Iain T

That whistle could be your alternator. To check take the fan belt off and rev for a few seconds. But not too long. Note put belt back on! Iain

The whistling is almost certainly from a leak somewhere in the intake system. Could be the engine side or carbs. I pinpointed my leak quite easily to a carb/manifold area. Only a miniscule leak but it completely mucked up the tuning and the reason why one carb had to be set differently to the other. I may be wrong but I think the 'doughnut' type of stubstacks work better. Iain

I agree can't be anything to do with Brexit more likely post covid insanity. Must be caused by individual company policies the world has changed dramatically over the last 3-4 years. Iain

Roger, I bought my correct isolator without the cutout from Chic Doig. As to the SU isolator all I can say is I bought stub stacks made for an SU but had to elongate the fixing holes to fit my CD150 Strombergs. Iain

Phil, I would take up Ian's kind offer that's a big variation. Having said that I bet my cover is just as bad! Iain

Normal bolts have a non threaded length so they will do. Don't get worried about a couple of thou a normal 3/8" bolt will suffice. If you are concerned and have a vernier measure the plain diameter of the bolt. I think the rest of the holes in the bellhouse are 5/16" clearance so will allow for some rotation. Iain

Note tyres over 10 years old are a mot failure. I fitted Falken to my Vitesse. Happy with the more compliant ride than the previous harder Nexen. Iain

If you have a mk2 manifold there is an internal casting air flow restriction to one cylinder on each bank. Take a look at Chris Witors website and it shows what to do. On mine I ground out 3-4mm of said casting to help even the flow to numbers 2 and 4 (I think but don't quote me). The experienced guy who sorted my head and inlet manifold looked at it and commented the mod had already been done. Yes by me! Good luck Iain

It was the chap at Canley Classics that diagnosed it from 150 moles away! A big thank you to him. The oversized hole in my bellhouse was caked in rock hard crud and I had to chisel it out to clear. I used a dti on a mag base stuck to the flywheel and measured the run out of the gearbox location hole at the back of the bellhouse. I rotated the flywheel and was somewhat alarmed at the near 30thou runout! Anything over 5 thou can cause a problem. Norra lotta people know that..... Iain

Phil, sorry had a senior moment I used a roll pin.

I agree I bought mine from MED engineering. They are made to fit SUs so I elongated the fixing holes and machined a groove in the back to fit Strombergs. Iain

I used a 3mm diameter split pin. Drill holes through the both sides of the grove and push in the pin. The split pin acts as a stop against the fork pins and prevents the carrier from rotating. I think Paddocks and Rimmer sell the carriers with the pin already fitted but then you'll have to remove your bearing and refit. Iain

Seems a fair amount of pin wear. The problem with most clevis pins is they are as soft as doughnuts so in my view OK for extreme wear cases but you are on a mission to get it ready for the RBRR. Fit a split pin in a different position on the carrier as Pete says, I did. Use the correct dowel bolt to align the bellhousing and see if it's any better. I used a normal bolt as it measured pretty much spot on but don't use fully threaded set bolt. If its still noisy try singing when stationary 🎶 and have fun next week. Post us how you're getting on please. Iain

The jiggling could just be down to misalignment. My misalignment knocked out the spigot bearing in no time. I agree about the diaphragm fingers, the quality of most covers is questionable. I've done everything to stop the noise save an external spring which is next in my list. There is a company that will correctly set your cover but bloomin 'ell it's a sad day if it comes to those extreme measures. Iain

You're welcome. I know nothing compared to many on the forum but what little I do I'll gladly impart to help. Iain

Oops, please refit with correct bolt or you may be in trouble. I had my T9 box refurbed via a now thankfully long gone Triumph specialist who didn't use the correct bolt and made the car virtually undriveable. A stand up face to face argument and several legal threats ensued until another very helpful and knowledgeable guy said I know what that is..... He was spot on and he didn't even look at the car! Clear the hole out of crap and dirt first. Iain

But was the 3/8" bolt fitted?

To fit and align the bellhousing Triumph in their wisdom used a dowel at 12 o'clock and one oversized bolt at about 5 o'clock. The rest are smaller 5/16". Don't know why the didn't use two dowels as this misalignment is not uncommon to the ill-informed. Best check as its such a simple mistake to rectify. Using the same size 5/16th bolts allows the bellhousing to rotate norra lot but enough to make the gearbox want to leap out the car! I kid thee not I couldn't drive over 45mph! Iain

I drove my old bush out using a dummy shaft and packing the cavity with grease. A tap with a hammer on the shaft and hydraulic action popped the bush out. As I have a T9 gearbox I also machined out the flywheel to take a standard Sierra bearing for extra support as there wasn't that much of the shaft in the spigot bush. Works OK...sofar. Iain

Aaah been there! The PO hadn't used the one 3/8" oversided alignment bolt to align the bellhousing but 5/16" all round. This made (I measured it) 28 thou out of centre and caused terrible drive train vibration. Once the correct bolt fitted it was only 3 thou out and smooth as silk.

Does it have the correct domed face on the bearing? I know it means removing the clutch but worth checking the crankshaft bush is not worn? This bush supports the gearbox shaft end. Iain

Thanks for the post. I bought a small bottle of Jenolite to treat a few rust spots and like you gobsmacked at the price which I think was over £20 for 150ml! Iain

Aren't the heat isolators normally an asbestos type material? Mine are on my Stromberg but yours look like aluminium. Or is it an adaptor plate? Iain

Good point however I replaced this on my gearbox as I thought about it slapping around. Clearance is minimal but it still makes a noise.....! I wonder if it's clutch plate springs or pourly aligned teeth in the cover that's making the bearing hence assembly rattle. Iain

I also changed my slave cylinder but didn't make any difference. I'm jealous RBRR....... Iain