Nick Jones

I’ve got 175/70 r13 on 5” steels on my Roto Mk3. No catching on arches. Going to 5.5” steels on the rear (same tyres), still plenty of room. Later swing axle cars have 2” more track so tighter at the rear. Nick should also say.... front has 330lb 10” springs so lowered too.

GT6 took me to work on Monday. Vitesse Tuesday and today. Exmoor tomorrow...... My "modern" has done less than 400 miles since the beginning of March. Nick

That one is actually UNF. 3/4" IIRC I have a chunk of cut-down bolt in mine. Itself drilled and tapped to take a fitting to feed my external oil pipe to the front of the main gallery. The gallery plugs are a nightmare on the six. No logic at all. Nick

I thought that 2kg off, right at the front of the car, was worth having, seeing as all the iron pump housing I had were more than a bit sad. This was 10+ years ago. Don’t remember where I got it from (the cheapest!) but the tapped threads for the water pump were horrible - tapped fast with a very blunt tap. They did clean up a bit with a sharp tap and studs were fitted with loctite. Doesn’t leak so it looks like I dodged a bullet there.... Nick

You can get a clicking or light knocking from the driveshaft UJs if there is any end-float between spider and cups. It’s quite common and is cured with thicker circlips or shims under the circlips. More likely to be the new one doing it. Nick

Properly speaking, both hole and plug should be tapered, otherwise the contact area for sealing will be short. BSP threads can be tapered (BSPT) or parallel (BSPP) with the latter also sometimes being referred to as gas threads (G1/4 is 1/4”BSPP) Nick

Should be fine. You should be able to use the flywheel from that too. Nick

Great video...... so how bad was your hangover? ATF and acetone is supposed to be the ultimate de-seizing agent...... Nick

Technically that is an MoT fail as it stands as the spring should be secure in it's cup. If that's the 330lb Moss spring, they usually are - just barely. Should be 10" free length IIRC. Doesn't look to me as though the centre nuts are tightened fully? There is no torque setting, but the rubber (poly?) bushes should be fairly well compressed without being mashed. This may gain you just enough to hold the spring. Also possible to get nylon spacers to sit under the spring. In practice, the only time you are likely to risk unseating the spring is "getting air" over hump-backed bridges. Nick

Presumably the TBs are from a motorbike? I see a Ford coil pack on the bulkhead too. Do you know which ECU? This is ours Nick

Absolutely right....

The tacho was a 1500 Dolly one calibrated to 7k. Used to go well past that.... RR plot stops at 5,800 because that’s where he lifted off. Power/torque had been dropping for a while anyway. Something strange about the torque curve anyway. Peaks very low at 2700 ish and then declines gradually all the way to about 5k, where the rate of decline accelerated. Not really what I’d expect from a 280 degree cam. I wonder if it is significantly advanced. Will probably drive nicely though so I wouldn’t make any rash decisions until you’ve got acquainted with it. Compression ratio needs to be at least 9.5:1. 10:1 probably better. Presumably the ignition timing is also controlled by the ECU? Would love to see a pic of the inlet/injection arrangement. Nick

I sit one side in the groove and then work along the other side with a screw driver blade, tucking the seal into the groove. Sounds horrendous but actually quite quick and easy once you get the knack. Prone to coming out again if you stop half way - so don't! Nick

There are some unanswered questions in you original spec list - most notably (as Clive says) whether the head has had gas flowing work and what the compression ratio is. Also what form the the injection manifold and system takes and what exhaust manifold/ system you have. We do have a multi-point injected 1300 Spit here based on a slightly weary Mk3 engine with standard internals. It’s reasonably lively, very tractable and economical, but no monster. Dunno what power as it’s never been on an RR. Probably 75 - 80 bhp. In contrast, many years ago I built a small crank 1300 for my Herald. That had a fairly standard bottom end. Just lightened and balanced, a Kent TH3 cam and a horrifically expensive head by Silverstone Engineering. Fuel fed in by twin SU HS4s and exhausted with a TT 4-2-1 manifold. The rest of the system was made up of motley rescues but fairly large bore and straight-through. Had a very un-Herald like bark...... No idea what the power was - it never saw a rolling road - but it did go well. It would genuinely out-drag a Volvo 360GLT an XR2 and an XR3 (had mates with all of those and it made them unhappy - which me me happy). It could just about stay with an XR3i and Rover 216GTi, to the surprise of two of my colleagues. The down sides....... it wasn’t at all economical, it could be politely described as “crabby” below 2000 rpm and “very crabby” in traffic. It was not ideal as a daily driver, which is what it was. But between about 3000 rpm and “Smiths” it truly flew. Would have loved to try and civilise it with injection, but those days were still in the future. Nick

Think you have the smoking gun right there...... Bit of an annoyance that rectification means a complete strip down. Do not be tempted to reuse the circlip under 3rd gear (though you may not need to disturb it) - it will break later if you do. Nick

I'm quite sure that the idler should not be in mesh when in first gear. There is no reason to design for that and a couple of good ones why not! IIRC there are a couple (at least) of different lengths of idler and also different lengths of spacer tube that determine how far back the idler moves when reverse is not engaged. It's possible that some do operate like this and as you are not likely to get the third gear in the chain hooked up as well it won't do any immediate harm beyond giving 1st gear a bit of a straight-cut whine. Nick

Would look fantastic without bumpers, lowered a bit with some wheels with a bit of dish. Nick

Given the race replica theme...... why does it even have bumpers? They look like an afterthought. Too far from the car and right out of place with the T6 bonnet. I’d want a properly fitting hatch for 20k too, or am I being picky? Nick

The prop drops far enough to slide out under the diff. But as mentioned you have to detach from the gearbox first. It's bolted to the gearbox flange with 4 bolts and I reckon you'd need to remove the tunnel cover (and all that entails) to gain access. There is a sliding splin joint in the propshaft and that is retained by a screw-on cap. That is probably impossible to access in situ, and even if you could access it I'd strong advise trying to dismantle it that was as it needs to go back in exactly the same position and some (though by no means all) have ball bearings and spacers in there as well...... To keep the prop out of your working area, zip-tie it up to the handbrake linkage. Self-adjusting brakes....... good luck..... Nick

My experience with POR 15 is negative. It sticks extremely well to me, but rather less well to my cars and I have also experienced the “peeling off in great sheets” issue on my PI - just a few days after painting. I had even followed their instructions and used their (overpriced) prep chemicals. And yes, the left over paint will set in the can within a few days and the brushes are hard to clean..... Strangely enough my son recently used up one of the small cans left over (I won’t ever use it on anything car related again) painting some garden structures straight onto rusty metal and it seems to have stuck really well. Ignore the instructions and don’t waste your money on the preparation stuff appears to be the way to go. Or just buy a decent paint instead. Nick

Picton Sportscars Moordale Motors. Both London though not the most convenient side for you. Nick

As others have said - don't use this. It sinks horribly and all the marks you thought you'd hidden will reappear soon after you put the top coat on. Single part stoppers are all a bit prone to this unless only filling tiny defects, but the cellulose ones are the worst. My personal favourite is Upol Dolphin Glaze. This is a two part stopper that is quite fluid so very easy to mix and apply. Also sands easily. Will probably manage up to about 2mm depth. Comes in a bladder-like bag with a screw stopper so easy to reseal and keeps well. For greater thicknesses then P38 is as good as any. Nick

The filled system mechanical gauges are pretty accurate. I have had a similar one for decades (probably ex MGB), though with actual degrees C marked. It's been tested in boiling water a couple of times and has always shown 100ºC at that point. Car doesn't actually boil over until just shy of 110ºC indicated, but doesn't usually get beyond 105ºC even climbing an Alp behind a caravan on a hot day. Typical UK running temperatures are 75 - 80ºC. It's an 82ºC 'stat. As for the 1/3rd reading on both gauges, I am mildly amazed that your filled system gauge reads the same as the old electric one did and suspect that they are both telling you that your thermostat is weary and opening too soon. Without and actual calibrated thermometer, about all you can do is try another thermostat. I'd probably stick with an 82. Nick

Piece of 8 or 10mm plate, 45mm holesaw and an angle grinder? I know there’s nothing wrong with your metalworking skills! 🙂 Nick

It’s a right sod. We actually made a jig to transfer the measurements from a Roto chassis to a non-Roto one in the end. Nick