Darren Groves

Hi Pete, Guides were replaced when engine rebuilt, so would hope they're ok. No oil feed....

So after a few emails & phone calls with the camshaft supplier I now know it's been incorrectly timed for nearly 2 years, no prizes for guessing what's on top of my to do list. Bhp up, but torque down on standard figures, would hope to see both rise when set correctly. The lack of torque is noticeable, but only another rolling road session would confirm what correct time has done.....

So on my Herald I have a Stainless Steel exhaust manifold and semi-sport system, all from the Club Shop. The pipe bore of the manifold is larger than the actual exhaust so you have to use a reducer. I had a rolling road session this week and the guy pointed this out as an area where more power could be gained. Presumably the full sport systems are the larger bore pipe and no reducer is needed? But I didn't go this route as they're are just too load and I want to retain what hearing I have left. So the question is are there any other options? Is the Vitesse Semi-Sport system larger bore, would it fit a Herald, is there any point?....

After getting all the winter jobs done and the car back on the road for Drive it Day, it was off to the rolling road session this week to see what effect all the work done on the engine from 2 years ago and increasing the CR recently had achieved. I'm not sure if I'm happy with the results or not, so thought I'd post them here for those with more knowledge than me to judge. The engine specs are at the beginning of this thread. So the main figures are 70bhp @ 5830rpm & 69.3lbf.ft @ 4375rpm, full results below. The increase in bhp is good I guess, not sure about the torque figure? The guy that done the session was a little disappointed as he said he expected more but couldn't achieve it. He made some changes to crankcase breathing, how the Megajolt got it's MAP readings and a change of needles to AAS. Whilst discussing the results with him, we got onto the subject of camshaft timing. The camshaft was timed using a piston stop and degree wheel to calculate the exact TDC and a dial gauge to find the point of maximum lift on No.1 inlet valve. The supplier of the camshaft emailed me instructions at the time on how to time in the camshaft, the setting advised was 105° ATDC with No.1 inlet fully open, however the rolling road guy checked the data for the camshaft and he thinks it should be 110°, which is what I found on the Newman Cams website. Silly question I guess, but what effect would being 5° out be? To be fair to the camshaft supplier I have emailed them for their comments, so I'll wait to see what their response is, their may be a good reason for the discrepancy, but any thoughts in the meantime?

What car?

MoT's are segregated into Class, cars up to 8 passengers are class 4, so any garage that can do a modern car can do a classic. The problem is with the MoT testers and whether they are understanding of classics, some are but many are not. MoT Classes

I've never heard my Herald indicators click, but they do self cancel but only after I adjusted the mechanism that does it. If you take off the plastic cowl from the indicator stalk you should be able to see 2 small levers (see image), with the road wheels straight ahead you should also be able to see a small lug on the steering shaft in the middle of the 2 levers, if it isn't that's your problem. To adjust mine I undone the steering knuckle just above the rack, removed the shaft and rotated until the lug was between the 2 levers on the switch. You'll then probably have to remove your steering wheel to centralise afterwards. There is a flat face on one of the splines on either the rack or the column (can't remember which), so the rotation to get the shaft in the correct position needs to be on the other spline. Hope that all makes sense....

To calculate what rating cable to use you need to divide watts by volts. So if the fan draws 60 watts (you'll need to check yours), divide by 12(volts), that gives you 5 (amps). I would use a cable & fuse rated a bit higher than whatever it calculates to as there will be a bit of a surge upon start up. Personally I would add a relay and power direct from a fused permanently live supply. Everything you might need is available from www.autosparks.co.uk

Just one week to go......

It's based on the weight of the car vs. stopping ability, so if you exceed a certain figure based on the weight for your car then you can go over 100%. From memory I think the fronts on mine were 103%......I have the print out from the MoT station, even the tester commented on the result.

Once you get used to the structure of the forum as it is now, it's actually much easier to find the content you're looking for. As KevinR has repeated a few times, the similarity between models means you will be far more likely to find the information you want albeit on a different model. Going model specific means you may miss that vital bit of info you want as it's featured on a Spitfire and not a Herald or GT6 and not a Vitesse etc. I use both this and the CT forum, whilst the CT forum appears busier I tend to participate and get the answers I need from here and I think that is because it's easier to use. Just my view......

I've been using silicone for years and never had an issue, my recent MoT the brakes achieved over 100% efficiency....plus it doesn't strip the paint if you spill it!

Sorted the balancing of the carbs, throttle discs were closing correctly so slackened off all the linkage and backed the fast idle screws right off and set-up from scratch, all seems fine now.

Thanks Pete. I would hope throttle disc is in there correctly as they were fitted by Carb Exchange up your way as I had them re-bushed, but will check again.

I always use engine oil for dampers. I had 2 other dampers tucked away in a drawer, both AUC8103's, but one had a slightly different spindle length, but of the 4 I found 2 that had the same spindle and piston, so I have a matching pair albeit the wrong ones. I did speak to Burlen and they just said that as long as they were matching it should be fine. I'll order the correct pair at some point. On something slightly different, whilst balancing the carbs I gave up on the Gunson Balancer and just used a length of tube. The rear carb was definitely sucking in more air and the idle was a little high, but I couldn't reduce the idle on that carb and the idle screw was fully up....any ideas?

Thanks for the replies. Both these dampers are vented through the cap, the difference seems to be the piston lengths on them, 8114 is a long piston, 8103 short. The shorter piston on 8103 allows an initial undamped amount of travel of the carb piston upon acceleration, whereas 8114 doesn't. I will have to have a closer look tomorrow as I'm sure visually they are the same, there's no saying that someone hasn't just changed the plastic cap with the wrong one..... The carbs were advertised as MKIV when I bought them, so if that's the case I should have AUC8114, but who's to say that the PO was correct in his description. The identification tags are long gone, do the part numbers on the carb bodies give any indication on their heritage?

I noticed a while back that the dampers in my HS2's are different, in one it's a AUC8103 and the other AUC8114. Visually they look the same, same length etc. both vented, but is this an issue? Whish one is the correct one for the Carbs? They were sold to me as from a 1300 MKIV Spitfire.

You can either use the TSSC Agreed Valuation service or the insurance companies do their own, your choice on how you do it. The TSSC one is accepted by all those on the panel of insurers and I would say that the TSSC option is better as it's portable between insurers and they are more likely to get the value correct. You can download the form here: http://www.tssc.org.uk/tssc/uploaded_files/TSSC%20Panel%20Valuation%20Form.pdf

Clive & John - Thanks for the replies.

The radiator arrived today, looks ideal, but has thrown up a couple of questions. Clive - the fixings you mention that take the 6mm bolts, are these the 4 holes on each side of the rad, might seem a daft question but they don't appear to be threaded, or does the bolt cut the thread on first use? They are also pegs on the bottom which could be used also I guess. John - It appears from your photos you have used these mounting holes. I guess a visit to you would answer this question but time is against me at the moment to get the car ready for the 26th, so can't get over. The radiator also has a vent hole on the top, presumably as return back to the header tank, as the Corsa header tank has 2 small outlets would it be preferable to run back to that or blank off?

That's a very kind offer John, which I will take you up on if that's OK. Thanks for the suggestion Clive, have just bought one from eBay for £2.00, can't go wrong for that price....

Thanks John. Out of interest where did you get the bottom hose take off and other plumbing bits?

If you want engine parts, take a look here: http://gbhspares.co.uk/Start00.html he's worth a call, he has huge stocks of NOS parts and only sells quality items, no rubbish.

If you have deep pockets they are available new, cheapest is TD Fitchett. Agree with Clive about that trader, have had some dealings with them and it wasn't good.

Have ordered one of these, many thanks.