johny

I think it'll have to have a disclaimer in large print😁

dont think its an H&S problem as theres alternative materials now, more likely to be: low demand plus low price = a profitability deficit....

I like that catalogue but the prices not so much☹️ Let us know what comes your of the cooling system Iana.

The heaters dont seem to produce much heat although the whiff of air that comes out of mine is quite hottish and I see some people do fit bigger fans from other cars. However Ive gone the opposite way and fitted a small valve in the right angle hose from the water pump to the carb manifold which I shut in summer so directing that coolant through the engine and radiator instead. Cant say Ive seen a massive improvement but it all helps......

yes most important to keep the occupants refreshed as you wait by the side of the road for the engine to cool down😂 No seriously it is possible to drive a Vitesse on a hot day in traffic and not overheat but you wont know until you try it. Beforehand all you can do is ensure the cooling system is as efficient as possible both inside and out so your coolant should be staying reasonable clear (if it continually goes brown there must be some sludge in there) and obviously the radiator fins must be clean and undamaged. I recommend that you gradually test the car rather than attempt the Dartford crossing on an exceptional August Bank holiday afternoon! If you see a problem developing come back on here for loads of interesting suggestions to improve cooling.......

I think it starting ok on easy start is a bit of a pointer😁

I believe on the bottom of the carb you will have the fuel mixture adjuster which as an intial running position should be unscrewed 3 complete turns. To know where to start from you need to look in the mouth of the carb to see the jet into which the needle slides and turn the adjuster until the top of the jet is flush with its locating sleeve. While your there you can lift up the needle piston with a finger (you should feel damping resistance as you do this) and let it drop back down which it should do smoothly and a little click as it lands back on the bottom of the carb intake. Once running you can then fine tune the mixture by further turning, one way or the other, of the adjuster.

it sounds like the choke mechanism isnt working or is poorly adjusted. On my MK1 Vitesse you can take off the airfilter box, operate the choke and see each carb piston being lifted but your carbs might have a different set up with possibly an automatic temperature controlled choke.....

tell us a bit more?

As I understand it the problem nowadays is finding reliable quality components for gearbox rebuilds. I havent suffered myself, yet, but would certainly feel nervous about using the 'pattern part' synchros and layshafts available.....

that all sounds good as the brass synchro rings should be loose and there will always be a bit of wobble in the input shaft. With the 1st/2nd selector ring (at the back of the box with the reverse gearteeth included) now you have aligned it should slip into both gears without too much difficulty..... You should be able to move each synchro ring along independently towards the gear they are going to engage but they shouldnt come right up against the gear ie. in your photo there should always be a gap between the ring and toothed cog. This gap reduces as the synchro ring wears and if non existant the gears will crunch badly during changes (it may still not be prefect anyway). Have a look at all the gears teeth for wear/chips including the small reverse gear operated by the lever on the side and thats about all you can do. In your case it doesnt sound necessary but if dismantling the box the usual minimum work is to replace the previously mention needle bearings and layshaft and swop around/replace the synchro rings as 2nd always suffers the most.

Thats interesting as the HT electrons must then flow the opposite way through the battery on their way back to the .coil. Nothing to stop em going both ways through the battery I suppose....

yes it must be electrons jumping from the earth post to the centre electrode of the sparkplugs and subsequently its the earth post that gets gradually eroded away opening up the gap....

Yes I dont know how many miles the box has done but its always difficult to judge whether to go further with overhauling while its out. The main causes of problems are the needle bearing between the input and mainshafts you can see in the top of the case and the needle bearings either end of the layshaft at the bottom of the case. To get an indication of the first you can try rocking the external end of the input shaft to check the amount of relative movement between it and the mainshaft. For the layshaft, without dismantling it, I cant think of any test other than using the gearbox but of course by then its a bit late to find out its bearings are shot!

Inside the box you can try sliding the selector rings forward and backwards as happens when changing gear. Its takes a bit of force with your fingers to slide but the ring should click off neutral to positively engage with each gear and by turning the input shaft you can confirm that when the output starts to turn.... Also check the state of the selector fingers on the '3 rails' under the top cover - if any is bent or severely worn it could also produce reduced movement of the selector rings so that they dont engage completely and can jump out of gear.

Probably find the bush at the base of the gear lever in a similar state..... The replacements usually come as a kit so you replace everything at the same time then when its all back in place the action should feel much more positive. Will you be taking off the gearbox top cover or just the gear lever casing shown in the photo?

hmmm in my opinion the thrust bearing does so little (depends on your use of the clutch of course) it should last the life of the car. But what about improving the sound deadening of the gearbox cover while its off as that helps with all sorts of bearing wear🤣

good point so heres a few easy but useful things you could check/do while its out: tighten all casing joint bolts, replace front and rear oil seals, replace bronze spigot bush (slides in end of crank to support the tip of the gearbox input shaft) and check clutch friction plate wear (if removing it you will have to realign it on reassembly though)....

Believe its to do with the direction of current flow as each electron (which being negatively charged actually flow from -ve to +ve) can take with them a microscopic piece of the metal it leaves. This causes metal to be depleted on one side of the connection and deposited on the other which means one loses its protective surface and is open to corrosion. So by carefully selecting the connector material and having the electrons flow in the right direction using neg earth the effects of this process can be avoided.....

yes with a bit of luck that should sort it out but let us know what you find anyway....

as said previously sounds very much like theres excessive play in the linkage so although youre pushing the lever into position that movement isnt being completely transferred into the engaging the gear. This means that when the power is applied the mechanism is free to jump out and the solution is to ensure all the linkage bushes plus lever pivot are in good condition. If the problem isnt here then the next possibility is that one of the spring loaded detents that positively locate the '3 rails' during their movements isnt working correctly (for example if its spring has broken) so that the first gear selector fork is freer to move.....

yes Richard says in his post above that Canleys are listing the anti-burst catch again but if so theyve hidden them really well on their website or theyve sold out already!

yes as Pete says they are a machined ally block that comes in different thickness (the deepest require longer studs to be used) that fit between the top of the diff and the leaf spring. http://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/rear-spring-lowering-block-12-mk3-driveshafts-2 As the spring sits higher the halfshafts point more upwards so giving the wheels more negative camber. However its unusual to need one as the spring flattens with use and wheel camber is good so maybe yours is very new, is the wrong one or has been installed incorrectly.....

is that after its been jacked up and lowered back onto the ground or is it always like that? On another topic it looks like your wheel bearings might have received a lot of grease sometime and theres a risk it has also pushed out inside the drum brake assembly where it can contaminate the brake shoes. Worth removing the drums to check......

yes and I thought we had reached the conclusion in other threads on here that the bearings are likely to be the generators of diff whine rather than the gears themselves or their engagement....