture adjustment nuts? If these had been missed in the rebuild (and not spotted by the tuner either time) engine vibration could be slowly winding them down, richening the mixture. Unlikely but...

I think the Bones would work - you basically have 2 legs to give points of contact then a series of straps to clamp it to the car. 2 go to the hinge edge of the boot lid to pull it forward, then 2 to either side of the boot lid to stop side-to-side movement, then the final 2 go down to somewhere low on the back of the car (bumper in my case) to hold things down. On a Mk3 it may work with 1 foot on the boot lid and the other 2 against the rear valance. Will be a bugger to get it to balance on your own while you hook all the straps on as it won't free stand but once tight the hinge edge straps should pull the lower legs in against the rear valance.

Another option I saw online while searching was to fit one of the standard boot luggage racks, then mount roof rack bike cariers to this. If I remember correctly the person had used the type where you take the front wheel off and had the rear wheels stuck out behind the car.

Not having/feeling like fitting a towbar just to carry I bike I bought a Saris Bones 2. Just about fits if you ignore their 'place lower feet on back of car and NOT bumper' as that's written based on modern cars with squidgy bumpers, not our iron girders. Takes a bit of juggling to get the different bootlid hooks in place without getting trapped and think I'd apply some form of vinyl sticker to go between the boot lid foot and paintwork next time, more for the fear of it scratching the paint than the reality.

As others have said the steady bloating of cars mean most seats are just too big to fit. Based on that the narrowest cars on sale these days, and so possible hunting grounds for narrow seats are - http://www.cartodrive.eu/top30/30-narrowest-cars/ Most are probably too rare to find easily but the Smart fourTwo's been around a while...

We aren't talking about $million classic cars here (the Practical Classic price guide has a concourse 2000 down as only £4,500) so a change of colour won't have any significant affect on the car's value.

If you're able to take the engine out of the car a bottom end rebuild isn't actually too hard and if the crank's OK not too expensive either. The job can be done in the car but having done it I'd recommend engine-out if you can/don't enjoy getting dropped on by oil, bits of oily crap in your mouth and in your hair, etc.

You're not too far from JY Classics in High Wycombe.

The GT6 power bulge is only there because the cheapest/easiest way for Triumph to fit the 6-cylinder engine in to the Spitfire chassis meant a bulge was required. It's not there because the engine position gave a 50:50 weight distribution or a front/mid layout, or anything else that's meant to be benificial to the handling of a car, and I think that's where BiTurbo228's coming from. In general the less weight you have ahead of the front wheels the better turn-in should be but can you move it enough to make any noticable difference... No idea!

This comes down to 3 main factors - temperature range, application and safety. Temperature Range A ceramic exhaust coating applied to a steel exhaust manifold has to deal with a temperature range of what, 303k to 922k (-30C to 650C) between a cold morning and hot running in most parts of the world. A Space Shuttle had to deal with a temperature range more like 30k to 1920K (-240C to 1650C) between being in the shadow of the earth and reentry. That's a much bigger temerature range at which the material must remain stable and not crack or flake off of the surface it's bonded too. Application With an exhaust manifold you have hot exhaust gasses, then a good thermal conductor (steel), then a reasonable conductor (air). The thermal coating just has to keep the heat in the best conductor and prevent it going to a less-good conductor. This is just 'encorraging' the heat to stay in the best conductor. With the Space Shuttle you have the air molecules creating the heat via friction and a good conductor (aluminium Space Shuttle airframe). The thermal layer's job here is to stop heat going the other way to the exhaust manifold, from less-good to better conductor. If it fails the aluminium will quickly absorb heat to and past it's melting point. This is trying to stop the heat transferring to the best conductor. Safety What happens if the ceramic coating on an exhaust manifold isn't perfectly even and you have thick spots and thin spots? What happens if there's a missed but? What happens if it gets chipped or starts flaking off? In general you get some areas that are slightly hotter than others and a pissed off owner who's spent loads of money only for the coating to start falling off. Unlike the exhaust coating the Space Shuttle tiles are critical to the safety of the craft and crew and tragically we've seen what happens when they fail.

Seen all sorts in the market. Some mesh, some clear plastic. Most seem to attach at the rear of the doors using the factory hardtop mounting points.

Buy a new fuse box/foam gasket now, as in my experience something will break or you'll find something that means you want to replace the current one anyway. There should be enough slack in the wire loom to let you 'pop' the fusebox out of the bulkhead and in to the engine bay, which makes access a lot easier. The box is held to the bulkhead by, from memory 4 plastic tabs on the back/inside car side of the box. In theory you squeeze these together and it just pops out. In my experience this sort of works but at least 1 of the tab will have gone brittle and just snap (new fuse box required #1). The wires terminate in special plugs that slot in to the fuse box, each one forming a single blade and 4 of them (2 each side) forming the contacts that grip the metal ends of the fuse. With the box in the engine bay you can see what you're doing and find the little 'tang' that holds each blade/plug in to the box and release them. Now if nothing broke releasing the fuse box from the bulkhead sod's law states one of the tangs will break at this point (new fuse box required #2). With the contacts out you can clean them up and inspect them and either re-insert in to the box (making sure they all go back to the same places) and re-insert the box in to the bulkhead. If nothing's broken you'll probably find some overheating damage from some point in your car's past. There was some melting of the plastic around one of the plug/blades in my box for example (new fuse box required #3). If you do decide/need to go to a new fuse box but your plug/blades are in good condition you just need to feed the loom out of the old box and in to the new one, then plug all the blades in to the new box. Mine hadn't weathered the years so well but there was plenty of slack in the loom to snip them off and fit the new ones (included with the new fuse box) in their place, then slot in as before.

You can get no advisories? I assumed "Oil leak" was pre-printed in the advisoties box on the form!

Cheap concentrated anti freeze, diluted 50/50 is the way forward - especially if you seem to take your radiator out as often as I do!

I've got Polybush on my Spit. (c. 10 years) and Superflex on my 2000 (c. 5 years). Can't say I can tell much difference (happy with both and both looking like they did the day they were fitted - unlike a set of rubber bushes would)

For bearings has anyone tried the new tri-metal bearings that have come on to the market, meant to be made from the same material as the new hen's teeth Vandervell VP2 bearings? A few of the US parts suppliers list them but not seen them at any UK ones, other than Revington TR in 6-packs. In the US Moss list them, though for a good bit more than British Parts Northwest. The things you find AFTER you've just fought to replace the bearing with County ones laying under the car in the garage.

Never used them but for spannering there's also MW Restorations in Saffron Walden, just up the M11.

I think most Triumph owners in London have used Quillers...once each. Triumph owners aren't as well served in London as MG with parcels being the order of the day. There are a few suppliers around the M25 though, with JY for spannering to the NW and Wins (www.winsintltd.co.uk) to the South for recycled parts.

Hi, Was away in my Spitfire over the bank holiday and had an intermittet missfire at low (sub 3k) RPM for the first part of the journey. This continued until I stopped for fuel and filled the tank. After that it ran perfectly, as it did at the start of the return journey. After a while the intermitten missfire came back...until I refilled again. My current thinking is the fuel pump's getting past it's best. Full tank it's fine as there's a head of fuel forcing its way to the carbs and at higher RPM the pumps making enough pressure to keep up with demand. At low RPM and a lower tank it's struggling to cope though. Not had a chance to check things out yet but does that sound plausable?

Humm, can't say I've had one and my Courier has been coming through fine. Did those come through as part of your renewal, with a specific Courier or just 'out of the blue'?

With the demise of the paper tax disc how about selling either one-off or annual TSSC 'tax discs' to fill that other-wise empty space on the windscreen that just doesn't look right being empty? Could be just an alternative to the woven badges or something a little flasher like these guys do - http://www.creativetaxdiscs.co.uk/page46.html