Iain T

Going back to rocker arm geometry I calculate that my incorrect arc is reducing valve lift by 3 thou. That's going to make a big difference 😂

Another horizontal thought last night, I need to check the feature stop and chrome trim line to see if it's straight or angling. There's no point pfaffin about raising my bonnet when this feature doesn't line up. My door gap to rear quarters are ok. As sort of are door to bonnet, the bonnet could go rearward 2-3mm which would exacerbate clearance to the rocker cover. I wonder if my engine is too far forward. I have a smaller gap between the rad and engine than others have reported on the forum which caused no end of issues fitting an electric fan. I currently have the engine mounts bolted to the front of the chassis brackets. It seemed logical to fit it that way but should (can you) bolt them behind the chassis bracket plate? This would move the engine back 6mm or so which probably still won't be enough. I'll also take a look if I have any shims fitted. I honestly can't remember!

Looking at the carb from the top turning the screw clockwise lowers the jet and makes it richer. Anticlockwise makes it leaner. Or looking at it from underneath clockwise leaner, anticlockwise richer. Clean the plugs, take it for a blast and check the colours.

Still seems a carburetor adjustment or air leaks problem. I take it you have oil in the dash pots? When you turn the jet adjustment (at the bottom of the carb) can you hear a difference in the engine note? What are the plugs like? Iain

It's a set screw and copper washer. Take a look at the Canley Classics website which gives size. Iain

Looking at PeteH's photos perhaps redesigned plates would work. An L shaped plates allowing the bonnet to move up vertically and not forward to keep the door/bonnet gaps? I'll take a closer look tomorrow. Iain

Or in a different role "left hand down a bit". That was the trouble I didn't get a bit! However I surprisingly enjoyed the bell ringing.

Our vicar had a Vitesse. The only time I regularly went to church was as a teenager to learn bell ringing. At 16 I had the hots and a lot of lust for the head ringers daughter. Unfortunately it was not reciprocated!

Bloomin thing won't move a great deal, even unscrewing the tie rod. However the small movement gave massive bonnet to door gap. I need to take the overriders off take a good look and ponder the best way forward. I can still hear her voice as my wife walked away saying 'going nowhere again aren't you. I thought this was a 5 minute job and I've been standing here for 30 minutes plus you've got blood on your jeans, I've just washed those". Yes dear.......

So apart from the bolt there's nothing to stop the slotted bracket from rotating? Seems a bit 'unengineered'. Getting the wife to help me adjust the bonnet...this could end up badly!

It's only a mild tune cam nothing outrageous. It ticks over quite nicely. As to the bonnet I'm going to cheat and slacken off the pivot bolt, pull the bonnet up as far as it will go on the slot and put a washered bolt underneath to stop it sliding back down. A bodge but it should show what clearance I have with the pressed cover so I can then determine if the ali will fit.

I probably will if raising the bonnet doesn't work. As I really want to use the thin gasket.

I'll take a look but from memory there are some shims. Dropping the engine, if possible, has other implications for me as with the Phoenix 6-3-1 manifold it fouls the steering column. I had to put a small dimple in one of the pipes and move the rack over to get enough clearance or it would have hit the column.

Should it not be a spacer tube through the bonnet pivot then bolted to the overider bracket with shim washers to take up any side movement? That way I could use the slot where it's currently fixed.

All at a typical Ulster 1000 words per minute?!?! Sorting out our cars is like a good crime book lots of twists and turns, many red herrings, and with a bite at the end!

God you're good! The bonnet pivot doesn't have a spacer tube and is bolted though the slot hole and as you suspected it's dropped to the bottom. Looks like I could increase the height by about 20mm. As to door gaps it would make one side better and the other, currently even, worse. Life ain't purfick, especially on Triumph body and glass fits! I'll take a look on the Canley site to see the correct arrangement.

I know what you mean, after retirement I lost all sense of time and date. I love thread drift especially when, as it often is, humorous! A photo of my rockers, you can see the tappet screws are nearly fully up and without the pedestal shims it runs out of adjustment. As I said the rockers arc from say 9 o'clock to 7 when they should theoretically be 10 to 8 ie equally from the horizontal. At valve open, say 7 o'clock, the screws are so high they sometimes even touch the pressed steel cover. Correcting the rocker geometry would solve the cover problem.

I'm Iain, Colin has I presume a NI accent! I did fit the bonnet and at the time thought it odd that there wasn't a spacer tube and just nipped up on the bolt with washers. I was pushed for time as I was fitting it at where I used to work and they wanted to kick me out. I bet it's dropped and could solve or at least help with clearance. I don't mind machining off the front fins to get it to fit. I'll take a look later today.

Ta I like this solution and take a look tomorrow. Wagger plan B is sell the new cover and paint the old one. My lovely wife thinks it's all funny and a total waste of time......Where's the bottle

Thanks Pete it's on my list of possibilities, I might have more later but still on my first glass🤪 How easy or difficult is it to play with the bonnet pivot?

A fun couple of hours going nowhere! I cheated and used a 1mm diameter s/steel rod and poked it in the follower to measure the pushrod length. I know its not totally accurate but it seems I probably do have the correct 8" rods. So feeling lucky and wanting to fit the shiny ali cover I used a spare cork gasket to give more clearance for the rocker screws. I tentatively turned the engine over, no grinding or scraping. Started the engine and got up to running temperature, still all good. So I then tested bonnet clearance (should have done this first) with a bit of Blutack stuck on the front of the cover. Nuffin doin, it fouls! To have even a chance of fitting I would have to, as many have, machine off the front fins and use the thin gasket. So I did the next best thing put the old cover back on and had a large cuppa and several biscuits☕🍪 I wish I'd never started and just had the old cover repainted! Bottle of Merlot next🍷 Cheers Iain

Will do! The weather's rubbish today so unless SWMBO has other plans I might take a peak this afternoon. Oh the suspense.....cue drum roll! Iain

According to Chris Witor head chart I should have 8" pushrods which are the shortest of the 2 and 2.5 litre engines. I'm hoping some dimwit in the past has used 8.125" pushrods as a new set of 8" would solve the problem. Other that it's 7.875" bespoke rods to solve a problem that probably isn't much of an issue! Iain

A quick fag packet calc and assuming the rocker/pushrod ratio is 1:1.4 and the arm is horizontal when fully up I think reducing the rod length by 3.3mm should suffice and then arc correctly. Perhaps slightly shorter as the tappet screws are nearly fully unwound. Iain

Kevin, I have spoken to the engine builder and he can as you say get bespoke rods. Everything is almost off the shelf in the USA!