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I don't think he's talking about that V-shaped mounting bracket, but rather the V-shaped channel in the bottom part of the overdrive rubber mount. And I can confirm that it should be bonded and if it's not then your gearbox / propshaft hits the tunnel every time you brake hard.

I don't think so, but I haven't closely compared them. It would need to be a roundtail one - the MkIV hardtop is definitely different - but I don't think the curvature changes the same way. It depends how big the sunroof you're removing is - mine has a hole where a Webasto-style one used to be (the front rail had rusted out under the badly torn vinyl) and the curves are rather complex over that length.

If the pump is correct and to original factory spec then no, you can't. However, nearly all after-market pumps these days have too strong a spring and thus put out too much pressure. If you have one of those, bodged with a spacer to reduce the lift (which does reduce the pressure as a side-effect) then the manual lever still has the full stroke and will get the excessive pressure.

You don't need that tool for a Mk1. Save your money.

Surely not - it would be far too thin. I thought the fag paper substituted for the light bulb - you know when the points are just opening because the fag paper can be pulled out.

Although the springs are similar, you only need the lifter for the Rotoflex cars. The swing spring suspension has enough droop and general slack to dismantle it as is.

I love the drives out and would far rather use my Triumphs than sit in a field for a static show. However, I didn't get to do as many this year as I would have liked. The only significant one was the C2C (Porthmadog to Dungeness, overnight) in the Spitfire. Last year had a holiday in Yorkshire, a trip to the peaks (I had to retire from that before the lakes and dales bit due to a failed gearbox mount) and the RBRR.

The TR4? next to it has a very similar style hardtop. Presumably either both or neither were ST offerings.

If it's a WH prefix, then it's a single rail with fine spline input shaft. Very early Dolomite 1850 used the same 3-rail gearbox as the GT6 Mk3, with coarse splines, with a WE prefix. That's what the BL WSM says. It makes no mention of WM prefix.

My very early 2L Vitesse has a damper. I think they all did.

A mechanical pump in good order should have no problems. My GT6's one isn't great but the top cover screw is marginal so I think it isn't as perfectly air tight as it could be. Even then, it primes fine on the lever.

That agrees with the WSM, as I stated above.

The BL WSM for the 1850 Dolomite gives WE as being a 3-rail 1850 box, with WH as the single rail. I don't know where the WM fits in.

Yes, getting it out through the inside is OK but it's a two man job because of the awkward lifting and manoeuvring. As Josef say, putting it back in is more awkward but with the long studs trick and a helper it's not too bad.

Actually it's not at all uncommon with the Mk3 Spitfire. That nasty Delco distributor has the world's worst connector design there and the currently available parts are missing the very subtle bend on the fork tip that holds it all together. Five minutes with a pair of pliers usually fixes it, though, and much cheaper than and EI unit.

I'm not quite convinced by that "P", although it's hard to say what else it would be.

I don't think the resistances are that low. Possibly if the scale was kOhms

I think it was Wimpus making his new fuel gauge read correctly on his 350,000km Spitfire

As Clive said, the brake calipers changed for Mk3 but not great difference in braking. I don't think your temperature gauge problem is the stabiliser, as that would affect the fuel gauge too (and would only make it read "high", not full-hot-when-cold). I think all Spitfires used the stabilised gauges but that doesn't necessarily guarantee you didn't get sold the wrong sender but, again, that would normally be less dramatic. Check for the wiring fault-to-earth as Clive said. If the gauge doesn't move with the sender disconnected, we're probably into multimeter tests.

That entirely depends how good the pump is and how dry the pipes are. If it's been left long enough to dry out, a weak pump may not self-prime on the cam and will need the extra stroke of the hand prime lever to get the first glob of fuel into it.

It shouldn't cause any damage. The hotter running of the 1500 was for improved efficiency and emissions.

The lack of load means that it's not going to suffer in a hurry. I think the Green Flag man who decided to get a flatbed to recover my Toledo over a distance of ten miles was probably being over-cautious. However, I don't think I'd want to flat-tow a Herald or Toledo over long distances because the mainshaft tip bearing will dry out and reveal its weakness.

I had a similar case with my old Dolomite. It was a 1500HL with an 1850 engine, and the main power distribution block fell off the inner wing onto the exhaust manifold. The plastic housing melted, the block shorted to ground, and the main thick brown wire from the starter caught fire. Despite returning to a completely dead car with signs of an under-bonnet thermal incident, the only actual damage was that one brown cable.

No, it's not. Not on a Triumph box, anyway. The propshaft is ONLY spinning the mainshaft. None of the selector hubs are engaged but the gears are all in mesh with the input shaft, which is held stationary by the clutch and engine. That means the layshaft isn't rotating and there is NO splash lubrication. The situation is probably less bad on a car with overdrive, because the OD oil pump will be operating and some splash will occur from the pressure release.

It could be an early Mk3 one - no poppers or hooked edge because the hood frame is a proper folding type, but no extra big holes yet because the TR6-type catch levers only appeared on later Mk3.