Nick Jones

It’s a sign of wear, not a standard feature. The choices are, double de-clutch and live with it, or rebuild the gearbox. If it’s quiet and working well in other respects that shouldn’t be too ruinous. Nick

I like a Mk1 Scirocco too. Tin worm has eaten most of the British ones…. We visited La Tranche many years ago in my Vitesse and camped for a few days. Then the bad weather came and we went south…. All the way to the Pyrenees! Nick

Oh yeah……. Can relate! Might have been exported. How rough was it when you sold it? Nick

Sounds like you have it well in hand. Didn’t realise there is a different head for the injection cars? Nick

Untaxed since April 1993. Might be stuck in a garage/barn somewhere…… (my GT6 was off the road from 1991 to 2019)…… but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much. Nick

yeah…… thought the same. Needs to be absolutely perfect at that price, and matching numbers with fully documented history starting with bill of sale…. Nick

Good lord.........! It looks ok in the pics (though I'd like the proper airfilter at that price), but £ 27k!! Nick

Those look like prices from 10 years ago…… Nick

Yep, also interested. Have done a few megasquirts on 6 cylinder cars and my son has Speeduino on his Spitfire. The Speeduino was somewhat more troublesome, but I think we've got most of the bugs out of it now. Are you going wasted spark/coilpack on the ignition? We used a VAG coil with built in ignitors on the Spitfire, which can be triggered directly from the Speeduino ECU. Nick Edit: Also meant to say, you should definitely pick up some mpg and a few extra horses, but these best bit will like be the increased torque spread and driveability that brings, which is as much as result of the map-able ignition as the injection itself.

It’s actually damson, though it does look very red in that pic for some reason. There is also Carmine red which is redder… Nick

So now we need you to let us into the secret of which one you really want..... Spitfire - 4 cylinder 1300/1500 convertible or GT6 - 6 cylinder 2L coupe/"hatchback" As already mentioned it is also possible to find hybrid (not factory) 6 cylinder convertibles. 4 cylinder coupes are also possible but I only know of one though and that's special in many other ways. Both the above are "square-tails" Mk3 in GT6-speak or MkIV / 1500 in Spitfire-speak. Earlier cars are "round-tails". No pics as I don't have any in the fleet. Nick

Too add….. the studs are generally fine, the OE ones are very good quality. However, the nuts, not so much. As the torque, 48lb/ft iirc, is pretty much the top end for a 3/8” UNF fastener, the nuts are prone to stripping and the typical replacements struggle to hold at all. You also need to be aware that the washers are hardened and should only be replaced like-for-like. The best solution I know of is to buy a set of flanged nut intended for the A-series engines from MiniSpares. These hold the torque reliably and don’t need washers. Nick

Holy crap Colin…… I see I’m but a Pygmy in the skinflint stakes……. I can totally relate to toothpaste chicken though….. I rarely loose. Strong thumbs…… I see a market opportunity for a “small mangle” to really get the last dregs. No way! Going to have to try that. May have to wait until I’m alone in the house though…. They are already picking out a “home” for me. 🙄

B2 90 Quattro and 2500PI….. what great taste in cars you have 🙂 That PI looks like a great base to start from. My PI story here https://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/5167-nick-mk2-pi/#comments some of the pics have gone missing unfortunately Nick

Great tactic! Suspect it won’t work work here though….. herself views the ride-on the same way that cats view hoovers….. Auto feed reels on strimmers like self adjust drum brakes on…. well, almost anything really, but especially Triumphs….. Our shower pumps likes to turn itself off….. but only after you’re soaped and shampoo’d up. The reset button is at the other end of the house….

Questions, questions…. - why does the “full” buzzer on my mower always sound when I’m at the furthest point from the grass heap…… - where in creation do all the the wood lice in my bathroom come from, and why are most of them in a line between bed and the loo? First world problems….. As regards the toothpaste, while I can relate, it sounds suspiciously a maths/ quantum physics question and I’m staying right away from any of that Witchery….. The flies do it to annoy you (and me)……. and it works, goddamit. Further, how is it that the incredibly annoying fly buzzing around at sleep time doesn’t keep the wife awake, but if you get up to deal with it she immediately wakes up and gets cross with you?! Nick

Vincent is no more so it's the Caburn Hurricane apparently http://www.caburn.uk/Contents/CaburnEngineering/Hurricane/ Not sure how real this is...... Not sure whether it's possible to buy T6 stuff at present or quite who owns what. USA tub might also be an option. Nick

IIRC there is no need to remove the pin or the plate, you can just open out the tensioner, pop it off the pin and withdraw. How bad is it? The replacements currently available are not well regarded and usual advice is to re-use unless really worn. The other part of the problem is that the original chains were ground on the outside edge and thus fairly smooth whereas some of the modern replacements are not well finished and will chew their way through the tensioner. Nick

This is what I have.... The basic panel is in fair shape, the attachment brackets not so much. Pretty sure there is also one that Chris made but didn't quite finish and probably also the frilly remnant that he was using as a pattern, but I don't have pics of those so will have to hunt them down in person. Not quite certain where this came from, but was possibly part of Bruce's stash......

How different from Mk3 early mk IV? We have one here I think, plus one Chris made before deciding he liked the plastic one better…..

http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/7107-chriss-mkiv-basket-case-restored-to-glory/#comments You want to see rusty…… try this…. I accept it would have not been an economic repair using a pro body shop, and in fact we did spend a bit of time looking for a better tub. However, while the tubs we looked at may have had smaller holes, they still had plenty of them. So we opted to stick with what we had - which had the big advantage of being almost entirely original and not full of previous dodgy repairs. Hurricane conversion? T6? Nick

This is pretty much what I did with my Vitesse, although I was doing the painting. My view is that for solid colours (non-metallic) it should be possible, with a few provisos. You should get ample paint to do the whole car at the start and each time paint is taken from the “master pot”, great care needs to be taken that it’s fully mixed as some pigments are heavier than others and like to lurk at the bottom of the pot. Some colours will be more forgiving than others (grey for example). some paint types also - that is a question for the experts. Timescale needs to be reasonable. Months to years rather than years to decades! Your paint shop needs to be on board with the process. It won’t be their favourite way of working. Nick

My experience of Greenstuff, beyond the lack of any bite, was the near impossibility of achieving decent retardation, let alone locking the wheels, even with both feet on the pedal, head jammed against the roof, bending the steering wheel....... Just like the greased weetabix motor-factor cheapies they were supposed to improve on. The M1144 turned them back into actual brakes without any other hardware changes...... Nick

I also found Greenstuff pads deeply disappointing. Mintex 1144 however, completely transformed the car. Nick

Driveline vibration in small chassis Triumphs does come back to the propshaft most of the time. Strap drive props are the worst offenders. First thing to check is that both UJs move freely on both axes, but without any free play. One tight axis will cause vibration. I bought a bespoke prop from HJ Chard many years ago. It vibrated. I took it back and had it rebalanced. It still vibrated. I balanced it on the car with jubilee clips and since then (about 50k miles now) it’s been good to 100mph, and not just on axle stands. I’ve done several other cars since, with success. My technique is to raise the rear of the car and support firmly on sturdy axle stands. Remove the rear wheels and brake drums. Check that the driveshafts aren’t rubbing on the chassis and add jacks/stands under the damper mount to raise them a little if necessary. With the engine at fast idle and 4th gear engaged, inspect the driveshafts/hubs etc to ensure they are running true. Bent driveshafts and hubs are not rare! Watch out for whirling wheel studs...... Note that with the driveline unloaded, vibration, shunt and backlash are accentuated. If all seems true, increase revs and note the point (speed) at which vibration becomes noticeable. If all seems well now, it’s your wheels and tyres....... If not, you need to add a couple of jubilee clips (other worm-drive clips may be used) to the rear of the prop. Finding the positions that give least vibration is a matter of trial and error. A paint pen is useful to keep track of what you’ve tried. I prefer to do this on my own so I’m not tempted to cut safety corners and remain under the car while the tests are done! If you wanted to disconnect the driveshafts at the diff flanges and prop/tie them away, then it should be possible without further dismantling but I’ve never found it necessary. Nick