Nick Jones

It’s also uncertain whether the 95 octane will be E10 or E5 as there doesn’t seem to be much info on how the rollout is going and the E10 spec is written as “up to” 10% ethanol. Actual E10 bought in France definitely increases fuel consumption in my Vitesse as well as taking the edge off performance. Regarding petrol station locations, there is a Sainsbury’s 2 minutes from M5 J25 which will be way cheaper than the services. Nick

Ought to be able to get upper 30s on a long run in a OD-equipped Spitfire unless really pushing on. 1500 typically a bit better than 1300 due to higher gearing. Nick

Full set of PI equipment as removed from a 1972 Mk2 PI saloon about 10 years ago when I converted to electronic injection. At that point the car was still running on it, but not well. Refurbishment will be required. Everything is there apart from the rubber plenum-to-TB elbows, even the fuel lines, though these are there for the fittings only. The choke cable is a single one not the correct double type. I also include the 41236M distributor and vacuum tank. The air filter has a K & N element in it. Sets as complete as this are now very uncommon and with recalibration of the metering unit it could also be used on a TR5 or TR6. Looking for offers around £ 600 PM on here or 07909 490294

I really wouldn’t assume this. They can be right little sods for escaping and will even climb out upwards sometimes. On our Spit it kept working out even with new bushes, good pin and new retainer sleeve. In the end I modified a long bolt and then put a nut on the bottom of it when it was still trying to climb out. Nick

IIRC some of the early engines (1200, 1600six) had the fourth ring but the split skirt is not something I remember. More associated with slow-revving long-strokers, so I reckon something older. What diameter are they?

As Pete says, that is the guide which is broken. No big deal. Those guides have been modified to take seals, the standard ones do not have that step machined in them. Probably best to change them all, and possibly the valves too if the stems are pitted by rust? The standard cast iron guides are cheap and work fine. You can pay more (much more!) for phosphor bronze guides machined for modern stem seals. Chris Witor has some beauties on offer but at a price. Last head I did I bought some plain phosphor bronze guides from Peter Burgess and machined the inlet ones to take modern seals, however, you don't really need the seals if the guides are good and you stick with the standard oiling system (no external feed!). Guides can be pressed out quite easily, even hammered out with a suitable drift, but best to press the new ones in to avoid damage. They will also need the bore reaming to size after fitting and the valve seats should then be re-cut to be concentric with the new guides. If you are going to fit unleaded seats for the exhaust valves, this is the time! Nick

Why a digital one? Unlike verniers, plain mechanical micrometers are easy to read and nothing much to go wrong…. Including no battery required!

Ouch....... Glad you are ok! Bootlid fit is ...... interesting! Timing is.... unhelpful...... ! Nick

Or are there any that haven’t even dragged out of the barn yet….? 😛 Nick

Good luck with that! We are using Wynns substi-plomb in GT6 and Spitfire. This due to a galloping case of recession in the Spitfire which the additive has stopped in its tracks. Both have with no hardened seats that have seen a lot of grinding in to get the seats to seal - so worst case scenario.

Ouch…..🙁 Sorry to hear that Tim. My very best wishes to you on that front.

What is the oil like? If it’s got lots of petrol and or water in it you can get a fair bit of gassing off as it warms up. Looking at the pulsing though, I’d say two or three cylinders with stuck/ broken rings. If it’s just been woken from long slumber then a good soaking with ATF, or even a bit of ATF in the oil might help free the rings off. Getting it properly hot and putting some load on it might also help. Not to depress you too much, I had similar with my old PI (didn’t chuff quite as much as yours) and messed around for ages trying free the rings and improve the breather system to minimal effect. It did drive ok, but used a lot of oil and blew oil out of every joint when pushed. Compression figures were uniformly excellent, I think because there was so much oil getting past the rings, every test was a wet test. In the end it got stripped and turned out to be quite clean inside (the ATF!) with all rings free and intact. The problem was that the bores had been quite rusty (could still see the witness marks where the rings had sat after 2k miles of running) and two of them were quite pitted high up. The vendor swore it hadn’t been “cracked off” Yeah, right. Had to rebore it, but the rest of it was pretty good, could have been worse. Good luck Nick

Originally the covers for TR6 and PI saloons had thicker spring diaphragms giving more clamping force. These days you buy a nice Sachs cover that can manage decent clamp without giving you a leg like Popeye’s arm…. Nick

That should have read page 5 of part 1 Nick

You could try reading through these extremely comprehensive notes https://www.buckeyetriumphs.org/gearbox I found an oblique comment suggesting springs differ between models on page of part 1 but not detail. Suggest the easiest method of getting a definitive answer is to ring Overdrive Services (other the other one whose name temporarily escapes me…..)

They all have variations in hydraulic pressure according to application. The idea being to have enough clamp to comfortably hold the torque but with minimum parasitic losses. This applies to OD engaged only. The springs apply in the disengaged state. For sure there are differences in the A-type springs according to application; I came across that when rebuilding my PI box. I’m failing to find references for other types, but that’s hardly a reliable guide….. Nick

I though that spring thing applied to A-type rather than J-type? Could be both…. Nick

Remember reading a thread by an Australian gent with a Citroen problem, and a heat problem. He swore by an American product called EZ Cool Vehicle insulation. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ESP-Low-®-EZ-Cool-Insulation/dp/B00PX2C8DC Stuff itself seems quite reasonable. Getting it here, not so much….

Did he get a mad look in his eye….? I used to have a chemistry teacher like that. He loved fire and bangs and blowing things up. He had a glass eye and his left arm was covered in scar tissue as a result of a serious burn (separate incidents!)…… nutter! Nick

Did he teach you Neil....? Nick

I re-use the the original thicker backing rings and if new felt is needed, cut it off the new, incorrect rings supplied in the kits as you suggest. I agree there’s no need to glue, and don’t. Nick

The saloon box does not fit a GT6 backplate. And it’s more than just a couple of holes out. The saloon engine backplate and TR250 / 5 & 6 are all the same part. The angle is a red herring. Nick

I think the late ('74 on) TR6 had the same ratios as the Sprint. Not sure if saloon also. Nick

Interesting. Bit surprised you don't seem to be getting any trace from the rust pitting? IMO the area where you want to be most fussy about the rust pitting is at the bottom of the thread groove in the upper turn of the thread. This is where they mostly break. Also bear in mind that if the horizontal axis is stiff (ie the nylon bush), this puts a significant bending moment into the link, just about where the top of the thread is, as the suspension moves, so very important these move as they should. This is one (maybe even the biggest) advantage the trunnionless-design has - free movement in all directions. The drawback with the trunnionless design is that it moves the suspension pivot point outboard and increases the leverage ratio, reducing the effective spring rate. Maybe ok if setting up from scratch at that point, but a disappointment if you were expecting your previously perfected arrangements to still work as before, afterwards. Nick

175/70 is pretty commonly used. have that size on my GT6 Mk3 and my sons MkIV Spit on 5J steels and there’s plenty of room. Previously had the same size tyres on the Spit on 6J alloys with ET13 offset. They did have a bit too much poke and made occasional contact. The important questions are the width of your wheels and especially the offset / ET figure. Nick