Richard B

I'd like to fit a towbar to my Herald Estate. Missed the last ones from the club. If anyone has one, that'd be great. The other possibility is if someone in this general area (S. Cheshire) has got one either fitted or loose, could I measure it up with a view to making one? Cheers

I've only just put the cam in. Thought I'd done the timing right, but after fitting the chain, appears to be 1/4 tooth out so just off back to the garage to turn the sprocket over and try to be less clumsy when putting back together. When I was talking to Ken Newman, I asked him if his cam approximated to a Mk3 spit cam. He said it was probably 'a bit warmer'. So although I appreciate the spitfire had a higher CR maybe the cam will compensate a bit. And anyway, how would I know if it got to 75 hp without going onto a rolling road (which, to be fair, is on my mind for sometime). As long as it has a bit more go, that'll be fine for me.

Pete Agreed. I've put a Newman road cam in it. I would have put a Mk3 Spit cam in but as you can imagine, they're like hen's teeth.

Interesting. Must admit, I wasn't aware of the change in position of the vents, but I do see there is a pipe out of the back presumably for the rocker cover vent. With the HS2's that I've got (and I see Josef's are like this), that pipework goes to the carb body. No big deal to trim the pipe off, admittedly, but I'd assume there was a reason for putting the vents on top. The top looks symmetrical but could I put up with it saying TOP at the bottom if I turned it over? This is where OCD kicks in.

Anyone got an air filter box from a Mk3 Spitfire kicking around? I'm fitting twin HS2 carbs to my 1360 Estate as part of an attempt to get the power up to around Spitfire levels and don't really want the pancake filters. It's my slightly warped version of originality.

Thanks for the input, guys. That's helped make up my mind to go for the MK3 Spit box - if I can find one. I believe there's a Parts Wanted area somewhere on this forum.......

Just found this topic. Really interesting for me as I'm currently trying to achieve basically the same set-up as Josef on my 1360 Estate. HS2 carbs currently in pieces with the bodies away being bored for bushes. I decided on specifying AAP needles rather than AAN only because they are closest profile to the Mk3 spit BO needles, but the sprung type. Doubt it will make much difference ultimately but much anorak fun looking at the needle charts on the Burlen website. Newman road cam just fitted. Having considered the air filter options, I'm inclined towards a Mk3 air box with standard filters as seems to be the case on Josef's car. Would anyone know if the engine side panel needs any mods/tweeks for it all to fit?

Thanks for the comments. Not sure where I got the tensioner and chain from. Found a receipt but also found another one in the garage after a rummage so can't pin the duff part on anyone in particular. The other one I've found looks a much better job so I'll fit that. Good point about the location of the swarf. Was hoping to get away without dropping the sump but better safe....... On a vaguely related subject, has anyone else had trouble with the C-plate that locates the camshaft to the front plate? It kind of grips the camshaft when the screws are tightened. It was fine with the old camshaft but the groove in the new one is a few thou thinner. I remember this being an issue last time I did open heart surgery on my Spitfire engine as well and ended up botching it with some shims as the problem appeared to be that the C-plate tips a bit when tightened. For this engine, I'm thinking of getting the C-Plate ground down a bit. Is this a common problem?

Just in the process of installing a new camshaft into my 1360 Estate. When I got inside the cover, found the tensioner looking like this. It looks like someone has been at it with a tin opener. My issue is that the car only went back on the road in spring 2021 having had a complete engine rebuild - which I did so obviously can't be anything wrong with the build. Can't be precise about the actual miles it has done as the speedo was playing up. Longest drive was to Malvern and back so I'd say 1k miles is all it has done. Anybody else had this kind of premature wear? Do I just put it down to a poor quality part, in which case any suggestions where I can buy something decent that might last a complete year, or maybe more if I'm lucky? Cheers