cliff.b
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Posts posted by cliff.b
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1 hour ago, clive said:
later dolly 1500 had 3.63. Just to add confusion.
Oh well, guess it will remain a mystery until I get to inspect everything more closely.
Incidentally, although off topic from my original question, are there any differences between the Dolomite 1500TC engine and the Spit?
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11 minutes ago, Mathew said:
Depends on if they did . Or did they just bolt it together? Check it or have it checked, unless you can ask them.
Unfortunately, I have no idea who carried out the restoration work. I bought the car last week off a guy who bought it "restored" last year but it rapidly became a non runner. I think I have to assume it wasn't checked after re-assembly and do it myself.
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55 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:
bump steer and bunny hops steers on bumps with the weaving indicates serious rear wheel toe errors
two planks and a tape measure will show it up only takes a few minutes
messing with pressures may change the ride comfort but has no effect on weaving or pot hole side steps/ bump steer
pete
The body was removed from the chassis during the restoration work so am I right in thinking that the rear alignment should have been checked/corrected after that?
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1 hour ago, clive said:
Lower profile tyres won't make a difference bumpsteer.
Have you used std tyre pressures?
But check teh tracking as Pete has suggested, it can make a car feel terrible.
I have been trying various pressures to see how it feels but today, when the issue occurred I was running 28 front & 30 rear.
On normal road surface it felt good to me. I might try lower and go back over the same road, perhaps a bit slower this time 🙄
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13 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:
toe in the simple way
Thanks. I will have a read.
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42 minutes ago, DanMi said:
have you checked for play in any suspension bushes and the front trunnions. Jack 1 end up and then lever at all the joints to see if there is any excess movement, the bottom of the front trunnion is notorious for having the bolt seize and wear out the plastic bushes. also check to see if the steering rack can move within it's bushes and for play in the track rod ends. Also check the rear bushes. plus check for free play in the steering universal joint any of these can cause poor handling particularly on poor roads and I would advise checking on a car new to yourself anyway
I have checked a lot of it at the front when I was changing the calipers. Many of the bushes, nuts, bolts etc. looks new, but I agree, I need to look at everything. I'm not seeing any noticeable play at the wheels when I turn the steering wheel so assumed the steering UJ, bushes & rack mounting are OK. Does this seem a reasonable assumption?
I haven't checked anything at the rear yet but will do so when I replace the brake shoes.
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3 minutes ago, Badwolf said:
Cliff, go into your original post, click on the three dots in the top right, you can then edit your post including the title and sub groups.
Thanks. Now corrected 👍
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18 minutes ago, clive said:
Rear tracking would be my first guess, if that is out it can be very "exciting"
Next, are they standard type shock absorbers or adjustable. If adjustable, what make. Many people adjust shocks to "halfway" which can be dreadfully hard causing serious handling issues. (not on Koni though)
Front tacking/camber/caster or bumpsteer may need looking at, especially the car has lowered springs.
The tyres are a little too wide for std 4.5 rims, but if running at about 25psi should not cause major issues.
Thanks, Clive. There's nothing about the shocks that lead me to think they aren't standard. The ride doesn't seem hard. The springs also appear standard although of course the lower profile front tyres slightly lowers the front of the car. Could that be causing problems. One thing I have noticed, despite the pressures being higher than you suggest I can actually rock the car laterally from side to side due to the flex in the tyre side walls.
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The Spit 1500 I bought last week is now running & braking well enough for some proper road testing. Covered about 60 miles today and all going well until what I can only describe as some "weaving" set in. Considering the issues I have already found I thought something was about to come loose and stopped immediately to check everything out but all seemed ok. So drove off again tentatively and all fine until I hit a patch of badly repaired road and similar again, although not as bad but that's probably because I was travelling more slowly.
So I would be grateful for any opinions as to whether this might be due to
1) The tyres that the car came with. (185/70 rear 185/60 front) or the tyre pressures.
2) some other suspension issue.
3) They all do this but I have forgotten over the last 40 years since I last drove one.
Since I realised nothing is falling off I have just driven through it ok, it's just a bit disconcerting.
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41 minutes ago, DanMi said:
all of the single rail gearbox cars had 1000 turns per mile speedos and they had different speedo drive gears for the different ratios so you could have a single rail box with the drive from a dolomite or something else.
Aha, I noticed yesterday that the engine block number is from a Dolomite, so guess the gearbox could be as well. Did Dolomites have 4.11 diffs?
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18 minutes ago, johny said:
yes thats the correct ratio speedo👍
Thanks for all your help 👍
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23 hours ago, johny said:
I think we've agreed on here that the variation for diff ratios isnt corrected in the gearbox but in the actual speedo.
The correct one for yours should show 1000 (revs/mile) on the face...
Pic of my speedo attached. So does this mean it's the correct Speedo?
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Agreed. I know the tacho may not be accurate and besides, I'm only glancing at it so in reality, it was roughly 3000 rpm. Likewise, the GPS was varying between 54 & 56 (which of course could have been 56.9)
But all this has alleviated my main concern that I had a low ratio diff fitted and no overdrive which I would find a problem at cruising speeds.
I will identify the diff in due course but as suggested, sorting the Speedo is more urgent. Although I can mount the GPS Speedo from my pedal bike temporarily.
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Just to update, I have tested again with GPS and Speedo is definitely reporting about 15% slower than actual at all speeds.
Dividing the GPS speed by the reported RPM gives approx 18.5mph/1000rpm which I believe is correct for the car.
And if my maths aren't letting me down, I calculate that if the diff was about 4.1 the Speedo reading would be correct. So I think something has been fitted from an older car that had a diff with that sort of ratio.
Happy to have got to the bottom of this now and explains why the test runs made before I found this seemed fast for the speed I thought I was driving at. Thought it was just being so low to the ground and all the noise lol
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9 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:
youre lucky many get informed of somewhere they didnt want to go or know
its all part of the fun disguised as help !!!
Pete
Ha ha.
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16 minutes ago, thescrapman said:
Different angles on the brackets I correct, it is due to reduced clearance under Spitfire bonnet for the bigger MC, possibly the dual circuit one.
Which yours may be supposed to have.
Oh, I see. Makes sense. Anyway, brackets now swapped over with the Brake cylinder now on the re-inforced one.
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52 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said:
Ha! Cliffs post count is up to 56 already. I'm following this as I have not found my diff number yet and my phone was going buzz, buzz buzz, buzz.....as they all came in!
Handy to know where it is for us 'newbies'
Found the delete option now 👍. Think the volume of my posting is mainly because I have raised 3 separate issues in different threads and all have had quite a lot of responses, all very informative 🙂
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1 minute ago, johny said:
Cliff, I would seriously recommend downloading a free manual from that site as this information is common to many cars and would help you learn a lot.....
That sounds like a good idea. Didn't realise it was available as only joined last week.
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21 minutes ago, cliff.b said:
I will have another look next time I jack it up.
I took a picture but couldn't make anything out. After making it brighter it is a bit more legible but still not sure what I am seeing
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16 hours ago, johny said:
I think you need to identify the diff either by cleaning off the painted serial number or if that isnt possible by counting the actual wheel turns.
To do the latter, with the car raised, you have to accurately mark the position of both wheels and diff input flange then lock one of the wheels solidly. An assistant has to turn the free wheel exactly two revolutions while you count the turns of the input flange and mark where it ends up. Your flange will have rotated 3 times plus some which you have to work out is 0.27, 0.63 or 0.89 of a turn...
I will have another look next time I jack it up.
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6 minutes ago, johny said:
I think we've agreed on here that the variation for diff ratios isnt corrected in the gearbox but in the actual speedo.
The correct one for yours should show 1000 (revs/mile) on the face...
If that's the case then good news as far easier to resolve 👍
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3 minutes ago, johny said:
Not sure as perhaps where the washer and circlip sit is the same size in all MC and also the pushrod is universal so that just the bore/piston size varies. That seems logical and then one pushrod can be used for all...
It would be interesting to see if anything is already in place on the new MC?
Although I dont think a workshop manual specific to the 1500 Spitfire is available you might find some of the others available free from vitessesteve.co.uk useful...
Ok, many thanks with all your assistance with this 👍
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13 minutes ago, johny said:
Sorry I think we might have misled you a bit as looking in the Vitesse online workshop manual the MC has an internal circlip that retains a washer which allows the pushrod to move but not come out. When the pedal is released the internal spring traps the pushrod between the piston and washer/circlip so it cant move. You might be able to rotate it with your fingers but there shouldnt be any back and forward play.
The only possible play will be between the clevis and brake pedal which of course then does indicate that the MC isnt under pressure and all is correct.
I think if the clevis is fixed (threaded ones are available) the washer cant be removed so that rod can only be used on the same size bore MCs and wont be transferable to your new one...
Ok, thanks for the explanation. So I will need to see if an actuator for the standard MC is available if I want to use it?
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20 minutes ago, cliff.b said:
Tried to read what was written on the diff but painted & couldn't make it out. However, I just went for a spin with a GPS speed app on my phone. At 3000 rpm the Speedo was reading 48 but the GPS said 55. So I'm happy I have the correct diff in the car but now have another issue to resolve lol
Hmm, could that mean I have a gearbox from an earlier car with the Speedo drive set up for a higher ratio diff?
Spitfire on bad road surfaces
in Chassis, Suspension & Steering
Posted
Planned to check the rear toe situation today but I cant find suitable straight edges at the moment. However, I have made a quick visual check of where the shims are placed and the OS gap appears significantly larger than NS. It looks like a solid block about a quarter of an inch thick. I will investigate further later and hopefully check the toe but just wondering if this amount of "shimming" is within the range of what is expected?