Nick Jones

I’ve had the NGK fouling issue and written of it before. My PI, in the days when it was still Lucas PI was a great killer of NGKs. I don’t think fake ones as they came from my favourite motor factor, not the internet. It killed a nearly new set of 6, one by one due to flooding caused by TB balance issues. They just couldn’t be got wet. Once fuel wetted they were dead and couldn’t be recovered by cleaning or even cooking with a blow lamp (which I’ve never know fail before). I replaced them, one by one, with scabby old NGKs of the same heat range which though they didn’t work well wet, could be recovered by cleaning and cooking. This answered a long previous mystery as to why a complete set of nearly new NGKs had died in our long departed Nissan Primera GT after I’d inadvertently flooded it after failing to reconnect the coil pack. Took me bloody ages to unscramble that one! Bosch ones, especially the 3 prong ones, seem pretty resistant to fouling and are certainly recoverable after flooding. Nick Not on commission from Bosch btw, mores the pity!

No. It just holds more fluid. This is more important for disc brakes as the caliper pistons move out as the pads wear causing the fluid level to drop quite rapidly. The JP small angled reservoir is the correct one. Should be 5/8” bore. Nick

What colour/condition are the carpets? 01278 = Bridgwater area? Cheers Nick

If you’ve not been far in it it could just be coolant left in the exhaust from the last incident cooking off.

This gets my vote. Had this on my 1200 many years ago and then on a Peugeot 205 which was even worse. Basically the fuel in the float chamber heats up expands and overflows down the carb throat when the engine is switched off hot, flooding the engine. The starting technique was to slowly open the throttle all the way and hold it, then crank until the engine starts (quite a few turns!). Don't pump the throttle as the accelerator pump then adds more fuel! Worth checking that the float height is not too high and also that the needle valve is not leaking as this tends to increase the fuel level in the float chamber even if the float height seems correct. In theory the manifold drain should stop this effect on the 1200 but I have read (on here, recently) that not all re through-drilled. Nick

The Vit/GT6 bell housing certainly can be welded very effectively This is the engine side 30mm worth of a Vitesse bell housing welded to a cut-down Toyota Supra bell housing. Guy who welded it reckoned the Triumph part was less troublesome that the Toyota part! End result Nick

Damn..... that IS high. No wonder you had sooty plugs. No PI equipped car need attempt that one! After experiencing 3,700m on Mount Teide a few weeks back I suspect you were wishing for a personal supercharger as well..... Nick

Completely agree with this and most OE installs measure temperature after the radiator. That said, my Vitesse has the cooling fan controlled by the engine management ECU and that is using the coolant temperature sensor in the thermostat housing as it's reference. What I learned when setting this up is that to prevent the fan coming on unnecessarily I had to make the set point really quite high (somewhere in the mid 90s IIRC), which I found slightly alarming. In practice it seems to work fine though. For my GT6 I will be using a Golf GTI radiator (because it cost a 10th the price of re-coring the original and weighs about 1/4 as much) and that has a threaded connection for a fan switch right next to the radiator outlet, which I will be taking advantage of.. Nick

Agree with Pete (has to happen occasionally 😛). For the swing axle cars I'd consider a spring lifter as "nice to have" whereas it's very difficult without on a Roto car. Though possible to improvise with odd bits of bar/tube/box plus rope/large exhaust clamps. Nick

I have Falken SN 832 on my Vitesse in 175/70 13 (on 6" rims) and their wet weather performance is just superb (as tested on two very wet track days!). Soft compound and squashy tread means they are not quite so great in the dry when right on the limit, but you probably shouldn't be trying that hard on the road anyway! Nick

It's called "lean hitching". Richen it up a touch - Johnny's choke suggestion is a good check. Nick

That's very irritating! Are the anti-spin pins definitely in the carrier? Mine intermittently makes noises usually just as the pedal is being depressed or released...... It's also now getting short of travel with a 3/4" M/C having started with a 5/8" one about 12,000 miles ago...... and I have no idea what is causing this progressive need for longer travel..... Nick

I do this. Not sure it makes all that much difference though - still get some "sweating" under the plugs though my head is very thin just there due to huge skim. Don't put the Hylomar too close to the actual rocker feed oil hole as it spreads when the head is torqued down and you don't want it squeezed into the oil way, the compression ring should stop that but...... I usually leave a 5mm clear ring around the hole. Nick

You have the right letters but in not quite the right order. It’s Payen.... though if you are typing on some kind of I-fruit it probably kindly dis-corrected it for you as mine just did. The MK2 6 pot isn’t prone to HGF, unlike the MK1, though some weepage under the spark plugs is pretty common and hard to eliminate completely. Occasionally you’ll get a more serious oil leak in the the rear left corner from the oilway to the head. A recessed block wouldn’t normally have been fitted to a Vitesse, so if it’s still stamped HC you should be safe. You can also check for a gasket tab sticking out of the rear of the head/block join. No tab means flat block, tab means recessed block. Nick

Normal..... used to lift/tip the engine as needed to miss the steering rack, keep exhaust downpipe away from the chassis and so on. Varies from car to car. You can try without but may find some are needed some to prevent unwanted contact. Nick

I also omit the gutters, and , on the GT6, the roof to screen rail seam. Nick

Interesting..... where did that clutch come from Steve? Nick

I Also. As Clive said, the 1200 and 1300 (esp. small-crank 1300) seem quite happy to hold 4000+ for extended periods, which is enough for 70mph IIRC. Try that with a 1500 though and at best your ears will bleed, at worst there'll be metal on the road..... btdt..... Nick

The pillars should be a complete, closed "tube" without the gutters. The gutters are spot welded on the rear face and the whole lot seam-sealed. Rust in this area is common....... it also tends to extend into the area above the screen and the roof seam. I sincerely hope that yours is not as bad as ours was...... Nick

All Superflex kits come with sachets of silicone grease. As I understand it the bushes should be fitted dry into their housings but lubricated in the central hole before fitting the crush tube..... They were pretty much the first in the business and still around. Nick

Standard rubber bushes work entirely by flex. The inner tube is clamped in position by the bolt and the outer is fixed in the housing. This is why it’s important to tighten the bolt when the suspension is in its normal running position so the rubber is not continuously under tension. Poly bushes are designed to slide on the inner tube which should be clamped solid by the bolt. They should be lubricated with silicone grease when assembled and if they squeak a lot it probably means they need dismantling and lubing so they don’t wear through too quick. if proper Metalastik bushes were availed I’d use them. However, as they aren’t I use Superflex.

Provided you don't mine crispy TRE gaiters...... though to be fair mine were crispy already from the standard set-up....... Castle Coombe did that...... or Stelvio.....!

You are correct.... but as Johny notes my point was that they do (I think) fit the Vit 6 calliper mounts (and Herald/Spit). I have also read, but not tried, that you can then bolt the bigger discs from the 2L cars, ending up with everything but the bigger wheel bearings.

HiSpec "Princess" copies. May also be possible to use the Girling type 16 Callipers in their Ford form which include a wide version for vented discs as used on 2.8 Capri, Granada etc

Old fuel? Have you put any fresh in yet this year?