Nick Jones

I think all Vitesses including 1600 used the bigger stub axle so I suspect that if you get a type 14 vertical link with integral calliper mount intended for Heralds an Spitfire, your stub axle won't fit. If buying all new parts anyway then you'd do much better to upgrade to 2L spec with bigger discs and type 16 callipers which are a significant improvement. Nick

Ah, ok. All is clear. Just a thought..... in case the heads have also been mixed up over the years........ what are the cylinder head numbers (the stamped number) on each one. Alternatively, what are the thicknesses of each head (to nearest mm). Nick

I'm confused....... Do you have some of your 1300s and 1500s switched around. If you started with a 1500 and had that head rebuilt, it seems more likely you are wanting to put that on the 1300? It will physically fit but the compression ratio will be very low. It will run but will be down on power. You could get it skimmed to match the 1300 head thickness but it will then be useless for a 1500. IMO you'd do better to bite the bullet and either rebuild you 1500 bottom end or get an exchange short engine. Nick

'72 would have be born with rotoflex, so something (quite a lot!) has changed. Anyway, to loose the self adjusters you need the back plates, drums etc from a Mk1 GT6 or Mk1 2LVitesse. These need to be swapped onto the longer GT6 Mk3 driveshafts or you could use a pair of 1500 spit long shafts as a base. This will give you the same braking system as the rotoflex cars and Mk1s have. Quite a lot of effort and expense - you must really hate the self-non-adjusters! Nick

No. The 1500 is weirdo "pot clutch" with a raised ring on the flywheel. Using the correct 1300 clutch plate is definitely the easiest way. Nick

Fine spline clutch (late Toledo/Dolly 1300) Propshaft length adjustments depending on OD/non-OD. I think both are different from their 3 rail counterparts. some messing about with the rear mount. Will depend on what you have now and whether OD or not. Some messing about with Speedo cables and speedo gearing. Also depends on OD or not. possibly gearstick mods. Spitty one might work as is but the Dolly ones cause knuckle to dashboard contact unless significantly shortened. Think that's it.... Nick

Mineral oil means anything with hydrocarbon content (engine oil, gear oil, LHM, ATF), as this will attack the EPDM rubber used for the seals. Brake Fluid (DOT4 or 5.1) or silicone brake fluid (DOT5) should be fine, though some cylinder/caliper manufacturers/ refurbishers will not honour warranties if silicone has been used. Nick

It's strange....... The one I have looks alot like that Kevin, but really no chance of shutting the hatch with it fitted. True the lower 1/4 of the hatch opening has "history" and the hatch itself is not original to the car, but TBH I don't think the hatch would shut properly even with just the top half of the seal fitted - it is that tight. Are all the hatches the same? I thought they were....... My car is an earlyish Mk3. The hatch is possibly a bit later as it appears to have been carmine red originally. Going to have to try a different style one...... Nick

Looked there Pete. Good company who do a good range of styles and sizes and appear to be smart enough not to stick their necks out as to which is the one that best suits a GT6 hatch..... Nick

Trying to get a seal for my GT6 hatch sorted so I can fettle the hatch fit "under load", as it were. This is the seal between body lip and hatch. The PO (bless him!) had slung all the old seals, so I don't know what the original looked like. Bought one from MEV Spares that quoted the OE number (as do Rimmers, Canleys, Paddocks et al) and this is one that they call a "top seal" where the bubble sits above the push-on channel. The pic doesn't quite match what I have - the bubble is soft foam rubber about 11mm in diameter and has a further 5mm tail sticking straight up. It's soft and squashy, but the chance of getting the hatch shut with it in place is the square root of FA. So it's wrong. Found this old thread on CT forum https://www.club.triumph.org.uk/menu/6023/item/151585/view Where people variously suggest they should actually be side seals where the bubble (or lip) sits along-side the push-on channel. There is also the the debate as to whether it should be bubble (pic), double bubble (no pic) .......... or lip Don't care what's original, just want something that works..... Can anyone advise please? Thanks Nick

Hell of lot easier to create a Vitesse estate than a Herald (or Vitesse) auto as the autoboxes are considerably too wide for the chassis. Has been at least one Vitesse auto made (I've been in it) but I don't think it was a factory or dealer creation. Nick

No Herald auto from the factory Nick

A few people have fitted MGF wheels to Heralds and Vitesses. Tyre choice is also relevant to arch fit and rolling radius. There is a gentleman who hillclimbs a Mk1 Vitesse and he some times uses MGF wheels fitted with wide sticky tyres. I know he has some wheel arch mods but not sure whether these were actually needed for this wheel/tyre combo or what the tyre size is. Don't think he comes here that often but is a regular poster on the Sideways Technologies forum under his "Oldtuckunder" handle. Doesn't seem to cause any braking problems on that car. Clive is right about the wheel studs. Standard studs are too small and too short. Nick

Why the stonechip? Apart from the wheel facing side of the wheel tubs the rest doesn't see any particular violence. Etch primer, primer, then body colour is what it would have had originally. Just in the painful process of scraping bitumen based under seal off the inside of my GT6 bonnet. Deeply unfun...... Nick

Re Colourtune: If you manage to get a truly blue flame at idle, you won't like the way it drives as it'll be too lean everywhere else in the rev/load range. If you can't get a blue flame at idle even after much winding of the mixture screw then there is a problem (you'd guessed that?), but maybe not the one you were thinking of. Strombergs have a fixed jet and needle (unlike majority of post 1970 SUs) and wear is therefore extremely slow. If you pop the top off the carb and have a close look at the needle and jet, wear will show up as rub marks on the jet (esp near the piston end of it) and the jet orifice being visibly oval. Both of the above point to the jet being improperly centered at some point in the past. If no signs of contact or ovality then there is a good chance they are fine. Rich running at idle is often due to the fuel level in the float chamber being too high. This might be just because it's set wrong, because the needle valve doesn't close off properly (if bad the engine will falter and stall due to going really rich after idling for a while), or because you have a repro fuel pump delivering at too high pressure. Fuel boiling gently in the float chamber might have a similar effect. All of the above could be related to your hot start problem. Nick

So long as you don't expect a pass...... ?

I understand there has been some lively discussion about this on face-ache? Haven't seen it though...... Nick

Yeah...... thanks for the info........ but mine looks like this. There's also an O2 sensor you can't see. I do have a MTP 6-3-1 to fit (once I get around to having it blasted and aluminium sprayed), so maybe then. Nick

From direct experience of a 1500 engine in a Herald....... they do appreciate an oil cooler. That was a with overdrive and a 3.89 diff. Strangely enough my Vitesse never seemed to need one until some ejit baffled the sump. Anyhow, to answer the original question, I would fit an oil cooler, but with an oil-stat so the oil is not over cooled. Nick

Couple more checks to try. After attempting to start it and failing, try sniffing the exhaust tail-pipe. If it smells of raw fuel, either you have a temporary absence of ignition or it's flooding due to the fuel in the float chamber expanding/boiling and pushing out into the carb throat up the jet. This could be further confirmed by whipping a plug out and seeing if it's wet. I struggle to see how the non-start after switching off intentionally could be due to the fuel pump or fuel draining back as there is an air-gap in the float chamber that will prevent syphoning and the engine should start and run for a while on what is in the float chamber. In any case, the fuel level in a Herald is usually above the fuel pump unless the tank is very empty. If the engine had spluttered to a stop after a period idling then I would be more inclined to blame fuel vaporisation, most probably in the pump valves, preventing the pump from operating. Pouring cool water over the pump is fastest fix for that. Ignition wise - if you have a spare rotor arm, try swapping it over. Nick

It depends where the main fire was and how hot it has burnt. That one looks to still have some traces of paint on the shell so maybe not that hot. Still likely to be some distortion and buckling of panels. If it's been in the insurance system it's moot anyway as fire damaged cars (unless damage is trivial) are automatically flagged for crushing and no parts can be salvaged. This dues to concerns about the health and environmental effects of the burnt plastics, rubbers, paints etc. Years ago a friend did manage to rebuild his GT6 following a cabin fire caused by overdrive wiring. It was quite a mission even though the engine bay was untouched and the fire was put out quite swiftly. Everything inside the car had to be renewed and iirc he ended up putting a sunroof in to sidestep dealing with the distortion in the roof panel. Nick

I have chassis extension brackets as I still had actual rotoflexes in place when I first fitted the telescopics. This has the effect of slightly reducing the bump travel and slightly increasing the effective damping rate due to the reduced working angle. Not much practical difference. Nick

As far as I know, the bushes are the same on all variants. The stroke is the same on all variants apart from the roto cars using the wheel arch bracket. I don't know whether there is any variation in damping rates from the factory. There will surely be some variation in damping rates between the various aftermarket dampers available today and probably some in stroke too.... though hopefully not enough to matter. Nick

Mk 1 manifold is completely different at the head end, no chance of it fitting the Mk 2 head. I have run CD 150s on a Mk 2 Vitesse. They came from a fairly late Mk 1 2L and were originally used in conjunction with an early Mk2 2000 saloon manifold. Later on I swapped them to a Vitesse Mk2 manifold. I don't recall any particular issues getting things to work but it was a long time ago now (late 80s) and I certainly had the benefit of having the complete Mk 1 and complete 2000 saloon setup to hand at the time. Also the benefit of the cars lying around in scrapyards if more parts needed....... I don't remember why I didn't use the 2000 saloon carbs. Nick

Worth noting that Chris Witor sells a variant of the 308778 cam with extra lift on the inlet lobes. This seems to get good results. There are a few out there that have the extra lift on the exhaust lobes (by mistake we assume) but now CW is aware there won't be any more of the latter! Nick