micmak

These look VERY interesting. Anyone got more pics of this seats in a convertible Vitesse? Or any info on how easy/difficult they are to set up in the car?

I have a question about seats. I saw that there were a few threads on seats already, but the most recent posts seem to be from last Summer. So I thought I’d start a new one and maybe there are new ideas/solutions: When I got my 68 convertible Vitesse two weeks ago, it had the original seats. I felt that the seats were almost too big for the car as they rest against the rear quarter trim panel/B post. The seller also provided me with a set of MGF seats. They came with the flat bar modification already attached to the seat rails. I liked them because I thought the headrests looked good, and they are safer if someone collides with you from behind. I removed the original seats and put in the MGFs a few days ago. Now I find that they feel even bigger and I am too far forward even though they will not push back any farther. They also rest against the quarter trim panel/B post. There is no room to even get the seatbelt unless I slide the seat forward first. See attached. I feel that I am too close to the steering wheel and the throttle, brake and clutch pedals. Has anyone else had this issue? Is there a recognized solution? Are there any "new" ideas not previously shared in similar threads? It seems to me that the seats really need to be a little narrower and/or a little more towards the centre of the car, so that they can slide back further.

Yesterday and today, I actually DROVE the Vitesse for the first time. I got the road tax and insurance all sorted so out on the road I went. I had not driven the car prior to buying it, and in fact I had never, driven any Triumph in my life! But I wasn’t born yesterday and I knew that I was getting into a 55-year-old car which was built on technology from the 1950s. I have a modern car as my daily driver, but I also have a 1980 car and a 1983 car, so I was expecting a few knocks, some whirring, clackety clickities, and the odd rumble. I got what I expected. As I drove, I was very mindful of the fact that it has just been rebuilt, so I was driving very gently. My round trip was about 17 miles yesterday and about 26 today. The car drove quite nicely. Allowing for the fact that it is a convertible with what might be described as a “flimsy” convertible top, there were the expected “whistles“ and air/wind sounds, that you would reasonably expect. Aside from the expected, there were a few sounds that I wondered about. There was a general “whine” from the rear area. Now, before everyone starts with horrible death trap stories, I need to remind you that this is a NEWLY rebuilt car. Could the whine be normal, but I am not yet used to it? I am guessing it’s probably normal, and actually it seemed less noticeable today. I dunno if I am getting used to it or if it is going away as more miles are put on the car. There was also a recurring “whom, whom, whom” which came from the back area. I figured it was consistent with the revolution of the wheels. The faster I drove, the faster the noise became. If there was a bend to the right, the sound went away. Going straight it was there and on a left bend, it was louder. It was there regardless of whether I was accelerating or coasting in neutral. I lightly pressed the brake pedal thinking that it might be a loose brake shoe, but the sound remained. It seemed to be on the passenger side rear area, but I couldn’t be sure. Is this sound normal? I would guess that this is not normal. But what could it be? When I got home, I jacked up the passenger side rear, and looked for signs of anything rubbing against the wheel. Nothing! I spun the wheel, but there was no unusual sound. I took the wheel off. There was nothing to be seen. So Guys, before your comments, please remember that it is a recently rebuilt car, with almost no miles on it, so maybe I need to allow for all that, and drive it for a few hundred miles, to let everything settle in, before I get too concerned. But still, I’d be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks for the comments Folks. There is no jack in the car. The seller says it didn’t have one when he got it. So what do you guys have as a jack? A traditional cheapie scissor jack, or something more substantial? I have my trolley jack in the garage, but I am not too comfortable driving around with no jack in the car. He did a full service before he sold the car to me. I asked him about the trunions. He said that he hadn’t oiled them, but they would be ok until the first oil change in about 1,000kms. Just for peace of mind, I might do them myself. It would be good to get familiar with such things anyway. Johny, can you elaborate a little on your syringe and tube solution, please? As for the exhaust on the car, I have no idea if it is correct or not, but I did notice that it hangs rather lower than I would have expected. I will play with that and try to get it a little higher. Also he did the tracking when he was doing the overall service.

Hi Folks, well I got the Vitesse on Friday evening. I had a busy weekend, so today was the first chance I had to take a closer look at it. It really IS a little beauty. I am attaching some pics of it when up on a ramp before I got it home on Friday. Also, I am attaching a little “report” that the previous owner compiled. This is as close to a new car as you can get, as far as I can see. There is a TON of paperwork with the car including lots and lots of receipts and a workshop manual, and even an owners handbook.

Well as for johny’s point about valve memory, I would assume there is no memory on these valves as the engine has been fully rebuilt. It hasn’t been run-in yet. The seller figures there might be 5 or 6 miles on the engine since being redone. So, I think it would be prudent to use some lead replacement additive. If the engine had several thousand miles of use today, I might be less careful. But I don’t want to damage the valves of what is almost a “new” engine. As Chris A says, for a small price, it will give peace of mind. And as much as I can, I will use the highest octane I can get. That might be a bit tricky because here in Ireland, often there is just one petrol nozzle at the station. Just petrol ­­– no breakdown of octane rating at all! I think it is E5, but I will check into that. Thanks for all the input, Folks.

Interesting viewpoints, and a little confusing too! My question about additives was from a lead point of view. With only unleaded petrol available now, and taking into account that the car is a 1968 model, built when lead was in the petrol, I’m more concerned about damaging valves, or any other components, rather than performance concerns or fuel economy. I might look at performance improvements later, but for now, I just want to drive the car safely. So with that in mind, do I need any additives just to drive the car without damaging it? Thanks. .....Mick.....

Hi Guys, What about fuel? In this age of unleaded fuel, do we need to add anything to the fuel tank?

Hi Guys, ok on to my next series of questions! I’ve been casually looking at minilites online. I am not going to run out tomorrow to buy a set — I’ll wait until I get the car and drive it for a while first. I’m just getting an idea of price and availability. I was confused by the details on the web page below. There are several 13x5 wheels. Can anyone tell me which one is best suited to the Vitesse, and why? How do you decipher these different dimensions: https://www.johnbrownwheels.com/tyres/13-alloys I clicked on one of these wheels and these are the technical specs. What is Fitment, Offset, Poke, Backspace etc.

I have tried to download this, but it keeps going to a blank white page. Can anyone else get it? I have tried with a few different browsers, but no luck.

This is great Guys. Thank you. I think Pete Lewis is right; I will get the car, drive it, and get a feel for it, before I start changing anything. I’m impressed by the Vitessesteve site. Lots of info there. I am unable to download the Vitesse 2 litre PDF. Is that a problem at my end or is there something at the website that is stopping me? I got a copy of the carb tuning PDF. Very handy to have. Fantastic! I am enjoying this already and I don’t even have the car yet! Thanks Everyone.

Hi Folks, well after almost 6 months of frustration trying to get my garage extended in order to buy that Vitesse, finally the builders are nearly finished, and I hope to take possession of the car in the next 2 weeks or so. This has been an unbelievable experience in which an unscrupulous builder ripped me off! We agreed on a price to do the build, and he asked for money to buy materials. I gave him €4½K and he ran off with the money! The cops are currently investigating. Anyway, the car will soon be mine, at last. So I need to start seriously asking questions. I hope I will not bore you all, as I have never owned a Triumph before and this whole experience will be new to me. First of all, I presume I’ll need a workshop manual. Any recommendations? Anyone got one lying around? I expect I will need spare items like points and a set of feeler gauges. I have not owned a set of feeler gauges for many years, as modern cars don’t need them. It’s a 68 Vitesse, and I have seen write ups saying that changing to electronic ignition is best. Others say no, that all you need is a good set of points not cheapies, and you will be ok. Any thoughts on this? I was thinking of a set of minilites. Any recommendations as to where I can get a set? Perhaps used? The car is completely restored. The engine is not yet run in. It has new everything as I outlined months ago at the beginning of this thread. However, I am buying it with no warranty. Here’s a crazy question: Is there anything in particular that I should look for before I take possession of the car -- I mean anything peculiar to Vitesses? Here are a few more pics I took about 2 months ago when I visited the car!

Car looks great, Pete.

Thank you for chiming in with that positive comment, Nick. I was starting to get scared by all the bad possibilities! 🤣 But I also figured that these cars were made for a reasonably long stretch. If there was a major fear of losing them on bends or twisty roads, they would never have lasted as long was they did, and they would have gotten a really bad reputation. The only reputation I know about these cars is that they are cool cars and soo 60's-ish!

Wow. Yes, that DOES help me decide. Those numbers make my purchase seem really good. Thanks for that.

Good grief. Obviously, my computer is spying on me. It is watching to see what I post and where I post it, and then feed me related material. In the space of 10 minutes, my Facebook feed showed me 4 different photos featuring or including either a Vitesse or a Herald! I don’t remember ever seeing a pic of these cars anywhere online unless I looked for it.

All this talk of losing control reminds me of an event I had totally forgotten about. Years ago, I was driving along in slow-moving traffic. The guy behind me got impatient and decided to overtake me. As he was completing the overtake and moving back to the left side, he realized that it wasn’t just me being slow, but ALL the traffic was slow. He had to jump on the brakes. The car started to fishtail to the left and then to the right. I was amazed that he didn’t lose control completely or hit the guy in front. And guess what he was driving? A Herald!!!! I had forgotten until all the talk here about losing control.

Yikes!!! Hopefully you weren't hurt.

Ah yeah, I know. I will not be trying to break any land speed records. I will just take it out to cruise around on a sunny day. Did you actually flip your car?

OK, great. I will start looking for alloys now. It seems funny to me to read that 5.5J will require WIDER 165 or 175 tyres. My other two toy cars have 235’s and 255’s. 165 and 175 sounds tiny!

Ha ha, Colin. I know! The while-you-are-there theory. It IS a fact. When you go the trouble of rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in, you see other stuff that will need attention soon, so you may as well do it now. I know. Been there. But no, my main plan will be just to drive it for the first little while at least. If I did go with a set of Minilites or similar, what size should I get? How wide can the wheels/tyres be on a Vitesse? Sorry if this is a childish question, but I know nothing about these cars, at least not yet. I expect that will change rapidly when I get the car. But in the meantime, what is the wheel diameter? How wide can I go? What is the offset and bolt pattern of the rims?

Hi Johny, I expect there will be things I’d like to change or modify as time passes. All my options are completely open right now. I think one of the things I will do as soon as I get the car will be to put alloys on it. I have looking at Minilites, as I think they suit a Vitesse best. This might horrify some purists, I dunno. But aside from that, I don’t plan on doing too much more at first. I want to enjoy it first and get a feel for it before deciding what I might or might not do in the future. .....Mick.....

Hi Paul, No, it doesn't have overdrive. In a way, I wish it did. But realistically it is not going to reduce my fun and enjoyment of the car. .....Mick.....

Thanks Pete and Paul. Yes it IS a happier outcome. I am already smiling even though I won’t get possession of the car for a few weeks. Mr Cautious; Cool name! I am not worried about him selling it from under my feet. He had planned on repainting and selling it for top price. But his workload means that it might take a couple of years before he could get to it. He does some amazing work, and he is very picky and fussy about quality. He was prepared to leave the Vitesse sitting in storage until he had time. He kinda feels a little overwhelmed by having too many projects like the Vitesse, so in a way, I’m doing him a favor by buying it as is now. He said he will simply put it back in storage where it was, and leave it there for a couple of months, if necessary, until I am ready. Even if I were to walk away and not buy it, he would likely revert to his original plan and leave the car there until he has time. He wasn't actively trying to sell the car at all - it just came up in conversation. I COULD buy it today and keep it under a cover as you suggest. But to me, as it is such a beautiful little car in much better condition than I imagined, it would be a shame to keep it outside 24 hours a day. I know it is just a car, but I have already fallen for it, and I want to give it the best treatment. The seller actually said I was right to get the garage built because it would be a shame to keep a car like that outdoors. It is such a cool little car. I can’t wait to get it and go for a drive up the mountains or out to the sea for a ice cream! .....Mick.....