JohnD

Unless you have an extreme head skim and domed pistons (which a 2.5 will NOT have) the Triumphs are not "interference" engines whose pistons and valves will ever clash, so you are safe. All good diagnoses above, but you will need to work out WHY this has happened. There is a keep plate under the two can sprocket bolts, that should be bent up to lock them. Its often lost or forgotten in a rebuild! But less often causes the bolts to be lost. John

Hesitation on throttle up canbe due to a rich as well as a weak mixture. The dreaded Waxstat thermostatic autochokes can do this. Do you have them fitted? John

Peter, Ah! That deceiver minx, Doris (Teresa) Carr. She'll lead anyone astray. Glad you've got it right now, Haggis. John

Dave, I'm afraid that in the circumstances you mention just replacing the fuse is not an adequate 'repair'. A fuse will never overheat, not to melt the housing as it will blow, cut the current and prevent overheating - that is what they are designed for! And Kenlowes draw a lot of current, some up to 15A, so what was the fuse and wire rating? See: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Product.do?method=view&n=1848&g=244241&p=98867&c=215&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Base&utm_campaign=Fans%20&%20Fan%20Kits&gclid=CKGgoYy55LwCFQKWtAodYHMAvQ&source=aw&awc=6538_1460386329_b4da85447b4e0d3918f4490380450356 Click on "Fan Size Chart" In the day, MGs with Kenlowes were recommend to have a circuit breaker, not a fuse. I fear something else melted the housing and I suggest that is your first problem, which I can't help with without at least a picture of the parts in relation to each other. The fan motor may be faulty- try a multimeter across it. No continuity or a very high resistance means a burnt-out fan motor. Or try connecting it directly to the battery - if it turns, you have eliminated fan motor failure. Water pumps have that weep hole to tell you that the seal had failed. There's no repair, it's a new pump, I'm afraid. It could be that the engine overheating was the last straw, as I don't think it would be the primary cause. Hope you can get sorted! John

I did as Pete advises, drill out to slightly under next size, thread and use bigger bolt. aAFAICR there are nuts welded to that captive p!ate, so there can be some meat on the bone. John

haggsi, the 'am' grinder is the Cam grinder, I forgot the C! Sorry! They are the person who grinds the shape of the cams on the cam shaft. S/he would tell you to advance the cam by XXX degrees after TDC. The number depends on the precise design of cam. It's a Dark Art, hence , magic number, but you do not need it for a Triumph cam. Read the rest. Max lift is the peak of the cam - Good! I didn't elaborate on the four holes in an OE cam, you can find the detail in your workshop manual, but checking with a four hole and then using your two hole sprocket wouldn't help. You would still be limited to +/- 8degrees. Your Kent cam sprocket is duplex and I presume the crank sprocket is duplex too? If it isn't then you have two choices. All Vitesses were built Singlex, only 2.5 engines had Duplex, and they seem to survive with not much wear. So, 1/ buy a four hole, Singlex Vitesse/GT6/2000 cam sprocket to match the singlex crank sprocket OR 2/ Buy a duplex crank AND Cam sprockets set. Oh, and the stop. Think of of it this way. You want to find the middle house of the street, TDC. Its very long, the houses are terraced and look identical, you don't know how long it is and it's a crescent so you can;'t see to the end. Measuring or pacing it out will take ages. So you go to the first house and ask. Where does Mrs. Middlehouse live? And they tell you, so many houses down. And because it's a crescent it's quicker to walk straight to the other end than all the way along, so at the other end they tell you the same, so many houses, and its the same! Easy-peasy now, you count the houses and find the middle house, TDC. John John

Haggis, Thanks to Triumph's amazing foresight, for designing an engine without an overhead camshaft but one that runs inside the block, it is not only possible but best to time the cam without the head. First find Crank TDC, You can use a dial gauge, but far better, and easier, is to use a piston stop (aka dead-stop) Attach the stop, turn the crank until it meets the stop. Mark your degreeing wheel (on the crank). Turn the crank the other way, until it is stopped. Mark again. TDC is EXACTLY halfway between the two. This is much, much easier than trying to judge the precise position of TDC with a dial gauge. There are three ways to set the cam shaft: 1/ Use the marks of the OE Triumph sprocket - but you don't have one so forget it. 2/ Set the cam to max lift (TDC very useful) on No.1 inlet cam, and turn the cam through a 'magic' number of degrees that the am grinder tells you. I don't suppose you have that number either? 3/ Use the "Equal lift on Over Lap" method! Because the front and rear cylinders of either four or six cylinder engines are exactly 360 degrees out of phase (or, say, are mirror images of each other - they're not but the image may help), they are both at TDC at the same time, but one is firing and the other is at the end of one four stroke cycle and the beginning of the next. At that point the exhaust valve is closing and the inlet opening, a the same time, and they will have the same lift just at TDC. Because the valves are overlapping, this is Equal Lift on Over Lap. Set up your dial gauge to measure the cam lift. You can have the cam follower in the block if you wish, but a short length of dowelling is useful as a dummy push rod, Wrap it in insulating tape so that it is a sliding fit in the follower bore. Two dial gauges can simplify the next bit. Turn the camshaft until the two cams are at equal lift. Now, fit the timing chain and you are done! AS you don't have the equally (!) cunning (!!) four hole Triumph sprocket, you will not be able to get nearer than one tooth to the optimum point. That's 8.6 degrees on the 42 tooth sprocket, quite a lot. You might do best to get hold of an original duplex sprocket, 2.5 L style. the two pairs of holes, offset to each other, allow you to adjust down to quarter tooth, +/- 2 degrees. Vernier sprockets are available, but as you can't swing the cam after the engine is built and the timing cover fitted, unlike most belt-driven OHC engines, there's not much point. If you must choose between +/- 2 degrees, advance the cam. Good luck! John PS posted after |Pete's; hope it's clearer than mud!

The FBHVC describes the Facebook petition as "genuine", although they have no part in it. It looks as though my scepticism was misplaced. But my cynicism about online petitions is unfaded. There is no way that a Facebook petition will achieve anything. The only type that can is an official Petition to Parliament: https://petition.parliament.uk/ That needs a 10K signatures to get a Government 'response' (ie brush-off) and 100K to get a Debate in Parliament (a talking shop in Westminster Hall) I don't know that any of the latter had any effect on Government policy, and 100K is a big, big ask for something so niche as classic cars. IMHO, the only way to do this would be to get the FBHVC interested, as a sponsor for a scheme to get the used parts industry interested in 'mining' the store for spare parts. When Triumph engines are £200 now, that might be profit making, and that always attracts this Government, because they can tax profits. They can make nothing out of the cars as they are now, even scrap value is minimal. Thanks to the price of steel that same engine is only worth about £30 as scrap. John

And I've found this site: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/r-a-f-thurleigh-car-graveyard-april15.t95528 Dated 2013, it includes a lot of pics of the stored cars, inc. five MGBs, three Moggies, at least five Minis and I think a Sprite, next to two Daimlers! The authors were more interested in a clapped out Escort Mk5 RS turbo or Mk1 Golf GTIs. They had been there before, but this was 2010, several Minis and an MGB: http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/rae-thurleigh-august-10.t52937 And another site, with pics by the same snapper, I think as it includes duplicates, but showing more Bs and Sprites, but no evidence of any Triumphs. You have a look - if you click on the pics you'll see them in Flicker and can enlarge them. Maybe I must eat my words, but research is all! Just realised that this airfield is half of the Bedford Autodrome, test track and track day venue. Been there, never realised there was another half to it. And that Google Earth labels that second half as "RAE Bedford", which the Wiki reveals to have been a Top Secret flight research base, Brabazon, Harriers etc. No wonder the Urban Explorers get a buzz from it! John

Anything, just anything, that anyone alleges on the 'Net needs checking. After all, is it sensible that after five years the scrap industry hasn't got on top of the glut after the scheme was introduced? I've asked the FBHVC, who should know if anyone does. John

Well done! Good observation, and bold action. Good luck! John

Fine, Richiow! You know rightly! Do you have a welder? Because you will need one, and now is the time to start practising on scraps, not when you need to use it on the car. OR, find if your local College of Knowledge does welding courses - well worth it for the practice and teaching you will get. Cunning and precise adjuster, Pete. Another way is to use a 3-4" wide ratchet tensioning strap, right around the rear tub (take out the rear light clusters). Over tension it, to close up the B-post more than required. Leave it overnight, release, leave it overnight and repeat until they are back in place. Worked for me! John

Richiow, You NEVER do "repairs", on a steel shell, in GRP. To do so is a bodge. On steel, GRP is for 'making good', smoothing whe you have beaten out dents as far as poss, or to hide welded seams. Steve, AFAIK, Honeybourne still have the bonnet mould but it is so old they will not use it. Unless you say you are racing with it, as they know that races are not so worried about fit! No one makes doors - that's why I did! John

Good book! Only includes specific advice for 1500 engine. When I photocopied my copy of Vizard's T&P , I didn't bother with the pages specificly about four cylinder Triumphs, so I can't send you a cutting plan. This book is long out of print, but is on sale at prices from £37 to £132 (!!!!) Surely the TSSC should spend some of our funds, buy a copy and scan it, making copies available to members only, like a library. Who could complain? John

You have a chance to ask him - he's visiting the UK this year, and is looking to take part in the RBRR! See the CT message board. John

To answer your second first. I have a Mocal adaptor like yours. Originally it came with a thick and a thin O-ring, with some BluTak to place in the joint, compress and determine who h to use. A local motor factor may be able to sell you the right O-ring. The location of the oil pressure takeoff is where the warning light swit h usually is. A recent thread here writes about using the point your old engine had, claiming that the pressure measured there was a better estimate of that at the bearings. The longer wire is easy to achieve, and a supplier of gauges might sell you a !o her tube. It's your choice! Good luck! John

Dave, If you want to lower the car, you fit shorter springs, but to avoid grounding they must be stiffer springs. My race Vitesse has 600lb/in springs, that are so short that they are loose on the shockers with the front jacked up. Original Vitesse springs were 206lbs/in, wheeras OE GT6 sringsd were 220lbs/in By the above argument, to obtain the same ride height, the GT6 springs would have been a little shorter. I'd expect a bit more than 2mm, but if you know the data, so be it, I don't. But I fear you may not have a pair. Which would lead to some odd handling. Suggest you measure the spring rates. This is done on a special rig, or else by standing on them! Stout plank, stand on top (do this close to a wall for balance!) and have someone measure the compression, the difference between length compressed and uncompressed. Then divide your weight (and the plank!) by the compression. The two springs should be the same. Good luck! John

Don't even think of flowing a head with a Dremel. It would take forever. A die grinder, and not with stones, with burrs. A selection, but a burr will outlast a stone by years, and take a tenth the time to do the same job. David Vizard did more professional work on TRiumphs than most, and his book on engines more than 1300cc is online. http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/David%20Vizard-Tuning%20Standard%20Triumph.pdf Doesn't deal with Spitfire engines but the ideas are there. His "Theory & Practice of Cylinder Head Modification" does deal with four cylinder Triumphs, along with a lot else, but it's out of print and selling 2nd hand for silly prices: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Practice-Cylinder-Modification-speedsport/dp/0851130666 John

Thank you, Pete. David, as you have the head off and perhaps the valves out, try sticking a finger through the valve seat and into the duct. You'll find the surface is rough and lumpy. Flowing will remove such impediments to flow and when really clever adjusts the diameter of the duct to promote flow. The idea is to optimise the "volumetric efficiency", to get more air/fuel mixture. A typical non-turbo engine's VE, the ratio of air pumped per cycle over tbe theoretical stroke, may be about 75%. Lots of advice about on how and what to do, for very little, or people to do it for you for quite a !ot. John

Faster wear of the new clutch plate. As you have the gearbox out, the added 'hassle' of removing the flywheel is minimal. But you must be able to undo the bolts and re-torque them. This may be one situation when the 'rope down the spark plug hole' is a good idea! But use No.6, minimise twist stress on the crank. And check your torque wrench first, to make sure it's in calibration. The locating pins for the clutch cover in the face of the flywheel must come out for skimming. Your machine shop should do that, but don't forget to ask for them back if they haven't knocked them back in. John

I was going g to suggest flowing the head, ducts and chambers, and a skim to raise the CR. But you don't want that? Just a skim then, Sir? Will have a lesser effect but simply and safely done, if you calculate how much, not go by a magic number. John

OR I'm sure I wrote about this before. This particular wrench was under reading and I cracked a block as a result. It's important to check your wrench annually, and before an engine build or a major sevice that needs the head off. John

So did I - when the Club is run as a business I would expect them to do so. Yes, bivvyman (?) I had to buy some alloy sheet from ebay, make the brackets and get a local firm to TiG weld them on. I also had to make a new thermostat cover, with the outlet going the other way. But then, I like fettling! John

Just tried the Club Shop, under "cooling". No radiators. I was put off by an OE pattern rad in brass at over £200, when could buy a Honda Civic in aluminium for £80. Needed a few mods to make it work, but hey! I like fettling. John

Sean, Sandpaper a pencil? And risk abrasive substances getting into your starter? If you must, whittle the pencil with a knife. But why bother when graphite is so cheap? See:http://www.tooled-up.com/product/kasp-graphite-powder-for-dry-lubrication-of-locks-padlocks/206675/?Referrer=googleproductlisting&gclid=CKGEwr2_w8sCFQ2eGwodS_8OBA (just the first hit on a Google search for Graphite powder) John