KevinR

When you click the quote button, the cursor should appear just below the quoted text, but outside the quote box. If it appears inside the quote box, have you accidentally clicked the mouse a second time ?

If you are not able to remove the engine / gearbox yourself, then having engine and gearbox/overdrive all done by the same place will certainly save costs. Like all the well known Triumph suppliers, Jigsaw have a reputation to maintain, and they are more than competent to do gearbox / overdrive work as anyone else, and as you say, if there is a waranty problem, you only have one party to negotiate with.

For the engine work I would go to Jigsaw - but be certain that you know the specification that you want - Mark is very good at persuading you "want" performance upgrades that you may not actually need. For the gearbbox / overdrive problem, I would take the box to Mick Papworth.

If the engine wont start, but is flooding, then I would suspect the problem lies with the ignition. Once you are confident that you are getting good sparks at the right time, start looking at fuelling.

Andy, I think it should just be a case of getting a different crown wheel and pinion fitted. Mike Papworth should be able to advise, and do the job for a reasonable price. http://www.classiccarwebsite.com/mike-papworth-triumph-parts

The accuspark offering is suprisingly cheap, and will maintain the period look of the car. You could probably fit a conventional alternator for quite a bit less, but you would need the mounting bracket and other hardware from a Spitfire, which would add to the cost. At only £125 it is an attractive alternative to a dynamo. 45A output should be sufficient for your needs unless you plan to fit high power head lights and a monster stereo.

I have an electric fan on mine, and it only cuts in when stationary or in slow moving traffic. I fitted a capiliary thermostat in the upper hose, and this switches a relay that gets power direct from the battery, and it works a treat. The fan I have is fairly large diameter on the front of the radiator, with a cowell to stop leakage out the sides. I cant remember what car it came from, I picked it up at a general autojumble.

In the big scheme of things, the mechanical fan is fairly useless. It doesnt matter whether it is 4, 7 or 8 bladed, its still fairly useless. When the car is moving, the majority of the airflow through the radiator is because the car is moving forwards so the air is being rammed through the radiator - it doesnt need much help from a fan. When the car is stationary or moving very slowly, the "theory" is that the fan will pull the air through the radiator. The reality is that the the majority of the air that is being pulled through the fan is air that has "leaked" in from the sides just in front of the fan, and very little is actually air drawn through the radiator fins. For the fan to work properly, you need a close fitting shroud around the fan and the radiator, so that the fan "must" draw air through the radiator, rather than from the sides - just like a modern electric fan has. If fitting an electric fan on the front of the radiator, the same applies, you need a tight fitting shroud to direct the air blown by the fab through the radiator. Without the shroud, the air fom the fan will just bounce off the radiator and be recirculated by the fan.

Suspensions Sussed : Couriers 158, page 27 (Aug 93), 159 page 78 (Sept 93), 160 page 62 (Oct 93), 162 page 14 (Dec 93)

The message board and the main website are two completely different items, running on separate servers. You need a login for each site - you could use the same details for both, or have tottaly different ones. The main Club website login is validated against the Club menmbership database which is held on a secure server located at the Club HQ. Your login on the main Club website gives you access to the Club Shop at members prices. The login to the main site is not "persistant", therefore you need to login each time you want to see the members prices and go shopping. If you dont login, then the prices are higher.

Any failure of the search function is due to the configuration of the computer being used to view the file, and not the file itself. I've opened the Technical directory from three separate PCs, with mixed results. 1. Windows XP home, Internet explorer 8, Acrobat Reader X. Opens and searches with no problem at all. 2. Windows XP Pro, Internet explorer 8, Acrobat Reader XI. Opens, but search fails. When I save the file and open it directly in Acrobat reader XI, the search function works fine 3. Windows 7 Enterprise, internet explorer 8, Acrobat XI (the full system) Opens and searches with no problems at all. There are minor config differences between the three machines, and I suspect that the reason that the XP Pro machine fails to search properly is due to one of the acrobat installation settings designed to protect the security of the machine.

I've found it to be very subjective with MOT testers. I've even resorted to tightening the bearings to the point of almost no play at all (after a comment during the previous years MOT), only to have the (new to me, but old school) MOT examiner advise me that they were a little on the tight side. You just cant win !

Given the age of these engines now, and the likelyhood that they have been "repaired" at some time in their life, I am very sceptical about believing the spec associated to an engine number. It's difficult to tell what the spec of an engine is, unless you are 100% certain that the engine has never been messed with, or you take it apart and measure the interchangeable items to determine exactly what spec they are. I have seen engine blocks with recesses machined around the bores on blocks that had no recess when they left the factory so a "tabbed" head gasket is required, when the engine number indicates otherwise, and also the opposite, where a block that originally had recesses has been machined flat to use a non recessed head gasket (but this one had no engine number as it was machined off in the same operation) The camshaft is easy to swap, as is the head. If the vehicle has been converted to unleaded, was the original head used, or was a head that the supplier "said" was "the same" used ? Most run of the mill engine reconditioners wouldnt know (or care about) the subtle differences. If the camshaft was replaced due to worn followers, or just general wear, was the exact same spec of cam used ? There are a lot of cars out there with a "hot" cam, fitted by a well intending previous owner, that is anything but "hot".

Assuming your oil pressure gauge is reasonably accurate, your oil pressure is fine. The pressure can drop because of a worn out pump, or bearings that are starting to fail. You can hear when the bearings are starting to fail when you start the engine - you get the heavy knocking noise whilst the oil pressure builds up.

You need to fill in a form V888 and send it off to the DVLA along with a cheque for £5. Then wait (and wait, and wait) and about 3 months later you will get a set of photo copies of all the V5 change of owner details your car has seen. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/v888-request-by-an-individual-for-information-about-a-vehicle

The moderation team are planning a suite of new categories. We are waiting to see what will be popular, and what not. Personally I am slightly opposed to car specific categories for most technical/mechanical issues, as most problems people post about are common to most models. For example, on the old messageboard we got dozens of threads on oiling trunions - one in each section ! Triumph's were the original "kit" cars, where a common mechanical parts bin provided for lots and lots of models.

The moderation team are planning a whole suite of new categories, but we are waiting to see what is likely to be popular and what not. Keep suggesting new ideas and we will discuss them.

You would need to determine exactly what the spec of your engine is - and there is absolutely no guarantee that it is original as it is now over 40 years old, and has probably been "tinkered" with many times during its life, so it would need to be stripped down and measured. Then you would need to compare this with a standard Vitesse MK2 engine, and then upgrade (or downgrade) the relevant parts to match. The various relevant measurements are given in the factory workshop manual, but as I said above, you cannot rely on what the book says for the engine you are starting with unless you know that it has NEVER been tinkered with. Triumph engine parts can be mixed and matched beetween cars, and most parts are interchangeable. The differences (if there are any) will be : The camshaft - the timing of the opening and closing of the valves, and the duration between them The cylinder head - the size of the valve heads, and the volume of the chamber (this has an impact on the compression ratio) The pistons - depending on the year of the engine it may have domed pistons (to compensate for a larger head chamber volume, so that head common to the 2500 could be used) As I said before, is it worth it - the engine specs are sufficiently similar that it would be a waste of time, effort and money. If its a performance boost you are after, then there is a multitude of things to do depending on the depth of your pockets and the length of your arms.

That's correct

I've passed the question on to Simon Morgan, the TSSC webmaster.

Given the age of the engine and its unknown history it is impossible to say whether it is better or worse than a "proper" Vitesse engine. The engines are essentially identical, but may have slight differences in the choice of camshaft, valve size and compression ratio. Without knowing whether the previous owners have made any modifications to the engine to make it better (or worse) then its probably not worth the trouble and expense of fitting a "proper" engine. As for the Overdrive gearbox, you want a normal Vitesse/GT6 3 rail box with a D-type overdrive, or a converted Dolly 1850 3 rail box with a J type overdrive.

John, It's looking great.

Andy, It's not something that the moderators can do - we dont have the access rights, but its something that the documentation for IP Board indicates is possible. The moderators need to have a get together some time for an exchange of what we have learned, and I'm sure we will have a list of things we need to talk to Simon about, and this will be one of the topics. It essentially requires that your blog (from blogger.com I believe) has an RSS feed available, then it "should" be possible to import the feed into the blog system on IP board. Likewise, if someone creates a blog in IP Board, it "should" be possible to RSS export it to other systems that support an RSS import. I cant promise anything quickly, but it is something that could be explored in the medium term (there are too many other things that need more immediate attention)

Colin, You obviously haven't looked at my profile

The fact that it is a GT6 diff is not relevant, its a small chassis diff, and they all mount the same way and use the same torque for the mounting bolts. From the GT6 workshop manual (which I happen to have quickly to hand) the torque is 26-28 lb-ft, or 35 to 38 Nm in new money.