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Mark D

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Everything posted by Mark D

  1. Hi guys, On the beg for more advice from you lovely lot please :0) Was driving the Spitfire yesterday - did about 50 miles in total. At 35 miles, was doing about 50mph when she didn't want to accelerate much more. Literally nothing there - she kind of 'gurgled' a bit - took her down to about 40 - and back up again - didn't want to do it. After a minute or so I was able to open her up again and ran fine for the rest of the journey. I did wonder if she's running a bit rich, and perhaps I need to look at the timing and how well tuned the SU carbs are, but wanted to check in here first if this is an occasional glitch, or something to worry about? She did a 250 mile round trip a few weeks ago and no issues at all. Any advice greatly appreciated as always - thank you :0) Cheers, Mark
  2. That's part of the problem mate - my Mrs is French, so I have to let her 'keep her eye in' with her family and the strange language and food/customs etc over there. This time next year it'll be fine though as they'll lock the gates and the Brits won't be allowed in
  3. Arrrrrggghhh - I do have an excuse - I'll be in France lol Gutted - that looks like an amazing event I'll keep my eyes out for the next one! The fact that you guys run events like this is brilliant - something like that is just what I'd need. I learn from doing as I'm pretty visual learner, so would have been great to be there as someone goes through various steps.
  4. Thanks Pete, thanks Doug - really appreciate you taking the time to reply Will have a look at the jet and thanks for the note about the revs! The Twiddle Day 2 thing sounds seriously cool - just what I need lol - I'm based in the Cotswolds near Cheltenham - I just had a look on the event bit of the site but didn't see anything on there - have you got any details of where and when please? Would love to come to this Thanks again!
  5. Hi guys, another mechanical spitfire-related question to you awesome experts from a complete novice! If anyone can help shed some light for me please, I'd be very grateful :0) I had a problem which I seem to have fixed but not sure how! I did a handful of things, but not sure which would have solved it! Up until today car (1300 MK3) started up perfectly. After I replaced the windscreen washer pump I went to start the car up, and she started okay, but as soon as I took my foot of the accelerator the revs dropped off completely and she'd cut out. Whilst I'm learning, I'm pretty confident that a washer pump isn't going to effect the car like that?!? I thought maybe she was cold, so I ran her for a bit with the revs up, took foot off, and she cut out. One thing I've noticed recently when I start her up though, is I pull the choke out to fire her up, and then as soon as she's started, I have to pop the choke back in straight away and bring the revs up a bit for about 1 minute or so. From there she'll tick over okay, although I can't help think she's ticking over a little high at 1,200 to 1,500 rpm? Other things I did (one of which was the solution) was: 1) nudged the timing spindle on the distributor by about 2 notches (this doesn't make sense to me though as she was working fine about 2 days ago so not sure how it could have changed, but I do understand that this setting can impact how the car runs and starts etc) 2) The plastic 'casing' on the choke cable runs a bit short, so sometime it catches when it goes into the 'pipe/hole' I tweaked that a few times to get it to settle in correctly - but again - I've had this before but doesn't result in the car stalling. 3) I'd recently replaced the coolant (drained/flushed etc) but didn't realise you have to leave the engine running for 15 mins and that whilst it looks like you've filled it up, when you do this, it sucks a lot of coolant into the system, so you need to top it up even more. That said, unless I'm missing something completely obvious, I'm certain that an airlock or something in the radiator wouldn't cause the car to cut out? BUT, still feel I need to ask as it was one of the things I did which resulted in the fix My guess it's something to do with the choke or the timing, but thought I'd ask here Sorry again for such a daft question, but thought I'd ask here, not only to find out what the problem might be, but also if it's an indication of another underlying problem I might need to look at. Many thanks guys Cheers, Mark
  6. Thanks for taking the time to reply Pete and Doug - most appreciated! Definitely have the ceramic part as the coil bolts down on top of it. I think I'm nearly there - going to check over the pointers you've mentioned Pete (poss get a mechanic mate to double check!) and then hopefully I'll be able to take her out again Thanks again guys - really appreciate it
  7. Hi all, First time on here and pretty much a complete novice with cars! Bought a 1970 Triumph Spitfire Mk iii 1300 a few months ago - partly because I've always loved them, and also because I wanted to start learning about classic cars - just didn't think the learning curve would happen so quickly haha Anyhoo - if anyone could please advise me on something I'd be hugely grateful! I'm sitting here with a big pointy hat with the letter 'D' on it when it comes to mechanics, so please excuse me if this situation seems completely daft! The original coil she came with was overheating and I couldn't restart her until it'd cooled right down. Couldn't figure out if she was supposed to have a ballasted or non-ballasted coil, so somewhat irresponsibly bought two - a Lucas DLB105 unballasted (gold), and a Lucas DLB110 (ballasted). So the irresponsible bit was I took a gamble and installed the unballasted one. I'd had problems starting her up previously - often like 10 attempts. When I put in the new coil she started up absolutely beautifully! Chuffed with myself that I'd solved the issue I took her out for a spin - probably about 15 miles or so. Suddenly it felt like the engine was dragging - she wouldn't really accelerate - I dropped her down into 3rd from 4th and it seemed to correct itself. However about 5 minutes later I lost all power. The coil was warm but not roasting hot like the old one. I tried swapping the coils over, installing the ballasted one, but no joy - she wasn't even interested in trying to kick in - so a friendly neighbour towed me home. 2 days later I go out and give her a go turning over - started up beautifully - no problems at all. Didn't drive her though. This was three weeks ago. Went out yesterday and the battery had drained (previous owner had put in an immobiliser system which the local garage said I should remove - not sure if that accelerated the battery draining - I guess so?) Charged up the battery (2 month old one) - put the other new ballasted coil in and again, she started up beautifully. However, now I don't feel particularly confident to take her out for a drive in case the same thing happens and she cuts out So, I guess my questions are: Did I install the wrong coil originally? If so, could the effect have been the complete loss of power that I experienced, and with the new ballasted coil in, do you think the problem might be resolved? I understand that over a long period of time, having the wrong coil in could compromise the points (?) - I'm wondering if it too much power was going through the electrics and it cut out? Apologies for the long post - any advice would be gratefully received - all this gorgeous autumnal weather and I can't go out and play! As much as it's frustrating though - loving the learning curves Many thanks Mark
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