Roger

Update: Changed condenser to another one, but still same problem. It is difficult to describe, but the engine sound changes from cold to warm, noticably when listening to rear carb. The rear carb also "spits out fuel" when I turn the throttles and increase revs. I just have this feeling that cylinder 5 and 6 have a leak between them, but a new compression test when warm show good compression also when warm. This is driving me nuts! Next thing that comes to mind is if the inlet / exhaust gasket leaks (?) and the leak increases when warm?! It's a Mk I engine, I hate the design for inlet / exhaust bolts. Another discovery was that spark plug no 6 was wet and oily, all others dry. To be continued...

These are my options: cannibalizing my Herald engine, was a runner when I took it apart, OR another unknown newish condenser with probably sod all inside. Not sure if a condenser from a Herald will fit in a Mk I 2000 engine but that is what I have so that is what I will use!

Coil is wired as PO put it there (can't find + or - signs on it) so I will replace the coil with another marked one. PO put the dizzy 180 degrees wrong so coil could definitely be wired incorrect too!

Thanks Pete, I think I have a few old condensers lying around so I will first try to replace it with what I have in the garage. It takes forever to get something from the UK with custom paper work etc. Long term solution will be a new one from DD. I also have several coils so I can test replacing that one as well (and check wiring). As mentioned I'm ignorant about these things, had no idea these parts could give heat related problems. You learn something new everyday on this forum!

Thanks Nigel, no I have not checked that. Will do tomorow!

My Vitesse Mk I engine has a strange behaviour. It starts ok, and works fine for 3-5 minutes. But as soon as the engine starts to get warmer it looses power dramatically and finally dies after 10-15 minutes. First I suspected rubber slivers in the carbs (recently changed all hoses) so I took carbs apart, cleaned and re-assemblied. Fuel pump flow and pressure ok. Not vacuum in the tank, checked that. I’m quite sure that it is not related to carbs or fuel. Then I suspected a blown head gasked. Compression test: good and even pressure in all cylinders with cold engine. Could it be possible that the head gasket is ok on cold engine, but starts to leak when the metal gets warmer and expands? Thoughts? I will try to do a compression test on warm engine tomorrow. Another question: I have very limited knowledge about all things electric. Is there any electrical component that stops working when hot and could give this kind of problem. Thanks in advance!

Wonderful thread drift here! Going from a broken break pipe on The Åland Island, to vet stories and embryotomy in the Yorkshire dales to Dorset and coffe 😆 This forum is the best

I will remember that quote. What a coincident, I was also thinking about one of my favourite authors when I removed these parts. I love James Herriots vet stories. I have read them many times and I even visted the museum in Thirsk, Yorkshire. One of his books starts with a difficult calving. James lay face down on the cobbled floor in a pool of muck, arm deep inside a straining cow. He has been struggling for hours, and then he feared that the calving could end with embryotomy: passing a wire over the calves neck and sawing the head of. Many calvings ended with the floor strewn with heads, legs and heaps of intestines. Why do I always end up removing a lot more from my car than I first intended? The plan was to replace a break hose and now my desk is full of pipes and rusty parts. Every job on my Vitesse seems to end up in a mechanical embryotomy. But James never gives up, he always describe the beauty of his work and the dales 🙂

Well, finally! My son helped me and turned the nut from above while I was lying under the car and held the other side of the bolt from underneath. Time to start to manufacture a new pipe. The shiny one is from my Herald.

English is not my first language, I trust your words 🙂 It sems to be 12 slots. These bolts are strange! Outer diameter is 7,15 mm so quite far away from of 1/4" (6,35 mm) or 5/15" (7,94 mm). It seems to be metric M7 with thread pitch 0,9 mm (or 28 TPI). And they are made of stainless steel! The car was in Sweden for 20 years or so, maybe one of those SAAB things Colin mention above.

I can't test, I don't own such fancy tools. Yet.

Nope, they are knurled nuts. Never seen anything similar before. This is how they look, I just managed to remove the two that where holding the pipe to the chassis. This is how they look:

Thanks for the picture Colin, that is what I hope I will be able to produce once I have won the battle against those rustu bolts. Tiny victory tonight: Two more removed, only the one at the three way union left.

Thanks, good tip. Will consider making a new pipe using hydraulic seal. However, I'm still three bolts away from removing the old pipe. Been spending the last hours fighting these two. Its a "knurled nut" on the other side of the frame. I can barely touch it with my finger tip (no way to get pliers in there). Why on earth did they put these weird knurled nuts here, or was it PO? It's killing me to lay on the floor, arms up trying to remove those things in that confined space. MOT Test on Tuesday seems far far away...

The good news is that the equivalent pipe that I took of my Herald 13/60 seems to be identical and in good shape. Will try to use that one.

I did find the three way union, but what a pita it is to get access to it. I managed to undo two of the pipes. The third one that wont move is of course the broken pipe that I want to replace... 🤬 Strange nut that holds the union, never seen that before. I can turn it but I don't have access to the turning end on the other side of the frame. Just another day in the garage...

Yes, thanks, I noticed on closer inspection that the pipe is only about two feet long. It ends at the other (LH) wheel. I should be able to remove all of it (I assumed it would be a much longer pipe). It seems like the hose on the LH side is almost new, or at least in much better shape. I guess the PO tried to replace both but only managed to do LH side, and gave up on the rusty one on the RH side. I have copper pipe and a flaring tool, so I will try to make a new pipe. If I could only remove the broken pipe first, very tight space. Why cant any job be simple on these cars...

There has been some progress on my Vitesse project and I have finally managed to mate my early HC gearbox with a later 2000 Mk I engine (long story, might become a new post in the future…). Everything looked good so I even planned to go for an MOT test next week (the test is mandatory here on The Åland Island). Breakes are important so just some quick mainenance on them first. I expected to spend an hour or two to clean and adjust them a bit. They did not feel 100% efficient when I drove the car in and out from my garage. It turned out that one cylinder on the rear breaks was leaking. Ok, some more work than planned but it wont take long to fix a leaking cylinder + new hoses! Then the brake hose would not come off, extremely rusty. Finally the brake pipe snapped when I tried to remove the hose. As they say “every half an hour job is just a broken bolt away from a six hour ordeal….”. I try to convince myself that these moments are character building, but at the moment I need some moral support. I have a flaring tool but not sure if I can flare in that limited space and the whole pipe probably should be replaced? Any thoughts? My MOT slot is on Tuesday at 2 PM so a quick fix would be appreciated… Bugger, I was so close to FINALLY drive it again!!! 😫Thanks in advance /Roger.

Thats my plan! We have a small lathe at work, I might be able to make the bush a few mm shorter there. But first I have to do some measurements and a "sanity check" to see if there is any hope that such a simple thing could solve this. The bush has a purpose and a job to do so I don't want to make it too short either. I think I have seen some posts where someone solved this by making the splines shorter on the gearbox axle. I would rather modify the bush. I can't find that post (don't remember which forum...) Br Roger

Thanks @thescrapman I suspect that some kind of machining is required on either gearbox shaft, bush or both. I will do some measurements but first I have to recover from hernia surgery. My gut feeling is that regardless of which flywheel I use, this problem will remain. To be continued....

Thanks @johny That expains the dents. I tried so many combinations of flywheels to make it fit that I don't remember which flywhell I used. Must check that....

Here we go again… Seasons greetings to you one and all! I have not been active on the forum for a while (long story, topic for another thread I think…) but Christmas Holiday and sick leave due to hernia surgery finally gave me time to start thinking about my Vitesse project again. This summer I made some progress by mating my original early Vitesse gearbox to an MkI 2000 engine (more abot that HERE). I even managed to drive it out in the Nordic sunsine for a while! Happy days. However, there was a disturbing sound from the clutch which I could not ignore. So out it came again… Youngest son helped me since I left the gearbox attached to the engine. Don’t need the WSM anymore when taking out the engine… I found some interesting things when I removed the gearbox. There was indeed a lot of small metallic swarves in there. Shiny copper colour, turned out to be from the bush, see pictures. I also found some dents on the carriers / sleeve. I know that early six pot engines (HC-engine) where different in many ways and crank shafts and blocks being different compared to later models, but I have no idea how (if?) gearboxes changed too (?). Obviously, you can’t mate an early gearbox to a later 2000 engine without modifications. I don’t know what options I have a the moment, is there any chance I can modify the bush or the gearbox axle and solve the problem without too much costs? Or should I give up the idea to mate these two units and use the MkII gearbox I have? I know I have to modify the chassis then since it’s much bigger than the Vitesse gearbox. What do the brain thrust here recommend? Anyone here that had the same issue and solved it? How? I would prefer to use my Vitesse gearbox if possible. As always, thanks in advance! Greetings from a small and dark island, Roger

Sorry, daft question again RG: Can you please explain the quote above a bit more in detail? The CDD kit comes with shafts & yokes if I understand their website correct. Did the yokes & shaft supplied from CDD fail when you assembled things (never driven) or did you drive the car and they came loose after X miles? I have never taken these things apart on neither my Herald nor my Vitesse, I have no idea how they fit together or should be assembled. So far only two CDD shaft customers have replied. One happy and one dissapointed customer! Thanks for your feedback everyone. Roger

Thanks, good to know!

Thanks for your feed-back iani. Just to make sure: with "uprated standard" you mean these shafts from CDD?