Steve P

I will try it again tomorrow with the battery freshly charged,it does have the spacer fitted at present. Steve

No, i disconnected the trigger wire from the starter to see what voltage was there when the key is turned to the cranking position,it was 12.1v. On another note i was looking at new motors,Rimmers list different ones for Vitesse and 2.5 Saloons,the club shop doesn`t show any part numbers but both say 9 teeth. My car is a 2.5 engine but with a Vitesse flywheel and engine backplate, so i guess i need a Vitesse one?. Also should it still have the spacer ring fitted?. Steve

Did some tests with a multi-meter today,battery voltage at the battery and the starter was 12.6v off load,the battery was charged 2 weeks ago.I haven`t used it since then. Voltage at the starter switched live when the key is turned is 12.1v,that`s not on load though. It won`t turn over at all now,i am suspecting the starter is duff and may always have been. Battery is a Yuasa HSB075 60Ah 620A Steve

So my Vitesse has always cranked over slowly,spec is: 2.5 PI engine(on carbs),TR5 cam,compression ratio of 10:1.6-3-1 exhaust,123 tune dizzy,Saloon gearbox It has a high torques starter,i ran a new cable straight from the battery + to the starter and did away with the old solenoid. Got an engine earth from the suspension turret to the block. It still cranks so slowly that the battery goes flat before it fires up,i have one of the booster pack/jump start things and this helps. I put a new battery on it which is the biggest i could fit in the tray 063 or 065,cant remember. Any tips that i can get it to spin over quicker?. Steve

I recently replaced all the petrol pipes on my Vitesse with Gates Barricade hose as the old ones had gone soft and started sucking in air. Steve

C + M used to be XRN engineering but when they sold out, Paul who worked there took it over and still runs it. Steve

Send me a private message if you want my experience of building a 2.5 for my Vitesse with them. Steve

Isn`t Bedford where MR Lewis resides?. Edit,just seen Luton,sorry Pete. S

A new MOT is ZERO guarantee of anything,i could get you one by post sadly,a good inspection is a must. Steve

My Herald does this going uphill,and i found the front carb overflowing,when i took the top off there was a release of pressure and i got a coating of petrol.Haven`t got to the bottom of this yet.Brand new pump with too much pressure?. Steve

I have a DAB/FM in my Vitesse with an ordinary telescopic aerial on the front as in Colins picture,i tried the stick on aerial that came with radio,it was useless,hardly any reception unless parked up. I bough a converter from the same place that allows you to use the ordinary aerial as the DAB unit,works well,not 100% everywhere but i`d say 95%. Steve

Similar story to Clives as above,but with a different result,the builder fitted a feed to a no expense spared 1500,it flooded the cover,even with a 1mm restriction,so much so that the oil catch tank filled with oil through the breather.They are blaming that on blow by caused by incorrect bedding in.Mine grenaded after 480 miles.:( It has to come apart again to check pistons,rings etc. as a minimum. S

My new 1500 was 190,195,210,210, before it grenaded after 500 easy miles. Don`t know the history of your engine but If yours was mine i would whip the head off and have a look at the valves and seats. Steve

Good colour!

He said the head bolts were 30% down on torque settings from where they should have been which probably caused it to fail,hard for me to contest that as i didn`t re-torque them. Steve

The verdict today from the engine shop.. They had it running on the rolling road for 45 minutes,smoking badly. He said it had far too much advance set at all revs,along with being way too rich at tickover going too lean after that. He thinks one of the ring lands may have gone so it basically needs a strip and possibly a new set of pistons and a hone. Oil issue due to blowby. Gutted.(note to self,do not do first starts on the drive). I will get a cost and decide whether to offload it. S

My Vitesse frames must be back to front as mine are on the outside,handy as was said to hold the seat up against the windscreen if you need to. Must be my fault as i bought the car when i was 19 in 1985,seats have been in and out countless times. I put Bond seats in it a couple of years ago,much better,the Vitesse seats now reside in my Herald.(also back to front). S

Thanks,obviously i don`t have the car here but i wanted to check the design of the rad filler to make sure it does not block off the expansion outlet with the cap on. S

I don`t think any water was either sucked or returned to the bottle,it was always stone cold and the level never changed.I did at least 2 runs of over 100 miles without stopping so it would have got to temperature,the gauge never went past half way. S

Just thought that because the expansion tank never saw hot water the system is acting as if its closed so the pressure has nowhere to go?. Steve

Another update,car is back at the engine builders,they are saying no damage to the head or block,just the gasket gone,car has never overheated or been over 2800 revs. It has ARP head bolts which i don`t have the tool for so it was not re-torqued after running up. They are going to get it running again and check the issue with excessive oil in the top end,even with a 1mm restriction in the banjo. I had a thought about the Aluminium rad that i fitted,the expansion tank was always cold,i wondered if the cooling system was over pressurised and unable to vent to the bottle?. Could this have contributed? Steve

My new engine has (see other thread) roller rockers and an external feed,even with a 1mm restriction there was far too much oil in the rocker cover,so much so it filled up the catch tank from the vent with oil in about 200 miles,trying to work out if it is suffering from too much crankcase pressure blowing to the top. Steve

Another update,not a good one. Yesterday we went to the coast in the Herald,engine has covered 485 easy miles,including an oil and filter change. Even with the 1mm hole in the rocker feed it was still losing oil from the cover breather,yesterday as we were going along near Basingstoke at about 30mph it started misfiring,then i noticed grey smoke from the exhaust behind me.Immediately pulled over and checked,the upshot is No 2 bore is full of coolant,so its screwed. Got picked up by a recovery truck which then proceeded to break down.Got home after a second truck came out.Can`t even be bothered to look atm. S

Have you balanced the carbs?,recently did mine nd it made a big difference to tickoverand general pickup. Steve

No restriction on the feed,the catch tank is full of oil giving and indication of how much was going into the rocker box,ordered another banjo bolt today to modify. Steve