trigolf

Well, this is all very interesting. I've had two Heralds and one Vitesse and I've never seen those spacers fitted in any of my cars. My Vit has always had one 1/8th" thick washer fitted at all four corners. I'm the second owner too, so some oik must have lost the original 1/2" spacers early in the car's life ! Gav

Richard, I think James Paddock, Canleys or Rimmer's still sell the bolts. Do not cut the compression band off the coupling until all the bolts are fitted, otherwise you'll really struggle to get the holes lined up.The bolts are a unique style, as they have a plain non-threaded end to the bolt. I've always managed to loosen the bolts with the shaft on the garage floor and jamming a tyre lever or pry bar through the spiders of the shaft and getting my mate to stand on the tyre lever, whilst I loosen the bolt. If the bolts are really shagged - I've probably got enough good ones lying about you could have. PM sent to you. Gav

Hi Phil, The Mk2 Vitesse was fitted with lever arm shocks to clear the rotoflex . So if your refitting lever arm shocks ( as per standard ) you should have two bump stops - one in the wheel arch and one on the chassis. The official workshop manual will probably help with locations/dims etc. You could try Canley Classics or Chic Doig for a bump stop/bracket. Gav

Hi Ian, Thanks for the tip. I think I'll go with Powertracks kit ( £118.00+vat) and do it myself. Gav

Hi Doug, Thanks for your reply. I've just got a reply from Powertrack Brakes. They actually produce the repair kits for Girling servos. Not cheap mind, but hasn't really gone up hugely since I last bought a kit in the 80's. Mine's done pretty well. It was s/h to start with 25 years ago and I rebuilt it before fitting to my Vitesse. But a routine check of fluid levels last weekend, prior to going for a run showed the master cylinder only half full! Fluid down the brake pedal told me the master cylinder seals were shot, confirmed when I took it apart. Having rebuilt and refitted that, I thought I'd remove the servo and give it a new lick of paint before refitting and bleeding. I'm glad I physically checked it before refitting, as it has a small hydraulic leak.

Hi all, Can anyone recommend a supplier of Girling Powerstop Servo repair kits ? Mine's leaking, so I need to refurb it. BTW I don't want to convert to a Lockheed servo. Gav

This is probably going to sound really daft - but as car was built from box of bits are the correct length dampers fitted to the correct location - i.e. to the inner wheel arch ? Could the previous owner have possibly converted it to use the after market 'roto' brackets, which attach to the chassis and use shorter dampers? Have the the dampers have been replaced with the 'correct' for Mk3 spec longer dampers ? Gav

The same problem exists on the Vitesse when removing/refitting the headlamp bezels. I use a right angled screwdriver - it's double ended with a Phillips no 2 size on one end and a flat tip at the other. Makes it easy to get on the screw head square. Gav

I too think the MK 1 original mesh grill looks better than the the Mk 2 type and retro fitted a brand new old stock Mk1 item to my Mk 2. It's an easy nut and bolt job and is reversable if desired. I don't think there's any real diffence in airflow between the two types. My car certainly doesn't run any hotter. Gav

Just doing some browsing, whilst I contemplate replacing all the rubber bits in my Vit fuel line and it seems that decent genuine quality ethanol proof fuel hose is in very short supply ? I know the club sell it and I have'nt contacted them yet, as I wanted some idea of price variations. Gav

I always jack the car up to take the pressure off the trunnion threads and dust seals on the top of the trunnions. That way you can pump the oil in much easier and make sure it comes out of the top of the trunnion body around the seal. Gav

I've had the old metal ones for years, but I never liked the way the angle iron edges press into the tyres. I got some wider one made out of reinforced plastic for my Golf, as the metal ones were too narrow. I was dubious about them initally, but they are incredibly strong, and about the same price as the trad metal style. They have a clever little built-in roller on the front edge that gets gripped by the tyre and stops them kicking out. They also stack neatly, which saves on garage space 😉 Gav

I 've just checked one I fitted for last years MOT. Peering into it with my LED torch I could see evidence of a very small amount of grease, but not really enough to make it last, so out came the grease gun ! Gav

I use a large self tapper attached to slide hammer. it usually works. Gav

Adrian, IIRC, the spring eye will hit the brake pipe at the wheel cylinder and as Non- Member says - there's next to no room to manouver the spring out.☹️ Gav

Be aware, that there's two types of DOT 5 fluid, one is DOT 5 Silicon and one is not. If you decide to swap fluid types - if it were me - I would flush the entire system out with meths before refilling with Silicon. Gav

Sadly, that's the same as my situation at the moment. Vit stuck in the garage - arse in the air (oo-er missus!)- finishing off Roto - to CV Driveshaft conversion ! Gav

That hub looks like it's on as far as it should go. The spline ends on the hub don't normally line up with with the end of the shaft splines when it's in final position. Is the hub still rocking about ? is there any wobble/end float when you grab the hub. ? If it's not, then it's probably on as far as possible. Gav

I've got one of those too. Inherited from Dad. I't's very good for syphoning petrol out of fuel tanks ( on my own car(s) of course !) with a piece of plastic fuel hose put on the nozzle into the filler pipe. Saves you getting a nasty gob full of petrol ! Gav

Trouble with doing that Pete is that it'll probably ruin your carefully aligned panel gaps ! We all know how long it takes to get a half decent result..😉 Gav

Hi Amanda, Yes I had this problem when I fitted an Ali cover to my Vitesse. I think the problem is mainly is that unlike the original steel cover the Ali one does'nt have a groove in it for the gasket, which raises the height enough for it to just touch the bonnet. On mine it was just at the front edge, so I filed the fins down a little bit by putting an angle on them - 45 degrees. I took a little off at a time, and checked it for fouling by putting a bit of blu tak on it and looking for marks in it. Gav

This is probably a daft idea - but most, if not all modern car fuel tanks are made of plastic. Would it be possible to 3D print one ?.... I'll get me coat😕 Gav

M, Derek Ok you've convinced me. I'll drill and tap a hole for a bolt. Gav

Hi Nick, Just crawled under car this a.m. to take some pics - some better quality than others, but car is up hard against wall on one side. Hopefully it'll give you an idea of pipe routing. As mentioned I replaced the original pipe with diff in situ - so it's not beautifully neat, trying to bend tight corners is not easy, but it does the job. Gav

Hi folks, Whilst I'm halfway thorugh the CV driveshaft fit ( one side done) and old Rotoflex shaft removed on other side. I'm thinking about trying to change the diff oil again, using an oil suction gun. I'd previously tried to suck it out thorough the filler hole and failed miserably, despite getting the diff warm. I couldn't get the flexi pipe far enough into the case. So - I was thinking about pulling out the accessible diff output drive shaft and putting the suction pipe in through there and trying again. Do you think it's worth it a try ? Gav