Iain T

The black art of a good plating finish is in the polishing prior to plating. Literally black art, I've never seen a polisher who didn't look like he had been down a coal mine for a month! If the polishing mop lingers too long in an area it produces heat distortion or even holes. As in most things we do it's all in the preparation! Iain

Pete, pics of the installation in my car done by the PO. The hole pitch front to back is approx 400mm and the seat is mounted centrally ie the mods are symmetrically opposed. It looks like the original seat mounting channel has a new plate welded to it to use the standard seat fixing holes but you should be able to see the differences when comparing the Herald and MX seats. Hope this helps. Iain

Can't seem to find this part anywhere so it's a DIY fix if it's not there? Iain PS This does need to be in the Fuel Topic so other members can follow this drift

Pete, I have MX seats in my Vitesse, I'll take a look and some photos and report back. Iain

Depends on the spline but anything OEM is going to be better than 90% of remanufacture parts. Iain

Wife bought it as birthday present then filed the splines down......

Unless they have changed suppliers DO NOT buy a steering column UJ from Rimmers. The one I bought would have killed me it was terrible quality😡 Iain

Pete, will do. There is a slight whif of petrol in the boot so perhaps it does need nipping up? After my DIY efforts perhaps the boss will give me time off next week! Iain

Is this hose a shaped special or can I use standard Gates? Iain

I have one on my front carb, possibly only on the CDS version? Iain

Also just so I don't get even more paranoid than I am now I'm going to replace all the hoses for Gates spec and put an inline filter before the pump. I already have one before the carbs. Iain

Sorry haven't been trolling the Forum, went out for a nice meal with some (2) friends last night and my wife has tasked me with DIY duty😡 First thank you to all that stopped to help. As I said I took the fuel hose off at the carbs feed pipe and there was nothing coming out so I assumed the worse! The RAC guy took the hose off at the Huco and I switched the ignition on and fuel came out...good. So he took the same hose off that I did and.......drum roll......fuel came out.....and the crowd went wild! No idea what the problem was or why taking the hose off at the Huco would do anything different to cracking a joint by the carbs as in between is the copper pipe?!? Gremlins, dredded slivers or fairy dust dunno...but the car was fine on the journey back to London. Suggestions please Iain

BGH supplied my T9 box with long first and shortened remote, after a few months I wanted a quicker shift with a straight not cranked gear lever and slightly shortened lever length. So I phoned Chris at BGH and sent him my gear lever and for £40 he worked his magic. Works much better, no rattles as is common on other quick shifts and the gear knob is in a perfect position. I was going to do the mod myself but for that money why would you plus it was done by experienced engineers. Although BGH have given me good service I do like the look of the Voigt box. Both company backgrounds sound similar so flip a coin! Iain

I prefer alcohol🍻🥃🥂

Probably just general engineering tolerances from different manufacturers of push rod and adjuster. Iain

On the pushrod issue, I did notice one of my rods was perilously close to the head casting. I meant to check it out but in my enthusiasm to finish I forgot, a common occurrence now! Something to do tomorrow....where are my Post-Its? Iain

You can have a gearbox corrector made to your spec from Speedograph Richfield. I had a right angle adaptor made for my T9 box, I think it was around £80-90. This way you can leave your speedo as original. Iain

Update, the Spal standard 11" fan isn't up to the job on hot days and traffic. I have a 12" uprated Spal arriving tomorrow with 50% more suck, I just hope it fits! It's the same rime depth but will need some juggling to get in. Iain

I would refit the vac tube, it's designed to be there for good reason. Does one of your carbs have the brass tube where the vac tube fits? Iain Oops just seen your post says it's blanked off and missing! I don't know I'd Burlen sells the tube if not buy some brass tubing and make your own.

Ah Ha I'll take a look tomorrow but it makes sense. Iain

I don't have an oil cooler so they are blind drillings. Why are they there? Iain

Reading Kevin and Pete's posts it does sound like pinking may be your problem. My tappets were noisy at tickover and just got noisier with more revs. Iain

Dave, my shaft to rocker arms were worn hence the rattle, the arm tips were fine. I thought it may have been because I replaced the camshaft and had perhaps too much clearance in the block bearing surface but replacing the whole shaft assembly seems to have done the trick. Well it's quiter than before and it doesn't squeak anymore. I have slightly more clearance than standard so it's never going to be whisper quiet but then tappets never should! Iain

GoldPlug sell a magnetic 3/8 NPT plug IP-03X. They are available at various places but not cheap at around £17! Iain

I think you need revs to make the pump work harder to flush the water through the system. Dave the same thing happened to me with my MK2, I used the same nose in the air with engine running etc but when I took the car for a spin the temperature gauge went ballistic. Basically I was measuring steam! When cool I filled it up and all has been fine. Take it for a blast round the block plus Johny's trick with the heater then recheck. Iain