JohnD

My GT6 o/d gearbox on SofS was rebuilt by Mike and handled at least 120bhp for a long time. Good work is with waiting for. John

James, Haq, To say again, the domed pistons were fitted to 2L engines that had the SAME head as a 2.5L. Bigger chambers as taller so fIt flat tops and the CR will drop to about 7.5. To use flats on a 2l that had original domes you must skim the head, a lot! The volume of the dome is about 8mls. When the chamber volume is about 40mls that's 20% !! As long as you understand this and do the necessary to the head there is every reason to choose flats. Get it wrong and you will have a very 'flat' engine. One that will run on paraffin but not very exciting. John

Kevin's answer may need to be amplified. Domed pistons were fitted to 2L engines so that they could have exactly the same heads as 2.5L engines. The dome takes up the extra volume in the chamber but makes no difference to the stroke volume. So flat tops in a 2.5 will make for a very low CR, while the other way around it will be sky high. Ensure you know the stroke of the engine you are building. The recess around the bores is also a later production change to improve sealing. "Recessed" gaskets have a tab at the back to ensure you use the correct one. John

Thank you, Derek! I think that is the most authentic picture I've seen of the Triumph production line! Exactly as you describe, and so ancient looking, it could have been from the Ford Model T era, even though it was as far from that as we are from the Canley times. Parts and panels in piles, Men standing around, although I was unjust to yer man on the out-of-line body, who looks as if he is about to shove it back in! But is smoking a pipe! For your inforation here is a copy of the true "Last Spitfire" picture. I'm sorry that it is a scan of a photocopy, but you can clearly see that it is LHD. On my copy the printed notices on the wall are easier to read, and show that the picture has not been reversed from an RHD model. You can also see the tiny audience, of my informant and the line office staff, all that were there to see the passing of the Spitfire. John

Really? The Mos catalgue page doesn't even mention a Spitfire catalogue: http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/moss-parts-accessories-catalogues.html Please scan and post it here? I would like to see it. John Hmmmmmm. "Leaning" on a car, next to the production line. Things are different now in car manufacturing! J.

Derek, If you search here for "The Last Spitfire", maybe it was lost on he Great TSSC Web Site Crash, or on CT, you will find that the actual last one off the production line is in doubt. I wrote an article for the Courier about The Last Spitfire that I met in France. The owner showed me the inside of the door cards where that was written, with a date for the last day of production at the end of August 1980, together with the signatures of several trim shop workers whose names I have traced and confirmed, even meeting one of them. I regret that after more than twenty years he could remember little about it. But since then, and as a result of the article, I have seen another "Last Spitfire" with that written inside the door cards, but this time a RHD, British one. And I met a man who was a line manager at Canley. He told me that, as I suspected, the quality control system there wasn't as rigorous as it is in car production today, and that inspection took place and faults discovered at the end of the line. The faulty cars would be part dismantled, sent back to the appropriate shop and inserted back in the line, so that earlier cars with a lower VIN would eventually emerge after cars with higher numbers. He also told me that there was no celebration to mark the Last Spitfire off the line. The Management realised their mistake and organised the pictures that feature in many histories as wholly posed events. But my informant, on that last day of production, realised that the Last Spitfire was about to emerge into the daylight, rang the Photographic Dept. and got a snapper down there, just in time. That could be just a story, but the Last Spitfire, with the highest VIN, that is preserved at Gaydon, is a tangerine orange colour - the Last Spitfire in the only genuine but B&W picture as it comes off the line is a different colour! What is even more definite is that it is LEFT HAND DRIVE. I have no reason to doubt that cars' construction was started sequentially, and that as you ask car No. 008898 would have had another 100 started afterwards. But the order that they came of the line wasn't sequential. John

Just noticed, at http://www.lemansclassic.com/language/en/grids/ 'coz I missed Kevin's post, that there is a SEVENTH grid this time. Group C cars, from 1982-1993. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! If there was one event that would make Bert Smeets get out the TR8 Turbo Le Mans, it's ..... Le Mans. But until now the grids have stopped at 1979, so there has been no opening for him. They allow a Seventh grid, and miss out 1980/81! It's a conspiracy I tell you! John

Rather than a jar, a length of black plastic tubing, 1-2" OD, is an excellent mouse catcher! Tape up one end, put the other down near to the rodent - it thinks it's an escape tunnel and runs inside. Simples! But any way, do you not negotiate with your cats? First, speak Cat. Understand what they are saying as they come in with it, that's different from the usual cry. miphphrnt fum ver uerzal ghrump because they have a mouse in the mouth Then, thank you Tiddles, well done, now take it outside to eat it, open the outside door, close the kitchen door. And they do, often with grumbles about most people being pleased with their vermin control measures, what's the world coming to, Rights for Rodents next? You have to realise that this is a cat, not a slobbery, obsequious dog who will lie down and roll over if you give them a biscuit. This is a cat, an equal in intellect and understanding, although they take the same view of us as we do of dogs. But I digress. John

Or a cat. Or two - one of them may not be a hunter. When we aquired our two, thery were kept in fopr two weeks to get to know the house. During that time, they caught at least six mice. Without going out. Lock one in your garage overnight and the mice will be gone! John

Already answered on CT, but anyway: We used to go family holidays Portsmouth-Caen. The evening sailing and (rather early) morning arrival lets you get a good night's kip, esp. if you cabin, before the drive the next day - unless you are still partying, when the ship's bars seem to stay open late. And of course, the D-Day beaches are all along the coast to the west from Caen, and Pegasus bridge is a stroll inland from Ouistreham harbour. Also to St.Malo, which is a worthwhile place to explore if you can get there early for the ferry back. Wonderful old (reconstructed old) walled city, houses lean over the street, but filled with tat souvenir shops, better head for the Tour Bidouane and the walkway to the Chateau, where you can see the battlemented offshore islands that made it a superbly defensible harbour in Nelson's day, and unapproachable in WW2. Anyone from north of the Midlands should consider the Hull-Zeebrugge crossing, same sleeping possibilities as to St.Malo/Caen (or not) But I'm thinking of the Eurotunnel, if only because I've never been down it! John And add my other comment: Many people get the cross channel ferry, get on the A16/A28 (even if that gets them get into the Rouen snarl-up), dash down to Le Mans. and back again. They have their reasons, sometimes I think because they rightly want to save leave days for a family holiday. But France has some wonderful motor sport sites to visit, let alone the architecture, and is wonderful driving country, as anyone who has 10CRed can say. And the wine, and the cheese, etc.etc. The last time I was at CLM, we went the long way, around Paris well to the North, to the incredible Riems-Gueux road circuit and then on clockwise to Le Mans. On the way back, it was Rouen-Les Essartes, another Grand Prix road circuit of times past and worth a visit. And all the way, the driving was a joy, on uncrowded roads through beautiful country. If anyone is thinking of extending their Le Mans visit in a similar way, let's join up, exchange ideas about places "worth a diversion" and multiplying out enjoyment. One I'd like to look at ( and drive??) is Montlhery; not a road circuit, but banked, like Monza, and they do track days! http://www.trackdays...montlhery-cic64 John

First step, remove all the studs. You can double nut them or weld a nut on to, it doesn't matter 'coz either way you will need new studs, a good move anyway. Or else invest in a stud remover/driver. NOT the eccentric cam type that will really damage the stud (which you are going to renew, aren't you?) but the roller type that you can use to put them back in with, with no damage at all. Then, back to the Large Precision Adjustment Instrument (aka hammer). A mallet may be too kind, a 3lb club hammer with some wood to cushion the blow may shift it, esp. if the energy is directed upwards. Likewise, a WOODEN wedge into the head gasket. It's never that the head is stuck to the block, but that crud and corrosion around the studs glues it down. John

Brake fluid a fire risk? More details please. To help you, this from Garrett, a US based forensic engineering company, "What auto fluids burn?" Just about any! http://garrett-engineers.com/2005/10/what-auto-fluids-burn/ John

Quick crude test - spray KwikStart into the inlet. A brief start and die indicates a fuelling problem, no start an ignition one. That could exclude extending the enquiry to the fuel pump.

The most accurate way would be to use a pair of calipers. A pair as big as required would be hard to find, but it's fairly easy to make up a pair from wood laths. See pic. Nails glued on to the arms act as the pointers. Attach a piece of card at the pivot and calibrate it before use, as you will have to disturb the setting to get it off and over the tyre. Or, just mark the card when on the rims, reposition it off the wheel and measure. John

Front camber may be as the Factory setting, but that is a totally Moveable Feaste. Better, adjust to your driving style, and/or how you wear out your tyres. A tyre depth gauge will show you how that's happening, across the tread, inside to outside. Assuming that you have the tyre pressures right too, it should be even. Toe in at the back is critical for straightline stability, and here factory settings are best! John

This is discussed an illustrated on page 113 of JohnThomason's Spitfire anfd GT6 "Guide to Originality", where it is described as a means to overcome airlocks due to the radiator filler being lower than the water level in the cylinder head. If you have any difficulty finding one, let me know. I have one I'll never use! John

Where to look on your Lucas dizzie: http://www.jcna.com/library/tech/tech0015.html and Delco use an alloy plate riveted on. http://www.delcoremyhistory.com/Museums/reoldsmuseum.htm NB "DELCO" stands for Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, founded by Charles Kettering to manufacture and promote the Kettering ignition system and electric starters, in 1909. It later became a subsiduarty of General Motors, and supplied components to them and many other manufacturers. John

Or "something like that" Yes, I'm not an accountant either. But that is what accountants are there for. If the Club's accountant has no new ideas that can accommodate, say, an online magazine, then we need a new accountant. And anyway, who is talking of doing away with the printed Courier? Online publication is for peanuts in comparison with print, so let it run for those who want another yard of previous issues on the shelf. The VAT(or whatever it is) argument is irrelevant. I refer the Honourable Member (that's you, Pete, and Sue) to my original post. Have you read the excellent online "TRiumph TRumpeter"? What do you think of it? JOhn

Poorly sealing rings are due to wear, of the rings or the bore. Going on running it will do no more harm except you should change your oil more frequently. I don't understand what Pete means about valve seats - your wet test shows well sealing valves. The "wrong head" for dome top pistons? Dome tops were fitted to Mk.3s from car KC 10,001, so that the new 2.5L cylinder head could be fitted without modification and a CR of 9.0 (it had been 9.5 before) could be maintained. If your engine had domes and the older head with smaller chambers suitable for an ordinary 2L , the compression ratio would be about 13, or if you had the 2.5 head and non-domed pistons then it would be about 7. Unless you have been plagued with pinking, then I think you can discount the first. You may be able to see the domes if you peer down the plug hole with a very bright light, with the piston at TDC. Or else probe with a small screwdriver - you may be able to feel the dome. But I fear he holds out a failing hope. That your readings are much lower than others have posted is just in the nature of uncalibrated measuring tools, and when those others brag of 180psi, take salt from the same cellar. John

Look for companies that will reline your clutch plate. Don't know where you live, but EG: http://adetuning.co.uk/performance-clutch-kits/ http://www.saftek.co.uk/classics.html This can be quite cheap, competitive with a new plate. John

The numbers do matter, Sean , but only in comparison across the block. That they are all virtually the same, wet or dry, is down to your new valves, but to have some that are 25 psi less than the best indicates poor ring sealing. Can't explain lower when wet, except unless technique was faulty. So double check. Did you have: all the plugs out? Throttle wired wide open. Tie it with a piece of wire! If necessary, disconnect the throttle cable Fully charged battery - if possible do the test with the car powered by jump leads from a running modern car, so that battery voltage will not creep down. This is an abusive test to a battery! Enough turns of the engine to stabilise the gauge reading each time. John

Or, to put it another way, those who cannot/will not receive online are relying the subscriptions of the rest of us. But I know that in rural parts of the UK, broadband doesn't exist as such. A small village just up the Lune Valley from us had that problem, and solved it in 2012 with the help of B4RN (BroadBand for the Rural North) http://b4rn.org.uk/ Similar schemes exist all over the country, so there's really no excuse, or won't be soon. Sue, have you pointed out to the Club the handicap under which you have to run your Area Group, let alone act as a moderator to this board? John

I am amazed, Sue! I didn't know that broadband speeds in Devon were as low as that! I post at the beginning of August, and you can't see it and reply until the middle of October! This must be an enormous handicap to your being a Board Moderator. To have only twenty three posts to your name shows how hard it must be for you to do your job. You poor thing; you have my sympathy. Chin up! JOhn

No argument with Peter! Here's a sketch of the wooden pad I've made as he suggests. The notch fits into the front of the cross member, and the wood in front is narrow enough to fit between that and the diff. But it's not too thick, so I've reinforced it with two long wood screws, straight down in to the bulk of the pad. A hole drilled through the other end allows a cord through it to hang on the wall, so it doesn't get lost.

Strange that they suggest you keep points! The whole point (!) of electronic ignition is that it does away with the Kettering system, almost as old as the internal combustion engine, and substitutes a sensor that is non-wearing and not subject to dwell variation. No maintenance, and optimal performance. Why stay with points? I've long had electronic ignition on my VItesses, and appreciate its benefits. But those are all inductive - they switch battery voltage or less on and off through the coil so that the collapsing magnetic field in the coil induces the High Voltage for the spark. MSD uses a capacitor to store energy and then release it through the coil for the same purpose, so that it is described as a "capacitive discharge" system. This type was developed for high revving engines, and the 'advantages' listed are features of that type of ignition. If you want to rev the nuts off your Vitesse, fine, I might even consider it for the new high-speed engine in SofS if the old inductive system isn't good. And that 20 degrees of spark duration, which is 40 on the crank, is just unnecessary at low speeds. The piston will be a quarter of the way down the bore before it ends! At very high speeds the actual duration will be much shorter, which is why CD ignition works on high revving engines. Horses for courses. JOhn