chrishawley

It's perhaps worth thinking about the current pathways that might be related to this problem The dash light switch is fed via a brown wire from the starter solenoid. The red/green wire from the switch feeds forward to the fuse box and from there to side lights, number plate lights and instrument illumination lights. The blue from the switch feeds forward to the light switch on the steering column and thence to main or dip beams. Note that the headlamp circuit does not incorporate a fuse: Thus a dead short on 'red/green' would likely blow the relevant fuse quickly (assuming that short were at or after the fuse box). Whereas a short on 'blue' has nothing to stop it drawing down a heavy current. Cooking the brown feed to the switch requires a hefty current. Changing from a sealed beam to a standard 60/55w halogen wouldn't cause a significant change in current draw. I can't see the alternator being implicated unless, exceptionally, it's gone over voltage. But that's easily excluded - voltmeter across the battery terminal with engine running; anything less than 14.5v ok (in this context). For myself I'd place emphasis on getting a positive diagnosis of a significant problem, more than employing workarounds. An initial diagnostic might be as follows: a) Remove headlamp bulbs. Disconnect dash light switch. Connect 'brown' to 'blue' through any suitable low wattage bulb (a front side light bulb will do for example). Switch between dip and main on the column switch. If (in either position) the bulb lights, however faintly, then a short is proved. b) Similarly remove all bulbs off 'red/green' (a fiddle where instrument illumination lights are concerned - 4 off). Employ test bulb as before between brown and red/green. Again any illumination shows short circuit. As mentioned in previous posts, a failing switch may arc, causing sparks, smoke and heat. Diagnosis is by substitution. But a test could be made by connecting borwn, blue and red/green together with a fly lead and then progressive reinstating all the bulbs, vigilently observing/feeling for overheating as one goes. If the circuits pass this test then diagnosis = switch. Some other thoughts might be; i) A hot spot for shorts in the headlamp circuit is where the wires run up the steering column to the switch. Can easily get nipped and create a partial or intermittent short. ii) Does your vehicle still have a night dimming relay? The correct connections of this unit can be less than obvious. Or, if it's been removed/bypasssed then this has been done not leaving uninsultated terminals floating about. iii) To check that main and dip beams are independent of each other and don't come on together. It is possible to get them connected in common which would impose greatly excessive current on the system.

Which seals are the ones in question? Is the waist seals, inner and outer, on the doors?

Try Moss. https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/bracket-hose-to-pipe-rh-stainless-steel-132365ss.html They are of course handed left and right. And not necessarily universal across vehicles e.g. GT6 pipe support brackets are different to Spitfire ones as the orientation of the rigid brake pipe is different. So relevant ot check, depending on your vehicle, that you will get something with the right orienatation.

A most tricky matter - so please regeard any comments I make as 'thoughts' rather than 'authoritative advice'. If the current alignment of bonnet, bumper, overriders, quarter valances (etc) were good or very good then I incline to preserve as much of the existing structure as possible. Even 'preserving' means excising the hinge boxes, making repairs on the bench, and rewelding, for example. But if the existing alignment is poor, perhaps due to previous repairs or impact damage, then the first step is to be able to define what is causing the poor alignment. If new components are to be welded in position that has to based on what corrections need to be made. The area under the ARB bracket will commonly ammenable to easy local repair - although if the inside of the rails are heavily waxed that can be a problem for a welder. The gussets (bits at the side) are not problematic since they strengthen the front end structure but don't contribute importantly to alignment. But the positioning of the hinge boxes and crossmember requires great precision. A lot depends on the prior experience of the person doing the repair. Nor can one expect reproduction hinge units and crossmemebers to 'fit from the box'. I can't remember the last time I had a repro repair section that didn't require corrective work prior to fitting. Getting it wrong can be cheap: Getting it right can be £££s. Properly done it involves initial positioning with tack welds, rivets (or whatever) then performing a full trial assembly of all the items (bonnet, bumpers, overriders, Q.valances, grill etc) and only making definitive welds once good alignment is proved. Optimal alignent can involve additional steps such as shimming, moving the location of holes where there are bolts and cutting and rewelding the bonnet hinge tubes. Of great importance is not to proceed to painting the vehicle without having seen for oneself that the panel alignment is up to one's expectations based upon a full fit up. I've had a situation of painting a GT6 then finding the overriders didn't fit. Not a good moment! Hope that at least gives you some thoughts about how to proceed.

Getting a 'dead cold' engine started can be a bit circular: A nice clean start requires correct carb air balance and correct mixture (among other things)- but adjusting these require an engine to be running! Regarding static timing: Do you have the Ops. Manual? If so, it's nicely set out in section 86.35.15. Fuel: just to get the engine running minimal fuel is need. Suggest: disconnect fuel to rear carb, crank engine on starter for a few turns, each turn should deliver a spurt about one desert spoonful. That's enough. Jam jar useful. Perhaps the main issue is that a dead cold engine is very unlikely to start without generous enrichment from the choke mechanism. I'd hazard a guess once the choke is operative the engine will be more cooperative. The choke works best when finely balanced between the carbs. But that has to be done after the mixture, air balance and idle has been sorted. A starting position is to check that as the choke knob is pulled it lowers the jets on each carb by a roughly equal amount. In getting a dead cold engine into a initial running condition a can of Bradex Easy Start can be an asset.

Possibly many opinions in this respect: But, for myself, if the engine is just doing general roadgoing duty, I'd skim only the miniumum required to correct any defects - whatever the engineer determines that to be. My reasoning behind that is an analysis from the early 1970s which indicated that whatever performance mods were made to the small triumph engine it was generally only in the upper rev range that significant power gains could be demonstrated. Assuming that a Herald is not generally driven hard, staying close to standard may be preferable.

I hope the cataract procedure goes well without any complications. Nice to see a picture of the car: Looks a very promising basis for a respray. The inner and outer seals to the door glass are not as simple as the ops. manual implies but I guess that's a bridge to cross in due course.

Tail trim is mostly self-evident: Top and bottow strips are each retained by half a dozen or so special edge clips. Can be well rusted in place so proceed along the strips gently and progressively prising to wiggle the strips free in stages. Or to put it another way the 'don't do' is to start at one end and forcefully prise it off fully - likely to lead to bent trim. Replacement clips are available but original clips are better fit so conserve if possible. Note that top and bottow strips are different length and curvature. The left and right 'horseshoes' were originally retained by each by four edge clips (of a different sort to the long trims). But this arrangement was never that satisfactory and adhesive may have been applied by PO. So, again, gentle, progressive prising. Mark the horseshoes 'L' and 'R' on removal (makes refitting easier). If horseshoes were to be replaced with better ones (repro or previously used) then there can be problems. Repro items are not faithfull to the original shape and even originals vary in how they sit when fitted. Thus if any of the four trim items are to be replaced it's not a bad idea to trial fit everything back before repainting to confirm that refitting, after painting, will be trouble-free.

Very possibly not. The pan head of the screws is most likely to foul the leading edge of the q-light and prevent the window from closing. An additional feature is that if the q-light has been on and off the vehicle a few times in it's life then the holes get oversized and generally manky. So blind rivets are really the preferable option. If the holes are really out of shape then peel rivets can be a solution. Great caution needed when refitting: The 'jump' of a riveting gun as it snaps closed can result in a dent in the wing all too easily.

I suppose we could put the current symptoms into the category of 'misfiring under load' - about which it would be possible to write pages! I'd suggest a timing issue would be low down the list of possibilities: Markedly over-advanced timing would pink very evidently ; markedly retarded timing would give low power but no particular tendency to misfire. While not ignoring other possibilities on the ignition side (point, condensor, distributor cap etc) poor fueling seems a strong candidiate. Pete has described the rubber shards problem. But I'd expand that to include accumulated detritus anywhere from the tank forward. The GT6 has it's outlet at the base of the tank (unlike the Spitfire which pulls the fuel by syphon) so crud has only one way to go - along the fuel lines. A worthwhile test might be as follows: Disconnect fuel line from carb. Disconnect +ve to coil. Turn engine on starter just one or two strokes. If unobstructed there should immediately be a forcible ejection of fuel - about a desert spoonful on each stroke. Jam jar useful. If I were considering a major recon on the carbs I'd check this anyway. Not suggesting that that will solve your problem but for £0 it excludes a possible factor.

Worth a look at the following? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225139910849?hash=item346b6268c1:g:z5wAAOSwWEFirxjH&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoKKKFschttEQ8ZHQdX%2Boe%2Fyd%2B86cm54TxRQa24gZ1qK1MC3o%2FH5G84lMecK%2BYPeQ3E5RmtM7G7E08oev2rA0GCIyH595Hj2yiZLL4rkamv%2F%2BaI7hNNR33QLb7UwROfBchuo5Vzv91A7uUB5tMTovE%2FIGk6lRGepeyoxnOhlIsWVPVSIfcKAP8a5d5k%2FRjE%2FU8TswZUsnHdde3pNHH9OYEnU%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5afysniYA

Just had a measure on my 1500 (which I consider to be reasonably sorted as regard front suspension). Apex of wheel arch to ground is approx 600mm. Distance from the lowest points of the antiroll bar U-bolts to ground is 5 1/2 inches. Not reference values by any means but might provide a context for you. Worth measuring pre-post any changes. For myself I'd proceed experimentally: hoik the spring pan up by a goodly ammount and see what happens. While you're in the area possibly just worth a check that the anti roll bar is firmly, upwardly, seated, and not been left 'dangly' by PO.

Yup, that all makes sense. No other suggestion of leakage and the fuel pipe is hard plastic rather than rubber. Might as well leave the vent pipe in place now it's there.

Spit 1500, 1978. Boot smelling of petrol. Whatever was attached to the vent on the tank has decayed to crumbs. But I don't see any witnesses of venting to the filler cap or external of the car. Is it correct that the 1500 just has the vent blanked off? Not being sure, I've vented the tank with some PVC hose out through a grommet in the boot floor. Ok?

Pretty much maximum grip between two fingers and thumb.

Not sure there's an answer to this of if it's even a question. Here goes..... Girling16 calipers rebuilt. On testing with a bit of compressed air, the pistons don't respond equally. One side moves very readily while the other side requires more sustained pressure to move. But both sides 'rock' on the seal quite nicely within what woud be the operating range of movemnt. How much inequality is ok? Or is it irrelevant in the context of the pressures that will actually be applied by the hydraulics, in use? I can see that's not quite a question. But any insights would be appreciated.

Might I suggest that the thread form, itself, is an influential factor. Some forms are designed to create a fluid-proof seal on the threads e.g. BSP-taper, NPT, Dyseal. The already-very-good seal may then be augmented with sealant (PTFE or whatever) according to cicrmstances. Other forms (e.g.BSP parallel, UNF, metric) cannot resist spiral leakage on the threads. In such cases leakage is prevented by face sealing. Which might be by soft copper washer, collapsible copper, red fibre, Dowty or others. But any of these assume there is a good, true, face against which to seal.

Took me a while to figure out that wiring. Where's the relay gone, given it's a Mk2?? I think the answer is that it's been wired up in the manner of the late MK3 GT6 which used a simple series circuit rather than a relay (even if your colours arew non-standard). That would make sense of a 'double green' since the feed to the reverse light switch is piggybacked of the o.d. circuit. Do let us know the outcome.

I can say with complete confidence that I don't know what it is. But let's suppose it's got continuity back to the battery earth (or prove it with a multimeter). Then it must be an earth for something. So, hazarding a guess, some possibilities might be earth for control box (if you are retaining this) voltage stabiliser (if VS is on back of speedo then I think that has a 'eye' earth commoned to it) wiper motor starter soleniod base (if you still have this given you've gone pre-engaged.) I'm probably well wide of the mark and I'd be interested ot know what is finally correct.

Herewith a copy of the Spit I/II wiring diagram. Should be readable as pdf but in event not I can jpeg'ise. IMG_20220812_0002.pdf IMG_20220812_0001.pdf

Had me bamboozled for a bit as the pins recieve no mention in either Parts Book or Ops Manual. Pics attached for future reference. My self cancelling is not nice in that, coming out of a turn, the steering wheel has to rotate 90 degrees in the opposite direction in order to trip the cancel. The stalk is genuine Lucas but has been replaced in the past. It's slightly shorter so possibily a substitution from a Mini. ??Maybe similar units are not quite the same in their action??

£14.79 that was a snip! I paid WAAAYYYY more for mine.

Sump pan: See below photo of a GT6 pan. Note that it is very skinny on the front extension and is rebated to sit over the steering rack. In the fitted condition there can be gnats all clearance between the sump and the rack even when everything is standard. The deep, saloon, sump doesn't fit (I have teeshirt for that). So, has to be a GT6 'skinny' sump. But depressions will have to be formed (press/beat) to accomodate the crankshaft throw on cylinder #1 and #2. #1 position is hardest because it's adjacent to rebate for the steering rack. #3 may need a tickle as well. Ops manuals for 2500 are not rare but there's one on ebay for £15 with no bids. Ends in couple of hours. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165613613374?hash=item268f57313e:g:BngAAOSw13ti7VZO

Only that since I've got to fill it anyway 140 might just make it a bit quieter.

Time to refill the diff (Spit 1500). If any is still left it will be EP90 GL4. So my reckoning is to put in a straight EP140 GL4. Any recommendations for a suitable brand? Or, as much to the point, any rip offs to avoid? I note previous vibrant exchanges on the issue of GL4 v GL5. Can I assume that GL4 is still the safe, 'don't worry about it', bet? Thanks