RRR

Hi Paul, Unfortunately on the early door catches this is a common problem after all these years. The relatively good news is that they are not entirely unique. The main castings are common to MG TD/TF, Austin Healey BN1/BN2, and were popular on cobra replica's. For the main latch mechanism, these are still ~£50, and you will most likely need to swap over the release lever to the Spitfire one. When it comes to seats, I am struggling a little on details. The wire basket may be the same MK1-3. I don't have details. Certainly the foam/padding make-up is different, and nobody supplies the complete cushion foam kit for MK 1 seats that I know of. I'm hoping to find time this year to tackle my Mk1 seats, as the foam is crumbling badly on the drivers side. Might be as cheap to do two sets as one.

To me the evidence points to a poorly a valve seat on No 1 cylinder. The washing off of the carbon from the piston indicates that fuel is bypassing the valve. This is supported by the low compression reading on No1 cylinder. Looks like time for a de-coke, and re-grind the valves. Hours of fun.

Very difficult to find Mk1 spitfire seats these days. The good news is that you can get new covers, and I am pretty sure the seat frame is common for Mk 1/2/3. On the Mk1 the squab was simply padded with horse hair with the addition of some light cotton/lambs wool around the edge. - Newton supply a kit for early Morris Minors that is suitable, and you can cut to fit. For the cushion these are just slabs of foam mounted in a wire basket. Again pretty sure the basket is common on the early Spits. Unfortunately the foams are no longer available, so here you would have to cut your own from upholstery foam.

Hi Elaine, Assuming your car has the original seats. These are a fixed back seat with no recline, however they can pivot forward to allow access to the rear shelf. The tilt should be secured by a catch (part 18) mounted to the seat back that latches onto the rear rail of the sliding subframe. The rear rail does get deformed so that the seat no longer latches, or in extreme cases breaks-off entirely. If missing bits, either latch or rear rail on the subframe you need to find something second-hand. I would try Spitbitz, or Spitfiregraveyard in this case. Hopefully they are still trading as I haven't used either for a couple of years.

Forgot to mention. Car located in Warwick. Price £2,500 ono

Never raced or rallied. Royal blue 2000 auto, recorded mileage 68,796 believed genuine. Sadly for sale due to too many projects. Pretty solid Mk1. Previous work includes, wheel arches replaced 2012, Front floors, and sills ~2016. Engine fully rebuilt to unleaded spec with I believe uprated PI cam. Gearbox drained and filled with the correct spec Castrol classic oil, gearbox shifts nicely and all gears engage. The interior has suffered over the years, in particularly the carpet, and headlining. However I can supply a new headlining, along with new front and rear screen seals. Front seats have been replaced with some lovely leather Momo seats from an Alfa. Dashboard veneer and door cappings have also recently been renewed. Interested parties, please feel free to PM me through the CT website for contact details.

I suspect your issue is more related to the original rod linkage. The bushes where the rod passes through the bulkhead can allow the rod to 'bounce' on light loading and provides an on/off action to the throttle spindles. This gets more pronounced if the throttle return springs attached to the manifold are soft. Also there should be a return spring(28 +29) on the operating arm (14) which is there to alleviate this phenomenon. I've often found this to be missing and not always listed by suppliers but simple enough to replicate.

I've parcelled them up in clean bubble wrap, and will take them with me anyway. Just in case I don't recieve a message before I set off.

I think that would be fine -I need to fit it in the Spitfire first anyway.

From my experience, It's generally basic things that cause people issues. So I'm talking here about, fuel, spark, cooling. My basic kit is plugs, leads, cap, points (if applicable), rotor arm. Fuel pump and hose. Water pump and fan belt. Except for the pumps, that is the survival kit that I usually keep in the car anyway. For longer distance events I might throw in a spare Dizzy to aid a quick change over, and perhaps a front wheel bearing kit along some electrical connectors just in case. It very much depends on what you are prepared to work on at the side of the road. To quote a military mantra - Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. So use your Triumph regularly, and sort any issues before a big event like the RBRR or 10CR. Finally  -  If it is running well. Don't fix it..... enjoy    

Hi Jimbo, The Zombie is planning to turn out in support, and hopefully we'll drag along another member of the un-dead. Details to be confirmed.

From what I can see/understand the picture shows the works 8 port head as used on the Le Mans cars. These were produced in cast in both iron, and aluminium, and from what I understand in 64 the Le Mans cars used the cast iron head. The aluminium heads were first used on the rally cars, and then having proved their reliability were used in 1965 on the Le Mans cars as well. To confuse the issue Triumph also offered a slightly different 'productionised' 8 port to the public,  principally through SAH. The main identifiers being the stud positions on the exhaust/inlet side, and the combustion shape. The SAH heads retaining the 6 port style chamber. I must confess that much of this is third hand information from a bit of an anorak, I've only managed to examine a few photographs. Much depends on the regulations you are preparing to, as the 1147 engine can perform very well indeed. This link might be interesting . http://www.jagclub.ru/1147.html

I have run a 1300 with a similar build to yours, and would not expect it to tick over cleanly with this cam. In terms of timing, a smoother idle can be achieved by advancing the ignition, as you have found. However with a conventional Dizzy this will still advance the timing with an increase in RPM. The Lucas is generally timed ~10deg BTDC, and gives a timing advance of ~22deg at full advance, giving a total of 32deg achieved by 4000rpm. Therefore if your static timing is at 30deg BTDC the motor is trying to work with 52deg 4000rpm  and so you find the engine cannot maintain proper combustion at higher revs.(Engine will not rev over 4500rpm) I assume the engine is running a compression of something in the region of 11:1 or higher being a race engine, and the danger here is with pre-ignition, which can quickly damage the rings or melt a piston. With this sort of C.R. I would start with a maximum advance of 30deg before properly setting this on a rolling road. The 123 Dizzy whilst it would provide a more consistent timing, it would not address the basic issue,s as the pre-sets offer the same basicadvance characteristics, only tuneable at tickover, 2500rpm, and 4000rpm. As you have discovered, I think you will get a better result by increasing the idle jet, rather than running excessive advance in order to smooth out the combustion at low rpm. A conventional dizzy(which the std 123 distributer is) will not give youthis functionality of tune-ability like a map-able ignition, and beware of pre-ignition.