Clive
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Posts posted by Clive
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Afraid I have found waxoil to dry out and lift, although I suspect mixing with some oil would help.
The best stuff is Dynax S50 which is usually supplied in a huge aerosol with a very long flexi tube so you can do sills/chassis internals etc. Dinitrol do something which performs as well as the dynax, but not sure about aerosols. These are both REALLY thin and runny, designed to soak into any surface rust rather than sit on top. And thin enough to "creep" into seams etc.
There are some good wheelarch protection waxes from the same 2 companies. I have had teh Dinitrol one on my spit for 30k+ miles, all weathers, and the original stuff is still all there. I was expecting to top up annually.
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I reckon a fix by a previous owner. Cap heads are very tough, so should be good as hinge pins.
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4 hours ago, cliff.b said:
I should have bought one when they were in LIDL recently, or was it AlDI 🤔
I have had a lidl one for a year or 2, very pleased with it. My local shop still had a few he other day.
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Nope, just done up "tight"
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43 minutes ago, johny said:
Sorry Doug just replaced my Vitesse 25+ year old tyres with new ones (and shamefully they werent worn out). If I was that worried like Clive about accidents I wouldnt be driving an ABS, airbag free, 60 year old design car😁
Fret not. I now rarely have tyres over 5 years old, they wear out by then. And I happily drive my car to the limit. Well, almost, I have never taken it over 118mph 🤐
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1 hour ago, johny said:
Come on Doug even the German TUV will pass tyres up to 10 years old. If yours havent been sitting everyday in strong sunlight theyll still be good - lets face it most of our cars arent at the limits of tyre abilities either in terms of engine power or form of conduction😁 Think of the planet if not your wallet...
It is the braking and "emergency manoevers" where it all goes wrong. A corner that is sharper than you expect, or kiddie runs across teh road. That is the type of scenario that haunts me, especially after I rolled a spitfire due to a bit of diesel on a damp corner BUT I had fitted a pair o new tyres to teh front 24hrs earlier, the rears were about 10 years old and had about 3mm of tread. I do wonder if I had fitted 4 new tyres the outcome may have been different. And I was well within the speed limit.
£200 or so for a set of tyres every 7-10 years is a small price to pay
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Not wanting to worry you, but it sounds a bit "endy". Have you got an oil pressure gauge fitted? Or does the oil presure light flicker at idle? What oil and when was it last changed? Often the general wear can lead to very low oil pressure at idle, but once the revs are up the pressure increases.
Of course, it could be a few other things.
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1 hour ago, Mr.T said:
Having just got my Herald after a number of years thinking about it I am at last ready to tinker with it in my garage at the weekend. First thing I would like to do is upgrade the front static seatbelts which are a pain when you stop to look at junctions etc. I have seen a number of articles on fitting to a convertible but my little Herald is a saloon. I don't want to go through the trim panel and fit to the rear arch if I can help it. The cars existing belt fits just behind the front seat. This however is not perpendicular above the floor mount so unsure if the inertia belt would work. I would be very grateful from the forum for advice on this.
Hopefully have posted this correctly as it's the 1st of many questions I have
Many Thanks
Martin
Welcome. And please avoid putting in that huge amount of blank space under your post, I thought the page had crashed or something. Did your cat sit on the "enter" key?
Anyway, I think, but check, there is space to put an inertial reel at the bottom of the B post, making sure the metal is sound and use reinforcing plates. Then a guide where your existing belt is fitted.
I have inertia belts in my spitfire, and very rarely have an issue with them locking. Beware buying belts with teh "wire" attachment for the receiver, they get in the way, the ones with a short bit of metal are much better and stay in one place.
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A good used od box is about £500, you may find one cheaper
Flywheel, Clutch and odds and ends probably £200. Propshaft, new £250 or used £50?
master cylinder, have a look at your favorite supplier.
Allow £1000ish for parts I reckon.
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5 minutes ago, cliff.b said:
I haven't had any problems with the existing plugs, just thought it might be time to change them and seem to remember some claiming the Bosch plugs performed better than the traditional type.
Not even sure I need to replace the old ones yet. How long do they usually last in our cars if all set up ok?
Err, 20K? More?
I can't remember the last time I replaced plugs. In my spitfire with teh ford engine they were in the engine befor eI rebuikt it, and done 30K more with me. But they are about £40 a set I think.
In my TR7 engine in my toledo, again reused the plugs that did 25K, all still fine. I did get some Bosch plugs to fit, but never got around to it.
Just carry some spares.
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it can make a clattery sort of sound, and it is an issue that accelerates as it gets worse due to lack of lubrication.
I have just recently noticed that new shafts and rockers are being sold that are bushed and toleranced, which seems a good idea. I just wonder if the quality is good? Good condition used rockers on a new shaft would be my preferred choice though.
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7 hours ago, PeteH said:
"We" burned old engine oil back then too, one way to keep garage warm!. I understand that`s a "flogging" offence now?
I am planning on making a waste oil fired heater. Still looking for some 4" steel pipe for teh flue as I have no wish to spend £80 on teh 3m length I need. Apart fron tham, a calor gas bottle and some odds and ends.
Commercial garages CAN buy a licence, but I think about 2k a year per heater! Otgherwise they pay for it to be collected, then transported to Drax and burnt to make electricity to power the garage electric heaters....
I plan on cutting out the middleman.
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16 hours ago, Chris A said:
As it happens my 13/60 is 'up the road' with the local garage having rear brakes checked out - drivers side has started to stick from time to time. I'm waiting for him to get back to me but I have checked out French suppliers ready for any parts needed. Should it be the cylinder I will replace both sides with new plus if the mechanic has any doubt the fixing kits and anything else that might be on its way out. I don't know when/if these parts were changed.
The parts are quite cheap and as it is the brakes, which apparently are quite important 🙄, I will stump up 😉
Avoid new springs for retaining the brake shoes, the little ones with the caps. New ones are more suited to a biro or suchlike, really weak. The old ones are always fine, if grubby.
The main issues seem to be wear or corrosion of the backplates, easily rectified with some emery/a file and rarely a bit of weld.
New cylinders are a good idea, as is using some copper grease to allow all to move sweetly. I usually take the adjuster apart, clean up and regrease, makes life easier and means they won't seize next time you have to adjust them.
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9 minutes ago, micmak said:
Interesting viewpoints, and a little confusing too! My question about additives was from a lead point of view. With only unleaded petrol available now, and taking into account that the car is a 1968 model, built when lead was in the petrol, I’m more concerned about damaging valves, or any other components, rather than performance concerns or fuel economy. I might look at performance improvements later, but for now, I just want to drive the car safely. So with that in mind, do I need any additives just to drive the car without damaging it?
Thanks.
.....Mick.....
(probably) nothing required. I have driven probably 100k on triumph engines without additives or a converted head
The sensible advice is use the car as is, and IF (very unlikely) a problem develops, get the head machined.
I am not really convinced that most additives actually do much, when unleaded fuels first appeared some testing was done, and most didn't work. I can't remember which were the good ones. But since then I expect things have changed.
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Most dusts/fine particles burn beautifully when airbourne. Flour mills exploding was a real issue at one point.
We used to used custard powder as a mild explosive, anything with fine sugar is excellent.
Polyester fillers will burn, but the dust would be potentially explosive.
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I have seen people fit a pair of master cylinders, but again that would require modifications
I doubt you will find much else that is suitable, space is at a premium. The dish in the bulkhead should be easy enough to fit.
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56 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said:
Do you not need an adaptor to fit a spin on if the engine is original?
6 cylinder cars do.
Very early heralds have a bypass filter (I think that is what it is called) which can be converted.
But the vast majority of 4 cylinder cars use a spin on filter as std. However, it is possible to buy an adapter to change to the common 3/4unf filters as used by ford, VW etc etc.
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Start with the PCD/Fitment. Should be 4x95.25
Then have a look here https://www.oponeo.co.uk/blog/wheel-width-and-et-offset-explained#
Best offset for a vitesse? I cant remember! About 16/18mm I think, that is what the late GT6 5 1/2j wheels are
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20 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:
did you have the old experiment at school ball sits in a ring you heat the thing and the linear expansion of the ring lets the ball drop through
and churchill was in paliament Ha !
Pete
Still do that expt, or did when I was teaching. Plus other similar perennial expts.
But I am not certain it is expansion that does the trick. I have only recently had to weld a spanner to a bolt head (a long take of woe!) and the heat released the bolt. But with expansion, it should have been held tighter. The lump of steel it was wound into was large and the localised heat would not have expanded that much, in fact it would probably have gripped tighter.
So I reckon heat just causes a bit of movement between the two parts, releasing the grip. Similar to hitting fastners with a hammer to shock them before attempting to undo them.
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2 minutes ago, johny said:
sorry Clive that last bit has got to be impossible as the bearing shells halves are identical so you cant put two notches together. Reckon its notches both on same side of journal but one towards front of engine and the other towards the back....
Yes, that is what I meant. They are the same side of the journal, not opposite sides. See, it is easy to get confused!
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On this vein, A mate stripped a mini engine. I honed the bores for him, left him to build it up.
He called me a week later. The crank wouldn't turn.
He had randomly fitted the big end and main bearing caps from what I can remember. Took me an hour or so to sort it out.
I am not certian all triumph engines hads the main caps stamped from the factory, most I have rebuilt have been rebuilt before and have a variety of types of ID. From punch marks to file marks and some even have numbers stamped.
But I too am unsure how to interpret Johns comment about opposite. I am certain the notches go next to each other? (as in the same side, almost touching each other)
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I reckon a lot of this electrically operated stuff from bonnets to electric handbrakes are all about "packaging" issues with cable (as in operating cable, not electrical) runs.
Of course, electric handbrakes are a nonsense, not a fan of electric tailgates etc too. But then again I am a bit of a dinosaur.
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Fair bit of tightening is an understatement. A scaffodl pole to extend a breaker bar is not a bad idea. It can help to leave it overnight, and even a bit of heat. Plus a good wack. Be aware it can be rather a surprise when it does release. There is a lot of force stored, so take care.
Halogen conversion on a Vitesse with a dynamo
in Electrical System
Posted
Halogen lights do not use any more current than sealed beams etc, so swapping is no problem.
However, if you are able, teh one thing which makes a MASSIVE improvement to lighting is to fit relays. And having had a light switch "burn out" recently, it means my new switch should last indefinitely as it is only switching some relays.
The other option is to use LED bulbs, which are evn brighter and use a fraction of the electrical power, but proper branded LED bulbs are 10x the price or more than halogen bulbs.