rlubikey

The steering on our cars is somewhat heavier than moderns, which almost universally have PAS these days. Wider tyres make the steering a little heavier still. The problem comes when combining 6-cylinders and the Spitfire so-called "quick" rack. Then, if you're a complete weed like me, don't be surprised to find that you DO desire PAS! Cheers, Richard

Iain, they do state that PRO GEAR 80W-140 (Full Syn.) is "Compatibility with copper alloy components" (under "benefits" tab) - i.e. yellow metals. Some manufacturers do have similar statements, without which I would not risk using a GL5. Cheers, Richard

One of my Monroes on the back of the Spit died after not many years (2? 3?) - these are MA785, the air-adjustable height ones which I got from the USA - very disappointed. Since then I heard somebody say that Monroe quality had gone to pot recently. Anyone care to confirm or deny that? Cheers, Richard

Thanks Guys. Yes Doug and Rob, I think the GT6/Spit/Recline/Non-Recline bases are identical - on the later marks at least. Sorry, no progress on seats today despite best intentions. Tomorrow's out too. More photos/progress on Friday maybe? So, no one makes moulded seat base foams then, like Triumph originals??? Cheers, Richard

Clive, I was thinking of contacting Park Lane, but knowing his reputation amongst TSSC folk, I wanted to gather opinions here first. Nigel, yes I've got the cardboard pieces to go between the foam and basket. I should have taken a photo with that in place, but basically it covers the central area and the right hand side of the RH foam. It is where there is no cardboard that I've had to trim the foam. As you say, Colin and Rob, you can trim something that's too big. Thanks everyone. Keep those comments coming. Cheers, Richard

I've started re-covering the seats of my Spit, a job I've been dreading for some time! I've got the covers courtesy of the club shop and the foams from Park Lane Classics. I decided to start with the base (squab???) partly because it comes out without removing the rest of the seat, and partly because long journeys were giving me a sciatica-like pain. On stripping down the driver's (RH) base, I'm getting more and more concerned that the under-side of the new foam is not as per original. This might not matter for many installations as the foam would just press into the basket if the shape isn't exactly right. But I want to add the hessian to the foam bottoms just like Triumph did, to stop the wire basket from cutting in to the foam over time. Trial fitting the basket to the new foam leads me to believe that the foam shape is not as per original. There are several places where the originals are chamfered and the new ones are not. In other places the level is not the same. I believe these have been done to simplify the manufacturing process, making the cuts simpler and minimising the different stock foam thicknesses. Take a look at these photos where I have hatched the areas where I have cut the RH seat base foam to make it more like the original. Have I made a massive mistake, or will adding the hessian make these bases top hole? Does anyone do a fully moulded seat base foam, or at least a better copy of the originals? Park Lane and Newton Commercial base foams look similar, if not identical. Does anyone else make seat foams, not simply re-sell Newton's or Park Lane's? All comments, advice, criticism, hilarity, etc. gratefully accepted. Thanks, Richard

Pete, the "data streams" for the Corsa EPS are in fact dumb signals - there's no intelligence other than the frequency of the signals. One can be anything in a wide range as it just indicates the engine's running. The other is road speed and sets the amount of assistance. Clive, I was going to add speed assistance to mine (Spit 6 c/w "quick" Spit rack) but I found it works well on minimum assist for parking & driving and then laziness took over! Cheers, Richard

Thank you for posting that information about Concentric Clutch Release, or Concentric Slave Cylinder (CSC) installations Peter & Clive. I'm now watching this thread with interest as I'd quite like to do something like that on my Spit. Cheers, Richard

I believe I'm right in saying (but please contradict me if you know better!) that you should never use a wet lubricant on locks. This is because the lube combines with the dust and swarf accumulated over the decades to form a grinding paste which gums up inside the mechanism. Traditionally, graphite powder was used, because of its dry lubricating properties. More recently, people seem to recommend "Micronised Teflon" sprays. This is PTFE dust in a solvent and I've had great success with all the locks around the house. The garage door is better than it's been in years. Some padlocks which had been given 3-in-1 (spawn of the Devil) came back to life as if by magic. And the Spit boot lock is smooth again - haven't tried the ignition though, but I expect it would be the same. The solvent carries the PTFE into the lock, and my guess is that it also washes out all the contamination that's built up. I used this stuff, but several people make the same sort of thing. Do make sure it's a dry lubricant, not a wet lube with PTFE added. Cheers, Richard PS: The other thing about wet lubes in locks, is that you get an oily key in your pocket!

Andrew, I take it it's not possible to remove the blades and reverse them, changing the fan to a blower (swap polarity as well)? If you can then you can fit revotec to the front and retain your engine fan. Cheers, Richard

My "new" Lucas alternator - a 60A jobbie bought from a well known and highly respected vendor - failed after 18 months or so. It sounded like dry bearings but when it stopped charging I knew it was electrics. My local place, Burghfield Starter & Alternator diagnosed the fault and replaced the diode pack. He showed me the old one and how the central pillar hadn't been tightened correctly, allowing the diode legs to move and vibrate leading to failure. I think alternators are like brake cylinders - the new pattern parts are often rubbish and if you can't get an original (even second-hand) then you'll be sending the new part to be reconditioned before very long. At least then you know it's been seen by a professional here in the UK! Cheers, Richard

155/80R13 will have near as damn the same rolling radius as the 175/70R13 which you have now. Years ago 155/80R13 was known as simply 155R13 because lower profiles (lower than 80 - which was/is the standard for radials) hadn't been invented yet! Cheers, Richard

It's probably further away from you than Bryan & Son (who sound excellent!) but there is also Berkshire Radiators here in Caversham who I have used. The old chap retired, his son took over but found car alarms more interesting, so dad resumed there! He's done several radiators and a cabin heater for me over the years. I hope he's still in business, but for how much longer? Cheers, Richard

Also, look for David Picton's green spitfire - a Mk2 I think. He did hidden hinges on that, as well as all the other mods - 6-cylinders, Lucas PI, etc. I posted on that some years ago, but forgotten which forum. Cheers, Richard

Personally Doug, I'd keep the young lady in the house and put the horse out the back. But each to their own I suppose! For reference by the way, I've just asked my Nearest And Dearest and she tells me that you need about two acres to keep one horse fed on grass. Cheers, Richard

Yes, hydrogen by electrolysis is indeed inefficient, but it has the potential to be clean if it's done with low/zero carbon electricity. (Hydrogen from ammonia is definitely NOT clean.) The thing about renewable energy is that it is highly variable in nature. You have to have much more in terms of "boiler-plate rating" so that the nominal output is is sufficient to to run the grid. (And even then it's not guaranteed - not even with lots of energy storage!) So, what do you do with the surplus electricity? You make hydrogen of course. It doesn't matter that it's inefficient because we have to have the surplus and what else would we do with the power? (I can never remember if the efficiency of hydrogen is 25% or 33% end-to-end, but it's something like that. Compare with any decent battery which should be 80%.) The point is that hydrogen-powered vehicles - be they fuel cells or infernal combustion - are much more capable of giving us the range we're used to, and you can re-fill one in the same time as it takes to fill your tank with lovely petrol. The other thing is that we won't have to beef-up our electricity network to fast-charge cars so that people can move on after only ONE cup of coffee. Laying in extra copper to cope with increased power consumption is EYE WATERINGLY expensive! Cheers, Richard

+1 for bent back plate. Someone changes the clutch but don't have the centring tool. They line it up as best they can and tighten the bell housing ... and tighten ... and tighten. POP! It centres, but not before the back plate has bent. I had this from the BL MAIN DEALER in Reading. Cheers, Richard

Maria, my valve snapped off when I tried to remove it to change to that American heater valve that Doug mentioned. Mine was a TR6-style mounting (an extension out of the head) which is steel. I'm guessing the banjo mount you GT6 chappies have is aluminium? Anyway, I cut the inside of the valve stub in two places with a hacksaw blade ... very very carefully, so as no to graze the internal thread of the mount. Then I was able to squeeze the stub that was sticking out with a mole wrench and it unscrewed quite nicely. When you put the new valve in, use plumbers tape to seal the thread, lower the friction as you screw in, and reduce the possibility of corrosion stopping you remove the valve in another 50 years! Hope this helps, Richard

That sounds like a Dr. Science answer! Does that still run on PBR? Doug, that diddy little Mann W77 filter I bought to East Berks had an application list of small Fiats and Peugeots ... and a Maserati. So I reckon it will be good enough for our cars. Even with the anti run back valve (or valves, depending on type) oil still drains if you leave your car long enough. And the smaller the filter, the quicker it fills. Personally, when filters cost £6 or £7, I change them each time I do the oil. Cheers, Richard

Mark, I don't know about the Herald, but on the Spit the brake and clutch brackets are the same angle, but as you know, the brake has the extra bracing. All until the final 18 months or so of production when they went to dual circuit braking with of course a dual circuit master cylinder. To squeeze this under the bonnet they had to use a different bracket to hold the m/c at a lower angle, and I presume this is the lower, steeper angle part you've been given. They also had to add a small recess in the Spitfire bulkhead, much like the one you'll see behind the battery - USA Spits had dual circuit braking much earlier. I don't know off hand about USA m/c brackets, there might be another variation there. It should all be in the parts catalogues. Then of course there's Heralds & Vitesses. Hope this helps. Cheers, Richard

It (almost certainly) is Mark. He did the commentaries for S-T films. Thanks for posting Paul. I hadn't seen this one before. Cheers, Richard

Surely the fluid will just go through the big oval hole or underneath the screw heads, then wick under the whole SS plate, damaging the paint unbeknownst to the doting owner? I suspect that product is more to cover already damaged paint. If you don't have a good track record with brakes then I agree with 68vitesse, use silicone DOT5. Cheers, Richard

Nonokia, on a Spitfire the orientation of the wiper motor is such that the circlip is uppermost, so adding the washer *pulls* the shaft and motion wheel *upwards" on to the parking switch. You can test this before you make the change. Get a flat blade screwdriver and use it to lever the circlip upwards away from the body. Does the wiper now park correctly? Cheers, Richard

That looks the business doesn't it! Cheers, Richard

Oooooh Matron!