iana

Thanks all, the set up on my vitesse is the same as Paul H's, it looked wrong to me when I initially reassembled it (and I wondered if something wasnt quite in the right place) I have checked the new hose against the old one and its identical in length, its 300mm long end to end. In the parts manual I have downloaded it refers to a brake hose reference 132958, (not sure if this is correct) but most traders list a GBH??? which seems to vary.

Pete it may be correct but to my mind it looks a little tight, Ill post a picture and see what the consensus is.

I'm on the final leg of re bushing the suspension, new shocks, new brake hoses etc and on the front Im not convinced its correct, the hose looks too short, the hoses are the same length as I have taken off but it doesnt look right. Can someone post a picture of the correct positioning of the hose / pipe and the hose bracket positions (Ive put it back where i removed them from)

Thanks all a good soaking with pentrating oil and the spacer washers freed up, left to soak overnight and a gentle heat with a borrowed blow torch and a robust tap and it started to move. It now needs a good clean and paint before re-assembly.

OK I need to go and buy a heat source, will a standard blow torch be sufficient?

Its the bolt in the centre of the blue (the head snapped off when I was removing the back plate) I’m guessing it’s seized in the arm

I have stripped the front suspension on the vitesse - the PO had used grease in the trunnion and I want it back to oil, however, 2 issues to sort. The trunnion bolt is siezed in the tube, currently soaking in penetrating oil but will remove with a saw. Now removed after a generous spray of penetrating oil and a robust tap with a hammer. The more difficult issue is a snapped bolt (the bolt that holds the back plate to the steering arm) Is it a case of drilling the bolt out or is there a threaded section on the link that I need to be wary of? Also is this a special grade bolt? Ive got a pair of replacement trunnions (stanpart stamped) but want to put a bead of glue round the plate - whats recommended?

Thanks for the suggestions, Ive tried to find a way to reuse the existing one, the passenger side threaded section is clean and useable, the drivers side is a lot worse but as concensus seems to be that replacing is a faff I will see if Ive got a suitable die and try and recut / clean the thread

I’m now in the final stages of sorting the brakes on the vitesse, I need to swap the handbrake cable as the threaded length has badly corroded. Any tricks on how to remove the cable or is it easier to cut the cable and just pull it out. Need to clean the hardened grease from the guides and then fix the new cable (i saw a recent thread on how to do this)

Ive managed to deposit a pool of brake fluid on the garage floor, missed the car so all good but any suggestions for cleaning the concrete floor? I’m assuming it won’t harm the tyres as one will be in the area of the pool

I decided to have a go at cutting the trunnion bolt today, and success its all now apart! I removed the driveshaft / vertical link and had a fiddle with various options for cutting the bolt, initially the link was very stiff to rotate so cant have been good when the car being used. I intially used a recipro saw which was initially very useful and then finshed with a standard hacksaw, then repeated the other side and success, the bolt was well siezed in the tube. Its all cleaned and painted ready for reassembly next week. Next task is to buy some quality blades!

Dave, I wish I hadnt started it now but the drivers side is all replaced and so I need to continue with the passenger side as Ive damaged the end of the bolt so cant now refix the nut. Im reconciled to removing the drive shaft, hub and link but I need to find a way to cut the bolt without pulling the hub. Im curious about Petes idea of a dremmel disc (Ive got a dremmel and a few bits and pieces but wouldnt know what disc to use to cut the bolt off) I did wonder if a multi tool would cut the bolt (Id need to but a tool and a suitable blade)

well Ive now spent a good few hours trying to free the bolt, the bolt turns relatively free but I still cant get it to drift out so Im assuming the steel tube and bolt are rusted solid and its rotating inside the plastic cups. its had a good soaking with a can of wilko's penetrating oil, some better quality penetrating oil from a plant fitter and Ive just tried a 3 in 1 oil to see if that seeps in, I wont get back to it till next week now. Just need to pluck up the courage to start with the hacksaw blade - Im struggling to see a way of getting in to cut the bolt off with a hacksaw.

Its a non-rotoflex, but its putting up a fight, Ive resorted to the 1/2 socket set and a breaker bar.

Ok after another good dose of plus gas, the bolt is still solid - I will remove the tie bar and see if i can get a socket on the bolt. Then its the cutting option - I guess thats the drive shaft off for that?

I will give it another good dose of penetrating oil and then think about cutting the bolt out, I need to go and buy a new hacksaw and some blades as my current one has had its day - can anyone recommend a quality blade as the ones I have are carp and blunt too quickly

Dave did you have to unseize the bolt through the rear trunnion - Ive just done the drivers side and it was really easy and have started the passenger side and its proving to be a nightmare - the bolts all seem in very poor condition and badly chewed, Ive managed to free the shock absorber and remove, the spring bolt is now free, however the tie bars bolts and the rear trunnion are another matter so any tips gratefully received. Im busy dousing the bolts and nuts with penetrating oil but Im not hopeful.

Ive moved this to the correct thread.

Just purchased a replacement choke cable for the vitesse (the round style) and it comes without the symbol and the retainer, any ideas where I can source the symbol and the clip from?

The general area looked clean, the PO had had work done on the car and in fairness the hose looked nearly new so at a guess I’d say the tank had been out. I wanted to check as the pump had a fair bid of crud in it.

I ordered a borescope of eBay and it was a complete disaster so ordered a replacement from euro car parts and it works fairly well, still getting to grips with directing the camera to the right place but picture quality seems ok. Used it to verify inside that the inside of the tank was clean, it is surprisingly clean with only small patches of rust, I certainly won’t be rushing to remove the tank, so all in all to me it was worth the £10.

For the glass dome on the fuel pump, I purchased a refurb kit but only used the dome gasket so want to replace it ready for next time.

All fuel hose now replaced with Gates Barricade R14, there were 3 pieces of hose all in a similar condition to the previous photo, the easy to get to / visible bits had been swapped. Does anyone know if you can just buy the glass bowl filter rubber gasket?

Just logged on to rimmers to order the flexi pipe from the airfilter box for the vitesse (swap back to stardard air filters) and I was shocked at the price each - any one recommend a different pipe? (could I use fish pond hose?) Or are they actually required? How are they fixed at the front - I'd thought of cable tying to engine valance or trying to get the spitfire hose clip.

Thanks both, I couldn’t find anywhere that clarified the valve numbers but that explanation makes it very clear and logical (and annoyingly obvious when you are stood looking at the engine!) I’ll have a re-check and adjust as necessary to make sure.