Hello From Jacksonville FL.

[TNTbefree]

Hello from across the pond....  A week ago,  I was heading home after work. I was coming up the back way to my house and I cursed my luck when I found that I was blocked due to a tow truck that was pulling a pickup truck up onto its bed. I was stuck.

A guy I know was standing there, so I rolled my passenger window down to ask him what was going on. He told me that his neighbor was having it towed off and that he was getting the old vehicles off his property. He pointed over my shoulder and said "That one is next".

I looked over and saw a Triumph under a blue tarp. I asked Erick what the guy was asking for it and he said that he would probably give it to me if I wanted it. 

I told him I would love to have it, so, Erick went over and told Bob that I wanted it. That's when Bob came over and asked what I planned to do with it. I told him that I hoped to fix it up and get it up and running again. He said, "It's yours".

That's when he told me it was a 1966 Triumph Spitfire MK2 and it hasn't run for over 20 years. He said it died, so he parked it. He planned on fixing it up but never did. Now he is at the age where he doesn't want to.

I had to wait a week for him to find the title and for me to find the time to push it down to my yard, but here it is...

[dougbgt6]

TNT Welcome!

Wow! That's fantastic luck. Will you do it up yourself?

Doug

[TNTbefree]

2 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said:

TNT Welcome!

Wow! That's fantastic luck. Will you do it up yourself?

Doug

That's the plan.  I will admit, I have no experience or knowledge with these British vehicles, but I do have a leg up, my wife is the manager of a body shop and knows a lot about vehicle and body repair.  I have had some experience with a previous project that I think went well...  I picked up an 81 Goldwing 1100 for $450.00 and had a lot of fun redoing it. 

[NonMember]

Excellent bit of luck, both for you and the car! From the photos it doesn't look bad for a "not run for twenty years" yard find. I'm sure you'll find plenty that needs doing but they're pretty simple and there are very experienced people on here more than happy to give advice.

[TNTbefree]

8 minutes ago, NonMember said:

Excellent bit of luck, both for you and the car! From the photos it doesn't look bad for a "not run for twenty years" yard find. I'm sure you'll find plenty that needs doing but they're pretty simple and there are very experienced people on here more than happy to give advice.

That is good to hear and I will for sure need the help.  Like the first question I have is...  What kind of carbs are these and what is the deal with putting oil in them?  Also, any recommendations on a good book about redoing one of these little beauties?

[Qu1ckn1ck]

Hi and welcome to the forum.  They are SU carbs, very common on British cars.  Unscrew the black caps on top and lift them out with the small pistons attached and add a small amount of engine oil down the exposed tubes and then replace the pistons and caps.  The pistons and oil acts as damper when accelerating to avoid the mixture becoming too weak.

[Pete Lewis]

well thats an old nutshell question Ha!

they are SU HS2

the oil in the dashpot( engine oil) is the accelerator pump to richen mixture when accelerating, its a damper stops the air piston rising rapidly

and pulls more fuel from the jet as the damper restricts the rise and the air velocity over the jet pulls more fuel or you get a flat spot

pete

 

[NonMember]

Easy first question. They are SU HS2s (SU was "Skinners Union", a British leather maker that turned to building carbs in the very early days, and the HS2 is a Horizontal draught with Separate float and 1.25" (2/8 above 1) throttle).

The oil is a little more complex. These are "variable venturi" carburettors, a.k.a. "constant depression" type, where the tapered needle moves in and out of the jet to regulate the fuelling, controlled by the piston being lifted because it has throat pressure above and atmospheric below. The oil acts on a damper on that piston, which holds it down during acceleration transients (when you open the throttle), which in turn causes more vacuum at the jet and so more fuel.

[dougbgt6]

Haynes manuals are a good start, here's one off USA Ebay

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=haynes+triumph+spitfire+manual&_sacat=0

Doug

[Colin Lindsay]

Welcome to the forum and the great world of Triumph cars. That's a lovely model; I always liked the earlier cars.

Those far more expert than me are advising on carbs, so I'll recommend a couple of books:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Practical-CLASSICS-Car-Restorer-Triumph-Spitfire-Restoration-1999/183823222120?hash=item2accb7c568:g:~goAAOSwZrtcpf3f

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Spitfire-GT6-Herald-Vitesse-Haynes-Guide-to-Purchase-a/202616424094?hash=item2f2ce1469e:g:qVMAAOSwX2Jcf5OZ

Also, an excellent site for manuals:

http://vitessesteve.co.uk

[Qu1ckn1ck]

Burlen Services are a great source for info and parts for SU carbs:

 

http://burlen.co.uk/su-catalogue-and-workshop-manual.html

[johny]

The great thing on here is that you usually get loads of answers and if they all agree you can be 99.999999% sure its right😂

[TNTbefree]

12 minutes ago, johny said:

The great thing on here is that you usually get loads of answers and if they all agree you can be 99.999999% sure its right😂

And fast too.  Already ordered the Spitfire books.  Will get the carb book later.  Thanks all, for the fast and helpful replies. 

[Colin Lindsay]

47 minutes ago, johny said:

The great thing on here is that you usually get loads of answers and if they all agree you can be 99.999999% sure its right😂

...but do NOT under any circumstances ask: what is the best oil / exhaust / paint / fuel / tyres, as you'll get page after page of answers, and none of them will be right. Just their personal preference.

 

[Dick Twitchen]

Colin,

You forgot the 'what grease do I use in the trunnions?  Noooooooooo should be the common answer!'  As for thread drift..... the citizens of Portsmouth and Southsea are pretty annoyed at the constraints they are experiencing over POTUS visiting D-Day 75; HM The Queen they can accept.

Dick

[Qu1ckn1ck]

41 minutes ago, Dick Twitchen said:

Colin,

You forgot the 'what grease do I use in the trunnions?  Noooooooooo should be the common answer!'  As for thread drift..... the citizens of Portsmouth and Southsea are pretty annoyed at the constraints they are experiencing over POTUS visiting D-Day 75; HM The Queen they can accept.

Dick

You are not THE Lord Emsworth are you .... ?

[Colin Lindsay]

44 minutes ago, Dick Twitchen said:

HM The Queen they can accept.

Dick

That's awfully big of them. 

[TNTbefree]

What the heck is a  trunnion?

[mark powell]

Here we go!........

[Colin Lindsay]

In case that wasn't a tongue-in-cheek remark..

It's a small brass steering swivel and oil reservoir on the bottom of the front vertical link. Replacements are available, but try to avoid the cheap copies that some suppliers stock and look for original or at least remanufactured Stanpart items. If they're not kept full of EP90 oil, the vertical link will wear and break off, mostly thankfully at low speed, just at the top of the threaded part.

Now, after all that: you'll very quickly learn the terms trunnionless, semi-fluid grease, and rose joint, all preceded by 'I prefer'... (Personally, I like the original setup, by the way)

[dougbgt6]

 

OK The front wheels are each attached to a vertical link. At the bottom of the link is a thread which goes in a TRUNNION. The steering wheel turns, the steering rack pushes/pulls the road wheels, threads turn in trunnions and the road wheels turn. The vertical link and the trunnion are made of different materials and the recommended lubricant is oil. Many have overlooked this and used grease, they are roundly abused and vilified by the true believers who use EP90 gearbox oil 

[TNTbefree]

Thank you.  I googled trunnion and came up with cannon parts.  Then I googled Triumph TRUNNION and saw a video on it.  Good info to know, but I am way far off from fretting over a trunnion.  Tomorrow, I am going to pull the plugs and spray some PB blaster in them and see if I can even turn the engine over by hand.  Just hoping it isn't frozen.  What size wrench will I need to turn it?  

[Dick Twitchen]

2 hours ago, Qu1ckn1ck said:

You are not THE Lord Emsworth are you .... ?

Strangely enough , no.  However,  the house where P G Woodhouse lived in Emsworth when writing his tales is about 100yds away just around the corner. Where is this thread going....

[dougbgt6]

Florida, with any luck.

db

[Badwolf]

TNT welcome to the home of great info.

When I was in your situation 30+years ago, I went to my local car spares shop (store) and bought a large adjustable spanner (wrench) that would fit the big pulley nut at the front/bottom (forget the Anglo/American translation from here on!!) of the engine. It was bought for the one job of turning the engine over by hand, but boy has it been useful for other things too.