DerekS

Don't despair Stu, you WILL get sorted, I promise. As you've found, it only takes the tiniest bit of crap in the float valve to cause chaos and it looks like your engine has been flooding. How about leaving the plugs out for a while to let it "vent", dry out? I've seen a few posts here centered around the effect of modern petrol on black hoses and it's maybe this is the root cause of your problems. A daft suggestion, if I get a problem like this, I put down on paper what I've done, what's happened/happening etc, it can help to clarify your thoughts. Keep the posts going as well because sometimes they go down the "list" and don't attract attention. Keep your chin up, you WILL crack it!

Hello Brian, a small point, you say that you can't feel much play in the U/Js... there shouldn't be ​any. ​This could be the source of your noise. A dry- as in the grease has degraded or gone- joint or a needle roller in the U/J can make a fair amount of noise. Or is there some wear in the propshaft yolks, where the U/J cups fit? I didn't have a great deal of noise but there was something I could hear; replacing the rear one with one from the Club Shop with a grease nipple made a significant difference. It also means that I can give it a shot of high pressure grease annually as a bonus. Also, isn't there a clue where it's worse on the overrun as in the drive isn't taking up the play? You'll get sorted, I'm sure. Best regards, Derek.

Hello Ian, I've just replaced a Halfords 063 (terminals at the back, away from the clamp) which was 9 years old. It was kept on the car with a CTEK charger connected, never a problem. It's been replaced with an Oldham 063, from a local supplier with a 4 year warranty, not expensive at all. If you're lucky to have a mains supply, the maintenance chargers are a winner. Hope this helps.

That's a valid point about the bleed nipple threads allowing air bubbles in, I tried one of the vacuum kits off ebay and that was the bugbear. Had to run silicone grease around the outside to seal it. ( don't like using the word "Vaseline", it invites comments...) Ended up using the good old Europat Vizibleed one-way valve, a couple of quid, again off ebay. Vacuum a good idea in principle but a right parp.

An interesting observation that, Dave, the Spitfire 1500 is the same. I've just been out and re-routed mine; the alternator hasn't long been back on after a rebuild. Spot on, thankyou!

Hello Pete, yes I'm sure it wasn't the disc, there was no mistaking it. And yes, it's very satisfying when you find something like this, like the sun coming out from behind the clouds, makes it all worth while.

This ​may be​​ ​is a bit long-winded, please bear with me. I changed my brake calipers before Christmas and have had problems since with brake pedal travel. On the first push of the pedal, the travel was too much but they did bite and have a solid "feel" to the pedal. Give the pedal another push and it was spot on, however the next time the brakes were used it was the same again, too much travel. I tried bleeding the brakes with a vacuum bleeder; I found that it was drawing air in around the bleed nipple and need a smear of silicone grease around the nipple to stop it. I then tried a standard one-way bleed valve, got over adventurous and clicked the brake valve out of position. While putting this right I decided to replace the rear drums, there was a good degree of ovality. Success there, handbrake fine but still the dreaded excess travel. I've tried checking the wheel bearings and leaving the pedal under pressure overnight but no joy. So today I thought I'd try a different approach, have a look and see if there was anything obvious. The first thing that I noticed after taking the wheel off was that the pads were clear of the disc, half a millimetre maybe? Pumping the pedal while watching the pads, I could see the pistons easing back. Taking the pads out one at a time, I've pumped the pedal, nice and easy, to move the piston in and out, to get a bit of fluid on the bores and further in to the seals and it has worked, we now have a fully solid pedal and the brakes are superb, problem solved at last. All that grief and it ended up taking an hour to sort... A few thoughts though... I wondered if anyone has come across this before? Perhaps the calipers had been assembled with very little lubricant on and the seals were rolling instead of sliding in the bores? Could this be another reason why leaving the pedal under pressure works for some, lubricating a dry seal where it contacts the bore? I made the big mistake of getting stuck on one line of approach. My apologies for the length of this but I did want to pass it on and any comments would be interesting.

I found this thread very interesting, it's nearly time to service my Spitfire and get it prepped for it's MOT. The choice of which engine oil to use is always a torment and I've gone for the Pennine Classic through the Club Shop, it's certainly an excellent price to members. The main reason for this, though, is to thank Garth and co. for an outstanding service - as always!

Hello again, Paul. I used KYB's sourced from an outfit on ebay; the blurb was that KYB supply to a number of modern-day car makers. Along with the blue "comfort grade" polybushes which are as near to standard spec as I could get. I have been very happy with the set-up. no problems at all. I still get some scuttle shake on poor road surfaces at times but there you are, it's an old car. It did seem a bit odd, though, fitting Japanese parts to a Spitfire... Scuttle shake... that's bound to bring out the toilet humour...

Hello, Paul, there's always a great debate about this subject and opinions do vary, as you'd expect. In the latest -January- Practical Classics, there's a brilliant article by John Simister on page 58 about the subject, well worth a read. Best regards, Derek.

Carbon centre contact inside the distributor cap? P.S. I've just remembered I had an intermittent misfire a few years ago and with the bonnet open you could hear "tick" at the point of misfire, it turned out that there was a break in the main HT lead from the coil, a gap in the centre core. A set that had only been on the car (Spitfire 1500) for a matter of a few months, had done very few miles.

Pete, only makes you unpopular if the others know it's you... Doug, yes, you're right but the idea of solid spacers appealed. The springs I took off hadn't a lot of strength left at all. P.S. Schoolboy humour about farting in lifts, there's a brilliant moment with Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther film sneaking one out in a lift, very, very funny indeed. Can't remember which film sorry...

A further update to this thread. I finally found the time to get this job done. The instructions that come with the Moss kit are very clear. I also ordered new Thackeray washers for the end arms. As it turned out, a new rocker shaft was needed and Moss came up trumps with a new one delivered the day after ordering and, more to the point, dead on size, as in not one thou out! The engine is definitely quieter for the work. Roger has makes an excellent point about the oil being retained, too. I am thinking that by keeping the rocker arms in position this must help maintain pressure within the rocker shaft, harder for the oil to escape which helps feed the front arms. P.s. maybe shouldn't say "came up trumps" now...

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5 weeks from tomorrow and it's the shortest day, then the nights will start to open out again!

Have you tried tightening it down first?

I use a Ctek battery maintainer but have thought for a while that the battery doesn't seem to have the same push. Although, even with the Ctek disconnected for half a day or so, the voltage has been showing a healthy 12.5v+. It's a "065" size; when I bought the car the one that was fitted was a tiny little thing and it failed fairly soon after but it was still under warranty, just and so, with weeks to go. The store manager let me go for the bigger battery by paying the difference in price and it's been a winner. However, this afternoon I went to fire the car up, the started reluctantly churned over a couple of times and that was it...battery dead as a nit. I have to say though, to the credit of the Ctek, it is nine years old...not bad going. In this case, this proves Pete's point that the voltage isn't necessarily an indicator of battery condition.

I don't know if anyone will be interested in this, it ​is a longshot but here goes... I live in Cumbria and was on the West Coast train this afternoon ,heading back home half asleep. However, as the train left Wigton station, I spotted a familiar object, a GT6 bonnet, removed from the bodyshell that was standing behind it. From what I could see, bearing in mind it was from a slowly moving train, neither piece looked in too bad a condition and it looked, to me, like an abandoned project. Of course I may have this completely and utterly WRONG, but if anyone is interested then I can give fairly precise details about the location. I've just had a look on Google Earth and unfortunately there is some sort of problem with that area, it isn't clear at all. I apologise in advance if it does end up wasting someone's time but you never know...

An update on this thread. I didn't get a response from David Manners about the spacer tubes, so I fired off an email to Moss, late yesterday. There was a brilliant reply from Moss early doors this morning by the guy who wrote the fitting instructions, very helpful indeed. He confirmed that the spacer tubes and shims are made from steel.

Hello again, I think you've answered your own question, 27 years is a very long time and no, you probably wouldn't be as happy with an "unknown" replacement; would you ever trust it? I often watch Car SOS, it's sometimes very touching when grown men see their pride and joy restored and come over all emotional. The point being is, can you actually put a value on all those years of ownership, the ups and the downs? As an aside, I took over a 1500 Spitfire 9½ years ago, the gentleman had owned it from new. There were 2 points, I was almost interviewed/vetted to see if I was going to look after it and the price was NOT negotiable. As you would if you had to part with a family pet I suppose. Best regards.

Values of cars are a funny old thing. We all value the ones we have and it could be argued that a car offered for sale with the history yours has, before or after any refreshment work, would be of special interest to a buyer. Also, these (hypothetical?) figures of 2k and 5k, where could you personally buy a car for that combined figure that you would know and trust as much, with as much history AND be happy with? Good luck and best regards.

An update on an old thread, I posted it in the wrong category ,sorry. I've just been finishing off reading the October Practical Classics and on pages 112/113 Nigel Clark describes how his GT6 doesn't sit right suspension-wise and ends up fitting extra washers under the right-hand mounting point. Would this have the same effect as fitting this mysterious extra distance washer to the LEFT hand mounting, the one that shows up on the parts diagram (part number 134603)? I initially noticed that mine was missing, they are available for a couple of quid, and fitted it but wasn't too happy at the extra compression it put on the diff mounting (poly) bushes. As always, any thoughts would be interesting!

Thanks for the reply Roger, I didn't realise the spacers were plastic, I wouldn't fancy plastic myself either! An interesting point about the oil, too. Thankyou!

I bet it was loud, been there, could have got these made at one time.. Happy days indeed! But I suppose this goes back to them being that much more affordable now (pro rata) though, at £13 odd a set, it wouldn't really be worth calling in any favours now. Thread drift alert!

I wonder about the cost, yes, never thought , quite possibly. Particularly bearing in mind that the cost of producing the likes of these must be a lot less now with CNC's etc rather than some poor soul with his back bent over a lathe.