Iain T

After a run on a hot day I noticed coolant coming out of the rad cap and not going into the overflow bottle. On inspection I found the cap when closed had very little pressure on the top seal and probably the bottom. I changed the cap and solved the problem. Another case of variations in aftermarket parts! My old cap is stainless steel and looks to be better made but it doesn't work.... Iain

I've just fitted a recon rocker shaft assembly from TRGB, comes complete and the rocker arms are bushed. The price was £140 + £13pp plus VAT. If you buy all the bit separately its about the same price. I took the car out yesterday and everything seems fine and cured my tappet clatter! Iain

Dave, I was re-torqueing my head after an engine rebuild and noticed when rotating some of the rocker arms were a bit notchy and I had like you a bit too much tappet noise. I researched replacing the shaft and arms but then found TRGB do a refurbished complete bushed rocker shaft assembly for £140 + £13pp + VAT and they charge £50+VAT refundable exchange. Compared to buying all the parts and doing it myself this seemed a good buy, a five nut change over! The assembly arrived the next day and was as per spec. I have just fitted it today including checking the rocker arm strike pattern on the valve stem and all appears ok. The rockers are far less noisy and although I haven't taken the car for a test run the fix seems to be fine. For me money well spent! Iain

By far the best Avenger Girl.

I pre assembled before fitting and thought it's only a couple of turns to tighten but with a normal length spanner it's a no no. When welding the brackets on I put a couple of thin washers as spacers so that when tightened without them it pulled the pipe diameter in. I also welded the nut on to the top pipe bracket in the vain hope I could tighten the bolt! The bottom pipes are fine but trying to get your hand up between the chassis member, pipes etc to the top pipe is erm interesting.... I have the twin exhausts, I'm hoping someone at Duxford has a single sports so that I can hear the difference. Fingers crossed for Duxford🤞

Colin, having taken the collector off yesterday it wasn't sooty, it looks like you need to split and clamp the collector pipes. I thought welding the brackets on would distort the tube and make it a pig to refit but a bit of jiggling and it went on ok. I still can't get to the top bolt to fully tighten as I need a short spanner. Space is at a premium with a a Phoenix 6-3-1! Just to be sure I did put a smear of joint paste on each connection.......I hope I don't have to take it all apart again!! Iain

Made angle brackets and cut tube, all seems OK..... I'm hopeful!

Mine is a Phoenix 6-3-1 with the same collector design as yours. I think the swear box will be full tomorrow but I must sort it out as I can smell fumes in the cabin. Iain

Pete, forgot to say I'm taking yours and Nicks advise and doing the collector mod tomorrow. As you say it does burp gas and while twiddlin wiv me carbs the fumes were pretty bad. When I came home my wife told me to stand out on the balcony to de-fume, not sure if that was just an excuse...... Iain PS Did you use any exhaust gunk?

Friend wrapped the tubular exhaust manifolds on his MGB V8 and destroyed them in less than a year. The tube gets mighty hot and eats itself, but then he is a lunatic driver and likes drifting round roundabouts!!! Iain

Peter, I've fitted GAZ adjustables with blue poly bushes and they seem fine. Don't go any higher than a handful of clicks or your vision blurs! My fronts are on 3 clicks which seems fine but the rears on 1 but that's too soft for me. Iain

Ok it's wired in albeit not expertly as I wanted to know if it works and does it's job before making it look presentable. The manual override works but only when the ignition is turned on so the green AC cable does not override the yellow Ignition? I have the toggle switch wired in to a fuse box straight from the battery so it's always live as I thought this stood a chance of working when the ignition is off but it no. For the moment not a great problem. I had a 'moment' on the first run as the car temp gauge was all over the place (up to 100C) so I came back, run the car up on front ramps and let the engine cool down. I then took the rad cap off, started the engine and opened the heater valve. The coolant went down (more than a pint) so I topped it up and ran the car up and down the car park (7 storeys) and all seems to be stable. I'll take it out for another run this week to see if its ok in traffic. However somehow I seem to have lost power to my AFR meter...???? The wires are all in there I just need to connect them correctly!!! Another plus for dumping the crank fan is the engine is as smooth as silk. It was smoother after the engine rebuild but the yellow fan must have been way out of balance or the mounting rubbers were shot. Iain

The PO of my Vitesse had AVOs fitted, I had to change them as after just a few thousand miles and 6 years they were completely US. Iain

On soldering iron duty now, unfortunately my wife had a work schedule for me today that differed from mine and compliance was obligatory! Of course if you want full control of the engine coolant an electric water pump and fan is the way to go but a bit too far from originality... Iain

Mmm yes deviate at my peril. Thanks everyone for your help, I'll report back. Iain

Richard, just re read your posts are you saying not to connect the controller yellow ignition wire to the cars switched live? I would rather not but don't know if the widget will work if the yellow wire is not connected.

So wiring it up as your diagram, which seems the same as Davies Craig with the temperature over the minimum limit I should be able to flip the manual switch to on, turn the ignition off and the fan will remain on until below the minimum temperature?

Buy it ready insulated with inner and outer skins. If Kingspan don't supply the finisher parts in the correct exterior colour there are plenty of companies around that make Plastisol flashings. Having said that Kingspan do have some unique colours to prevent people doing exactly that! You could use a Metsec frame to fix it to. Again a properly engineered system that makes life so much easier. Iain

I'm going to put the controller on the horizontal tray surface next to the battery. The area on the outside of the battery is a perfect size for the controller. Another advantage is it should be a relatively dry area. In fixing it there it seems easier to connect to a fused live from the battery and the manual override switch. I have a Brise alternator with a type 1 terminal so I don't have a B+ terminal? Forgive my ignorance! The ignition switched live enables power to the fan and by turning the ignition off stops all supply? The manual override does exactly that so I can leave the fan on after stopping, being mindful to turn it off! The only cable I then need to run is from the controller to the fan as this is too short as supplied. The probe has a 1m cable so it reaches from the battery tray to the radiator. Plus of course the various earths. Johny as you say the manual switch does not need to be heavy duty, presumably it just operates an internal switch in the thingamajig little black boxes! The real oomph comes from the battery to the fan and those cables are much thicker than the others. Having said all that it is a relatively low capacity fan and doesn't require much power. Iain

Thanks Richard, it all seems pretty simple. I'll do my best with connections then when I go to the factory solder them properly. Iain

I think it's enough clearance and I may be able to squeeze another few mill by altering the rad angle. I hope there aren't any large movements, at least not with me in the car.... I'm happy it fits, I just need to do the wiring, my nemesis! Iain

Good news it fits, just! This fan is a 11" not sure if a 12" would fit without mods. The fan rim is about 10mm from the water pump and the crank bolt head is 4-5mm from the spider web fan casing. I could take a little off the casing and 1-2mm off the bolt head which would give 8-10mm clearance without mucking about with the fan spacer. I'll take some pics tomorrow, I have to go to Halfords for the electrical bits. Iain

It has 40amp rating so I might be able to make a hover car! So I just need to find a switched live to connect the yellow to and buy a suitably rated override switch (Halfords sell a 17amp switch with a red light) and connect to the green. There is an inline fuse in both the blue and orange wires but you suggest a fuse from the battery to the red? I have a second fuse box from the battery for a tripmaster and map light so I could use one of the free slots. Now to see if the fan actually fits...... Iain

OK delivery out the way and the fans arrived. I can fathom out where all the wires go apart from yellow ignition. Does this mean I connect to the ignition switched live which I think is green? Johny, I chickened out and bought a Davies Craig! Iain

Kingspan started in Ireland and are now global and yes they do manufacture some parts in the UK which for me is a big plus. They make very good insulation that doesn't catch fire! Iain