Colin Lindsay

Camberwade Green... the Pickwade Papers... "Biggles Misspells Again"... the unpublished volume...

In which case... do you really need to remove the rear quarterlights? Tape them so that they remain with the roof when it's raised; you may find that the passage of years has glued them in there anyway so they'll stay put and just need lowered back onto the body with the tiniest smear of mastic....

Coming down in stair-rods here, just working on the GT6 in the garage (got stuck in the footwell earlier, upside down under the steering wheel whilst replacing heater control cables, thought I was going to have to survive by gnawing through the screenwash pipes but eventually managed to wriggle out. Didn't notice the spine going numb as I lay across the sills...) Those 'convertible' notes are best left as they are ie roof removal; the author couldn't afford a proper convertible but by the time he's finished all the effort of chopping and changing plus replacement door glass, rear trims etc he may as well just have bought one. To be fair he does mention the extra door locks but then spoils it by saying that you can attach the seatbelts to the rear arches just like an original convertible... http://www.spitfireg1.f9.co.uk/15-02-2005/conversion/hardway.htm

I did a quick internet search and found this step-by-step guide at a site called the Spitfire Garveyard...! I've corrected some of the spelling but it seems to be all there: As I already owned a sound Triumph 13/60 Saloon but wanted a convertible, I decided to convert mine. It wasn't as easy as I first thought, not to do it properly, but I went ahead anyway. First I removed the roof. This is quite easy. 1. Undo the 2 nuts holding the sunvisors. 2. Undo the screw holding the interior mirror. 3. Undo and remove the 2 bolts holding the roof to the windscreen. 4. Undo the two bolts holding the B posts to the body. 5. Remove the side windows and rubbers. 6. From the boot undo the 3 nuts or studs from the rear of the roof. Now with the help of a friend lift off the roof by gently breaking the mastic seals. If you are happy at this point you have a convertible!!"

Inferia was originally Latin... means 'rites for the dead'... but these days it's a Heavy Metal band. However I get the impression that the seller, whilst he may be listed as living in Biggleswade, might come from further afield. "There is also an added benefit to this unit, if you have an alarm which when set of the indicators flash, then the sounder will sound which will be an added audible hint that someone may be tampering with your bike."

95DB?? 😮 I want to gently tell myself that the indicators are on, not scare the entire street into the air-raid shelters.

+1 on that, and also Clive's suggestion to put down two, maybe three rows of bricks on their own damp course. You can then attach the timber frame to the bricks so that it overhangs all the way round as Rob says, so that rain will drip off the outside and not be inclined to find a way in, and the timber is also up off the ground so damp will not creep upwards.

I don't get skid marks, I use cadence braking...

Having left mine on repeatedly last week I must look for that thread, or a suitable buzzer. Before, it had no springs on the stalk, so had to be held on by finger pressure and went off when released, but me being a smart-a&& replaced the indicator stalk and now keep forgetting to turn them off again.

Ethanol is a relatively new introduction to fuel so most cars will have older or original pipes that are not particularly ethanol-proof. Take the opportunity to replace all now - including the braided pipe - with good hoses, the forum experts here recommend Gates Barricade, the Club Shop sells it. I've never trusted any kind of hose let alone fuel lines that are not secured with clips, so I'd clip all of them. Draining the tank is simply a matter of undoing the bottom pipe (unless the PI system is vastly different) and decanting the fuel into a suitable container. The less you have in it, the easier! While you have the pipe off you can rinse through with old fuel to get rid of any particles in the bottom of the tank; just make sure you don't put that particular fuel back in again.

ISOFIX are just the industry standard for child seats, and not intended for seat belts. I've always wondered how rear seat belts work in relation to Insurance; they were never an original fitment so does it count as a substantial modification, or do they require any kind of official inspection or certification, particularly in the event of an accident / claim? Like many things on our cars, if they're not fitted, they're not a worry. Once fitted, they become an issue.

The end is usually HE or LE - people often claim the E is for 'emissions' but I've also heard it simply stands for 'engine'. I've never heard of a GE suffix however special smog-reduced engines for California / USA market were suffixed CE. I'll attach a screen shot I found of engine numbers, which seems to cover all of the versions I know of: I've also heard of engines marked HEA for automatic - rarely applicable to our cars!

So: wear underpants to the petrol pump. 0k.

Absolute luxury, Peter... neither the knees or the back appreciate lying on a cold concrete floor any more... I've started on the Herald wheels - this is a set of 4 x 4.5J steels that I bought at Stafford for £40, but they were originally silver so had to be blasted. My own cabinet made no impression at all, so off they went to the professional shot blaster, who had an awful time removing the old finish which he reckons was some kind of powder coat. It took hours but rather him than me. Back home in bare metal, they got an initial coat of red lead oxide followed by grey primer: I made the mistake of trying grey Stonechip on two; my advice is: don't. The finish was terrible, very grainy, and although I wanted to use up old paint this was the wrong stuff. The topcoat is a pair of cans I've been saving since the mid-1990s - I don't think Bill sells them any more, but I was keeping them for the right car so here they are in their (almost) final coat: Sides and rear still to do but the colour is very bright, not far off code 19 Triumph White and a slight shade lighter than the Hammerite Magnolia I used on the GT6 wheels. These will have no other adornment than the hub cap - no trim embellishers - so I want them to look right. Tomorrow or Tuesday will see the tyres fitted.

I have a Smiths oil pressure gauge fitted; came from some unknown British Classic but the needles pointed in the same downwards direction as the other gauges so I fitted it. It goes to about 100 on startup, sits at about 80 in normal driving and when very hot drops to about 50 on idle. As you say, Peter, I just use it as an indicator; if it drops to zero I'll panic but otherwise it's just there to match the other gauges and was never calibrated nor intended as an exact guide to oil pressure.

I just wish they weren't called that... reminds me of reheated leftovers. What's fer lunch? Ah'm gonna refry last night's beans.... I too have a non-overdrive diff running a J-type overdrive... very relaxing on long runs. When it all works. Some good basic stuff on diffs here: http://gt6mk2.com/differential.html

The great thing about having no hole at all is that the world is literally your oyster (unless you're going for concours originality) On my GT6 the pipe comes out of the base of the tank so it pokes through then does a couple of sharp turns to clear the chassis. Dropping it through closer to the outside edge could mean a straight run along the chassis rail.

Non-original wheel and boss, so it can't press against the terminal as the original would. As we can't brace it against the top of the travel we'll just have to make sure it stays lower down where it contacts the horn ring.

Thanks, my friend, you know how to cheer me up! It's in, it works and the guilt is fading... to be gone completely once the gearbox tunnel is refitted and hides everything. (Actually I took it off again, straightened it in the vice and then rebent it with loving care... so it feels more... professional, and I feel more like a real mechanic.)

Superglue is a bit harsh; try any kind of sealant or mastic that will enable you to remove the pencil again without having to drill it out! Evostik or Bostik would be my choice or even silicone sealer. I don't think anything was used originally, it was just a tight fit and didn't move about between the two contacts.

If the horn pencil is slipping up through the wheel then glue it in place, as far down as the plastic outer will allow without fouling. The spring-contact will then be held tight to the brass ring, and you can adapt the contact at the other end as required to reach the horn push mechanism.

Done that. Seems to be working every time now, need final fettling of things before I can hang up the spanners for the day. Why does it feel like a bodge? Why do I feel guilty?

The plunger won't come out; it stops at the end pf the brass arm and will not move any further - tips on removal? More importantly - the new solenoid is fitted, but as before failed to work at all. The switch made no difference to on or off. I tried it with both ignition on, then engine running, but no difference; HOWEVER when I moved the gearstick between third and fourth it started to click. If I hold the gearstick to the right, it works; if I release it, it stops. I've rebushed the gear remote levers so this points to the cam not fully activating the switch when the stick moves to third or fourth. I have three options here: replace the switch - which I already did but with a different version to the original, which shouldn't make any difference to operation; Bend the switch bracket so that it sits closer to the cam; Or move the cam. First two are simple; is the last option at all feasible?

I weighed up the options - failure, bother of replacement and price - and spent about £24 each on well-recommended heavy-duty versions. I like to think they'll outlast me.

Excellent! Thanks guys, it's being fitted today regardless and as I said to the man from whom I bought gearbox oil a short time ago - it is NOT all coming out again. That one lasted me almost twenty years, so here's to the next 20 with a gearbox tunnel that stays put. To think that all this started with a blown fuse... rebuilt wiper motor, replaced CD player, replaced indicator stalk, replaced O/D stalk, rewired O/D loom, replaced O/D and reversing light switches... and all because of the solenoid...