Nick Jones

Packing the side-rails = last resort in my book! Unless you are really bored. There is quite a bit of adjustment in the quarter-light but you really need to take the door card off to access the various fasteners. If you have to adjust it alot, you might also have to adjust the rear glass channel to keep the window winding up and down sweetly - and, as Pete says, do watch the effect of the the hood and the screen pillars move quite a bit if the hood is tight. Lubricating the catch mechanism and the sliding wedge on the bottom of the striker plate, plus the anti-burst guides further down makes a huge difference to how the door shuts. Nick

Mine have done about 50k since 2004, starting with (well) used parts and are still hanging on in there bravely in spite of some fairly hard use at times. It was the failure of a pattern rotoflex in a rather dramatic fashion after less than 12 months service, following on from one that had failed in under two years that got me going on the conversion in the first place. The genuine Metalastik ones lasted about 12 years before that (perfectly acceptable IMO), but were already difficult to get and expensive if you could find them.

You need to be careful there. My Shadetree conversion used different parts (Escort Mk3) and the Triumph wheel bearing arrangement with a simple mod. Josh’s development of this used the R100 parts. Both of these conversion variants suffer from the donor vehicles being virtually extinct, so the parts are really hard to find. If there is someone out there selling CV shaft for £600-700, that’s decent value. It’s quite possible that there is another combination of parts out there that will do the job, but could take some finding. Nick

The central bosses come in various thicknesses but you seem to have one of the thinner ones already. Herald pulley is entirely different and will not fit. Can you shuffle the engine back a bit? Nick

£75 isn’t too unreasonable..... the real ones last 10+ years. Unlike most of the repro ones.... Nick

Perfectly acceptable to have the spigot bush in the flywheel if that suits the length of the gearbox input shaft. The important thing is that it is concentric. The Triumph saloons have an oilite mounted in the flywheel from the factory and I have sealed ball bearings mounted in the flywheel on both my Vitesse (Toyota gearbox) and GT6 (Mazda gearbox). Works fine. Is that the 5 speed RX8 box Mathew? Nick

This isn't a PB bush, but an oilite one..... sintered and impregnated with oil..... don't try solder! Doesn't matter if it turns so long as it's not a rattle-fit (as Pete says). It can't go anywhere. Nick

So I did measure it and it is actually 12”. fairly snug...... ...... but not hopeless. this helps....

The engine mount brackets are slotted, so you might be able to shuffle the engine back a little to help your cause. You can file the slots out a bit too. Huh. Show off..... 😛 I’m going to have to measure it now..... Yup. All of this. Tuned the cruise areas of my PI ignition map (Megasquirt controlled coil pack) on an RR with speed hold. Amazing gains in torque. Afterwards it would romp along at 70mph on a whiff of throttle and manage upper 30s mpg. Really quick too. The RR operator drives and watches his dials and I sit along side tapping up the timing in the relevant bins until the torque peaks then back off a little. Takes under a minute per location. Mapped the whole thing in an hour, though to be fair, auto-tune already had the fuelling most of the way there, just the full throttle high rpm bits to do that you can’t get to on the road without crashing/prosecution!

It is perfectly acceptable to get above the centre of the gauge at times of stress....... I have a mechanical gauge calibrated in degrees in mine and though I don't like to see it, it's not uncommon to see 105ºC on it. Sitting in traffic it has to be a hot, hot day to get that far (Andorra and Nice being two of the more memorable examples) but it doesn't seem to go any higher and has never actually boiled over. The other thing that gets it there is climbing Alpine passes while stuck behind something slow. Same applies though, never actually boiled over and an all-time high of 108ºC seen. It will dump water into the overflow tank shortly after switching off in those circumstances. It is a standard cooling system apart from an electric fan switched by the ECU. Forget what size (10"?) but it just fits without any chopping. No room for anything bigger. Nick

Sure, all true, but still not completely useful if none of the selectable curves hits the points you want/need. Nick

Same as MGB? Or did I imagine that?

Are you sure they are sleeved? It’s not common. The marks left by the head gasket fire-rings can be very misleading. Nick

123 started out as switchable rather than programmable. 16 curves to choose from, none of them right.... said the critics, and there was some truth in it. The 123Tune should answer that. Only 6 points for centrifugal and 5 for load though. I’ve not messed with a 123 specifically, but programmable 3D ignition can give impressive results. The ignition control from my MS engine management brings as much benefit as the injection. Distributor-less systems cost more and take more effort to fit. Pay your money, make your choice....

I think you are on the right track with heat transfer, expansion and especially boiling. Modern fuel has a high vapour pressure than of old, partly due to ethanol content, meaning it vapourises/boils easily. Or at least some components of it do, which is also why it goes off so fast. Float level may be a bit high, adding to the issue, but not necessarily. Insulating block between manifold and carb may help a bit. Could add a carb cooling fan if really keen.... Nick

I agree and said the same earlier. In my experience Greenstuff are about as effective as greased weetabix.... M1144s and Stag discs & calipers absolutely transformed my PI brakes and there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the parts that came off.

Hateful Lockheed calipers with wholly inadequate weather sealing. Born to seize. Suggest Mintex M1144 pads if you actually want a bit of bite though. Nick

Gearbox mount? (OD or not?) Nick

Falken SN832 are pretty reasonably priced and good performers, excellent in the wet. You don’t say which car..... The Falkens definitely come in 13”. Not sure about 15” Nick

If going for the 123, get the 123-Tune so you can actually adjust the curve. You will need and electronic tacho conversion. Rolling road is the right way for the very best results. You can get most of the way there on the road but don’t put any more timing in than standard in the full load row, especially 3k rpm plus. Equally you’ll likely see a worthy improvement from getting the Lucas properly rebuilt. Nick

In my experience (not with 1147), County pistons are at least as good as the OE ones and the Grant ring packs they come with are probably better. Clive is right about the bearings.

Lucas or Delco dizzy? Are these black rotor arms with a rivet..... they are ALL rubbish. Get a red one from the Distributor Doctor. You need one even if it’s not the fault!

Here’s another with a Mk2 Golf radiator. Works very well but a fair amount of effort to do nicely. As the OPs original radiator is fairly new I suspect there is some other root cause. Nick

Ah.... if mk 2 head, forget the Mini nuts..... too small.....

Looks normal to me. When you find mangled balls, rollers, springs, bits of teeth, or the oil looks all glittery.... then worry! Nick