Clive

I used a (very) used gt6 roto spring in my conversion, but added a 3/4" spacer block. Sits with a nice stance, bearing in mind the front is lowered too. All a bit of guesswork really, especially if a new spring which will settle a bit with use. BTW don't connect the shocks until the spring is on! even then you may have to wait until the tub is fitted..

Try Chris witor, he sold me a set of poybushes for the joint years ago. If you have a really old joint where the bolts are wired to stop them undoing, it is pretty easy. If you have the type wher the bolts have been squiched, they will be hard to save. And those bolts are impossible to find new (or I never found any, but the internet was rather more limited 22 years ago) as they are shouldered. I have also heard of good quality viton o-rings being a good substiture, and cheap too. Buy a bag of 100 and you have a lifetime supply.

But do supply the engine number. Many engines have been swapped over the years so although yours should be non-recessed, it may have a later engine fitted. Best to be certain! Other thing, recessed gaskets have a small tab that sticks out at the back of the head, though they do sometimes get trimmed off

Rockers a bit worn. But worth the cost of replacing? Very very doubtful, most of the wear will have been sorted with the new shaft, and will function way better than previously. Don't fret, all will be fine for another 50k....

I reckon if you can easily catch a nail on it best to replace. Especially ias it is already apart.

We have consulted the oracle (MSE) for spending abroad. Wish I had bought/loaded a prepay card a few months ago though.....we would have got near 1.40 IIRC. Our summer holiday just went through at 1.30 but I have a nasty feeling we will be down to the mid teens in a few months and in the aftermath of the referendum. Hey ho, can't take it with you.

http://www.natwest.com/tools/commercial/currency_rates/rates.asp That is the all important webpage as it tells us if we are likely to get a surcharge on our tssc bookings. Currently 1.2649, if it drops below 1.26 we may get a 5% surcharge, below 1.21 it could be 10‰ Ouch. So we need to see the pound strengthen, but the economic uncertainty with impending referendum is unlikely to help. Hopefully the club has already paid much of the costs to the organisers, or put money into a euro account when the rate was high, and can keep any extra costs to a minimum.....

Most wear always seems to be on the shaft. A friend has just done a shaft replacement and commented that the used rockers felt pretty tight on the new shaft. Plus it will help keep them all oiled up as less loses. Well worth doing....

Higher initial drawn will be because they take a fraction longer to get up to speed (because they shift more air) In that case there will be less back EMF, meaning a higher initial current draw, or rather for longer. But we are talking a second or so....until the fan is up to speed. The other problem is that unless the motor is identical they can't be compared. So a slightly more powerful motor with curved blades should be as efficient at cooling, but hopefully quieter. At the expense of overall higher current draw...but not for the initial startup! Head hurts now.

I am like you, undecided. Or rather, suspect there is little if any difference. I would be looking at the fan quality rather than design, if that makes sense. You can't go wrong with SPAL fans, or indeed most of eh OEM stuff pilfered off a tintop. FWIW the fan on my Spit is an ancient Golf GTI bit of kit. It is unfashionably small diameter, and has just 4 rather thick blades. Looks like a boat prop! But is not overly loud, and extremely efficient (largely down to using the OEM shrouding setup) On a Vitesse the difficulty is space. I used a fan off a RF GT turbo, lovely thin bosch fan that had wire mountings that usefully worked out well for the Vitesse. But they will be a bit harder to find these days.

Wayne is spot on. Cam "breaking in" is incredibly important and can result in poor life expectancy if not followed. All the cam makers give clear instructions on this.

http://www.tyresave.co.uk/tyresize.html that does tyre size comparisons pretty well.....

Fair enough, just the timing seemed perfect!

Yes, the tyres will sit the car lower by a whole 1/2" (actually that is significant) as they are 1" smaller diameter than 155/80 Worth measuring the fitted length of the front springs and seeing if a decambered rear spring(or a swingspring) or lowering block has been fitted. Remember my 1/2" is based on 155/80 tyres, crossplies may have a different diameter, quite possibly a bit bigger than radials. Also remember the springs will have relaxed over the years. Is the lower stance a problem? handling or ride not as it should be? (often a consequence of a badly lowered car)

http://club.triumph.org.uk/cgi-bin/forum10/Blah.pl/Blah.pl?m-1456675177/s-1/#num1 any good?

They are 1500. MkIV didn't have headrests. Think that is about the only difference. Until the Houndstooth type came out with the later 1500.

Ah, yes. Wooden wheels are pretty unforgiving! My wheels are generally decent padded leather jobbies (as opposed to OE type). And 13", which would give less movement I think

Did have a polybush one for ages on my old vitesse, but not easy to find the rebuildable joints (most are not suitable without serious effort, you really want he ones with wired bolts) on my spitfire I tried to get an original and failed. I had one replacement modern version, VERY short lifespan. Fitted a UJ style and all good, but I did need to tweek the rack position a little IIRC. Not sure why you suffered with noise/vibration, mine hasn't. Same with my Toledo...

May I suggest doing a service? That way you will learn A LOT about the car. change the oil and filter (decent 20-50 grade oil) check and adjust the points. Check air filters Oil the trunnions grease the various grease-points around the car Check front brakes for wear Check rear brakes, clean and adjust. Lubricate the cables and linkages. All this sort of thing was in the owners manual then the cars were new. In other works it was expected that owners could and would maintain their cars themselves. Something people forget, and often the reason cars get branded unreliable- it is more a case of lack of use and maintenance. Forget the interior until you can maintain the car itself, and fix the basics. After all no good having a car that doesn't go anywhere, or you can't get going if it stops unexpectedly! Besides, work out what you want to achieve. Do you want to use the car for very limited driving, but lots of local shows and polishing? Do you want to go touring around europe clocking up large mileages? Do some trackdays, rallies or other competitive events? Local area meetings are an ideal place to learn about the cars, and if you are friendly, people will offer help and advice freely.

Omex/MSD/micro dynamics etc are all good brands. However, there are the accupark etc ones on the bay of e. They are cheaper, and I guess a rev limiter is not a tech-filled bit of kit. But reliability? no idea on that!

It is all just nuts and bolts. Follow the manual, be prepared for a few difficult bolts etc. But if the long lower wishbone bolt is seized, you can either just leave it (if the trunnions are OK) or get the bolt drilled out. The diff, assuming a std GT6 one, changing the pinion seal is easy, and can be done in situ if needed. However, taking the diff out is simple enough, and if you are painting under the car a sensible thing to do. Do the quarter shaft seals, not easy to get the bearings off but recon shafts are cheap enough, or get the bearing pulled by a garage/engineering company. Assuming the diff is quiet, no excessive backlash in the CWP (again most people only look at the play in the diff part by twiddling the pinion and seeing the free play in the quarter shafts. What you want to check is the play in the teeth of the CWP, should be tiny) then a re-seal is cheap and all you need. Why risk possible poor quality components in a recon diff? If spring ride height is good, leave it well alone. As to CV conversion, saw on set yesterday that was totally splined where the hub fits on the end of the shaft. That really worries me, as I understand the should should sit against a shoulder on the shaft, and the bearings shimmed to "fill" the gap Otherwise tightening the hub nut will just squash the bearings up tight?? or have I missed something? Worth doing some research first. I know the canley classics conversion definitely is not entirely splined (ie still have the shoulder for the hub to fit against) and works very well over long periods of time. No idea where these other ones have come from though, didn't get a chance to ask. Maybe they use a different method of setting the hub up?? anybody else know?

I doubt it is the rods, it seems to be the mere fact the crank throw is too great. There are some things to be careful about, mostly bearing quality and careful balance and build, all of which you have covered. But ultimately if you use really decent oil and are careful with the revs you have a fighting chance!

That may have been a good (safe) thing? tread carefully as you approach the 6000rpm mark is all I can say. Even on a fully balanced/blueprinted engine. You really do not want that T shirt!

Yes. I will clarify. Triumph is their infinite wisdom use a square nut in a cage attached to the over rider. Right where mud/water/debris gradually accumulates. When you try to undo the bolt in the boot, unless it comes undone easily, the nut starts turning in the cage. Then you need to get clever. Oh, and teh bottom bolt goes through a tight fitting tube several inches long. You may be able to cut the bolt head off (to be fair, the top bolt is less of an issue) and then knock the overrider off using a drift on the now-headless bolt or just tugging. Once the overrider is off use of mole grips etc enable the offending bolt to be unscrewed, or otherwise removed. Repairs to the nut cage usually required, sometimes knocking it back into shape, sometimes a bit of welding. I have seen, and indeed repaired many such overriders by welding a length of studding to the square nut, and the using a nut inside the car (so it doesn't suffer from corrosion/mud/grot) And of course access behind the fuel tank is very poor, so that usually needs to come out. All above worst case, you may be lucky!

The MX5 hit its rev limiter at that sort of figure, again at Goodwood at exactly the same point I killed the 1500 big ends. That was WELL into the red on a fizzy little jap engine, I think the 1500 had enough at a little over 6K. Not sure where I would set it, maybe 6 1/4? Even that may be risky! (Goodwood is a lovely tack, but coming out of the chicane it is SO hard to remember to change gear early enough to save the engine)