Colin Lindsay

Interesting video, Roger, but the sad thing is that whilst I like the ring pliers (quite a few identical brands for sale online, between £5 and £10) he makes the use of the old clamp-type piston ring compressors look too easy to justify buying the other tool! He should have broken something to make them more desirable... The price I've found at present is MED £35 + VAT, ARP are about £40, assuming I can find the size I need for, say, Herald 1200 +030 oversize (I'll have to measure then go looking!). Med seems to supply only 1275 engines at present, and I'd guess that 1147 Triumphs are way down the list. I bought a boxed set of Sealey piston ring compressors at Stafford for £1 a few years back and have been keeping them for this engine... so might be the cheaper option, provided I don't break anything...

Latest and very brief update. The bodyworker cannot come near me to advise on Estate tub spread and possible cures due to Lockdown. The sprayer for my 1200 convertible has no room due to having a lorry in his spraybooth which has been abandoned by the owner who is stuck at home due to Lockdown. The engine expert cannot attend to assist with the rebored 1200 Estate engine rebuild due to Lockdown. All three have me top of their lists for end of February / beginning of March, so until then... I've finished all of the chromework on the 1200 Estate which did absolutely nothing for progress other than to make it look nice, and therefore made me feel happy. It's the little things that count.

Following the earlier post where by connecting it to the horn, the horn sounded, have you confirmed it's definitely an earth and not an aftermarket power source? Just checking... but I'm allergic to letting the smoke out of looms.

I'm sure you know what you're doing and the tolerances of the drive train, but I'd rather pregrease the UJ and seal it with the blank after it's been fitted than trim the yokes to give access. Personal preference only, but I've had two driveshafts shear on me over the years (not yoke-related, tho) and I'm not giving them any other excuse to do it again.

It's a common enough fuel pump; still available new in that pattern. There were quite a few variations depending on who made them but they're all much of a muchness for our cars, as long as it's the correct model and the correct pump arm they all put out more or less the same pressure. That one's quite exact on top so looks to have no filter, which the domed versions sometimes have, but internally they're all virtually the same. That one is part number VE523155 by Cambiare, for Spitfires up to 1300cc, or at least, should be...

The theory is still the same; there are only one or two places during the rotation of the half shafts where the grease nipple will fit, and can be accessed, on the car. It may be marked with a recess on the propshaft but unless you ascertain the same correct orientation on the halfshaft, it won't be accessible. Assuming you have the angled grease nipple (some come with a straight out version, and some have the nipple on the end of one cup, which I personally never liked) then by rotating the halfshaft and flange you'll see where it widens to it's greatest during rotation, and this is the spot where the grease nipple can be accessed - assuming the UJ has been fitted in the proper orientation. On initial fitting I fill each cup with fresh grease and then as the cups are pressed into place the grease comes out of the grease nipple aperture; that way I know they've all been greased. After that it's a screw-in blank, which you can make from a short length of bolt, cut and grooved with a hacksaw.

Doesn't matter, the theory (and the flange) is the same.

The horn circuit is always live; pressing the horn push completes the circuit to make the horns sound. It should sound any time, not just when the engine is turned on, if the contact is made; you can test by bridging the horn ring to the steering column with a short length of wire. Is the brass horn ring still connected to the purple wire? Find out where that goes; it should keep to itself and not be spliced into anything else for the length of the column. Has a PO removed the horn pencil and fitted a remote switch anywhere?

They MAY rotate to one position where the grease nipple can be fitted, provided they're facing the correct direction. I put mine the wrong way round on the Herald Estate and it took a lot of headscratching before I realised they were back to front. I hope this pic I found from that time is correct, but it shows the nipple pointing away from the flange and in the one orientation of rotation that it would fit, could be greased, and removed again without fouling.

215846 is the locking ring type; if you have a non-stabilised sender and a stabilised gauge you'll not get a proper reading anyway.

How does your horn work, if there's no pencil? It completes the circuit, and is insulated from the rest of the steering column by the plastic outer. If the horn works at all, then power is getting through somewhere else, and the circuit is being connected somewhere else. The steering wheel rubbing won't make any difference - is that filing, or just wear? - if the steering wheel has been left out of the circuit already.

Ok - seal the downpipe joint; use exhaust paste as well as a gasket. It will eliminate any noise from there. Have you tried listening from the silencer end while the engine is revved? You may hear a change in note from the exhaust pointing to something along the system. If the noise gets worse as the engine warms, this may point to something expanding with heat - again, manifold or exhaust. If the exhaust is resting on the bellhousing, is this due to the manifold curvature, or are your exhaust straps too short? Can you lower it any at the engine end?Just a few thoughts...

https://www.triumph-club.gr/ These guys sent me one of their grille badges a while back, lovely job it is too. The writing along the bottom says '15 years'.

....and THEN they charged extra for refitting the sump plug....

A long time ago I was good friends with an Assistant Bank Manager; he told me that I'd be very surprised to know which families round the town were in fear of the Postman, and losing sleep over their debts. It was always the ones with the big cars, the personalised plates, and the flashy lifestyle. However it seems to be that certain businesses think classic owners are a great cash cow; they'll charge far more for repairs to a Triumph than for, say, an accident damaged Audi. In 2018 one gentleman quoted me 400 hours to replace a boot floor and rear valence; based on the experience he'd had with an Austin A35 that he'd worked on a while before. Needless to say, he didn't get the work; the one that did took 56 hours @ £20 per hour. Businesses that repair accident damage for Insurance Companies can literally write their own ticket as regards cost per hour, and frequently do.

Almost sounds like escaping air putt-putting out past a manifold gasket...

Try to obtain NOS original versions, they come up for sale from time to time. As with the front hub oil seal, the repros have grown in size to a point where some won't fit without major compression, or juggling of all the components to keep them assembled as you slide them into place. If you still have the old ones, you can use the rubber O-rings off those if they're fit for reuse, and they're often a better fit.

The other side of the coin is non-violence, which is a lovely flowery tree-hugging term for getting your own way, in such a way, that the other side can't do anything or they're branded the aggressors. Remember Gandhi? HE personally killed no-one, but yet he started a movement, and although he never urged anyone to march on the Capitol, the relatives of the millions who died after India's partition must have looked back and wondered.

James Paddock seems to have them, but that price you've listed appears to be the price... https://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/hardtop-rear-window-seal-mkiv1500-3

Thats discrimination!

Then it doesn't matter! The problem only starts when you have the word 'front' at the rear, like my estate spring has....

+1, I don't know the guy personally, but sometimes you're better paying a little bit extra for work that's done well, and right. The peace of mind is worth the additional outlay.

I don't have easy access to my cars at present, but is there a difference at the base of the B-posts between saloon, and convertible? With the different shapes of the rear tub for hard top and then the convertible hoodwell, I'm wondering if there's a difference, even just an inch or two, in that area, and of course I've just confused the issue by looking at photos of the convertible without having a saloon tub to compare it with. I'll be able to check later.

I will agree with you there - you have the right to free speech, but accept the responsibility for it, and take the punishment for it with the same sense of justice, not of victimisation. Now: whose round is it?

No, now you're going to extremes. I never mentioned murder anyone, nor did Donald Trump if I recall correctly, and I'm no supporter of his. Who is this 'society as a whole', to judge? The Woke Brigade? The Army of Trump supporters? Both no doubt think they're right, and everyone else is wrong. A large part of the World has in the past, and in many cases, are still, currently murdering or repressing people who they think are 'dangerous or wrong'. Are they right? It's a small move from censoring someone's voice to burning them at the stake; it's been done in the past. We must have the right to speak, and others the right to counter argument and protest, and explain why others are wrong rather than shutting them up, otherwise it becomes a dictatorship.