Colin Lindsay

Yes, I know, that thread almost made me get the horn, but I left it in the garage when I saw the other replies and realised mine was a Lucas.

Try your local upholsterer; they'll be able to sew vinyl or leather and add headrests, either cut from a later tonneau or added by themselves (more expensive that way, though)

Stainless steel bridge fitted - I must have had spare cash back then....

Or else you can pay big money for them... £135 per pair for alloy versions from one supplier.

Yes; they all show the same order of pan heads and screws, but not one mentions a short bolt. Why is why I'm asking... just in case. It doesn't hurt to be sure. I have the short pan-head screw fitted, but one short bolt and one long left over, and am just checking. Incidentally the one I was looking at a few minutes before I posted shows two studs and two nuts at the 10 and 11 o'clock positions, as does the early GT6 Workshop manual; that diagram only shows one, so there are differences.

I've had to remove the Mk1 timing chain cover due to a bad oil leak (yes the one that dripped on the MOT tester's head) - it was either a badly fitting oil seal, or a warped cover - both now rectified with a new seal and gasket, and judicious use of a hammer and dolly. I've got five pan head screws, one nut / stud, and the rest bolts - I think there should be two studs adjacent to each other so will sort that out however one of the bolts (or setscrews, whatever you want to call them) is shorter than the others by about 1/4 inch. I cannot find, in any of my manuals, one short bolt; all the sizes are given as exactly the same, 5/16 x 3/4. Is this just an error on this car or should there be a shorter bolt somewhere around the timing cover? I don't want to strip threads by forcing a longer one where it shouldn't go.

Sorry, your photo distracted me a bit. I'm still trying to make out the television programme. So we're talking about a relay involving hooters... I'm all ears.

Have you heard of the new brand of red wine that removes the problem of having to run to the loo after drinking a bottle? It's called Pinot More.

I thought they only used the drum brake uprights with an adaptor plate added?

Yes, I was just on the point of getting one. From my store, that is, to check how they perform firstly in series then in parallel, just to see what difference it makes. Otherwise, if one works only when the other is disconnected, and neither when both are connected, then the fault lies in the low tone side of the circuit. Probably, as Clive says, a poor earth or short - can you hear the relay click if you press the horn push and no horns sound?

May depend on the seat Jim intends to fit. I don't reckon they'll be original Herald front seats...

Hi Pete - just search for Dinitrol or Waxoyl and you'll find all the other threads on the same topic. There's five or six that deal with chassis and underbody protection, and they usually come down to the same debate of Waxoyl V Dinitrol V Bilt Hamber.. If you just want to paint it, a good primer with stonechip on the leading edges works for me.

The long bolt for the rear overrider is behind the tank; if you can get at the head with a spanner then you can pull the overrider out as it unscrews so that the bolt itself doesn't need to move. Once it's off, all the other bolts should be easily accessible.

+1 on that. They're no fun any more.

You'll find that most are made by the same manufacturer, and some suppliers seem to have more 'overheads' than others, so will charge a lot more for the same items. Try Chic Doig 01592 722999; he advertises in The Courier so is well worth supporting.

I wonder is it a genuine GT6 harness or an adapted Spitfire one? Some Spitfires had a rear light dimming mechanism inside the rear wing, and it may be the connections for that (I can't find the cable colours at present), but the USA cars with side markers had a red wire running to those lights, with presumably a black earth - if there's one on each side then that's the purpose.

You can't have air suspension fitted.... AND you don't have rotating wheel trims either....

That's true and again it was a pleasure to watch an expert working on my block with ovality gauges etc to come up with a proper diagnosis. I'm the worst for letting engines soldier on with minimal attention to seals etc to address oil or water leaks, but this one was the first in a long time that I've had to work on and I couldn't just go the normal route of putting a replacement or recon engine in... I hope Hag gets away with minimal work required, but then I had hoped that too on this 1200 engine...

That's a possible; some of them lose the ability to talk to the CANbus and take an age to shut down, if ever they do. Happens a lot with replacement radios. (I gave up trying to fit an aftermarket unit to a Ford recently, too many connections) Another common problem is the ignition switch failing to turn everything off, so something like the heater blower fan will continue to turn very gently - hence the slight whining - and so flatten the battery.

Take the head off and have a look at the piston bores - I've just done this on a 1200 engine so am an expert! (Before, if an engine didn't show any visible signs I just replaced seals, timing chain and core plugs and got another 10000 miles out of it...) I can feel a slight ridge with fingertips or fingernails at the top of the piston bore - see photo - which doesn't feel like much but then when you think of it, boring out 1/10,000 of an inch isn't much either. A couple of good mates told me it only required a deglaze with a hone; a second told me it was beyond help (using a solid earthy four-letter expression, which rhymed with ducked) and a block-machining expert states it's not bad and we'll get away with +20 pistons at most. It's his opinion I'm taking as gospel! It's at his business at present and I'm waiting on an update. The external symptom was a plume of blue smoke from the exhaust when any power was applied.

You can always check your cars for Corona Virus...

These were the sills on my first Spitfire. 'Fully restored' it was, too. Never mind the fact that they weren't even properly welded on, they weren't in the right place, either. The vendor sold me a tale of using a 'door-gap-adjusting-tool' to centralise the door and make sure it closed properly, and the windows would then go up fully, and as I'd already heard about this tool, I believed him. What he didn't tell me was that it had to be done BEFORE welding the sills. Thankfully in those days sills were about £30 each and it cost me £100 to get both sides replaced properly. I think I drove it about in primer for months until I got the paint sprayed.

Umberto??? Are you in there??? Are these wide enough?

It's possible... but I reckon it's contaminated with something, maybe oil, that is causing the slippage when it first bites and has to use more force to move the car. Low mileage is no indication of little wear, it could be many short trips all of which have either glazed the clutch to become too slippery to bite, or else contaminated it with something. Rimmers only sell clutches that are made by others, so shop around. You may not need the entire thing, just the plate, and to be honest if you've the gearbox out to inspect the clutch then why put an old worn one back in? Genuine B&B kits are just over £100, the plate on its' own is about £25. Just an example, first I could find, below. (Looks to be Motaquip) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-Spitfire-mg1500-FWD-1970-73-NEW-CLUTCH-PLATE-NEW-OLD-STOCK-VCP218-184MM/283683893406?hash=item420ce0b09e:g:90kAAOSwyKZd1uNG

The man himself.... but those who do not learn from advertising history are doomed to repeat it...