rlubikey

OK, I give up! Why are the backs painted black??? Cheers, Richard

I've used them since the late 80's and always found them to be fine. They don't seem too hot on grading the stuff they strip off cars and storage is just a barn/shed, so going in person to select what you want is probably the best policy. Being local, that's what I've always done. Richard

Roger, the thermostat opens progressively over a narrow temperature range. Anyone know what this is? I'll guess at 5'C. Under normal driving conditions the stat only partly opens - the engine temperature never gets that high because there's not much power for long enough and cooling is ample. It's only when you indulge in really spirited driving, you're stuck in a jam, the ambient's very high or some combination of these (amplified by removing the engine mechanical fan) that the stat fully opens. At this point, if nothing changes, then the engine temperature will probably continue to rise. It only levels off when heat loss equals heat generation inside the engine. So I think that the fan switch should trigger somewhere near the stat fully open temperature because that's an indication that the cooling system needs some help. Yes, I heard about the MG issue. The already weak design (possibly more a quality control issue on the assembly line - have you seen that K-Series video with the chap in the background bashing the head with a mallet to get it to sit flat? Can't find it at the minute.) meant temperature cycling due to the long cooling lines was more likely to blow the gasket. As for your current system, if it copes with Spain and doesn't blow head gaskets then there's not much wrong with it. My Spit has dual XJ40 auxiliary A/C fans (for redundancy - original engine fan removed) and they only turn on for half a minute every 4 or 5-minutes when I'm stuck in our lovely jams! Stay cool everyone! Richard

Hi Roger - if you're referring to the top-mount switch then, if the vehicle is stationary and the thermostat begins to open, first the water already in the radiator is sent back to the engine, then the water coming through the 'stat. If this is insufficient cooling for the engine then the temperature will continue to rise, the 'stat will open more and, at some point, the fan switch will be triggered. Hi Richard - the only thing I would add to the other comments about the switch is to control the fan via a relay. This is because the fan will have an inrush current much higher than its continuous rating and it will kill the switch after a while. Guess how I know this!! Cheers, Richard

Yes, I used to think that it would be better in the lower position. But I've come back to thinking that a top mounted switch is preferred. With a top position, the switch should trigger a few degrees above the thermostat opening temperature. Provided you're moving, there will be plenty of air flow through the rad and, as the thermostat opens, the bottom of the radiator should deliver plenty of cool water back to the engine and the thermostat should find a balance point to maintain a stable temperature. (Thermostats don't snap open at one temperature, they open progressively over a small temperature range.) However, if it can't, either because you're stationary (or nearly so) or because of enthusiastic exercise of the loud pedal, then the temperature will rise past the point where the thermostat is fully open. There is no more cooling available unless conditions change. Somewhere at, or just before this temperature, the fan switch should trigger and the fan will cut in. Exactly where depends on how often you want the fan to come on, versus how stable you want the engine temperature to be. Compare this with a bottom mounted switch. When the thermostat is closed, the water in the rad is bound to be cold, even when stationary. As the engine temperature rises and the thermostat opens, there is going to be a time delay before the hot water hits the switch. I think this means the engine temperature is bound to cycle because of this delay in the feedback. Worse still, the water back to the engine needs to be cool enough at a given flow to absorb the excess heat based on how many horses the engine's recently been producing. So, what temperature switch do you choose? Say, after giving your car a bit of a ragging, you have to stop for a queue or lights or whatever. The engine's ticking over but there's still lots of heat from the cylinders being absorbed by the cooling system and the temperature rises rapidly. But you've set your fan to come on (which it does) and go off at a certain temperature which is a compromise - see above. But the engine's ticking over (low flow) and the fan cuts out even though your engine is crying out for cool water - and lots of it please! I think that you'll get a temperature spike (that damn time delay again) while things slowly sort themselves out. Me? I've got a fan switch in the top *AND* the bottom of the radiator (asked the man when I had it re-cored). The top switch runs things nicely and the bottom is my insurance policy! Cheers, Richard

Any documentation - old MOTs and, in particular, any old tax discs might help with the registration issue. Richard

I have always assumed they should go under one of the crashpad fixing screws - that's where mine are fitted. Richard

Alternatively, the wiper motor may need an overhaul - new brushes and clean the carbon from between the commutators. Someone on the TR Register forum posted a How To, but I can't find it now. Richard

If you're having a gearlever-mounted switch, then wire from the inhibitor switch to the solenoid, and *then* to the gearlever switch and finally to chassis. It's not how Triumph did it, but a short in the gear lever won't release smoke from the wiring Just means you'll be in O/D in 3rd & 4th until you fix the problem. (Of course, a comprehensive fuse box can offer the same protection!) Richard

Electric Power Steering (EPS) in a Spit? What, you mean like this ... As you can see, it's possible. I used a Corsa-C EPS module. I had Picton Sportscars splice the top of the original steering column on to the EPS. NB: this is a safety-critical process and needs to be done professionally unless you know *exactly* what you're doing! You end up with something like this ... I wish I had investigated the MGF EPS as I think the motor might be in a better position to tuck in behind the Spit dash. Yes, you need an electronic "box of tricks" to wake it up. On the simplest level, it needs one stream of pulses to simulate a running engine (they don't want you to flatten the battery - it draws up to 50-Amps!) and another related to speed to set the assistance. All of the EPS modules I've seen are made by the same Japanese company - the only difference is the position of the motor (to fit behind the dash) and, presumably, the firmware so as to give the right assistance characteristics. One thing, as well as adapting the Spitfire's steering bracket to mount it, you need to add a BIG torque arm bolted to e.g. the A-pilar, otherwise it will rip itself off the first time you use it! (Damn near destroyed the kitchen scales when I was characterising the assistance - that's a 1-horsepower electric motor!!!) If you don't want to do it from scratch yourself, or with a professional, there are companies like EZ Power Steering who have done all this work for you. They will be using an off the shelf EPS like the Corsa or MG ones; there's plenty of choice out there - most new cars seem to have them! My Spit is an engine-back 2.5 with the original "quick" rack and the EPS certainly makes the steering weight acceptable at lower speeds, say, below 30mph. I think it also gives a slight "vagueness" or "detachment" to the steering. It's only slight and it's difficult to describe - I don't have a before 'n after comparison as it went in at the same time as the extra cylinders. Hope this helps, Richard

Easiest things first. Assuming there's hot water in the system ... 1) Check the valve lever is moving when you move the control. Bowden cables aren't meant to push and the outer can concertina. 2) The valve can easily become gummed up with goo. You can drill out the rivet to open them - use a small nut & bolt or tap a thread to replace rivet. 3) Reverse flush and reverse flush and (repeat until you get loads of flow. Hope this helps, Richard

Lovely "Liquorice Allsort" polyester capacitors! OK, that first one - the wide red band is actually two reds - so it's red, red, orange, or 2, 2, 3. That's 22 and three noughts, giving 22,000pF (colour stripes and surface-mount capacitor values are givien in picofarads) However, it's more sensible to refer to this value as 22nF or, as on the circuit diagram above, 0.022uF - it's just different ways of saying the same value! The second one is brown, black yellow or 1, 0 followed by 4 noughts (i.e. 5 noughts in total) which gives 100,000pF. As above, it's more usual to say 100nF or 0.1uF. In both cases, the last two bands are black, red. So it looks like the tolerance is 20% (black) and the red means it's 250V (I had to look that one up!). I wondered why the voltage rating was so high. Polyester capacitors just aren't made in very low voltages, but it may also be because that first one is seeing all the spikes on the ignition so the designers chose a robust higher voltage part - and made all the others the same!!! You don't *have* to replace them with polyester, but it would be a good choice for this application. Hope this helps, Richard

Mark, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_color_code#Capacitor_color-coding (or use your favourite search engine to look for similar explanations). Choose a voltage rating in excess of the highest voltage it will ever see - I would choose double or more as this will make the component 10-times more reliable! Iain, the chip is a Texas custom job for Smiths. I searched loads of data books and never found it! I'm trying to remember the name of the TSSC Model Officer (can't remember the model either) who found the part, drew the diagram *AND* the component to change to convert the number of cylinders. Richard PS: Simon, capacitor values used to be marked with colours too. Mark, give us a picture of the component/circuit board if you need help identifying it.

I think all 1500 Spits had voltage-driven tachos. Iain, your diagram is for a current-driven one (has a feed *and* return to points). Here's a voltage tacho. Ignore the extra resistor (in red) which is for converting from 4-cyl to 8-cyl. Richard

Nice one guys, thank you. And yes, that is a pretty long-term test! Richard

... for *interior* furniture. Presumably not UV stable or ... ? Let us know how you get on Roger. Richard

Nice find Colin. Can't comment on the quality, but my Nearest and Dearest has replicas of antique furniture fittings - missing drawer handles; that sort of thing - cast in brass by specialist companies. She sends an original and they cast copies to replace the missing fitting. She thinks the price (for such a large piece) isn't far from the mark - and that doesn't take into account the chroming process. As you say, should last longer than Mazak. Richard

Hi Doug, it's the Spitfire "shelf" you chop out to move the engine back. I sometimes take it to shows so people can see what's missing! Cheers, Richard

Well, yes. But it's the same as my DVD index, so nothing after 2009. And I still can't find John Thomason's "Economy Spitfire" article. Can you? I'll give you a clue, it's Courier number 216. Another clue? June '98. Page 8. In fact everything in June '98 seems to have fallen through the net. As has the following month. And indeed, now that I look, December 2005 onwards. Of course these can't be corrected on the DVD. But they could be on-line! What a great resource that would be - the whole Courier index on-line, right up to the present day, with corrections that idiots like me have found. Peace and love, peace & love, Richard

Yes, a parchment magazine does have a certain tactile value. Mind you, I was just able to look up something from Club Triumph's archive and find what I wanted in a few seconds rather than working my way through the magazine box in the loft - *and* getting diverted by several other articles on the way! Which reminds me; it would be really great to have a searchable complete index of The Courier on-line so I could locate the particular magazine I wanted *quickly*. In the magazine box for recent editions and on the DVDs (or parchment magazine) pre-2010. In a public part of the web site, it would also get Google hits and show non-members what a great magazine it is. You could also correct mistakes & omissions on the DVD index like John Thomason's "Economy Spitfire" article which took me absolutely ages to track down. Cheers, Richard

Surely John's point is that members can opt out if they wish and "country bumpkins" (and those in certain parts of London and other urban areas) with slow internet speeds, and those who simply prefer the parchment (sorry) paper copy can continue to receive their mag by post. Richard

Sorry Doug - didn't see this before now. The point of the resistance wire is that the same amount of heat is spread out all along the wire. So there's hardly any heat in any one place - find it at the coil end (engine running) and see if it's even warm! This means that it's a relatively low-stressed component and therefore fairly reliable. Compare this with a power resistor which would dissipate all the heat in one smallish component - possibly bolted to the bulkhead to try and get rid of it. Big(ger) temperature rise generally means less reliable. The other advantage for the manufacturer is there's only one component (the wire) instead of 2 (plus connectors, plus mounting) so it's cheaper. Having said that, my Dolly ignition failed - wire high impedance - fortunately at one end so I just shortened it a couple of inches. Cheers, Richard

That's right. hydrochloric acid is agressive stuff - it's the chlorine - and even the vapour will corode metal nearby, making fascinating "Mould" growths on aluminium as it destroys it. Personally, I'll stick to phosphoric and leave hydrochloric for others to clean their patios! Richard

One strap to diff and another to gearbox bell - makes all the difference. Richard

A dehumidifier!!! Richard