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rlubikey

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Everything posted by rlubikey

  1. Colin, I have the whole arm, donated by Jim on the Standard forum. I've sent you a private message. Cheers, Richard
  2. Hi Colin. The Standard 8's & 10's were only ever fitted with drums. However, as the vertical links are (nearly) the same as early drum brake Heralds, they can benefit from the same disc upgrade. But if you try to fit the later Triumph vertical link with integrated caliper mounting arms the geometry is wrong for the Standard suspension. Without trawling through the forum, I feel sure type 12 or 14 calipers could be fitted, same as the Herald. They've got a complete hinge and arm over at the Standard spares shop - Clutch Operating Arm Late 8, 10 and derivatives - but at £72 I wonder if that's what you were thinking of? Another place to try is Standard 8 & 10 Spares Ltd. I can't see it on the web site but I believe it's just a one-man-band so might be worth asking? Meanwhile, I've asked on the Standard forum if anyone has one. I'll let you know if something comes up. It's a much smaller club so may take a while for a response. Cheers, Richard
  3. Good point! The 8 & 10 had drums all round. I don't know the size but I'd put money on the front drums being the same size as 948cc Heralds. The front vertical links are very similar to the Herald family, but from what I've read on the Standard forum they're not quite the same. Owners who have simply swapped report the steering geometry isn't correct. If you want to upgrade to front discs it seems the best option is to track down a set of the early disc brackets. Apparently these bolt straight on and you can do the rest of the conversion in a similar manner to a Herald disc conversion. Cheers, Richard
  4. Hi Eric. Your 8 will have left the factory with the original incarnation of the Standard-Triumph "Small Car" engine, 803cc producing a mighty 26 or 30bhp (think the second figure might be the later high compression engines) while the 10 had the 948cc with 33 or 37bhp on tap. Your 1147 engine will have 35 to 51bhp, (or 67bhp in twin carb) depending on spec. (compression, cam, valves & carbs). (All figures from Graham Robson's Herald & Vitesse Complete Story pp.15) I don't have a Standard 8 or 10 but I've gleaned a certain amount of info over at the the Standard motor Club forum, plus my Atlas has the same gearbox as yours. I believe I'm right in saying that you've got a 6-port head and this will restrict your choice of carb. You'll have to stick with a downdraft carb because the rear carb of the twin sidedraft conversion will interfere with your clutch m/c - or so I remember reading on the Standard forum. This probably rules out the highest power figures above (Spitfire with twin carb) so maybe 51bhp max? If you changed to a bigger engine with an 8-port head, the so-called "log" single carb manifold may work quite nicely and get really big power gains compared to the original 8 or 10 engine. As for your the gearbox, I think you get quite a wide set of ratios which might perhaps be best for such a low-power engine, but how you like it may depend on your driving style. The only thing you get with the later gearsets is syncromesh on first and bearings on the layshaft, but you may loose the spread of gears. A nice addition would be overdrive, but the Standard tailhousing is suspended from an eye, rather than supported by a mount from a bridge below. Overdrive tailhousings were made but are comparatively rare. I have seen pictures of a fabricated example - 8n10 Spares perhaps? Fitting a later overdrive setup would involve some serious hacking around to incorporate the later Triumph arrangement. I think I'm right in saying it's easy to just change the tailhousing if you want to swap in your newer box, but beware of knackered gears on second-hand small car boxes - it really is a lottery these days! You can put your "pudding stirrer" top cover on a newer 3-rail box but you have to machine a little fillet off something adjacent - the bellhousing or ... I forget what. Changing the diff ratio is another easy modification to keep your sanity going down the motorway, as has been mentioned. But to what ratio? In my Atlas I found that it would pull away just fine in second gear so, knowing the gearbox ratios and stock diff, I could deduce what ratio would work putting first gear where second used to be (in terms of ratios I mean). I hope this is of some help. If you haven't already done so, sign up on the Standard forum and hunt around for info. Maybe see you over there! Cheers, Richard
  5. Hi Mint. I think that was Alicool. I'm afraid they've stopped trading. You can see the web site via archive.org here - Alicool.co.uk. Look down at the bottom for the Spitfire. No pictures I'm afraid - I thought I had saved an image on my PC but unfortunately not. They said they would do in-tank fuel injection pumps which interested me, so I'm really sad they've gone. Cheers, Richard
  6. Had to replace the kitchen light - a 60-year old GE (General Electric) strip light originally from my parents house and which I had found would only accept the big old T12 tubes. I couldn't find how much light these old tubes put out so guessed and bought an LED strip. The kitchen was DAZZLINGLY bright so I had to hack the driver circuit to wind down the power to the LEDs. The old fitting had power to the centre of the fitting. The new one had the driver circuit at one end and NINE inches of mains cable - how mean is that! Had to solder in a new cable from the circuit board to run to the centre of the luminaire so it could be mounted in the same place on the ceiling. Actually, this seems to be an increasing problem with cheap far-east electrical stuff. I bought an LED security light, sealed with just 12" or 14" of cable coming out. Impossible to open up as the glued in widow is the only access point. You are forced to buy a sealed junction box to mount on the wall nearby instead of a cable neatly running all the way into the loft. All the ones I've seen have the LEDs soldered onto a flexible PCB strip. They are connected in series which means if one should fail short circuit, you get the dark spot. I would have thought that, unless they are specifically designed that way (like old fashioned Xmas tree light bulbs), it's more likely they will fail open circuit and the whole strip is extinguished. That's what our bathroom light was occasionally doing. I assumed it was a dry joint (a poorly made or cracked solder joint) but in the end it was the driver module in the loft. Do they sell replacement modules? Do they hell! Had to match the characteristics and buy a driver module for a different application. Modern technology? Don't get me started on modern technology! Bring back the days when you used to get circuit diagrams in Philips and other Hi-Fi. Cheers, Richard PS: We fitted high CRI (Colour Rendition Index) striplight tubes in my wife's furniture restoration business 15 or 20 years ago. It was a cold light but made such a difference when matching the colour of new wood to old, varnish, etc. Can you buy high CRI LEDs??? They may exist but I've never seen them yet. She's just retired so it's no longer my problem!
  7. Yes. Indeed TR2 & TR3 (drums front & rear) and later TR3 & TR4 (rear only) studs were indeed studs - if it's acceptable to call it that when there's a shoulder in the middle. See Rimmer's. Once inserted, the thread was centre-punched to stop it unscrewing. Cheers, Richard
  8. Yes. Also take care the top-most parts don't have upward facing sharp edges. Mine did and now my pristine "Womble's Nose" gear stick boot is cut Basically, re-use all the original parts you can - only use the things from the service kit you absolutely have to. Good luck, Richard
  9. It does look too low to me. There's your reverse stop plate. Can you lift the gear stick up? And if you can, does the reverse stop pin meet the plate? I would say you're missing a spring or circlip or things are in the wrong order inside the stick bush assembly. Cheers, Richard
  10. Nothing with silicone in if you're going to do any paintwork in the next decade? Cheers, Richard
  11. I love my overdrive switch on the gear knob!!! Yes, don't be tempted to use two core 3A mains cable like a previous owner of mine did. Household cable isn't rated at a high enough temperature for vehicle use and mine melted on a hot summer afternoon back in the noughties! I used two vehicle rated single core cables but they abraded through eventually. I added a piece of glass-fibre reinforced silicone sleeve from a slow cooker or iron or something else that gets hot. It was slender enough to go through the gear stick but wide enough for the two cables and it's worked perfectly for well over a decade. Another failure is the connectors inside the gear knob which I think have no insulation. I got some heatshrink tube to cover each one completely, then slit down the side just where the switch contact fits in - much more confidence inspiring. Martin, I think you must be lucky about your short circuit which must be from wire to wire (overdrive on in 3rd & 4th), instead of from wire to gear stick - hence chassis - which blows the fuse. I think all you loose is your reversing light. Do your symptoms match what I've described? Cheers, Richard
  12. For navigation I still use maps. No batteries to run down, no annoying voices to choose. Most maps these days are metric and have kilometre squares, or multiples thereof. But I still think in miles. Back in the 90's my cycling friends and I noticed that if you measure a distance on a map "as the crow flies" and multiply by 1.5, that's a pretty good estimate of the actual distance by road - or footpath, depending on your mode of transport. As a mile is 1.6-and-a-bit kilometres, I merely count the km lines (or estimate on the diagonal) and that's the approximate number of miles for my journey** Cheers, Richard ** Assuming the route doesn't contain a convenient Roman Road from A to B!
  13. On mine the white plastic roller was just chewed up so I bought a complete catch at last year's SEM autojumble. Problem solved. Cheers, Richard
  14. My old Spit was the same body and trim combo as yours - Pageant blue with beige Houndstooth seats, plus beige door cards and black carpets - which was original as per Heritage certificate. However, yours looks in much nicer condition than mine was, even in 1987! Cheers, Richard
  15. Julian, looking at the pictures on the Rimmers site there seem to be many detail differences. Cheers, Richard
  16. Brazing sounds like the pukka way to fix these small holes. I use the quick and dirty method: silicone RTV sealant and, if it's bigger than a pin prick, a Jubilee clip or even a baked been can for larger holes. RTV silicone adhesive - AKA "bath sealant" - is good for surprisingly high temperatures, something like 200' to 400'C. Work it into the hole and, if it's larger, cover it with the clip (and can if necessary) which will take the back-pressure from the exhaust gas. I've been patching my modern's exhaust this way for years and MOTs are no problem. Cheers, Richard
  17. Springs can sag over time, and the rubber buttons can squash or even fall out. But buying a new spring is a lottery - they will all differ a bit compared to the factory originals! There are 8 buttons I think - 4 each side and their effect on raising the car is additive (each one you swap or add, adds a bit more height to the car) plus there's a multiplying effect - the tip of the spring moves further than the leaf in the vicinity of the button you change. There was a thread about leaf buttons here, and Cliff.B added some Polyurethane buttons but I don't know which manufacturer's these were. The buttons seem quite thick to me - thicker than the rubber buttons - so they may have had a significant effect. Cliff.B says about 1/2" or maybe more. The alternative mentioned is air-assist shock absorbers. I have fitted the Monroe Max-Air MA785 which are intended for Corvettes (the car, not the ships) and certainly do the job. There's a thin pipe from each one, a joining tee (so they share the same pressure) and a Schrader valve you mount somewhere convenient (e.g. the boot) where you pump up the shocks to raise the back of the car by the desired amount. Sadly, one of my Monroes failed after a few years so I've converted back to bog standard. There is another company makes the same sort of shock - Gabriel Hijackers and you need part number 49304 for Spit rear. If you go down this route, note that you keep the bush from one end of your old shocks to replace the one that comes in the shock which fits the Corvette but not the Spitfire. I think that's it for now. Let us know what you decide to do and how you get on. Cheers, Richard PS: Cliff.B's PU buttons
  18. The Gold engines for the Standard 8 and 10 were the "High Efficiency" types with an increased compression ratio - hence the "HE" engine suffix. My Spitfire's Gold Seal reconditioned engine was gold painted, back in about 1989. As you say, Triumph was long gone but still supported by BL and the dealers. I say "supported", but my re-con engine was a pile of poo (drank oil at 1pt per 100 miles) and the replacement had another fault - probably valve related. When did Gold Seal name for recons start - anyone know? Cheers, Richard
  19. I've just found five of those bolts same as Michael in my "Random Nuts & Bolts Off 1977 & '79 Spitfires" box. You're right Doug (never doubted you!) they're bigger than the seat runner bolts. All five bolts have the captive spring washer and are un-painted with a dull silver plate or passivated finish. I feel sure they're off a Spit but no idea where. The mystery deepens! Cheers, Richard
  20. Or the seats? You say 5/16 " unf x 1. 5/16" in your other thread Michael - I don't know off hand if that's the seat runner to floor bolt size. Those bolts have the plain section nose to "feel" their way through the carpet to the weld-in nut. Don't know about the helical cut. Perhaps to clear carpet fabric as it threads in? Cheers, Richard
  21. Wagger, the jaw blades of my new (cheap - about £20 in the bike shop) are straight, but meet at the tip (i.e. farthest from the hinge) first as they close, so the wire doesn't try and pop out when you crop it. My older (discontinued) Park Tool CN2 (just dug it out of the tool box) has curved jaws a mere 3mm long - like a "C" with a hinge half way - so they also meet first farthest from the hinge. Presumably this may happen when different grades of stainless are in contact, right? The housings are almost always lined with e.g. PTFE, so this is unlikely to happen where the friction would matter. Bike cables are nearly always stainless these days so they don't rust when left in damp sheds etc. Spokes are also stainless nowadays and these seem to be strong enough for the job. Cheers, Richard PS: Here's a picture of the cheap cutters with jaws open.
  22. Bike shops have these cutters. I have the Park Tool cable cutter which makes a nice clean cut on the inner cable but the jaws are a bit small to easily cut the spiral outer of the Bowden. The one on their web site looks different to mine which is 20 years old or more. Maybe they've improved the jaw size? I've recently bought another one labelled "Torque" (with an open-ended spanner emerging from the "e") which seems to be a brand of Oxford bike products. This cutter also makes clean cuts like the Park Tool but the jaws are much bigger (about 6mm or 1/4") so it's easier to cut the outer as well. I've only had it for a year or two and done several cuts, but it shows no sign of wear. Here it is on Oxford's web site, and I would think you should find it in many local bike shops. I see that on, in my view, cycling's equivalent of Canleys/Moss/Wittor/etc. that there are three brands of cutters made to the same design as the Oxford one! Cheers, Richard
  23. A brilliant bit of bodging adapting Colin. And I've now found them on Ebay, thank you. I'm thinking of a couple of extra gauges on my Atlas (when I finally finish the restoration) and an analogue tacho in 2" format was the problem. Cheers, Richard
  24. Yes, the Mk4 and 1500 Spit were all 4.5J with the so called "oval hole" pattern, and the same wheel was fitted to the GT6 Mk3 too. Did I say all? All except the very last 1500 Spits (1yr or 18 months of production) got 5J oval hole pattern. Dunlop, who made these wheels for Triumph, made a 5.5J wheel for the after-market. I've heard people mention Formula Ford, but they fit Spits and GT6s just fine. These, like the 5J, are visually identical to the standard 4.5J wheel. You may get some rubbing on the front arches with wider tyres (175 and 185), but you can roll the lip of the arch to overcome this. Do I recall someone saying that there may be a problem with wider tyres rubbing on the inner arch at the rear on short shaft cars - that's Mk4 Spits and the GT6s. Can anyone throw any light that? Beware! There is another oval hole 5J wheel made by Dunlop which has completely the wrong offset for our cars. I thought I was getting a bargain at last year's SEM, but it was one of these Cheers, Richard
  25. Pete, years ago a group of people over on the Club Triumph forum tested several different manufacturer's oil filters and decided that the Mann filters had the best non return valve. Not all the Mann's have them, but others have not one but two non-return valves and these were considered the best. Good choice Ian. That is one of the double non-return types. As for my choice of very short filter, an engine-back 6-pot Spit has very little room to squeeze the oil filter below horizontal between the pressure relief valve and the chassis. The W77 juuuuust fits. Cheers, Richard
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