NonMember

I think the lugs engage in the carb body, not the top cover. It may be that the orientation of the top cover is not critical - I think it's symmetrical in all relevant areas. The gearbox cover... is flexible enough that without all of those pesky screws it will leak. On the oil filter, you definitely want one with non-return valve and not all of the ones listed at motor factors will have it. The steering column often has a small amount of rotational play in the outer. If the inner has play it's an MOT fail but the outer is fine. The accelerator pedal hinges on a long pin through a folded metal bracket, all held in place by a tiny split pin. The bracket and split pin are usually rusted into oblivion. Some wobble is normal - it's not a very precise hinge even in the best condition. The door lock problem may well be improved by adjusting the door hinges. It's pretty common for the door to naturally hang lower than it needs to be to shut, which means the whole weight of the door is resting on the catch when you try to open it. Inertia seat belts on a Herald convertible are not really a practical option.

The piston has a very specific orientation - the two little holes at the bottom are toward the engine - and will only fit cleanly that way round because the diaphragm has locating lugs that mate with small recesses in both the piston and the carb body.

I have the same problem on mine. I've not found a correct seal yet.

I've never found Stromberg diaphragms that hard to fit but perhaps I've just been lucky (never come across one of the whale-skin ones that seem to be going around). General opinion on pancake air filters is that they work less well than the original Triumph design. They look bling but I'm normally more concerned with driving the car than showing off the under-bonnet, so standard filter and air box for me.

A new pump (which should have correct, minimal clearances) should be packed with something - vaseline or similar - prior to fitting. It's effectively pre-primed by that and should get oil circulating good and quick without needing the drill-down-the-disi-shaft trick. Where you need that is if you have an engine that was last used 25 years ago and you haven't rebuilt it because it didn't need it.

No, indeed. I was sure (one of) the WSM gave torque figures and said not to disturb the setscrew. I don't think it's tighter than the hex-heads, as the "by hand" implies quite a small wrench. Besides, its purpose is to clamp "just enough" so nowhere near the shear strength of 1/4" bolts. In fact, thinking about it, the laws of physics require that the small hex-head bolts are able to withstand the force of the setscrew done up to its required torque. It cannot be necessary to tighten them beyond their limit to get them fully seated, whether before or after the setscrew. Certainly if you need to re-set the clamping load then Kevin's procedure is required. But if you haven't disturbed the setting then his dire warning about consequences cannot be right.

As the others all said, drive it, use it, get to know it. Fix anything mechanical that needs it. The bodywork is mostly OK from the looks of it, so I'd just patch up the bad bits as and when you have an opportunity. Enjoy the car and get the benefits!

I was going to say it goes just below the big one. It certainly is on my 1967 Vitesse and, I'm pretty sure, my 1970 Spitfire. I don't recall whether the 1972 GT6 has a bigger commission plate so that it hides the body number, as Colin says.

The WSM points out that the allen key grub screw is the one that needs a very specific torque, and that the other two hold the bracket together so that their torque setting won't affect the grub screw. Or, rather, it points out the consequence of this, which is you should just undo the hex-head bolts, adjust, then re-tighten them without disturbing the allen-head one.

I agree with BW on this. I do note that the catalogue extract you posted lists TR006 as being the early Spitfire spring, which makes it surprising you had to give dimensions / were asked how you knew it's the wrong one!

Indeed. My brother and I had a 13/60 estate for a while. One of the vertical links sheared off at the top of the trunnion, so we replaced it. A couple of months later the other side failed exactly the same way. D'ohh!

They are very thin there. I have Cosmic Mk4s (as Lotus Europa) on my GT6 and they're very thin there too. I'm not actually sure how structural that part is. Could it be repaired by an expert alloy welder?

They've had a Mk4 Spitfire in and copied that spring. Then they "assumed" - since they have no desire to be experts on Triumphs - that all Spitfires are the same. SP has now informed them otherwise, though whether they will bother to remember for future reference is another question.

I only noticed mine because the car failed the MOT on rust around the rear damper mountings (GT6, so on the wheel arch) and I decided to refurbish the rear axle while I was converting to shorter dampers. I'm a bit surprised the MOT man didn't object to the rotoflexes - it was my current MOT man who pointed out the need to replace them the second time.

The seal is formed between the tapered bottom of the hole in the caliper and the bell flare of the pipe end. The former is made by a standard drill, the latter by a flaring tool. It's much easier to get the latter wrong, but you say you've fitted a new pipe?

Hmm... Well, the ones I replaced in 1994 were worse than that and hadn't caused any obvious symptoms. The ones I fitted had to be replaced again a few years back, so they lasted over 20 years.

Electronic ignition can do weird things to some of the 1970s electronic tachos but the Vitesse has a mechanical one. I can't see how EI would affect that, short of going EDIS and losing the distributor, but if the OP had done that I think we'd have been told

This step is frequently less easy than it sounds. Otherwise, I think Pete's likely spot on the money.

Probably Colin's foil top from the oil container 🤔 If no oil comes out when the filter is loose then I don't think it's a faulty switch or dodgy T-piece and I do think something is amiss. I thought the photo showed it horizontal, or as close as you can get on a Vitesse, it's just that the photo is rotated.

That would be for overdrive (or a non-OD GT6 in 4th). A Vitesse should have a 3.89:1 diff so in direct 4th at 40mph I'd expect ~2400RPM

I'd say that looks pretty normal. I'd expect the rear to sit maybe half an inch higher on a new spring. The front could go a fraction lower but it's not as high as mine was before I changed the springs.

Where did you get the hoses from? Yes, rubber is slightly porous to petrol but how much depends a LOT on the quality. The club sells Gates Barricade R9 hose, which is ethanol-proof and good, and shouldn't let the smell through. Mush of what's out there on eBay or cheap from motor factors... is pretty poor and will stink. Then decay. Then split and leak.

Psychologically a car will always feel "livelier" if it's not returning to idle properly. It keeps pushing on even when you fully lift off, giving the impression of a spirited and slightly uncontrollable beast.

I wouldn't run it with the filter completely removed but perhaps... double check the sump fill level, check the PRV, plugs out and crank for a minute. If you still don't get oil through to the filter then you're going to have to start dismantling.

It's a generic illustration courtesy of FRAM - don't expect it to match a Triumph engine. It depends on the oil, the pump, the engine speed, etc. If the oil is thin, the pump is weak and the engine is idling, a fully open PRV will vent all of the oil that comes its way. But hopefully the PRV isn't fully open!