KevinR

I assume it's a 4 cyl manifold. Is it for a single Stromberg, or twin Strombergs ? If it's a single Stromberg, then it could be from a USA spec 1500 Spitfire, although I believe that they were actually fitted with a CD 150 rather than 175.

I think the bare aluminium looks great, but if you must paint it, why not silver ?

GROUP C RACING AND PETER AUTO JOIN FORCES! The Group C Racing Association and Peter Auto are combining their know-how. In 2016, the grid will be present at each of the circuits on the French organiser’s calendar. Peter Auto, which already has four remarkable historic racing grids, Classic Endurance Racing, Sixties’ Endurance, Trofeo Nastro Rosso and the Heritage Touring Cup, is widening its horizons even further with the arrival of Group C Racing in 2016. Up to now the sports prototypes of the 80s were invited to certain events like Spa-Classic and the Dix Mille Tours on an occasional basis. Henceforth, these incredible cars will be present at each event on the calendar as the Group C Racing Association and Patrick Peter have decided to unite their forces with the avowed intention of putting together a field of 25 cars on the European circuits – among them the Le Mans 24 Hours at Le Mans Classic! LEGENDARY CARS! In force from 1982 to 1993, the Group C regulations led to the creation of legendary cars that wrote some of the most glorious pages in the history of the Le Mans 24 hours and the Endurance World Championship. In the early years the Porsche 956s dominated despite stout resistance from the Lancia LC2s. Then the competition gradually became stronger with the momentum generated by the arrival of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda when it reached its apogee. In addition to the major manufacturers, constructors like Cougar, Dome, Rondeau, Spice and WM were able to shine thanks to a clever interpretation of the very liberal regulations based on strict fuel consumtion limits. The fabulous Group C epoch ended in the early 90s after a brief period of cohabitation with the 3.5 sports prototypes (Peugeot 905, Jaguar XJR-14, Toyota TS010, etc.). It remains a true golden era for many endurance specialists. LE MANS CLASSIC WITH THE GROUP C! With their modern looks, their windscreens like fighter plane canopies, their doors in elytron and their huge rear wings, the Group Cs hold an irrestible fascination for people of all ages; they are still capable of performances very close to those of the present-day prototypes, as their top speeds exceed 300 km/h! They will certainly be the stars of the Peter Auto meetings whose 2016 calendar will be announced at the end of September and will include not-to-be-missed events like Spa-Classic, the Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or, the Dix Mille Tours and Le Mans Classic!

Before resorting to changing the head gasket, I'd do a test for combustion gasses in the coolant - most garages have the kit, and you can buy them cheaply on ebay. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leaking-Cylinder-Head-Gasket-Block-Test-Kit-Detects-Exhaust-Gas-in-Radiator-/221147093962?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item337d64dbca The problem could be something as simple as the water pump bearing seal starting to fail - a small leakage of coolant through the bearing can cause the problem you describe. A new water pump would be cheaper and easier than a head gasket change, so confirm the head gasket leak with the tester before changing it.

Yes

I've now found the back end settings to change the default. Now when a category is browsed, the default setting is for topics with the most recent postings are listed first.

It's you "signature", and you change it via editing your profile. Direct link to the Signature edit page http://forum.tssc.org.uk/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=core&area=signature

That's what I seem to remember Bern telling me several years ago, but I thought it best that he confirmed it himself.

If they are the same type as the Macau Spitfire then it would be worth asking Bern at the Club HQ as he sourced some for his Macau replica. He doesn't use the forum much, so it would be best to email him or call him.

Profile pictures are a bit of a problem at the moment. A recent security patch to the IPboard software has disabled the uploading of profile pictures, and there is nothing we can do to resolve it until IPboard resolve the problem and install an updated securty patch. It is currenly impacting all IPboard messageboards that are hosted on their central servers. There is a workaround, you can load the picture to somewhere else on the internet, and then call it in via the "Import a photo from a URL" link. Regards, Kevin

I believe that the "modern" bulb holders for the Spitfire - http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-RS2018 - have an extra terminal fitted for the earth. The holders with the earth were introduced for the T2000, and the traders now generally only stock the ones with an earth - which means you need to add earth leads to the lights when fitting them, but it gives a much more reliable earth compared to the original spitfire bulb holders.

The earth already goes through the base plate via the "pot metal", through the studs holding it to the bumper, hoping that the corrosion arround them doesnt cause a problem, then via the bumper into the bolts holding the bumper to the body, and into the body, again hoping that the paint has been scratched away enough when the nut was tightened against the lock washer for the bumber to make an electrical connection with the body. Attaching a wire anywhere on the base plate will do, and it will not make things "live" as its the earth.

In the usual Triumph style, earths are via the metalwork - fingers crossed that there is no corrosion, and that a bolt somewhere is done up tight enough to cut through any paint. It is good practice to run a separate earth wire to a convenient bit of bare metal on the body tub.

Was it the inner bearing or the outer bearing that "disintegrated" ? The inner bearing is a set of very fine needles that runs directly on the driveshaft, and any imperfection or wear in the driveshaft will destroy the bearing in no time. If there is any wear at all on the inner bearing surface of the driveshadt then its time for a new driveshaft.

The size of the contact patch is constant irrespective of tyre size when the tyre pressure is the same. The only thing that changes is the shape of the contact patch. Wide tyres have a wide short contact patch. Narrow tyres have a narrow long contact patch. That is why wide tyres are not very good in the wet, snow or ice.

I like the car to stay in one place when Im working on it, and turning the engine over by hand with the plugs in is actually fairly easy - even with good compression. It's a bit harder on the 6cyl engine, but can still be done.

If it's just turning the crank to set the tappets, then it's easy enough to just grab the pully and rotate by hand - and even easier if the sparkplugs are removed. Just make sure it's not in gear !

The crankshaft pulley nut size depends on whether the engine has a small journal crankshaft or a large journal crankshaft. Small journal crank - I think is 1, 5/16" Large journal crank - definitely 1, 13/16" - which is 46mm near as dammit.

WOW !

Pete Lewis will hopefully jump in to confirm his solution.

You also forgot the possibility of a percussive repair attempt - hammer - bigger hammer - even bigger hammer etc.

Plenty of good used ones out there, and still available new from the ususal list of suppliers.

Clive, Unlike you to get it wrong - the "J" refers to the bead profile for the rim/tyre. A For bikes, motorcycles, light and heavy trucks and forklifts. B Passenger cars (wheel width : 6 inches) it is prohibited to fit a tyre with a J profile on a wheel with a B bead profile ! D For bikes, motorcycles, light and heavy trucks and forklifts. E Light and heavy trucks F Heavy trucks G,H Heavy trucks J Passenger cars JJ 4x4 P,K Antique cars such as Bentleys and old Jaguars S,T,V,W Utility vehicles

I would keep the GT6 Rotoflex spring and fit a lowering block between the diff and spring.

Failure of roller rockers is not uncommon - just google for it to find some right horror stories. Whether you would need shims depends on what was actually done to the pedestals when the rockers were first installed. It might be worth talking to Mark Field at Jigsaw Racing.