rlubikey

Well Pete, we are about 0.9% of the world's population! Cheers, Richard

Not if it's aluminium, surely? Check it with a magnet to be certain. Cheers, Richard

Taggart65, I can confirm this. I fitted the Triumphtune system back in 1988. "It has a sporty note but not too loud" said the catalogue. Not too loud my arse! On long journeys I had to use earplugs. I was soooo relieved when I found someone who wanted to swap his standard GT6 system for my wheelbarrow. My Spit turned into a refined tenor where previously it had been punk rock. (Do I need to say how much I hate punk?) My advice is, get along to your local group and see what people have got and ask LISTEN to them. Better still take you for a spin. My rant about too loud exhausts and the rubbish companies spout just to sell their crap is over. Oh, except to say that my guess is you probably won't make as much power increase as they say you will. Cheers, Richard PS: If you DO get a loud exhaust, I hope you remain on good terms with your neighbours! PPS: Rant REALLY over.

If you've never used it before, you only need the merest smear. (It may be just a smear to you mate ...) Too much and you get worse heat transfer. Also, it looks like bird poo - and it's difficult to wash of your fingers. You've been warned! Cheers, Richard

Well, Spitfires, TR7s and Dolomites were still in production when the TSSC was formed, and I was taking my old blue 1981 Spitfire to classic shows in 1988. It would have fallen foul of Colin's pre-1980 rule. I think classic cars are like music and fashion: you get to a certain age then (almost) everything after that is modern rubbish. Grumpy old git? Me? Cheers, Richard

Did that come out quite right???

It will almost certainly have pre-ethanol seals and o-rings. My money's on degraded butyl rubber due to ethanol in modern petrol.

Check the injectors are all working. On tickover, feel the pipes to each injector in turn. You should feel a pulse which should be the same in each pipe. If not, one or more injector pipes may need bleeding to remove any air that's gathered inside. As John says, gummed up injectors will give sub-optimal spray pattern. Be careful about checking this as removing injectors from the manifold one at a time means spaying petrol around a (potentially) hot engine bay. The revs will rise as you remove each injector as you're letting air into the manifold, but will return to normal when replaced. Then you do the next one in sequence. The metering unit works on a vacuum, so if your valve clearances aren't correct this will throw the mixture out of the window. Any manifold leaks, vacuum tube leak, or metering unit diaphragm leak will also upset the mixture as Johny points out. A simple test of the pipe and diaphragm is, with the engine NOT running, disconnect the vacuum tube at the manifold end and suck air out of the end of the tube, then cover the end with your tongue. Does the tube and metering unit hold the vacuum for at least a few seconds? If yes then that's probably not the problem. Pulling the choke out *just a little bit* when you hit the flat spot is a good tip, and will suggest the mixture is weak for one of the above reasons - or something else! That's all I can think of at the moment, except to say that the Lucas PI system is generally reliable, so don't discount the problem lying elsewhere. It could easily be the ignition - i.e. coil, points, leads, plugs, etc. Good luck and let us know how you're getting on. Cheers, Richard

I imagine it boils down to two things:- 1) You can load up a Herald far more than a Spit. Positive camber allows for a driver plus four passengers, and a boot full of luggage. 2) Spits are expected to be driven more "enthusiastically" than Heralds. Negative camber gives better handling at the expense of load capacity. The springs a different to give these characteristics. Does that sound about right? Cheers, Richard

I think I'm right in saying that all the after-market alloy rocker cover caps have a completely different bayonet fitting to the original steel ones. Cheers, Richard

This is one of those great "what if's". What if Triumph had thought ahead about putting the big six in the Herald right from the beginning? The Vitesse and GT6 wouldn't have had the engine sticking out at the front. The big saloon gearbox would have fitted between the rails. Some other solution for the heater. Lots of head scratching there, but if planned from the start the chassis at least would have been the right shape and it would have all slotted in just snugly. Dave Picton managed to do engine back 6-cylinder Spits with a big saloon box (without overdrive) so I think Steve's right about it being possible with a normal Vitesse - just minor mods like you'd taken a speed hump too fast! Cheers, Richard

Quite so! The "Small Car" (SC) gearbox was designed at the same time as the SC engine to go in the 1953 Standard 8. The engine at that time was 803cc and made 26hp. Of course the capacity and power soon went up with following models, especially after the re-branding of Standard to Triumph. The early boxes were aluminium and had a sleeve bearing laygear with a scroll in the shaft to circulate oil. Later boxes had laygear bearings and went to cast iron to minimise flex and perhaps other improvements too. But as you say, the overall dimensions limit what you can do and with a 1500 producing nearly 3x and GT6/Vitesse 4x the power, no wonder the boxes don't last. Of course, our cars were only intended to have a 10 year life. But like Victorian engineering, some last much longer with love and attention. Forth Bridge anyone? Cheers, Richard

W77 also standard fitment on 1990's FIAT Cinquecento and various 1960's~90's Renaults. So your GT6 may feel slower with the new filter. Cheers, Richard

Martin, mine is a so-called "engine back" 6-cylinder Spitfire conversion. The engine is not only about 7" further back than a GT6, but also about 1 1/2" lower (so no hump in the bonnet). This means that the brake union isn't a problem for the oil filter, but the chassis is even closer. The W77 juuuuust fits between the oil pressure relief valve and the chassis at (from memory) the 8 o'clock position. Hope this helps. Richard

Yes, I use the W77 filter with my spin-on adaptor. I get oil pressure, but no extra horses. But then it goes and contradicts itself in para 13 by saying it probably won't be straight down. In any case, I think the instructions were written by someone looking at a TR6. Cheers, Richard