david lewis

hi all, i have a 1969 13/60 fitted with a mk 3 spitfire head with double valve springs. the engine is giving puffs of blue smoke after idling for a bit or after the overun so i believe the inlet valve stems are the culprit so i would like to fit seals but according to canleys web site they cannot be fitted to double valve spring guides. has anyone got a solution to this problem apart from fitting new guides. cheers

hi pete, the 883010 is the 1st no on the underside of the manifold whether this is part of the stanpart part no i do not know. the guy from rimmer is in the process of fitting a 175 carb to a 1500 engine and recommended it as a performance upgrade

hi all, just got off the phone to a very helpful chap at rimmers who says that it is a late us spec 175 carb and manifold. he mentioned that fitting it to a 1500 head is a good way to get some more performance either on a 1300 or 1500 block as the 1500 head has larger inlet valves. the part no is 8830910 4 002 v3178 it is no use to me so does anyone want it for £25 collected only. cheers

thanks guys for your input,i will start trawling ebay to see whats around. cheers

hi all, i bought as part of a job lot a 175 cd carb and manifold which was purported to be off a spitfire which it is obviously not. the manifold is marked stanpart so i am wondering what it can be from so i can move it on. cheers

hi all, i would like to fit new front seats to my 13/60 saloon but everyone seems to mention mgf or mazda sport seats but i would prefer some thing like vw golf or ford focus type seats or pehaps peugot which would be easy to pick up from my local scrappy. has anyone any ideas or experience about which might fit. cheers

i have fitted inertia belts from the club to my 13/60 saloon and wished i had gone for the static type as the inertia belts retract behind the seats and are difficult to pull back over my shoulder without opening the door,also they seem uncomfortably tight. removing the securing bolts from the mounting point can be a real b-tch of a job as they tend to sieze and have to be wound out to the last thread---if you can get some wd 40 or something on to the bolts from under the sill it might help,it took me a couple of hours just to get the bolts out. good luck

thanks for the advice guys,still interested to know if you take the car out of gear at 50mph or so does the prop continue spinning or just the drive shafts.-sorry if i am being thick! cheers

hi all, i recently had the rear u/j changed on my 13/60 and had really bad vibration afterwards so we i had the prop taken to feltham propshafts for balancing,the vibration is a a lot less and a different resonance and occurs between 45 and 55 mph. if i take the car out of gear and coast at 55 the vibration stays the same so does this mean it is something else other than the prop as surely when coasting the prop should not cause any vibration. the wheels have been balanced and there are no signs of any distortion.any ideas welcome. cheers

thanks for that i think i will give them a try.

thanks but i know about the club shop but i was looking for something cheaper. cheers

hi all, has anyone used the duraflex bushes on their suspension,they are considerably cheaper than the ones from the usual suspects and i am wondering if they are any good or too hard for comfort on my 13/60. cheers

there is a school of thought that with unleaded fuel the old criteria of biscuit brown does not apply and a sort of mid grey is normal--i would like some educated opinions about this as i am also wondering what the correct colour should be. cheers

i am sorry i do not know the technical terms of the cable --i just used a medium size black for the negative and red with a fuse in the + lines. sorry i could not be more help.

i wired mine direct to the battery as i wanted it to power my 12 volt compressor and would not want to leave the ignition on while i went round all the tyres . cheers

i would not bother with an electric pump ,the modern ones for our type of car are not much good. i used to run a mg and had loads of electric pump problems as did many people--the club forum was always full of owners asking for pump advice, hope you can sort your problem ok. cheers

I used to use a few feeler gauges spread around the piston .slide the rings over the gauges and when they are opposit their slots pull out them out. Take your time and you should have no problem Good luck.

thanks for the info.

a friend has offered me a set original of wolf race alloy slot wheels which he had fitted to his TR7. my question is would i need different studs/wheelnuts etc to fit them to my herald as the extra cost would not make it a cheap buy. cheers

thanks for all the replies guys--took the wheels back to the seller(local to me) and got my money back but still £30 out of pocket as already fitted twio tyres before we noticed the problem,ah well we live and learn ! i have been offered a set of of wolfrace slot mags off a tr7--will they have the correct offset and wheel nut fit etc. cheers

i fitted an accuspark electronic kit to my1969 13/60 and apart from having to pack out the cam to make the trigger a tight fit i have had no problems--instant starting and good road performance.. for the timing i found tdc by feeling for the little indentation on the crankshaft pulley then set the advance and retard to the centre mark then advanced it 50 clicks which should give a 10 deg btdc setting and have since advanced it another 10 clicks and it runs well without pinking or running on. cheers

thanks again guys,i just measured them and they are 100mm--anyone want them for £40?. cheers

thanks guys--the wheels fit on to the studs but the studs are not central in the holes ( about 1/8 th inch to the side ) and the centre hole will not pass over protusions on the hubs.the offset is mostly on the inner side of the wheel but there does not seem to be any clearance problems .the wheels are 5.5 j . anyone got any idea what they could be off as they are in good condition so i would like to sell them on so i probably need to measure the p.c.d how do i do that ? cheers

hi all, i bought a set of weller steel wheels on fleabay which were purported to have come off a mk 4 spitfire which i thought was the same as a herald but they do not fit ! are mk 4 hubs different th a 1969 herald? have i made a boo boo. cheers

thats a good idea about cutting a hole in the gearbox cover--does anyone have the measurements where to cut the hole? sort of x marks the spot. cheers