Flying Farmer

Possibly the same problem as I had with the Holley I had fitted years ago. The fuel boils in the carb after switching off the engine. The fuel vapour is heavier than air and fills the inlet manifold driving out all the air. This makes a super rich mixture that will never fire when hot. Best cure I found was a readily accessible switch to the fuel pump. Switch the pump off about 15 seconds before switching off the engine so the level of the fuel in the float chambers is much lower and therefore there is less to boil away. You can test this by pulling up the top on the inertia switch when the engine is hot and see if it helps. My switch used to be on the dash where the choke knob used to be and was marked as a cooling fan to confuse potential thieves. I have long since converted to efi so don't need the switch any more. Neil

I had some inlet valve seats replaced by Bradbury engineering at Loggerheads. I did have to wait several weeks as they were special order. I have also rescued some too deeply cut valve seats using TR7 valves. They are about 3 or 4mm bigger, but I cut them down in diameter so they sat further up the seats, and were about 1.5mm larger than the Stag valves. Neil

When I first installed the Stag engine in my TR I didn't have a link pipe of any sort fitted. Eventually I fitted an H pipe. Just like in the link above it gained big time in bottom end torque, but I lost out slightly above 5300rpm. The losses were tiny compared to the gains, and fuel consumption improved by 10% so it was a no brainer to use the link pipe. I have not tried an X pipe because quite honestly it looks like far too much trouble for potentially tiny gains. The exhaust system in the link above had a link pipe about 3 feet long, the ones in my Stag and my TR are about 6 inches so they have more flow potential anyway I would have thought. Neil

When I got my first Stag I removed the original fan and viscous coupling and fitted an 2 speed Kenlowe. I found the temperature gauge would not stay steady, varying with speed and load. This was the only car I have ever had this problem on apart from a Sprint with an obviously knackered radiator. The original 3 row radiator looked good, but I decided to fit an uprated 4 row from Rimmers. As the exchange surcharge was only £30 I kept the old rad. Just as well, as the new rad made absolutely no difference whatsoever. Next I fitted a TR6 spoiler, that worked wonders at keeping the temp stable, and the fan only comes on when stuck in traffic. The original 3 row rad was subsequently fitted to my second Stag along with a TR6 spoiler and 2 speed Kenlowe and has been adequate to cool well over 200bhp on a track day thrashing and climbing mountain passes in the French Alps.

Don't know what is normal. Since the engine in my TR was my 1st Stag engine I assumed they all do that. Gentle braking on a downhill road would lose the oil pressure if the oil was half way between max and min. Admittedly the engine in the TR is installed more level than the usual Stag installation which is raised at the front which probably accentuates the oil surge problem. Taking no chances I baffled the sumps of my next 3 engines. Might be worth checking the dipstick. A very slight bend in the stick can make a couple of pints difference in the oil capacity due to the fact it is entering the sump at a 45 degree angle. On one of my baffled sumps I didn't align the hole in the baffle correctly and had to bend the stick slightly and I was amazed how much difference it made. Had to move the max and min marks by putting it in another engine to establish the proper max oil level.

Had the same problem with my Stag engine TR. Ended up cracking 2 main bearing caps after my first ever track day. Subsequently I have welded a plate across the sump pan at the height of the shallow part of the front of the sump, just leaving a hole for the oil pick up and the dipstick. This seems to prevent oil surge even under serious track day abuse provided the oil level is kept to the max mark. Have now done all 4 of my Stag engine sumps. Neil

Looks like a similar idea to the Patton Machine system from the USA, but will work out a lot cheaper and you have the ability to set it up yourself. Nice one! Neil

I am going to build another one for my TR next. In the process of making some inlet manifold flanges at the moment as I want to start doing a bit more flowbench development on another pair of heads. Would like to crack the 250bhp level next time without using any more revs, a bit more compression and a bit more time on the flowbench should do the job. I have already fitted a new set of exhaust manifolds and system built to the same spec as the Stag. I will be in touch when it needs setting up! Neil

That is a very simple install, interesting way of approaching altering the timing. Very good results for a standard engine. All you need now is the rest of the kit! Neil

I am using the lowered progressive springs on both my Stags, they make a huge difference to how it handles without being too harsh. I found the standard front struts slightly too weak in damping for the uprated springs, but the rears are fine. On the second Stag I fitted with the progressive springs I used KYB strut inserts from James Paddock, these are slightly stiffer and get rid of the floaty feeling I was getting on some undulating road surfaces. Neil

I know Stagdad is making a new set of manifolds, I assume he found areas he could improve on. I made my manifolds out of steel plate and tubing, in fact I have done three sets now for three different cars. The first two were more or less the same, the last one was built with a lot more care and developed on a home made flow bench. With ported heads my own design of exhaust manifolds and Faversham Classics fast road cams I ended up with 246bhp @6650rpm and about 220lbft of torque. Next project is another engine for my Stag powered TR250, I want to crack the 250bhp figure without lifting the rpm any higher. Don't think it is impossible as the 246bhp was done on regular unleaded so there is room for a bit more compression. Got several other projects on the go, so it might be a year or so before I get it done. Neil

I shifted mine by bashing the wheel with my fists close to the wheel centre, that managed to shock it free. I had the opposite problem on my last Stag, and there was free play in the splines. IIRC (it was a few years ago), the splines are split along their length and have an external thread with some kind of nut that can be used to adjust the tightness of the splines. Mine just needed tightening to get rid of the free play, so I suppose if bashing it doesn't work slackening the nut should do the job, but it probably just needs some lubrication. Neil

I have 195/60 x15 on one of my Stags, and 195/65 x 15 on the other Stag, both on 6 inch rims. Been using 30 psi front and rear for many years on both of them and have perfectly even tyre wear. Also use 30 psi on my TR250 with the same size wheels and tyres, and have done for 20 odd years. First discovered it was a better pressure when doing a track day at Castle Combe, it so radically improved the handling and front tyre wear that I never ran them at the original ridiculously low pressures again. I have a suspicion that the original lower front tyre pressures on Triumphs was to promote "safer" understeer, bearing in mind the front tyres are carrying a greater weight. You only have to look at the shoulder wear on the front tyres run at the lower pressures to see that they spend most of the time with only the outside of the tread doing any work. If you are running 195 tyres on 5.5 inch rims you will get far more shoulder wear on the fronts and centre wear on the rears as the tyre tends to roll around on the rim. An extreme example of this happened on my V8 Toledo many years ago. I bought a set of soft compound 205/60 x 13 tyres for use when drag racing. While waiting for my special order 7 inch rims I fitted them to a standard pair of 5.5 inch Dolomite Sprint alloys. I had 185/60 x 13 ordinary compound tyres fitted to the front end. Much to my surprise the car oversteered really badly despite the softer wider tyres. When my 7 inch rims arrived, the tyres were swapped to those and the bad oversteer changed to even worse understeer! To prove a point to myself, at one point I had worn out a set of 185 tyres  so stretched a set of 155 tyres originally fitted to the 4.5 inch Toledo steel wheels onto a set of Sprint alloys. On the 4.5 inch rims they were some of the worse handling tyres I had ever had the misfortune to drive on, on the Sprint alloys they were transformed, and nearly had as much grip as the 185s. Hence since this time I have always tended towards a rim at the wider end of suitable widths for a tyre. Neil

My Mk2 Stag dates from 1976, and looked like it was on stilts when I got it, it had towing shocks with external springs fitted even though the tow bar was no longer fitted. The 1" lowering springs probably dropped it by 3 inches at the rear, hence the need for the different brackets.

I have two Stags fitted with Chris Witor springs, a Mk1 and a Mk2. As has been mentioned you will need to change the trailing arm brackets to correct the camber. I did the mk2 first, and oddly enough the pair of brackets I removed from that one were suitable to correct the Mk1, The mk 2 is still running its original shocks, back end seems fine but the front end is a little floaty under certain conditions. The Mk1 has a set of non adjustable Kayabas (also known as KYBs) all round, these seem spot on for ride and handling and were reasonably priced from James Paddock. Neil

For road use I wouldn't bother with an oil cooler. I have one fitted to one of mine but that is for track day abuse, just need some decent brakes now! Neil

Did you bolt the slave cylinder to the correct side of the adaptor plate?

I had a Toledo do the same thing thirty years ago while doing  a steady 80 on the M5. The piston crown was embedded in the head (must have failed on the exhaust stroke) and the bottom half of the piston broke up and the con rod came through the side of the block! Neil

The TR wheels will fit  because I have just swapped a set of 6x15 from my TR to my Stag, but they are very tight as the offset is greater than the Stag wheels. I actually cut the arch lips narrower when I rebuilt the arches in preparation for this, on my previous Stag I had problems with the tyre rubbing on one arch lip with 6x15s. I bought my Stag with 5.5x15 and these cleared ok, but handled poorly with 195 65 tyres fitted, they really need a 6 inch rim. Years ago it used to be possible to get Revolutions made to order, I had a set of 6x15 Revolution 5 spokes made to fit my Dolomite, the stud pattern is different, but IIRC the offset is the same as the Stag alloy, but unfortunately I don't actually recall what it was. Neil

It may be an optical illusion but the thrust surfaces on the crank look to be tapered on the first photo. If this was the case the thrust washer would only have been working on a tiny proportion of its surface area. One other possibility, did the repaired area on the bearing cap fail first letting the thrust washer squeeze partially out of its recess leading to massive overloading and subsequent failure. Many years ago I had a 4 cylinder Triumph engine that dropped its thrust washers and wore the bearing cap so the thrusts could not be retained. I bodged it with a couple of dollops of weld on the cap which I then filed to size. This bodge lasted the life of the engine as the weld was only required to hold the thrust washers in place. Neil

I am puzzled why this should have happened again if it has happened once before. Are you starting the engine with your foot on the clutch, or sitting in gear with your foot on the clutch when stationary? Both these can cause rapid thrust washer wear, particularly starting the engine with the clutch depressed as there is no oil film to keep the surfaces separated. Neil

Great day out, shame about the rain in the morning, but if my tyres weren't so dreadful it wouldn't have mattered so much. After lunch it was totally different, though I think my brakes are definitely on their limit at three laps! Neil

I used a Kenlowe preheater I found in a scrappies on my PI saloon about 15 years ago, that was a great bit of kit for cold winter days, however when it died I didn't feel the need to replace it at the price it was for a new one. So saying, the ebay pumps are relatively cheap and might be worth a go. Neil

If it is ticking over ok when the engine is not quite warm but gets worse when the engine is up to temperature then the idle mixture is too rich. Don't know anything about the weber carb, but if it has an idle mixture adjustment screw (or two screws, one for each venturi), then just tweak them to get the fastest idling speed and you won't be far out. If the carb has a  filter sucking air out of the engine bay rather than from a cold air duct then expect the mixture to be all over the place according to the ambient temperature. Hot days drop the air density and so richen the mixture Neil

The P6 engine was notorious for low oil pressure, 30lbs is not unusual on a good one. Since you say your engine is smoking anyway, the odds are the crank bearings are probably as worn as the rings, but if you are lucky the crank may still be ok. When you pull the pistons to replace the rings you may as well fit new mains and big ends as well, if it all looks very worn then a later engine may be a better bet Neil