Colin Lindsay

Thanks Rob; it takes a UNF nut so I'm assuming that's what it is. I can find plenty of similar-looking items online, but no-one will post the total dimensions ie 1 inch long, half inch shoulder and 5/16 thread... am I just being lazy? These may be as close as I've found so far, at 7/8" or 15/16"... but I just need to confirm that while the thread is 5/16 the shoulder is 1/2 inch. https://www.rays-teksurplus.co.uk/5-x-516-bsf-hex-head-shoulder-bolts-length-1516-part-sl5090-4gr1-p14-17144-p.asp https://www.rays-teksurplus.co.uk/5-x-516-unf-bolts-hex-head-shouldered-steel-length-78-part-vgs7005-40-r6-17163-p.asp This is the sort of proportion I need, below; those linked above do not have a wide enough shoulder. Of course I could always sleeve a thinner bolt but I'll search for another while first.

This is the other half of our pair; the Lady of the house who wandered into the In-Law's Engineering Works one day nine years ago and ended up with us. Officially called Silhouette she gets nothing but Eeky due to the squeaking noise she makes in place of a decent miaow. I thought she had deflated one day then realised it was only an old pair of shorts... however she does have her own registration number, which befits a Lady of her status.

Tub has gone off to the sandblaster, so I managed a few measurements before it went. The bolt is one inch long, the shoulder is half the length so exactly half an inch, and the nut is one that takes a 1/2 inch spanner. Any of the studs I have are either too big or too small. The shoulder is the interesting bit; it's half an inch (as far as I can determine with a tape measure, having dumped my cheap calipers) and is a snug fit in the hood frame, but if I try unshouldered bolts, they're either too loose or too tight. (If the nut takes a 1/2 inch spanner what does that make the bolt size / diameter?) I can enlarge the hole on the hood frame to take the bigger stud but that's no challenge. If I can identify a proper shoulder bolt - fits my sense of OCD neatness - I'll grind out one side of the bracket, bend it out enough to replace the bolt then weld the bit that's been prised out. Just need to find the equivalent of that bolt.

What's the old saying? I could sh*t through a sieve? Maybe I should drink a bottle of Bars Leaks...

Second fence from the camera, the pile in the left corner is the grass cuttings, the pile in the right corner is all the dead leaves. Both now long gone, along with the big pile of cut down trees in the middle. If you want horse poo I've got tons of it... about a dozen trailer loads left in that pile... but the grass recovered well after the building work was complete.

Thanks Pete, so I do need one. If I can't find an original then the concept of a nut and stud / bolt assembly sounds good. There's bound to be an engine stud of the same diameter (takes a 1/2 inch nut) with a suitably small collar.

Do not - NOT NOT NOT - let my missus see that picture. She'll be out looking for one in minutes. Here's my mate Domino, sticks his nose into everything, including the camera, had him 14 years now but he never stops. Always on the go, and appears as soon as I start any kind of work round the house.

So had we... the last owner had the place totally immaculate and cut the grass by hand, and even striped it... Within two months we had ripped the hedge out, moved the boundary by eight feet or so, put a horse into it and enlarged the patio. That certainly improved the look of things. The grassy area to the side of the house, to the right off camera, is now my garage. I reckon we reduced grass cutting by 60% at least, and it's still a fulltime job... it looks much better now, four years on.

Mine wouldn't start at all; choke mechanism was seized so had to be freed up and oiled; then it wouldn't start at all on the pull-cord. Checked the plug; it was bone dry so a few more pumps of the priming bubble and it started on last year's fuel. I don't use the self-drive, I need the exercise pushing the thing. What brand have you got? I looked at some recently but can't decide. I'm worried that some sod will hop over the wall and steal it...

You had me worried, there - I thought that was one of these guys:

Cut my grass on Saturday.... very dry too. I'm wary of late frosts so will keep all of the pots in the greenhouse for a time longer. Another motorcyclist killed in my local village yesterday. We cannot get them to slow down.

They're usually pumps taken off cars I've just bought; this was the content of the TR7 radiator the first time I drained it: My GT6 pump is still lying about the garage; rusted solid and almost seized. The replacement I fitted back in 2001 is still working away, but it needed a new radiator core and block flushing, too. I'd reckon, yes, EP Services can overhaul any pump, but if they charge £45 for the work and you can buy a new pump for £38 it doesn't make financial sense.

Now that I don't know... as I'd have binned the modern pump in favour of the earlier versions which were designed to be refurbished and reused. By the time I find a modern pump is leaking it's usually quite rusty and the metal impellors are getting a bit dog eared. The early versions are all brass, so don't rust. Best thing is to enquire of EP by phone.

In the Triumph world we have the choice of the same item being sold cheaply, moderately, and flaming expensive. I see so many members on here buying the really expensive version then justifying it by claiming: "You can trust the seller as they're a large organisation" without realising that it's exactly the same item, and if there's a problem the retailer will just fob them off with an identical dodgy replacement or the usual comment of: "No one has ever complained before..." For a lot of items I look at the manufacturer's part number and search for that. The same nuts and bolts and other common parts are often used on Minis, MGs and Triumphs, but for some reason it's usually the Triumph item that's the most expensive. Retailers claim it's because the Triumph market is a smaller market, and therefore it's not cost effective to keep in stock, but some of these suppliers also supply MG or other marques, so that argument does not hold up. You buy four bolts for, say, a bumper and they cost £1.60 each. You search for the same bolt as a stand-alone item and they cost 15p, but adding the mystical 'Triumph bumper securing bolt' to the name bumps the price up. I have some excellent retailers that I use all the time, and support them every time I can, as they appear more down to earth and personal than some of the others; some of whom, to be honest, make me feel like a nuisance.

I've just had a quick search and they seem quite popular, but haven't found any personal reviews anywhere.

Part number 38 and 25 appear to be the same, being 609243, and might even be the same as 41 which is 609244. Part number 49 is 609242. All I need is the size - if I can get one later and measure it, we may be able to either match it or find the closest metric equivalent. The passenger side one is perfect but rusty, so if all else fails I'll grind off the bracket, remove the bolt and then get the dimensions, unless I can measure it in situ. I've just worked out from that diagram, that it's actually THIS one: ...and the funny thing is that it doesn't appear to attach to anything? The hood brackets are all on the other side and there's nothing to this at all? SO: strange, but I might not actually need a replacement bolt at all. Until of course I find out the hard way. I removed the hood from this car many years ago and also have an almost brand new frame, but if I'm correct then the hood brackets just bolt to the tub with normal bolts. I've had a quick shufti at the spares pile and there's no part of the hood frame assembly that needs to attach to this captive bolt. So what on earth is it for? Hardtop? As Pete H says I can probably make one up, (using a stud, perhaps) that will screw in from the front and save a lot of faffing about.

I did look longingly at those, and wondered how long lockdown was going to continue for...

I bought mine from James Paddock; good price compared to the 'bigger' suppliers and more importantly people you can talk to for advice.

I really, really miss mine, but I sold it in 2014 for reasons connected with work otherwise I'd still have it. Only 177000 miles on it; I put 100,000 of those on. I towed a woman off the dual carriageway one very snowy night when her BMW got stuck; her comment was: "It's all very well for you in your big 4 x 4." I reckon her BMW cost five or six times what I'd spent on the Disco.

I think - if I remember correctly - I had two refurbished for around £90, £45 each all-in. These are the early brass-impellar pumps with the removable bearings, so unlike the more modern solid-state versions can be repaired.

кто-нибудь здесь говорит по-русски? I haven't since my Uni days. It's strange but when I search for 'Triumph 609243' or 'Triumph 609244' I get redirected to this Russian site, which appears to be selling M36 shoulder bolts - wonder what the link is? https://krepzevs.com/p31157382-bolt-m36-vysokoprochnyj.html Now in some strange fashion that has led me to a Triumph 13/60 parts catalogue, which lists the bolt as BB38. It's also listed as part BB25 in the same frame; of which I might even have a complete version. All I need now is a cross-reference of part numbers / catalogue numbers and sizes in the real world, but if I can get one free from the hood frame assembly the in-laws will confirm the dimensions. I'll enjoy the challenge of searching for a while longer but tomorrow I'll get the frame, find the corresponding hole in the frame bracket, and see what size fits that, and maybe work backwards.

http://www.ep-services.co.uk/our_company That's the company Classiclife (Richard) recommended - I've used them for two pumps and can recommend them myself.

You're missing the other small spade connector opposite the red/white wire? I ran a search for Spitfire Starter solenoids and 90% of them came up with the two connectors: Can you return in exchange for the other variety?

Rusty marks are probably just the paint having flaked off through damage and the metal underneath rusting, or else water being dried of by the heat from the engine and leaving marks. Unless you're seeing drips or coolant loss it's no problem. I had a lot of those recently but of more concern was a bluey-green set of marks that DID look like water seeping out of the copper tubes, plus there was one seriously rusty section on the halfway up, to the left. However: I pressure tested it with a hose and there were no leaks, so I've put off recoring it until I see how it performs. You can straighten out those bent vanes with fine-nosed pliers, one at a time, but don't waste money on a tooth-comb; they're angled so a comb won't work in the same way as it does on parallel fins. Water pumps these days are usually a service item, one or two years seems to be the expected lifespan unless you get an early original - look for the nut on the pulley which means it can be removed. They use replaceable bearings and can be refurbished. A seller on eBay was selling a huge pile of them recently but only as a job lot...

If I can find the dimensions (before cutting the old ones out) it may be replaceable with a suitably modified shoulder bolt, like a caliper mounting bolt or the like. I just need to find out the size, if I can't find an original then I'll look at alternatives. I can find nothing on the Net, not even a diagram for a part number, and am getting seriously p****d off with some of the results. Americans... what we call a hood is a bonnet, what we call a frame is a chassis so every search for Triumph Herald convertible hood frame pivot bolt gives fifty million results and NOTHING to do with Heralds. Any website that has ever used any of those words comes up, including some that have no relevance at all. What on earth has THIS got to do with my search?