Dannyb

That's interesting. I did not torque the head once hot. I was going to do that after 500 miles. I will do that when I change the head gasket Monday. I wonder if I could run it for a short while with no coolent to get it hot and then torque or is that a bit dodgy. That's interesting about the nuts being able to take more torque. Danny

I did check head after I cleaned it. The head gasket was for 1500 with recessed fire rings. And it up the right way. I will double check flatness when I take it apart Monday. Danny Am I right I don't need new studs. I'm using the mini nuts with the flange.

Spit 1500. Due to no1 cylinder leaking into the the coolent. I changed head gasket. Also while I had the head off I changed camshaft and followers for a mk3 grind. This has really transformed the car. I've only done about 20 miles but decided to recheck the tappet gaps. Took off the rocker cover and found the dreaded milky oil. My oil level has gone up and water level down. Took off the rockers and checked the head bolts. The two middle ones weren't tight enough. I know I torqued the the bolts in the correct order in gradual steps and went over them again. Looks like a new headgasket needs ordering.😪 Danny

I had a strange problem when I added stop/tail lights to my Spit 1500. I had already put separate earth wires in some years ago so I knew the earth was good. It turned out that inside the bulb holder there a small earth clip that needed bending to make better contact with the side of the bulb. The led bulb barrels were very slightly smaller than the old. Danny

My new top hose split yesterday after 30 mins. Why are the new top hoses shorter than the old ones ?. Just ordered a 30mm silicon hose. Danny

Thats it rub it in 😁

Also ordered 8 new rockers now as they are scored. Will have to check the top end oilways. I did notice the retaining screw was loose or maybe fallen out. I remember when I took the rocker shaft off the screw which i thought fell out or was it already out and laying on the head. Should the screw have lock thread on ? Danny

Head back on the spit after grinding in the valves. New tappets and mk3 ground cam in. (Not timed yet). Went to put the rocker assembly on but noticed 2 rockers were very stiff. Took the assembly apart and found the shaft is knackered. This was a reconditioned rocker assembly about 20k miles. Now ordered a new shaft. Danny

Noticed the Spit was putting out some smoke the other day. Did a compression test all cylinders within 10% with top reading 175. Did a leakdown test and got air coming out the rad. Stripped it down yesterday and will try to get some work done today. I already brought payern gasket ready to fit my mk3 ground cam which was going to be my winter project, looks like it's going in sooner. At least it went before the C2C. Danny

Both UJ's now changed with heavy duty GKN's. I did need to add a thicker C clip one side of both flanges. Which I had to do last time I changed them. The ones I removed were also GKN. Hope to test drive it tomorrow if weather permits. Danny

Nice car lift. I would kill for one of those in my garage. Danny

A few shots of me and the spit. I was the one Tim Hunt was talking too. The cars that were being fixed weren't there when me and Tim were there. So they obviously use shot from different days. I hoping they show the bit where the drone follows me and Tim around the block. Me in the spit and Tim following in his TR4. Danny

Wow that is expensive 😳

Just checked the drive shaft UJ's after noticing a ticking sound from the back. Small amount of play, last changed about 8 years ago. Can anyone recommend the best UJ's. Danny

I fitted 1144 pads. I didn't think it would make a lot of difference over standard pads. This is the best they have ever been in the 20 years I've owned the car. Danny

What ever Rimmers supply. Standard pads. Danny

Just replaced the discs on the spit. The old one were out of true which caused pedal pulse and push back on the pads. Fitted drilled discs with mintex pads. Did just over 100 miles yesterday, what a difference. Danny

👍

Can't update entry list. Went into manage purchases but can only see club membership. Danny

Unfortunately I don't do Facebook so cannot see the info. Danny

I still wasn't overwhelmed with the brightness of my new cheep LEDs, plus I noticed a very slight flicker on the side light. So ordered some from Amazon. What a difference. £15.99 for the pair. Danny

Tim, That was a great day out. I wondered if it was going to be produced. Danny

Sorted. It looks like the earth clip inside the holder needed cleaning and bending to make good contact with the led bulb. The old bulbs are very slightly fatter the the led ones therefore the old bulb had flattened the earth clip. Thank all for your help. Danny

Thanks Howard. I have tried testing as you described above and the bit about the return path seems to make sense as when the lights only are on and the bulb holder removed and the earth wire removed. It still lights, so must be getting a circuit back up the brake wire. Was this a safety measure if the earth failed or something strange going on. It's a late spit 1500 and can't see any clue on the wiring diagram. Just wondering if anyone else has come across this and how they got round it. Danny

Replaced rear /brake bulbs with Led. But the brake lights only work with the lights on. The old bulbs have continuity between both contacts and the barrel (earth) as expected but also continuity between both contacts. This is where the Led bulb differs. There's continuity between both contacts and barrel. But not between both contacts. Danny