JohnD

I've only just discovered this site: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/ And I haven't read more than a fraction of its content, but it is informative and authoritative, and quite heavy going at times, but this is "Battery University"! I'd recommend it, if only to know how to care for your battery. John

Was he a Triumph Owner? What was his interest in classics? What was he doing in your area? Anything Triumph related? Etc. etc. etc. John

I did not join the TSSC to go on picnics. But each to their own. John

My sincere thanks to Ben for such a rapid and comprehensive rebuttal of this rumour. He emailed me as well as posting here. Thank you, Ben! I'll look forward to your CoM report. John

OK! The more the merrier. JOhn

Did so before I posted, by copying my post above to Vivien Thompson, as Club Chair, and saying that I would be grateful for a response on the board. John

In the Triumfest thread, I advocated an autotest event to be held on the Heritage Loop at Donington to augment the programme. And the best candidate to organise such an event has been told that the TSSC will consider ceasing affiliation with the Motor Sport Association, the governing body of four-wheeld UK motorsport. That affiliation provides enormous protection for any one seeking to run a motorsport event, even one as safe as Autotesting. Will the membership be given to opportunity to give their opinion on this momentous matter? John

The icon in the top line says I have a message waiting. I click and the little arrows go round and round without end. Looking in My Messages, there are no new ones. WIGO? JOhn

Thanks to the Cookie Monster for corection. And as I've just found my calculator, 8000rpm at 50mph is 6.25mph per 1000rpm. That implies enormous slip somewhere in the drive train, and only the gerabox and O/d clutches are possible culprits. Try looking at the O/d filter for "black hairy bits"! See Canley's Tach page and your WSM: http://www.canleyclassics.com/y.asp?xhtml=xhtml/infodatabase/overdrivesdtype.html&xsl=infodatabase.xsl John

Anyone with extensive aluminium alloy mods, such as the waterpump body, would do best to use a specific aluminium antifreeze. But rear this FAQ page from Opie Oils: https://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/tech-articles/coolant-antifreeze.pdf JOhn

Click on "View new content", top right, then select the period from the left hand column. Or have you done this? JOhn

Or my age and wrinkles.

Could it be that the degraded overdrive is losing traction when it's 'out' and in direct drive, as well as in 'overdrive' mode? Both rely on the cone clutch, but I'm no O/d expert. While you still have the car in your garage, it's a simple process to check the diff ratio. It's been described so many times, but maybe not here on the new Messageboard, so; Count the number of times the propshaft rotates for one rotation of the half shafts (both at the same time) Then, Just over four propshaft rotations = 4.11:1 Just under four rotations = 3.89:1 About three and half turns = 3.63:1 Just over three turns = 3.27:1 Only the last two were original to GT6 Mk3s To make these observations, either: Jack up the rear end and lie underneath(with extreme attention to safety! Axle stands, please) watch the propshaft turn as two helpers turn the back wheels. OR, remove the gearbox cover and have your willing helpers push the car so that the rear wheels rotate once, while you sit in the cra and count the propshaft revs. And I can say "Hear, hear!" to the restorers suggested above. John PS O/d should work only in Third and Fourth gears! Electric cut-out switch on 'box, disconnects the solenoid in Second and First. J. PPS Congratulations on your choice of classic car! You could only do better by buying a Vitesse!

Triumph engines (car or bike!) are notorious for oil leaks. In the small chassis series, four or six cylinder, the sump gasket is a guilty in many cases, and the DPO (Damned Previous Owner) is often at fault. Overtightening the sump bolts bells the metal around the holes in the sump flange, to that the falnge inbetween doesn't seal. Further tightenign just makes it worse, and the problem recurs even if you rebuild the engine, as the belling persists. To correct this, it's necessary to do some minor fettling to the sump flange. Here's how, with pictures. If I can't post enough pics, complain to the TSSC, not me. 1/ Clean up your removed sump, especially the gasket residues on the flange. Do the same to the block. Apart from bits of old gasket preventing a seal, you can't work on a filthy sump. 2/ With a strong light behind, place a straight edge along the flange. The bells around the bolt holes will show up as light gleams through the slit. Mark the holes with a felt tip. See Pic.1. 3/ You need a 'post' in a vice. I use a length of steel plate, 1/2 x 2 x 6", but some hard wood could do as well, but ask a local metal working company if you may look in their skip for an offcut. It could be thicker, as long as it will fit inside the flange, and as wide as the the distance between holes, and the top must be flat. See Pics. 2 and 3. 4/ Hold the sump so that the hole you wish to correct is in the middle of the post, and the flange is flat on the post. I've drilled a smal hole there to help me locate it. Pic 4. 5/ Now, with a hammer, beat the bell around the hole flat. Use a small hammer, and do not apply great force - the blow should come from the elbow, not the shoulder. Half a dozen firm, not hard blows will often do, and you will hear the sound change from a ringing to a duller sound as the bell is flattened. See pic 5. 6/ Check the flange with the straigt edge again. Repeat the hammering until the gap that the light gleams through is straight. Your flange may not be absolutely flat, indeed slightly curved, but correcting that is a much bigger job, and this amount of curvature won't cause leaks. See Pic 6. 7/ When you fit the sump, do NOT overtighten the bolts. The 'Book' torque is 16-18 lbf/ft, which is a bit more than hand tight. What's 'Hand tight'? is hard as you can turn the bolt just using hand and wrist strength. What's "a bit more"? GIve the bolt a final tweak with the whole arm. Hope that helps prevent sump leaks! John PS I now have 46kb for future picture posts. That is less than any of the small pics above, and I'll have to delete one of them to post another pic. You choose, please. J.

No argument with Clive at all! A Vitesse 2l head on a set of domed pistons would make the compression a bit high. Like 14:1 high! Convert to alcohol fuelling if you go down this route! The actual height of the head would help tell if it has domes as it will be a full height 2.5 head. The point of the domes was to avoid the time and cost consuming machining of the same casting to make thinner, lower volume-chambered 2l heads. But I can't quote you how high is 2.5? (As fast as a moust when it spins) JOhn

Thank you, Kevin! John

Thnaks, Kevin. I fear that confirms how decrepit is my PC. I need a new one. You didn't find the article I wanted , did you? John

Anyone actually tried to use the Technical Directory? I mean online, as a memeber might, not from TSSC Towers? Becaue it doesn't work. OR its most important function, "Find" doesn't. The Directory is so vast that 'browsi it in searcha specific article is like searching Shakespear for a quote when you don't know which play, let alone act or scene. Right click to bring up the window of useful PDF commands, left click on "Find", enter the search word(s) and then "Next". Normally, away goes the programme and shows you each instance where that word or words appear. Very useful! But it just freezes in page 2, and nothing happens when it should tell you within seconds that those words don't appear, or shows you them if they do. I'll admit that it might, just might, be my steam-powered, XP-running, ten year old PC that's letting me down,but it would be good to know that, so will someone else, please search for the Articles, a series of four, entitled "Suspensions Sussed"? If they can find them, tell me where please? I have the Courier DVD and given the reference can re-read those excellent articles. Thanks, John

Robin, You are persistently copying a previous post, and then replying to it! A list of engine number prefixes was published by John KIpping as follows: G or Y 948 Herald GA 1147 1200 Herald GD 1147 1200, 12/50 Herald FC 147 Spitfire I,II GE 1296 Herald 13/60 GK 1296 Herald 13/60 (late) FD 1296 Spitfire III FH 1296 Spitfire IV FM 1492 Spitfire 1500 HB 1596 Vitesse 6 HC 1998 Vitesse 2L I,II KC 1998 GT6 I, II KE 1998 GT6 III DG 1300 Toledo DH 1300 Dolomite RD/RF 1300 FWD WB 1500 FWD YC 1500 RWD/Dolly FP 1500 MG Midget MB 2000 MkI ME/ML 2000 MkII CR/CP/MG/MM/MN 2500 That's the sort of info that should be in the FAQs! JOhn

Thanks, Kevin! Good old Microsoft, eh? D'ye know the one about the helicopter pilot, lost over cloud at Seattle? He found a tower block poking up, and held a notice to the windows - "Where am I?" The reply told him at once that he was next to the Microsoft tower, "You're in a helicopter" John

Simon, If you are serious, not just starting thread for the hell of it, where is the leak coming from? There are a number of notorious leak points, most are curable. But "a leak" is incurable. JOhn

We always used to take the kids (in a modern) via Portsmouth, to either St.Malo or Caen. St.Malo is a wonderful, almost fairy town on its headland, with medieval streets, full today of tatt, but the ramparts offer great views. Caen, of course is on the D-Day landing coast, with Pegasus Bridge just up the canal. Essential visit for today's unknowing children, like the Northern France graveyards. So worth getting there early on your return trip! Both overnight sailings get you into France about 0700, but don't get confused by the time zone change in Channel crossing. I once had an altercation with a steward, who knocked on our cabin door at 0500, I thought, to tell us we were coming into port, when I had set my watch the wrong way! JOhn

Pete, You should read my posts again. I am worried for the TSSC becasue of the attitude elsewhere, and I raise other sirtes to show how the TSSC could improve. Anyway, how else am I to raise my concerns for the Club? A letter in the Courier? Mike, Thank you again, and for springing to my defence! I will await improvement, not with bated breath as I do need to breath now and again. It would be good to have a time table, rather than distant prospect of change. Admin/Simon "free of charge"? "FREE OF CHARGE"?????? What do I pay my membership fee for? I know you are not paid, but the message board is part of the service to mebers that the Cklub provides, from that income. But once again, I fear that if the Club and CoM think that how it looks is unimportant, they entirely miss the point of the message board. How do you think new members are born? They think of buying a Triumph, look on the 'Net for advice at Triumph messageboards - and imediately get confused by the similarity between TSSC and TRR. Gosh! they might make the mistake of buying a TR! [Joke] The website and more than anything else on it, the message board, is the Club's, any club's, shop window. It displays what the club deals with, how and who the people are who deal with it. Why do you think that our high streets are so similar nowadays? Because they are full of chain stores, from WHSmith to Kentucky Fried Chicken, which promote their brand image by looking the same from John o' Groats to Lands End. Every car manufacturer promotes a brand image, such as BMW with its prominent 'propellor' badge and double nostril radiator grille, a Roller radiator, Citroen's edge-engineering (until recently, anyway). For a car club, competing with other clubs for membership, to look the same as another club is just silly. especially when it is easy to change. John