PatK

Thanks Johny, thats good news, as sometime i would like to fit one to the Vitesse

Hi All, I have just bought an inlet manifold with twin Stromberg 150 carbs, for my 2L Vitesse Mk2. The car has twin SU HS6's which I think are too large for this engine although it does run fine but Pete and others have said that Strombergs are best so I thought that I would try and fit a pair this winter. The seller said that these would fit a triumph 2000, GT6 and Vitesse, however both the manifold and the carbs are different to the one that I have which is in a very sorry state ( my carbs are OK but the manifold is damaged beyond economic repair ) From the photos below there seems to be only a choke on the front carb, and apart from the fuel line tubes there are another 2 tubes on each carb, I'm guessing that the larger tubes are for crankcase fumes as there is no port on top of the manifold to take fumes from the Smiths breather valve. The other 2 tubes are of quite a small diameter, but I've no idea what they are for, and what is the large black rubber hose with a plastic end with small holes in for? Is this set up for a 2000 or late GT6 and could i fit it to my 2L Vitesse? Any advice and help would be much appreciated, Thanks. PatK

Thanks Doug, breaking the bolt seems par for the course. The guy that removed mine used a lot of heat, oxy acetylene and a freezing mixture to crack the seizure. It had worked, but the threads need remaking. However Doug, I spotted a New old stock inlet manifold on e bay yesterday and bought it for £40, which I think is a good deal, so my worries about cutting a new thread are over. However I do now have to remove the blanking plug from the base of the old manifold as the new one comes without any fittings. I have just given it to the same guy to get it out and told him not to worry about damaging the manifold, or even melting it! Thanks for the info Doug. Pat

Hi All, I wonder if anyone knows the correct size of the Banjo Bolt that fits the multi way water unit in the end of the intake manifold.? Mine Banjo bolt was seized and despite all attempts to remove it, finally sheared across where the holes are drilled in it. A friend finally managed to get the remaining bolt out but the alloy manifold threads are now a little damaged so I would now like to run a tap down it, but can't figure out the thread size from the new Banjo Bolt. It has 14 tpi and seems to be approx .806" across the threads. I took the manifold and bolt to my local engine workshop to try and get a Helicoil fitted, but the bloke said that he could not do it as he thought that it was British Pipe Thread. I'm sure that I'm not alone in having had this problem and in an ideal world would prefer to fit a Helicoil to the damaged thread, so if any of you good folks know the Banjo bolt size and the solution I would be most grateful Thanks very much. Pat

Spot on Pete. How does the old saying go, " When you pay for quality, the quality is enjoyed long after the cost is forgotten! "

Hi johny, i checked both Nr1 and Nr6 with the strobe, they were both spot on. The timing mark is rock steady with no variation. Below is a photo of the Magnetronic set up and you can clearly see the small square magnets and under them at the front, the metal cased pick up which has a white Lumenition sticker on top. If your accuspark is working fine then no point in changing it. Thanks. pat

Check out the U tube video johny on how it works, I think that the magnet pushes the electrons to one side of the metallic strip and this triggers a shottky diode at a certain point, where the output square sine wave breaks the LT current ( I think )!

Thanks johny, I will try that and let you know, but as Pete says, if there is a difference I will be concerned.

Yes Pete, what a great memory! I will keep that in mind Pete. I also think that there is a modified camshaft in there as well!

Hi johny, I was interested in how these Hall effect systems work and there are several good videos on U tube. As far as I can see, the magnet passing over the Hall effect system triggers a square sine wave from the diode which switches off the LT current accurately and very quickly. better that the slow opening of the points and probably gives a bigger secondary voltage in the coil. I do know that the car now starts instantly with the Magnetronic system fitted and idles much more smoothly.

Thanks Dave, yes I do have the vernier adjustment on my distributor and will use that to fine tune it.

Thanks Gully, I will set it at 10 degrees as that seems to be a safer figure. I'm not interested in maximum power, just a long engine life!

Thanks Dave, I will do that, as I reckon 10 degrees sounds much better.

Hi johny, I fitted the Magnetronic system firstly because it's made by Lumenition, which is a company that I trust, having had their ignition system in two previous cars ( Lotus Elans ) and they worked faultlessly. If you go on U tube and type in Magnetronic Ignition you will see Holden Vintage and classics fitting it to a distributor. It could not be easier. But what is different to accuspark, is that it has a rotating " top hat " that fits onto the centre spindle and the cap has small powerful magnets that rotate Over the Pick up, which is made of metal. Using a strobe the timing is rock steady with no fluctuation, which appears to be a problem with Accuspark.

Yes Paul, I have done that some time ago from a guy recommended in Practical Classics magazine. I wonder if intake valve oil seals on some engines would suffer degradation as well?

Many Thanks, johny, Paul and Pete. Sound advice from you all. I have recently bought Miller's octane booster and ethanol proofer to add to the fuel, so I will start with that and 13degrees BTDC and as Johny advises will do the 2000 rpm in 4th and see how we go. Local petrol stations only sell 95 RON unfortunately. Thanks. Pat

Hi All, I have just fitted the Magnetronic ignition system to my Lucas 22D Distributor. Bought it from the club, £10 cheaper than Holden. It was very easy to fit and now the car starts immediately and runs very well. I have set the static timing to 13 degrees before TDC as per the Vitesse 2L, 9.5 compression engine workshop manual figures. However with the poor quality of modern petrol, i wonder if Club members have had problems with this much advance such as pinking under acceleration, and if I should retard the advance a little. Any advice would be most helpful. Thanks. Pat

Thanks Paul, so I guess that it is the correct part. I thought that it might be no longer available. My car has one but the person that fitted the hood cut it too short on one side, or got the position wrong. I'm wondering if there is a similar section out there somewhere. i looked on Woolies web site but could not see anything that matches, but there must be one similar somewhere. Thanks again Paul, I will let the forum know if I find one. Patrick

Hi All, I wonder if you can help me identify if this is the correct part and hopefully where I can get another. This is the plastic finisher that sits at the front of the convertible roof header rail, by that I mean the rail that is clamped to the top of the windscreen frame and this plastic sits at the front of this and clamps to the windscreen, sitting on the front outside of the windscreen frame and is visible from the outside of the car as a black plastic half round seal with the vinyl of the roof beginning immediately behind it. It is secured to the header rail by an aluminium " U " track that also holds the header rail foam seal. I think the part number may be 609602, but I'm not sure as both the parts catalogue and Canley's diagram are very difficult to identify parts due to congestion. If this is the part, at the moment, Rimmers, Canleys and Paddocks don't have them in stock. Does anyone know who would be likely to? Many Thanks Patrick

Thanks everyone for all the useful info, now all I need to do is get a nice pair of speedos with a high friction seat patch!

Hi all, this may seem a dumb question, but what is the easiest way to turn a Vitesse 2L Mk2 engine over by hand, when setting tappets etc. I had been advised to pull on the plastic fan blade to turn it over, but that seems very hard to do. I was hoping to be able to fit a socket on the crankshaft pulley but with the fan in situ there does not appear to be a large single nut on the centre of the pulley. There must be an easier way! Thanks. Pat

Thanks Chaps,all good stuff, I think that I will adopt Pete's suggestion and fold over some silicon tubing as i don't have golf tees or rubber end caps, bu next time I'm near a sports shop it will be golf tees!

Many years ago, working on the Heralds brakes and not wishing to lose fluid when detaching pipework, I obtained from my local motor factor some small cone shaped rubber bungs that you could push into the end of the copper pipe and this would stop fluid loss and also made bleeding the brakes afterwards easier. Does anyone know if these are still obtainable, or you have a better way of sealing the disconnected pipe? Thanks Patrick

Yes Colin, you are right, I'm going back to the old method now.