ShaunW

Do you know where you can get just the midsection? I've got a love/hate relationship with my loud exhaust. I'd probably love it more if the g-force was proportional to the dB level.

That explains it.

Thanks Pete. Yes it sounds like the exhaust, it's only supported at the manifold and at the rear so I'll have to rig up some sort of mounting midway, and make sure the fuel and brake pipes have a few extra P-clips while I'm under there.

...what's that gauge on the left? Water temp and.....?

Welcome Frank, so now you've got two babies eh. I know you don't want to get too involved with tools etc but the small list Peter posted would easily fit in a shoebox and live in the boot. I'm sure you're already finding that most things are fairly basic and it's a shame to have to book it in somewhere everytime you have a minor niggle....and believe me there'll be lots of those. On a similar topic I understand why you want to go for new wheels and bits and bobs, everyone has that first few weeks when they feel they have to spray their scent on a new motor like on old tom cat. But as I said above, things go wrong, and go wrong often. So if you're planning to send her to the garage everytime, I'd suggest holding on to that budget for a while. I'm not being a little black rain cloud, she looks nice and shiny and the interior is good (small shame they didn't use one piece of veneer when whoever re-did the dash). But, all sorts might be lurking underneath, as one poster has already said, under the bonnet doesn't look that great, ditto the front shocks and springs. I'd reserve judgement for now about whether some of the other oily bits might need some attention. Hopefully not but I don't want you to become disappointed when these things inevitably crop up. Have fun in the sun Frank, having no space for a baby seat is a big BIG plus.

I'm just fitting the Park Lane foams and covers and I must say they're excellent. Do remember though to keep the hardboard/clips that live in the inside pockets of the old seat back covers. You can tell from that that I didn't and the replacements don't include them. Rubber supports were perished and I didn't like the price of replacements so I tried 35mm jute webbing and it's worked a treat. Sewn at both ends, zig zagged for a bit of give, moves enough to access the slot in the foam. 5m per seat FYI and about £1/m. I don't even feel like it's a compromise. Now the sun is out seats have become a priority. Glad I got them ordered early because he's always busy. They arrived exactly to the day that I was promised when I I ordered them about 8 weeks ago.

I thought I'd wrap this one up for anyone who looks through it in the future. I think I left things about 6 months ago at the stage where I'd installed the missing pump cam. That moment when I drove up the road and hit the switch was a nervy one but.... IT WORKED ? The consequences of it not working were a horrible dark cloud that's now blown away. And I have to say it worked really well, responsive, stayed in the right mode, just did what it says on the tin. Thank you thank you thank you for the advice that got me to this point. Brilliant. Shame I've got a new horrible rattle from somewhere under the car that I never had before, but that seems like a nice little job after the OD issues. ?

Presumably that would show up on a gauge somewhere. I

Why on earth would anyone want a rugby shirt, what's next, swimming trunks? Actually 'no longer stocked' answers my question.

It's a "tunnel cover" , not a "tunnel" isn't it? The other clue is that a leather tunnel would be pretty pointless, all floppy and hidden by your carpet. My rule of thumb is that if they can't be bothered to do a description then I can't be bothered to give them my business. Don't always assume cheap means not leather, leather is as cheap as chips these days, probably cheaper than good quality vinyl. Same in the fur trade with people buying cheap to be 'kind' and finding out it's real.

My tyre guy did that too on my son's car. I love it when a garage is even fussier than I am. Restores your faith a bit.

I'm not sure how I feel about it myself but I'm always a bit surprised when people want to do mods like making holes in roofs, that there isn't a contingent that frown upon it citing originality as being important. In fact I'm (pleasantly?) suprised at the lack of avid purists per se and sympathic modification seems to be quite the norm. I guess it's a fine line and could well be a topic all of its own.

You need a Remington Fuzzaway. Or the modern day equivalent the JML Bobble Off...about 6 quid.

Don't forget a smoke alarm. You can make it easy to remove and take outside if you've got any jobs it doesn't like. And/or a heat alarm.

Cheers Doug. I'll try and find it. Edit... For anyone else who's interested.... http://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/1188-power-steering-on-a-spitfire-is-it-possible/?tab=comments#comment-9775 D'oh. I just found the link above in this thread.

It's easier to take a hacksaw to a job than a bunch of spanners I suppose. If you'd been blowing your Klaxon early on a Sunday morning I think you need look no further than your neighbour

The guy passed it over his hand. How's that possible?

One question. Why? And what keeps the other side down?

Power steering eh..... That sounds interesting. Any idea where I can read up on it?

As you can get an MOT for under 30 quid, it seems like a small price to pay for being able to (smugly) produce it if your insurance company tries to pull a fast one.

Despite the photo it says 1 available. They might find it difficult to find a buyer who already has three of them.

It doesn't make it run cooler, in fact it's capable of running hotter. It does however run at a reduced pressure.

I understand the point you are making but if they're looked after they don't generally need much attention until they've done 300k miles plus, often many many more. Even then it's perfectly possible to reline and rebuild them just like any other engine. The computer can't disguise what your ears are telling you and the diagnostics give you plenty of warning about what's on the way out before it turns into a drama. I think to generalise and say that modern engines are inferior does a great diservice to the engineers and materials scientists we have today and the superior design aids they have at their disposal. Where I will agree that they're a pain, is the number of components that aren't easy to repair or have to be replaced because the internals aren't available from the parts bin. I'd be interested to know what the highest verifiable mileage is for a Triumph engine that hasn't had major work done. Or the highest even if it's had work. I suppose there comes a time when the work has been so extensive it's only cosmetically the same engine.

There speaks a man who's don't plenty of appologising. I lost my dad a couple of years ago but he'd been ill for so long it was a classic case of being a happy release. You'll go through the full range of emotions ...but that's a healthy thing to do.

Thanks everyone. Very kind. Things are going slowly but in the right direction. The setbacks are the worst thing and we could do with some news. Nurses are the usual combination of angels and dragons but it would be heck of a lot worse in most other countries. Small mercies eh. I realise you don't know us from Adam and visa versa too I suppose. But I'll be frank and say I'm a bit of a loner and that suits me 99.9% of the time. But it's been a great help telling someone/anyone when I get home to an empty house at the end of another very long day. You're all very kind and I hope I haven't brought the generally cheerful mood down too much.