Clive

Cant quite tell from that pic. The "recess" for the rack does not look even across the sump. And it gives the impression that the sump is angled, ie the bottom (or in that pic the highest flat section) is not level. Makes me think it is from a saloon. maybe, t an end on pic is needed. The engine number will help too. But with the above caveats.

Dolomite 1300.

Had another thought linked to your compressions. They are too uneven and probably low. when you replaced the head gasket did you check if the block was a recessed one (small ring machined around the edge of the top of the bores, head gasket should have a tab sticking out at the back) The engine number should also tell (though again, somebody MAY have had the block skimmed (decked) to remove them, and that would also remove the engine number. Which may have then been restamped. Good game this. Guess what somebody did to the car sometime ago!

You need to measure the throw of the crank. ie front bottom of stroke to the top, can be measured easily with the head off! Another check that may say if it is deffo a 2 litre.....have a look at the sump. It should be the same height both sides and have a factory round bit pressed to clear the steering rack. If it does, check to see if 2 dents down have been added in the front part of the sump inline. These are needed to fit a 2.5 crank using a gt6/vitesse sump. If they are NOT present, it is a 2 litre crank. If they are, it could be a 2 or 2.5 as somebody may have swapped the crank/sump or whatever.

Right. ALL 2.5 engines have flat top pistons. most 2 litre cars are flat top, but approx 1972 (and of course many have been changed between cars) Triumph used the same block and head for both 2litre and 2.5. The 2.5 just had a longer throw crank. However, as the 2.5 head had a larger combustion chamber, they added dome top pistons to correct the compression. If your car has dome top pistons, it is a 2 litre (or a 2.5 with massive compression, about 12:1, it would have serious running issues!) Now, some people have taken a late GT6 engine (or equivelent saloon engine) stripped it and reused the head but fitted a 2.5 crank and 2.5 flat top pistons. Please let us know what you have, important to be able to help.

Should add, what 2.5 engine is this? if a late engine from a 2.5S you REALLY want to skim the head down a lot and fit the earlier camshaft.

CD150 on a 2.5. Stop now. Carbs are just too small for what you are doing. You need to fit some dolomite sprint HS6 carbs. As to dizzy, if that is worn/not giving the correct advance it will drastically affect the performance. Cold air is much denser than hot air from the engine bay. So you need to get cold air ducted in. Yes, K+N's flow more but they will need to just to match the old paper filters and airbox. Likewise rampipes can make a 5% difference to airflow into the carbs. That is more than the manifold and exhaust can do!

I believe the range of available needles is small. So in all honesty I would get a session booked on a rolling road. Probably worth checking the dizzy carefully too. The RR should be able to reprofile the existing needles. Are you arranging a cold air feed for the air filters and short rampipes? They will both make the most of your other changes and are usually overlooked.

There is no difference on the new spring, fit it either way round (I have never understood the front/back thing on the originals either, I can't see a difference) No idea on grease, I just use my normal tub of wheel bearing grease or a smear of copper grease. If I bother at all.

I did that on one car (my old vitesse) HOWEVER most of the couplings have the through bolts crimped so you need to be clever to get them out, or use a really old original coupling that is wired to stop the bolts undoing. You cannot just relace teh bolts, they are shouldered so goodness knows if you can get new ones. Also the cost of the poly bushes is about the same as a new solid UJ. Makes it a no brainer to me. I have run solid UJ's in all my cars since the vitesse On another note, I had heard somebody used small viton O rings to replace worn bushes in a coupling to good effect. And lasted well. Also pretty cheap......

The reason is the rubber bushes in the uj have perished. They are known to heave a VERY short lifespan (the repro ones) and if you have made it solid that may cause an issue too, it needs to be flexible. The best alternative is to fit a solid UJ coupling, about £20 (group 4 escort UJ will do the trick, I have used them for years) or from one of the usual suppliers. Do not waste any money on a new standard part, it WILL fail.

We need to hear back about where the play is happening! My money is on the coupling. Never seen track rod ends worn enough to give an inch of play at the wheel!

Sorry, no idea at all. However, it should be in the WSM. Google "vitessesteve" if you wish to find a PDF of the wsm.

And which KE seroes engine? But if the manifolds look the same, heads look the same etc then all the ancillaries will swap. Depending on the actual KE engine there may be variations on teh head (some are thicker, so are used on the 2 litre and 2.5) flat or domed pistons (late engines with the thick head had domed pistons to correct the CR) and cam. All mk2 vitesse had the good cam.......and a better dizzy too.

Something else to think about.... If the ride height has changed, then the rear toe in/out will change too. This can have an horrific affect on the way the car drives. Worth checking and adjusting (2 bricks, 2 straight edges, I use 1m lengths of 5mm thick steel bar which I acquired a while ago, and a tape measure plus assiatant. That is all to get an accurate measurement)

On a spitfire, you certainly can fit std shocks to the std position with a CV conversion. As the chassis is identical in that area, so will a Vitesse. Nice and simple, and another good reason to go to CV's

Ideally grab an assistant to twiddle the wheel, and then you can have a look at the steering column in the engine bay. Does the column where it comes out the bulkhead move OK? Now look at the flexi coupling, between the shaft and the rack. Fiddly little thing, often a problem. Does teh movement go from the column to the rack OK? Does the rack move in the mounts? Report back.

Thesedays I would use an 80/90 multigrade. Not sure it was around in the 60's, but easily available now. I have been using it in all my Triumph gearboxes (and diffs) for best part of 25 years now. Always comma brand, cheap and cheerful but has always been fine.

Thinking about it, I would say electrolysis followed by phosphoric acid is teh way to go. The electrolysis easily removes large amounts of rust with no effort except a wash and brush off after. No harmful chemicals (I know people worry about that issue) and all you need is a big bucket etc, a battery charger, some scrap steel and some washing soda.

A perennial issue. I believe laycock specified a non-ep oil for the overdrive. Triumph however specified EP stuff. Difficult to say the manufacturer specified the wrong oil? They designed and built the cars after all, including the gearbox. But there will always be the debate. If you are happy with a engine oil, that is fine. If not, use EP oil. So no clarification possible. And it appears there is no real evidence that either is better! (the smell bit does appeal though)

I believe all GT6 engines had the prefix KE, all 2 litre vitesse HC, so you need to check if it is an early mk1 engine with the individual push-rod tubes or the later type. More info needed!

It has been a while, but B+B did a special cover for the laycock plate. No idea what the difference is/was as I have always assumed a clutch plate is a clutch plate. I guess if they are a different thickness it would matter? BTW see if you can get a laycock complete clutch. They really are excellent, better even than proper B+B. (I do not include modern B+B stuff here, that is all re-badged Firstline stuff)

Any of the acids will make you grizzle if they get into a cut or other wound (weld splat burn typical!) And yes, eyes are the one thing that really do not heal well. Brick acid unpleasant on the hands, but wash it off fast and all is good. Eyes, I would always use water, and wash out for several minutes with running water and then get it properly checked straight away. 25 years teaching in a science lab and I have had just 2 cases of kids getting acid in the eye, both having taken safety specs off before putting stuff away. Both got heads in the sink, and eye irrigated by yours truly. Both had no lasting effects (though amazingly both sets of parents sent letters thanking me for what I did!) Now, Sulphuric acid is much nastier stuff, and hydrofluoric acid gives me the creeps. Back to cleaning though. I have brick acid sitting about. Good for derusting (and descaling the kettle too) and I also have some 80% phosphoric acid. So I wash off, and spray with diluted phosphoric acid. Leave for a bit and rinse. Seems to work. Bit of etch primer and bobs your uncle. If acids worry you, electrolysis is safer, check out youtube etc. And it is very gentle. Just don't use stainless or galvanised steel for the sacrificial electrodes. And keep it all well ventilated.

http://www.chriswitor.com/cw_technical/camshaft_applications.pdf that reckons you have the same cam as teh GT6/vit mk2 And I apologise, I slipped up earlier. The TR5 cam is the 35 65, wheras the Gt6 etc one you have been recommended is 25 65. I believe Witor does a special cam too, have a browse through his stuff. But you should have the beginnings of a very decent engine there with potentially not a lot to spend.

I am pretty certain that there is just one port closed when the oil is under the thermostat opening temp. If you like it is the return from the cooler (or flow, shouldn't make any difference) and then the oil can only flow in the short circuit back to teh engine. When the valve opens I thought some oil passed through the cooler, the rest returned via the short circuit in the thermostat? However, the easy but potentially messy way of checking which is the flow from the engine is to disconnect the hoses at the thermostat and turn the engine over briefly. May want the hoses in a suitable container, and coil disconnected. Maybe plugs out too.