SixasStandard

My '68 2 Litre has louvres on the driver's side and no louvres on the passenger side, and I've no reason to think that this isn't the standard OE set up. Louvres make sense on the driver's side, as they allow airflow away from the exhaust and inlet manifolds, and hence reduce heat in this area to prevent issues like fuel vaporisation. There isn't any obvious reason for louvres on the passenger side that I can think of. Ian.

When I bought my Vitesse in January I got the seller to fill the tank, as I was anticipating driving the car back from Devon to Lincolnshire. That didn't happen (it's a long story) and I ended up having to have the car trailered back, so I still have about half a tank left now. I went out for a run in the car yesterday to test all was well after a recent steering gaiter change, and the car performed faultlessly.........so I'm with Clive on this one. The idea of fuel going stale might be true for stuff that's years old.......but my experience is that it's still fine after 6 months. Ian

As promised a dimensioned drawing of the 'sunrise' tool, just in case it is of use to other Forum members.........plus a picture of the type of plastic lid that works particularly well and is the correct size.........not to mentioning supporting the local bird population. Ian

Whit's gaun oan? looks lik' th' wee herald is back oan th' merkat! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-herald-1360/184342473772?hash=item2aebaaec2c:g:mZkAAOSwy-le9Kvz Ian

Just a few extra comments to make on this thread. Firstly, having replaced the gaiter I've now decided to tart up the wishbones, track rod and anti-roll bar whilst I'm at it. During my time in the IT industry this sort of thing was referred to as 'project creep'........and was considered a definite negative as far as your future career prospects were concerned! Secondly, whilst taking everything back to bare metal I came across a couple of vestiges of our industrial heritage that made me smile..........a proud stamping proclaiming 'Made in Great Britain', and then a 'Stanpart' stamping that gives a graphic example of why the former isn't seen quite so often any more!! Ian

The 'sunrise' tool (as it's been christened on here) certainly worked for me, although it was the second version of the design, my first attempt with shorter 'petals' didn't prove effective. To make it I used the flexible plastic lid from a container of bird feeder 'fat balls' which you can buy (up here in the North at any rate) at shops like Wilko for about 4 quid. Any soft thermoplastic material should work ok, as long as it's thick enough. As other forum members might find the tool useful I'll post a dimensioned photo of it over the next few days. The plastic lid I used was soft enough to cut out the required shape with household scissors, but it was more than strong enough for the job. As for the gaiters themselves, the ones I purchased from Chic Doig look excellent, nice and substantial, so I can personally recommend them. Ian

I can't speak for you Peter, but in my own personal case I don't expect to be remembering very much at all in 20 years time. I like the moniker 'sunrise tool' though.........now what were we talking about again?.......... Ian

Hello All, When contributors to this thread remarked on what a nightmare job the nearside rack gaiter replacement was they really weren't joking! It was a total 'b***h' to do, and in the end the only way I could manage it was to make a 'special tool', as the plastic bottle I had been trying just didn't seem to work for me personally. Once I'd knocked up a tool it went on at the first attempt, whereas I'd spent a good hour trying with the bottle.......and came damn close to drop kicking the gaiter across the garage in frustration. The tool was made from a flexible plastic container lid (see picture), and the small circumference wraps around the rack, whilst the 'petals' bend over the inner ball joint and slip into the open end of the gaiter. Holding the tool around the rack with your left hand you can then force the gaiter over the 'petals' with your right. It was easy to pull the tool out once the gaiter was over the ball joint. We all find our own ways to do these sorts of jobs........but this was my solution, and worked well for me. Ian

Thanks Alan, that's good advice. Ian.

Hello All, Made some interesting discoveries whilst starting the job of changing the steering rack gaiter on my Vitesse. First thing to say though.........if you are ever going to do this job then invest in a good ball joint splitter. I first used mine whilst stripping down my Alpine's steering, but this is the first time on the Vitesse. It has made the job SO much easier, and whatever you do don't waste your money on one of those awful 'tuning fork' type splitters.........they can cause a lot of damage. Anyway, whilst stripping off the gaiter I found that the inner fixing was just twisted wire (albeit well executed) which I can't believe is correct, and on top of this there was what looked like masking tape wound around the housing where the gaiter was wired on (see pictures). I'm assuming that this is just back street garage bodgery, but if anyone else has any observations then please feel free to post. My new gaiters were supplied with the usual zip ties, but how do other owners secure their gaiters. Any help or advice gratefully received. Ian

I was forgetting it's all caviar and 'Bolly' down there in Berkshire!! Ian

Let's hope he doesn't put a Herald engine in it........no offence to Herald owners........but in a car looking like that you wouldn't want to be topping out at between 80 to 85mph would you? Ian

I'll have to start adding gauges to the top of the dash now that I've filled all the available space underneath! Would a G force gauge be too optimistic in a Vitesse? Ian

Hello All, Remind me to curtail my comic genius in future ......... and thanks Dave for the charity laughing emoji.........there aught to be one with a windswept tumbleweed! Anyway, have now completed the gauge housing and temporarily installed it in the car. All looks ok to me, clearly visible from the driving position, and not getting in the way of anything. I'll connect up the gauges after I've got the steering rack gaiter sorted. Two gauges fit in nicely, but three would look a bit crowded in my opinion, although you could manage it if you relocated the trip meter reset to the other side of the steering column. Ian

Thanks Peter, Just goes to show that there are numerous alternative solutions to adding this particular feature. Ian

Thanks Adrian, that's certainly another option to consider. Regards, Ian

Apologies in advance.......but I just couldn't help myself......... I got my first real six cylinder Bought it off the Canley line Drove it till the trunnions bled Was the winter of '69 Me and some guys from the club Had a trolley jack and we tried real hard Jimmy quit and Jody got spanner rash I shoulda known we’d never get far But when I look back now That winter seemed to last forever And if I had the choice Yea I’d have def bought a Capri Those were the best cars at the time Ain’t no use in complainin’ When you got a trunnion to do Spent my evenin’s down at the lock up And that’s when I met you, ya Riding on your brother’s Puch You told me trunnions take forever Oh, and when you offered your spanner I noticed it was a flippin’ Snap On Those were the best tools at that time Back in the winter of ‘69

Come on Doug!!.........really?........given the choice of, on one hand, a professionally designed housing made from modern lightweight materials with full consideration given to safety and ergonomics..........and on the other, a Heath Robinson solution lashed together with a bit of questionable scrap steel and rivets............are you REALLY telling me you'd go with the former?? Luckily I'm too much of a skinflint to buy a manufactured one........plus I don't want to give any money to the Chinese if I can help it!! On a serious note (for a change).......would a 3 gauge housing fit in the space on the RHS of the column? Ian

That's useful Paul, thanks for the link. Where did you mount it? and did you take the live feed from a fuse box or direct from the permanent live side of the starter solenoid? Ian

Hello All, I'm going to be fitting hazard warning lights to my '68 Vitesse at some stage, and wondered what experiences other owners have had whilst completing this upgrade. I'd be particularly interested in what approach others have taken, a bespoke solution or one of the 'off the shelf' offerings from suppliers such as Retronics? Any help/advise/observations/anecdotes gratefully received. Ian

That's an interesting point Dave. The pictures are from my original Mk1 2 litre owners manual, and obviously show a plastic pipe with the routing around the front of the engine, so time will tell if this causes any issues on my car. I certainly wasn't aware that the earlier cars had metal pipe, and can see how the change to plastic could have resulted in an increase in warranty maintenance returns to the dealers in period. Ian

Hello All, As an addendum to this thread, I've decided not to butcher my Vitesse's dashboard and ashtray in order to fit extra gauges, and instead fit an oil pressure gauge and a Voltmeter in a separate pod mounted on the underside of the dash to the right of the steering column. I did toy with the idea of replacing the period Radiomobile radio in the centre console with the gauges, but couldn't bring myself to remove the radio.......which just looks so right where it is!! I mocked up a 2 gauge pod in cardboard to see how it would look, and more importantly if it would get in the way of my legs when getting in and out of the car and during normal driving. I'm happy to say that it does neither........so now in the process of making a finished item out of sheet steel. I have made it with a top mounting flange at the front in order to position the gauges further back under the dash, which for me leaves the gauges in the perfect position to view them whilst driving. As you will see from the pictures I ended up riveting the pod together rather than welding, as it was galvanized sheet that I used, and to be honest it was just a lot easier that way. More pictures to follow once it is complete and installed. Ian

Hi All, On the off-chance that this might be of interest to some (although I'm not holding my breath)........it recently came to light during a conversation with a Mk2 Vitesse owning friend that there is a difference between the routing of the vacuum advance pipe between the Mk1 and Mk2 Vitesse 2 Litre. On the Mk1 the pipe follows the route of the fuel line around the front of the engine to connect to the housing of carb #2, whereas on the Mk2 the pipe straddles the top of the rocker cover to reach the same point on the induction system. I'm not sure why this change would have been made, other than perhaps as an economy measure by the bean counters at BL. Personally I think that the longer route looks better, and have now returned my car to this spec. The pipe was a quid for a metre off of E-Bay, so didn't break the bank. Ian

Yep........my '68 Mk1 is the same as Paul's, three studs with acorn nuts. Ian

Paul, If your sunvisors are like mine you will have a clear plastic covered opening in the passenger side cover, so in theory it wouldn't matter if you used a larger sized mirror rather than using an exact sized replacement. Luckily in my case the original mirror was ok to be re-used. Ian