johny

one of the best jobs you can do cos if done well reduces cabin temperature, fumes and noise a lot. Some people do cut a small hole in the side of the new cover with a suitable patch to allow easier topping up of gearbox oil - personally I dont have a problem doing it from underneath.....

yes it takes a bit of experimenting, both in the choke mechanism adjustment and also how much to operate it for any given temperature of the engine, but I think its worth it as I cant imagine the rattling does the bearings/crank any good! In fact Ive not thought about it before but wonder if it would be worth fitting one of those Kenlowe engine heater systems to avoid using the choke at all.....

Oil pressure does sound good Dave and goes against the idea that you have worn bearings. My pressure was lower with warning light as the revs dropped at high engine temps in traffic so I changed bearings and pump in situ (Vitesse) - not nice but doable and very successful. However probably the greatest improvement was due, when cold, to choke adjustment and use as I have it set so that I pull it out enough to start but the choke cam opens the throttle butterflies very little so preventing revs high enough to cause rattle....

I reckon the air pockets will affect changes in pressure to cause slight delays but for practically stable pressure as we generally have in our engines it will make no difference. The air compresses as the oil pressure rises and reaches a point where it just transmits that pressure onto the gauge. The same applies to the tubing which might expand slightly but also reaches a stable state.....

The advantage that I can see is that all the system is under pressure with a head tank where as an overflow bottle means on cooling everything is under a slight vacuum. I think this is better because it seems to be hard to prevent or find vacuum leaks which then allow air to get drawn in rather than coolant. Of course when this happens the system loses level and the first indication is a heater that stops working....

I use the little lifter pin on each carb to test my mixture and it seems to work quite well now Ive got the hang of it. Plugs do look a bit mismatched but Id have a look at all 6 to confirm it....

I find the oil goes in easily through the nipples with a large syringe but I do it with the weight off the wheels which maybe helps.....

More work to take out the nipple than it is to check the ball is free!

+1 for using a syringe to oil front trunnions (sometimes it helps to push in the little ball in the nipple first to ensure its not seized)....

Hi, Im not sure what work they carried out but that seems a lot of money! The idle smoothness of any engine is dependant on quite a few factors so unless you're certain other adjustments such as tappets, carb balance etc are correct the best thing would be to check those first. There can also be air leaks or wear in the carburettors themselves which will also make it very difficult to get a smooth tick over however the good news is that the adjustment itself is very easy. Our cars as standard are fitted with very simple carbs where the accelerator pedal just operates a butterfly valve in each carb to increase the amount of fuel/air mix going to the engine. The tickover setting is purely achieved by holding these butterfly valves open a little when the pedal has been released and this is done by a screw on each carb butterfly operating mechanism. They should be easy to see if you locate the accelerator cable (which must be slightly slack) and need to be undone a little and by the same amount on each carb while the engine is running and hot. If you cant maintain a stable tick over at about 900rpm then you will need to look at some of the other factors that I mentioned earlier....

That doesnt sound like the standard set up and the filter could be blocked. Dont forget that if the vent is connected to the inlet manifold any gases are sucked out of the crankcase but of course even then if the flow is too much it will affect the fue/air mixture going to the engine....

how is the crankcase ventilation system on your engine? My Vitesse has a diaphragm operated valve that opens to discharge any pressure to the inlet manifold and this, of course, must work correctly to stop crankase over pressurisation....

of course, yours is the rotaflex isnt it so different design. I think with the early design the only remedy is to take out the bolt every so often and re-lube it....

a good idea but surely that would lubricate the stainless tube/bush not between the tube and bolt? Maybe the oil manged to flow round the end of the tube - did you use end seals?

Gawd whats the answer then? Stainless bolt that might snap under load.....

unlubricated especially as now modern oil is like water....

the thrust generated by the clutch is the reason I dont understand why some modern cars now require the clutch to be operated before starting - surely this is the quickest way to finish off the thrust bearings?

Good service indeed! Let us know how it drives when its all bolted back in?

The only reason for leaving out the shields and seals would be when the tubes the bushes run on are stainless so will not rust (the seals arent designed to protect the bolt which not being stainless should be covered with an anti-corrosion lubricant).

I doubt that these components are interchangeable and as I said previously cant see that the spring length alone will make much difference to wheel camber. It sounds to me that, assuming the spring is correctly mounted, you have one that has had an easy life and not flattened out much. However if youre worried about the positive camber (not so much of a problem with a swing spring car) then as Clive says a lowering block or more tools/spares in the boot will help correct it.

dont forget that although the angle of the vertical link may change this is independant from the trunnion angle (because its free to rotate on its bushes) so the angle of the wheel depends purely on the angle of the half shaft. The flatter (softer) or higher (raising block) the spring the shallower the angle of the half shaft becomes and the more negative the wheel camber.

your right Doug, of course the nipple is in the vertical link and the oil is pumped out of the hole in the bottom of the threaded section where it then pools inside the trunnion. I believe Paul has mixed up the names of the vertical link and trunnion....

dont understand Paul - theres a hole in the vertical link? and how does oil get out as it should be sitting trapped in the threaded section of the bronze trunnion?

That sounds reasonable given that the bronze threaded trunnion was actually patented by Triumph so they must have put some serious thought into it!

ahhh I have a theory! On some cars disc brakes on the rear would be too powerful (the hub limits how small a disc can be fitted) so to avoid having to have a hydraulic compensator they use drums which are obviously less effective but matches the demands of the vehicle design....