Hogie

Hi Dave,                the black stuff is Aluminium particles rubbed off the piston bore. Similar effect to when you polish Ali with Autosol - the rag becomes black. As mentioned, the clutch is used far more than the brakes and generally over its full working length. The brakes rarely need full travel. It will do no harm. Roger

Hi Wimpus,                    the High Temp Paint needs to be cured, after application, at a high temp. This works naturally on the exhaust systems with the high temp flowing through. If you paint your drums use a hot air gun over the paint to help the curing. You will know if you apply to much heat. Roger

Hi Dave,                 there is no 'pressure of the fuel' in the float chambers. The needle valve acts on a very small area and the float bouyancy multiplied by mechanical leverage is what over comes the pump pressure. It is much the same as the ball cock in your water tank in the loft. Roger

Hi Dave,            the float valves work. If they don't work then they are worn out - fit new float valve The original SU valve was good The new SU valve is better Grose Valves work well until they don;t. What will you achieve being over complicated. Roger

Not BSP - that would be very big physically. Roger

Hi Dave,              PM returned. Roger

The peening can be removed with a Dremmel type grinder.  But surely they take yonks and yonks for the valves to wear out. I made up a small retaining clip that bridged across both valves and had a single screw in the middle - Loctite'd in place. Most of the repro pumps have the valves simply pushed in - that can be interesting. There is a chap called Dave in Manchester that will rebuild your pump as new for £40 or so.  Info on the TR forum or PM me. Roger

Have a look here for a decent Megger  http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.ht.....+tester&_sacat=0 The ones I used back in the 70's had a cranking handle to get the 1000V's required. Roger

Hi Alfie,         here are some good adhesives.  http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/ The aerosol 329 should work well and is economical. the AF176 is a very good contact adhesive - get the smallest tin possible. Roger

Hi Martin,            that is excellent. Roger

Hi Graham,                    a few ears ago you could get 'poly bushes' from ebay at ridiculously low prices.  These very quickly turned to mush. The poly was rather unstable. SuperPro and SuperFlex are more expensive - but you only need to buy them once. Roger

Hi Folks,           never ignore critisism. Some people call it feedback. If feedback never happens then one can become complacent and that is where disaster lurks. Take heed of what is said, look at what you do and see what turns up. Perhaps nothing, perhaps something. Doing nothing is not an option. I've done the run twice. First time in 2010 and I was very very tired at the end; but my co-driver was fine. We had the sense to change drivers before any issues. The 2014 run turned it on its head. I was well awake at the end and at midnight still wide awake. My lad was knackered - so was asleep at the end. Never a moment of danger. But danger always is around the corner. There were apprx 40 two seater cars on the run. These potentially have the biggest problem.  But with planning and understanding it is easily workable. Consider the statistics- how many prangs over the years. Is it increasing, what was the underlying cause etc etc. You can only do so much to ensure your back is covered but do it you must. Keep the event running. It is one of the truly great runs for anybody that wants to stretch themselves. Roger

Hi Tim,            do not have the switch too sensitive. The brake and throttle pedals are very close and it is very easy to touch the brake pedal and bring the lights on, dare I say 'willy nilly' I have fitted a pair of LED's on the dash of my 4A that illuminate when the brake lights are on. They detect the filament current; so tell me if a bulb has popped.   Roger

Hi Folks,            boiling water only gets to 100'C - I'm sure the brakes get a little bit hotter than that when in use.  Why is brake fluid designed to work up to 450'C DOT3 & 4 will happily mix with water and will wash off. Roger

Hi,       if it was DOT 3 or 4 wash them with boiling water and when dry play a blow lamp over them. Should be OK. If silicon - bin them. Roger

When at Knebworth if you put the cat into a box and closed the lid and then turned your back would knebworth still be there. Roger

Hi Folks,             some very wise stuff there. Keep hydrated - mainly water but coffee and tea when appropriate. Try and get your stint ofsleep - however this can be very difficult at the beginning and things get worse afterwards. You shouldn't need any pills potions till the last knockings. On the 2014 on the run from Pimperne my lad should have been driving but he had a long stretch from Scotlandshire into Wales and that caught up with him. So I did the Dartmeet to Enfield legs. All was oK until shortly after Pimperne then the shutters went down. My lads shutters were not responding. So I had a can of RedBull - nothing was happening. So after about ten minutes I took two Pro-plus and within a minute the shutters were up my eyeballs were out on stalks and the brain was buzzing like an angry bee hive - Boy did that work. I was still wide awake after the finish and till apprx midnight. I slept well on the Monday. A few years ago you could get slimming pills that were based on amphetamine - but you needed a Vespa or Lambretta to get the full effect. There is a time and a place for stimulants - use them wisely. Roger

Pee in the coffee, drink it and throw up Roger

Hi Tim,             PM sent. Roger

Hi Mollysdad,                    I don;t know the layout of the Vitesse but this can happen on the TR4A/5/6 cars if the rubber boot around the gearstick is stiff or badly placed. Also if the switches on the top cover are only just making, any movement of the gearstick could cause that effect. Does it happen in ALL the OD gears. Roger

Perhaps I'm a bit odd (old retired engineer - silly git). If a £20 cheapo tool does the same job with equal quality as a £150 tool then who would buy the expensive tool. I wasted £20 on a Machine Mart tool https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cht172-automotive-pipe-flaring-kit/ Interestingly their advert does not say Copper Nickle (Kunifer) but it does on the box. Roger

Hi Folks,           interesting replies on the cheapo tool (horse shoe type)   I found that the ribbed holder seriously damaged the pipe. Single flare would work. Double flare was cocked over  and poorly shaped This was with 1/4 copper.  It wouldn't touch Kunifer. Roger

Hi Wim,             the tools you show should work. The blocks need to be very very tight. Held in a vice would be good. Contact the seller and see if he will sell you the bubble flare swage with the single/double tool. Do not go anywhere near these things http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-I.....d:gh8AAOSwPcVVvGux These do  not work and damage the pipe. The more expensive lever type are better - but bench mounted. Roger

It could just need bleeding. The heat may have caused any trapped air to expand. Or have you got  a plastic pipe feeding the clutch slave - may be going soft. Roger

The Zircotec product isn't a couple of hundred - a lot lot more. CamCoat costs less but is a slightly different product. Before you applaud the 50'C you have to consider how big the engine bay is compared to what you want it for, A small confined space may easily drop by many 'C. The typical TRiumph cathedral under the bonnet has a lot of volume and also another big heat source - the rad. What I can say is that the Camcoat on my TR4A increased the exhaust temp at the end of the pipe quite a lot - it turned the bumper blue. More heat out = less heat in the engine bay (but I wouldn;t say significant) It does look good tho' Roger