dave.vitesse

Once the engine, not with gearbox, is lifted clear of the wheels if you then turn it through 90 deg you can then very carefully roll the engine crane out sideways with the bonne left in place. But be careful. The 1600 diff may not like the extra torque of the 2 Litre. I would also consider fitting 2 Litre front brakes and master cylinder. Dave

True Colin, I tried looking at an upside down reflection of the manual print in a mirror. It still didn't make any sense. Dave

Though included in the wiring loom of 1970's models not all were fitted with the relay. The Toledo had a by-pass plug fitted instead of the relay. Dave

I agree with Doug i.e fit an extra wire from the ignition switched 12 volts to the 123 dizzy. Strap it to the existing loom. For safety you could also fit an in line fuse, 15 amps, in this lead additional. Dave

Arrr! I agree Doug. The tricky people, it must be a shorter run to the solenoid and have saved the makers a few pence. Kevin will have to get the ignition supply either from the switch or the fuse box? Changing the subject it looks like we are all suffering at the moment. I got trapped nerves in the back, no sleep and the same this end no alcohol now, prescription pain killers Thanks for clarification. Dave

The ballast resistor is wired between the 12 volts on the ignition switch and the coil. Turn on the ignition and the 12 volts is applied to the resistor and hence to the coil, Due to the load of the coil and the drop through the resistor its around 6 volts. When you turn the ignition switch to operate the starter solenoid its contacts close, and 12 volts direct is supplied to both the starter motor and the coil. This 12 volts is feed from the solenoid to the coil through the white/yellows lead. When you stop operating the solenoid, when the engine starts, then the contacts open and the directly 12 volts is removed and the coil reverts to the ballast resistor for its supply. My head hurts after that! Dave

Pete's Spot on. The lead from the solenoid to the coil is the ballast by-pass circuit. Using to place the full 12 volts on the coil when starting. Not require when the ballast is permanently by-passed. Dave

Paul, this blower is up for "off" which is correct. The reason it is in the "on" position is to give a clear view of the air label. The 13/60 didn't have the air label. Doug, yes the knobs can be swapped. I yes if the cables are long enough the controls themselves could be swapped about Dave

This may also help. Dave

Use the Toledo post 1972 or Dolomite 1300 wiper/wash switch. This is a direct replacement. It has a two position for the wipers. But more importantly it has a switch instead of a manual pump to operate the electric washer pump. Looks the same and operates the same. i.e. just push the switch in. For the pump motor use the TR7 type. Dave

Hello Pete, All understood, as you say it should be OK. Dave

Pete, The basic principles are don't exceed the current rating of the coil. The practical experience is the coil gets very hot with double the current following through it, as a result it can fail and very often does.. If the point of by-passing the ballast resistor is to increase the spark then most reliable way of achieving this is then by-pass the resistor and fit a 12 volt sports coil. The current rating of the 123 dizzy is a separate but important consideration as this should not be exceeded. What the makers appear to be saying is that it would handle double the current. But what I am saying is from both a theoretical and practical point of view the coil will not in the long term. Dave

I advice is if you keep the 1.5 ohm coil, 6 volt, then you should continue to use the resistive wire. If you wish to by-pass the resistive wire then fit a 3.0 ohm coil, 12 volt. Dave

Pete, the current passing through a 1.5 ohm coil will be too high if the resistive wire is by past and may over heat and fail. Dave

The higher current through the 6 volt coil can cause it to over heat. I would go for a Lucas 12 volt sports coil. Dave

Kevin, 1.5 ohm is a 6 volt coil. If you remove the ballast wire you require a 12 volt coil which has a resistance of around 3 ohms. Dave

The confusing area is where we used Metres to measure length but still use Miles and yards to measure distance. A length of road can be measured in Metres, say 100 Metres to the next junction. But the distance to the next junction has to be in Miles and yards e.g. 1/4 mile or 440 yards. The point being we don't use Kilometres for distance. Speedo must express speed in the UK as Miles per Hour not Kilometres per Hour. Also we still use Miles per Gallon even though fuel is now not sold in gallon measures. I was told years ago we stuck with Miles for distance as it would cost too much to change all the signs and car speedo. Its a mixture of imperial and metric Dave

John, I totally agree that the English language evolved and to be over critical is wrong . However, The metric system was imposed (in 1960's/70's) or parts were that what can be confusing to many. Dave

Hmm - A UK car's top speed is still measured in MPH and fuel consumption MPG. But the fuel pumps measure in litres. Some road signs give distance yards and others meters! Distance on a sign post is given in miles. Ho Hum. Double standards? Dave

Remove/bypass the ballast resistor and fit a 12 volt sports coil. Dave

Yes it's KHz not Kc/s as what I was taught back in the 1950/60's! Cycles say it all, as it just cycles. Whereas hertz just hurt. Moving on to words now high jacked - Wireless, well that was a large wooden box which had a orange tuning dial, took time to warm up and had a superb brown tone. Hipster- Men had goaty beard and the girls wore tight sweaters. Both talked about Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scotts. High Ho. Dave

Radio Caroline is back on the Medium wave. Frequency 648 Kc/s though with a relatively low power for a BC station of 1Kw. Dave

John, That fridge looks very menacing. League of Gentlemen? Dave

I will just throw this in for what it is worth. Being an old fart and therefore around when these cars where current the teaching at the time was too much antifreeze was a bad thing. This was because it lowered the boiling point and encouraged leaks. As a result Standard Triumph recommended a maximum mix of antifreeze of 35%. Quite what you did in very cold counties I do not know. For the Vitesse I stick to that dictate. The TR7 which has an aluminium head around 45-50%, but that get flushed each year before it put away fro the winter. As for using tap water, that's a no no for me at this location. Once again the teaching back in the 1960's was if your engine has an mix iron block and ally head then use distilled water with the antifreeze to reduce the corrosion. In my case though antifreeze is said to have improved I still see no reason to modify the way I treat the cooling system. Mark I agree the viscous couple fan should be the most efficient as it is forgotten that the electric fan uses power from the engine i.e. Mechanical converted to electric power then back to mechanical power,. Power is lost through this process, whereas the viscous has direct mechanical power from the engine. Though it should be said there have been some reliability problems with the viscous fan in the past. Dave

Steve, I can understand things now as the Sprint used the same box as the 2000/TR and to get chassis clearance you have moved the release assembly to the top of the bellhousing. Clutch failure normally manifests itself by slipping. I would first check the hydraulics. Dave