ChrisTasmania

Thanks everyone, that must be what it is, though having never seen one, I didn't know what I hadn't got! Paul, thanks especially for the photo, and I will have a go at fabricating one, if it doesn't turn up on here for sale. I think Canleys want a substantial sum for theirs. Cheers Chris

The top support for the boot stay has gone walkabout during the restoration. Just a little bracket that screws to the boot inner stiffener/support and then receives the top end of the telescopic stay. I can't even remember what it looks like.. Would need to post to Tasmania. Any help appreciated! Cheers Chris, price etc. to; cherry32@bigpond.net.au

Thanks everybody, Colin, with your photo You have solved the mystery, now goodness knows how I attach my pinless trim! Cheers and thanks, Chris

Thanks everyone for the help on the NLA cowl rubber gasket, 45 pounds delivered for a little bit of rubber, crikey, I'll start saving. I promise I have searched the forum, and this could be just odd on my 70 Vitesse, but, with the little piece of side trim that goes from behind the filler cap to the tail-light, there are two holes, the forward one is obviously for the special rivet, but the other is much bigger in diameter. What goes there!? Cheers Chris

The '70 Vitesse Mk2 keeps throwing up interesting challenges.. The rubber cowl gasket (aluminium shroud-thing over the number plate light) is listed as NLA by all the major suppliers. Anyone know someone who keeps them? Also I am missing the little plate-thingy that goes behind the heater blower switch. It just says "Air". I don't have one, and again is listed as NLA everywhere, do they ever turn up? More challenging is the attachment for the number-plate light housing itself, mine has two brackets, individually screwed to the back of the light and looking totally original. The parts book has a single bracket with a blanking plate behind for the wire to pass through, which makes sense. With my mounting there is a 3 by 1 inch slot for the breeze to blow in! Am I missing something?, but looks totally unmolested. This is where I should send a photo.. Cheers and thanks in advance, Chris

The mk2 Vitesse is being reassembled and even putting pretty bits back on. The dashboard is about to be reinstalled, first attaching the wooden veneer panel to the fibre dash. I bought a 'dash fitting kit' which consists of 6 long-ish wood screws and 6 cup-washers, but there is nothing that I can fathom for them to screw into.... The parts book shows a nut and lock washer on the screws. So how does the wooden dash attach to the fire board on a mk2 Vitesse? Thanks in advance as usual. Chris i

Another question, sorry. Wish I had one to look at.. How on earth does the fuel line from the tank on a Mk 2 Vitesse find it's way over/around the diff/rear suspension after poking through the floor and on its way to join the main line along the chassis rail? Got me bamboozled.. A photo would be beyond fabulous.. Thanks, especially Peter, for the help with front valance. Cheers Chris

Another question I'm afraid. Difficult to photograph, but the ends of the front valance on my Mk2 Vitesse, take the rivetted aluminium trim, but there is a large gap underneath! I hope the photos taken from below show it, but, is the end of the valance the wrong shape? should there be a 'bump' for the trim to sit on? or a kind of 'top hat' fitting to rivet the trim to? The ends have been rebuilt. But I only replaced what was already there. It all looks fine from above. Again, thanks for the help, Cheers Chris

Thanks everyone, And Colin, thank you for the photo. I had spotted part 29 as well, but didn't know if it were rubber or chrome top. In the rusty remnants of one of the original doors was a small, quarter-window long, piece of chrome topped finisher, just like the inner seal, but de-fuzzed, I will go ahead and replicate that, just as you photographed, but would still be interested to see what Mk2 Vitesses originally used. Amazingly I bought a NOS door here for about 60 of your pounds. A big day yesterday as the final coat of Dolphin Grey went on yesterday, three years of rust repair and chassis welding/replacing finally coming to an end. Actually the colour is Koala Grey! as near as we could find to what I hope is an original grey, with an Australian twist. An interesting but I suspect common story is that the car was built on the 7th August 1970 in Sienna Brown and despatched to Shropshire, but was first registered as a WHITE car on 1st August 1971 in Salop, which I think is in Wales, ie it took a year to sell and required a colour change. This is the first car that I have not returned to the original colour as the Sienna is so underwhelming.. that should be provocative. Though I am thinking of a Sienna flash along the sides, Grey and Sienna?... Also a photo of the passenger side tail-light housing, a very definite B is scribed there in the wet paint. Is that Barry the Painter or something else signalled on the production line? Cheers Chris HC/56953-CVO

Thank you everybody for the advice from my previous post, and I have run the full length earth lead as suggested. Now I wish there were a door I could look at.. but there is a serious lack of written detail on how to re-assemble a Mk2 Vitesse door, all the usual clues in parts books etc use such confusing terminology for the simplest things! There has to be an award for getting a whole and functioning door back together, I look forward to claiming mine soon. Can somebody help me with the top two seals?, the ones that you see on the top of the door, the ones the window come up through as you wind it up. The question is how they relate to the quarter vent, The big fat fella on the outside obviously goes full width(?), but the inside chrome topped one, does that stop at the quarter vent? or also go full width? If it stops at the vent, then what seals the vent to the door top on the inside? The chrome topped seal I have supplied is full length, which could be a clue. Any chance of a photo? As usual all advice much appreciated. And there is a rumour that there is another Mk2 2litre Vitesse in Tasmania, imported by an English doctor. I'll be chasing that up. I know there is/was a 1600 here some time ago, but they were never sold in Australia. Cheers and thanks Chris

There could be a few of these questions as I am determined to finish the Mk 2 2litre, and yes I did take lots of photos when I disassembled the car 3 years ago..but never of the bits I need. Can some one simply tell me where the engine earth-lead ( the 6 inch long braided copper bit) goes from where to where? Also I distinctly recall but cannot find:, someone asked the re-assembly sequence of a Vitesse door and there were replies. That would be very useful right now. Thanks in advance for the replies... and again there will be more questions. Cheers Chris

A Picture is hard to take, and a bit hard to explain..Never-the-less.. Getting ready to start the Vitesse for the first time in 22 years and noticed when the engine was turned over by hand that number 4 push-rod would repeatedly 'fall out' from under the rocker ball. And that was with all the valve clearances set. I removed rocker gear as I assumed something might have fallen down the follower and was pushing the rod to one side, nothing there, and then noticed as I screwed the gear back down that the push rod pulled the rocker and shaft spring away from the pedestal by about 3/4 ml and the push rod was hard up against the 'chamber' side, Took the rocker gear off again and found that particular push rod was bright and shiny all around at that point and worn to a slight taper! The cause is that chamber has a large dag of casting metal near the top that hasn't been ground off the side! The intriguing thing is that, as it is the original engine, then it must have been like that for the last 49 years. A few minutes with a die grinder should fix it. Has this been seen before? Cheers Chris, Tasmania

Thanks Paul and Peter, brilliant service! Cheers Chris

G'day again The Vitesse is going back to together and I just cannot work out where to mount the starter solenoid, I don't have another car to refer to, so would appreciate any help, or even a picture! Much appreciated as usual. Cheers Chris

Dear Dave and Pete, Fabulous thing this forum and thanks for the help, the bulkhead it is. But got to say it looks like the three holes were hand-drilled with a Black and Decker at lunch time, rough as. And also thanks for the advice on the dash cover, if I had known I had to keep it I might have been nicer to it during the resto, it is still salvageable, just. I am sure I will have more questions to come as I don't have any car to reference in the whole of Tas. Thanks again, Chris

The weld-a-thon is over and the car is going back together. Can someone tell me if all 2 litre mk2 convertibles had black vinyl covering on the fibre-board dashboard? irrespective of the interior colour. All the interior images I can find imply it is so. Also the RB340 regulator mounting: maybe I should post a photo, but it seems to be installed as a bit of an afterthought at around 45 degrees on the bulkhead on the LHS near the flasher unit. But the holes seem hand-drilled! Is that how it was? And while I am here.. does anyone have a pair of mk2 seat runners for sale? , bought some off eBay UK, but they seem to have disappeared in the post.. Cheers, Chris

I am looking for seat runners for Mk 2 2 litre convertible and have found some second-hand, two things; they don't look like a pair, the seat adjustment levers are different from LH to RH for a start. Is that how they always were? Also the parts book lists the runners for the convertible as separate part numbers to the saloon! Does anyone know the difference between them? Any help appreciated.

I know this must have been covered before, but I have searched high and low and all I can find is the same question and no answers.. and there does not seem to be an illustration at all. I have no car elsewhere to look at around here, and the bonnet was off when I got my Vitesse Mk2 2 litre.. So what is the sequence of assembly of the front bonnet hinge? I assume the pivot plates are outside the bracket with the slotted hole to the top? Then the bush is in between the slotted holes? and the sleeve-screw-rod thing attaches somewhere? where!? There also must be washers to allow the whole assembly to rotate? Any help would be appreciated, and a picture or drawing? Also, does there exist a drawing of the Vitesse body with dimensions? ie distance between fin tips/ b posts etc.? The weld-a-thon is nearly finished (so rusty... and it had been in dry storage for 25 years.), reassembly is just starting Cheers Chris

My very rusty Mk2 Convertible rear tub has almost nothing left of the bump stops inside the rear inner guards. In fact it has disappeared completely on one side and just remains in skeletal form on the other. They look like they were once attached to a reasonably solid plate. I cannot see these as a replacement part anywhere. Does anybody know if they are available at all? Just near the screwdriver in the attached pic. lurking in the rust. Cheers Chris

Fantastic job, and as I am putting together the only Mk2 Vitesse in Tasmania (Australia?), those photos are fantastic and the quality something to aspire to. Well Done!

Thanks for those, but I would prefer to stay original. I also have paid quite a bit to have the new original seat covers here!. I have contacted Quillers, but they said they would have to sea-freight them (whole seats) and they had no experience in that area, neither have I. Anybody moving to Australia soon? My best option is to try and modify what I have and I am just curious as to how far 'out' they are. Cheers Chris

G'day, Chris in Tasmania. I have started work on a pretty rusty Mk2 Convertible imported here in 1997. I suspect it is the only one in Tas. and maybe one of very few in Aus. as they were never sold here. So I have nothing to compare it with, which is why, after buying it and paying both freight and customs on a complete interior trim kit, it is really annoying to find out that the front seats are not Mk2 Vitesse... no idea what they are, except definitely British. I will attach a photo, one is just the frame, the other complete. They have a lever at the side to enable them to tilt forward. I am hoping somebody has a bare frame from a Mk2 that they could measure for me so that I can work out if what I have is usable, or at least adaptable.. The freight on a pair of seats, if I could find them, would be formidable, though I have thought they could be hack-sawed through the bend and 'flat packed'? The basic height, widths etc. would be all I need.. Cheers Chris