[Advice Required - Spitfire wont start]

When you turn it over can you smell fuel?

It takes time to start mine when it’s been off the road for a bit. 
i turn the key and feather the throttle with my foot.

if you’ve got fuel (smell) then check ignition with an old spark plug. 
Could just be being stubborn, cold and moisture are the enemy of not using a classic car regularly.

[Spitfire Multi Spark.]

Bin it. Weaker spark and lots of them is bad when what you want is a strong spark once at the right time. 

[MK3 Spitfire oil filter]

I’m not sure, there used to be made by several different places and done did not have a valve to stop oil running back into the sump, which resulted in a rattle on startup. But the spin on filters are pretty generic I think, although I tend to just buy from one of the main dealers. 

[Engine Woes]

Send carbs away for recon.  Before you do - check advance curve throughout rev range.  Best thing to do is advance it until it pings the retard it a bit. Could try with a colour tune or check for air leaks (spray carb cleaner at spindles - may hear engine note change). I’ve had some luck with carb recon before, but also chased my tail for ages.  Recommend you get a recon pair. Doubt you’ll look back. 
Andrew Turner did my carbs (01476 860555), great job.

Low power could be caused by ignition timing. Not sure what your setup is, but expect it’s a Lucas unit.  I might have box of these somewhere. They can be repaired by H&H near Birmingham. 
Normally I advocate doing everything yourself, but having a professional rebuild some of these items with 50 years of ware can be very worthwhile. 

last this - have you done a compression test. Worth a check before you go to unnecessary expense. 

[pinky pinky]

I think that 95octane is regular unleaded, but no matter.  Worth trying some different super unleaded as Iain says. I always use 97 octane or above. Hope what Iain suggested solves your problem. 😃 

[Still have a misfire :-(]

Wouldn’t bother with fuel on this one. So you have changed the plugs, HT leads, dizzy cap?  Then points, condenser, coil. Are the points fouled? Dwell set correctly?  Advance at 6deg BTDC. 
when you say misfire - what are you hearing exactly?

[Oil Filter Removal]

Clean with thinners. Dry it. Nitrile gloves. Both hands. If somebody put it on tighter than that, then that was foolish. Any of the above will work, favour the the big grips option. 

[A good day in the life of a classic car owner.]

Looks more like shaving foam. Always good to shave those ports. Works a treat. 🪒 

[Timing Chain Tensioner]

Exactly the same thing happens to me. I replaced it with a better quality one. I think there is a batch of these that are both too long (too much tension on chain) and made out of poor quality metal.  I think I sourced an OE quality item that was better. Recommend that you do the same. The replacement wasn’t shiny, but was more black in colour as I recall.  

[General advice on expected engine life before rebuild required]

I used to get a rattle on start up and discovered that it was caused by a crack in the oil pump impeller. After changing the oil pump for a new one it went away. It’s not a tricky job and you may well consider it as an option if the rest of the engine seems to be in good order. 

[Head Gasket Sealant]

I like the copper spray stuff on head gaskets and blue hylomar on water joints. Oil seals you can use most jointing compounds from the motor factor. 

[Electronic ignition “upgrade”]

I had an acuspark version. Seemed ok at idle but had a significant delay over points and condenser on acceleration. I contacted accuspark about the issue and I got quite a threatening response. Wouldn’t recommend Accuspark for those reasons - up to you though. 
There was an article in the courier about Dizzies - and I quite fancy a ignition-123. They range from about £300, but I would have to get the Tacho converted to electronic.  Otherwise, you can have your original version converted for ~£500.  I can’t really justify the money, but maybe one day…  
Hope you get something that works well for you. :)

[Mk111 Head Gasket coating?]

I prefer to use the copper spray stuff and some joint compound. Payen aren’t what they once were in my view. Don’t fit the horrid silver crossed cheap head gaskets either - last about 6 months. 
Up to you what you do, and keen to hear how you get on. :)

[Leaking cylinder head bolt]

Pull the head and fit a new head gasket. Easy job and won’t take long.  If there isn’t much oil coming out, could run Ito for a while as long as it’s not dripping on the manifold and smelling. 

[Unleaded Head.]

Don’t bother until the valves recess. Might take 40-50 years. 

[Sump plug leaking]

Yea that’s fine. 

[1976 Spitfire 1500 Rough running when cold ??]

Could be something like the carb jet is not returning to its seat after the choke has been out. Is the inlet manifold coolant tube in good condition?  Have you check the valve clearances at cold?  
Have you oiled the dizzy including the felt pad under the arm.  Check the position of the carb linkage arms have clearance at the end to the hex nuts as the small springs sometimes are not man enough to overcome the friction when they bind.    

Maybe need to describe rough running a bit more.  Normally engines develop misfires and other symptoms at operating temperature and under more load. 

start car on drive from cold and gradually release choke to all the way in and look for anything not being quite where it should be. Particularly, push each red jet on the bottom of each carb to see if it’s not quite all the way home. 

Does the idle ignition timing look very different between rough running and when it is warm?

[Exhaust Manifold Downpipe sheered bolt]

All good options above. Id get a nut and push that down to the bottom of the stud. Weld the nut to the stud (thereby putting lots of heat into the stud and manifold thread). Then lots of penetrating oil and maybe heat from blow lamp to free the stud. If starts to move turn it and back it off then repeat. 
If it comes out, tidy thread and find use similar threaded set screw cut to length to replace.  If it shears off, repeat the above with another nut, or drill out. Must use centre punch first. I just shape an old drill bit into a centre punch (don’t buy one). Then drill small. If drill bits are rubbish - sharpen them on bench grinder (see YouTube). Could try an easy out (left hand thread) to wind it out, but have a tendency to snap. I’d drill to size of the appropriate tap and remake the thread. If too eccentric in drilling to hold stud, put a blob of weld on the top.  

Avoid this happening again by applying copper ease to stud thread. Hope that adds to the above responses in some way. Cheers. 
 

PS: if you have a spot blast gun, cleaning up what you can see of the thread with one of these things can be really helpful to free awkward studs. Works a treat on break calliper bleed nipples. 

[Distributor advance]

If you disconnect the vacuum unit from the dizzy (only 2 screws) and suck the end you should see the leaver that operates on the base plate gradually move towards you as you continue to suck.  If it does not move or moves a couple of millimetres then is faulty. Should move 1/2” or more.  Manual usually had spec for degrees of advance for a vacuum unit.  Spit3 is around 10degs, yours might be similar. Cheers. 

[Anyone know how much oil goes into the carb pots? SU HS4 1 1/2]

Leave the damper in. Run the oil down the shaft of the damper until 1/4-1/2” from top. Move damper up and down a couple of times and repeat check on oil level. What you don’t want us too little or the engine will hesitate. If you over fill it will be dragged into your engine and help to build up tar in the engine (so no real harm, but best avoided).  Some people think that it’s best to use engine oil. Others use the 20w stuff religiously. See what works for you. 😃

[Spit Engine and Gear box question?]

Not too bad price for engine and gearbox. May have a different drive flange, but that can be solved by changing over.  Then there’s the head. Not sure if the stud patten changed. Check the Haynes manual. 

[Idle drops randomly]

I had this problem for ages. Rebuilt the whole ignition and carbs. Only thing that solved it - had carbs professionally rebuilt. I’d rebushed the spindles and everything. I can give you a number that is reasonable if you like. 

[Is valve recession a myth?]

Seem to be getting a bit off topic.  So VSR can occur, but typically needs a bit more stress than routine driving. This may be due to the quality of the parts used by triumph. Later cars may have higher likelihood of VSR due to degraded parts quality during the 70s. Fuel quality may also have some effect, but difficult to quantify. Is that a reasonable summary?

[Is valve recession a myth?]

In summary (so far), 3 examples of no recession on cars used without additives (no track use) show no signs of VSR. Would be useful from those that have had real problems with VSR and under what circumstances.

[Is valve recession a myth?]

Must admit I have thought about this one for a while. I’ve not seen any evidence of seat recession in cars without. Even when lead memory is affected by decoke or other seat lapping.  What do I know. Thought that the engines tended to run hotter, but we live in the uk and most triumphs have permanent fans. Will continue to ignore the seat recession clap trap until there is good reason for modifications.