thebrookster

I have to confess I know nothing about the advantages/disadvantages of either, other than domed pistons will give a better compression ratio. However, I understand that Steve Smith, who very successfully races a GT6 in America is currently using domed pistons (which he has just had to skim a touch off for clearance issues!), so they cannot be all that bad! And just to clarify, Steve's GT6 runs with modifications most of us have never even heard of, and his GT6 would more than happily show any of ours a clean set of heels most days of the week!! If it works for him, I cannot see why it wouldn't for anyone else in my view. Cheers, Phil

On a similar vein as John, if pop off at the Penrith Junction on the M6 and follow the A6 to the next roundabout, then take the first exit there is a garage immediately to the left, and another (Shell) about 1/4 mile up the road, both far cheaper than M'way services. Also, if you come off at J42 (most southern Carlisle junction) and follow the A6 south, you meet another Petrol station just after you get into Penrith. BEWARE!!! It is a while since I last used these petrol stations, so I have no idea on when they are open or closed!! Other than that, they are favourite stop off points for me whenever I come up or down the road. What are people like for petrol around Glasgow normally? (Or Edinburgh for that matter) I am more than happy to keep my eyes skinned as I travel around for easily accessible petrol stations if it will help others. Cheers, Phil

Something like 3 or 4mm?? When I got my rivets I popped down the shops with the hood poppery bit, and tried the various sizes in the shop until I found one that was long enough and yet had a small enough head to fit in the popper (which was the big issue for me).

I know little about cams really, this is a subject area I need extensive research into, however........... Am I right in thinking it is possible to alter the cam timing (retard?) in order to gain extra torques at the expense of peak horsepower?? And if so, if Hugh went for this cam could he do this whilst waiting for other stuff to be done and so gain a drivable engine? A wee caveat to that, I am assuming compression will have to be increased before this is possible?? Stock compression not being enough? Cheers, Phil

I know little about cams really, this is a subject area I need extensive research into, however........... Am I right in thinking it is possible to alter the cam timing (retard?) in order to gain extra torques at the expense of peak horsepower?? And if so, if Hugh went for this cam could he do this whilst waiting for other stuff to be done and so gain a drivable engine? A wee caveat to that, I am assuming compression will have to be increased before this is possible?? Stock compression not being enough? Cheers, Phil

I think that the normal pins come without the head, however Chic Doig sells an uprated pin that has a decent head on it, quite cheap as well (or at least it was when I bought one a couple of years back). http://www.chicdoig.com/ 01592 722999 I would reccomend ringing him up, Chic is an older guy whom has a healthy dis-regard for emails, and in general never answers them!! However he is fine to deal by telephone, fount of knowledge as well. Cheers, Phil

Yeah, as James says the main difference between the 1300 head and the 1500 head is the depth (height). The 1500 is bigger, which keeps the the compression ratio usable with the longer stroke. It is possible to use the 1300 head on a 1500, just follow James advice! Other than that, there are differences between which valves are fitted to what, some have the bigger valves whilst others have the smaller, the bigger is generally held to be better, however you can easily convert a small valve head to larger valves, any engine shop can do this. General rule of thumb, Heralds had smaller valves, spitfires bigger. Paul has a good table with head numbers etc for the definitive information, check his page here: http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/performance_enhancements.htm#heads Hope this helps, Phil

The budget sounds better all the time!! If you can get the help offered you will make some reasonable savings, having a family who can do/teach bodywork and spray-painting will knock a good chunk off to start off with. Engine build - simple enough really, just pay attention to detail and take your time. It is only the machining and balancing work you really need an engine shop for, the rest is easily within the scope of the home builder with minimal equipment. Buy a workshop manual. With regards to the head, if you really want to get your hands dirty why not look into flowing it yourself? Accept the fact it will not be as good as having a professional job done, but with a bit of care and time you could probably effect a reasonable improvement simply by smoothing the ports out (as in removing casting flaws, ridges etc) and matching the manifolds to the head. Do this with a touch of care and you will end up with a head that flows better than most of the crap sold by some of the "tuning" companies around just now! Induction noise - sounds like you want to take the route of EFI with individual throttle bodies, should get some nice noise there :) Out of interest, are you aware that someone is selling a Spit6 in the classifieds?? Ok, Not a GT6 but could be a fun project. and if the ad is accurate looks like it could be a good bargain? Cheers, Phli

4992 wrote: The budget at the moment will be around 6k-8k for the whole car, but doubt I'll stay within the budget. I like the enthusiasm in the replies, but maybe forged pistons/coated crank/steel rods/gas flowing is possibly a touch above his price range :) Though I only wish I could build a full spec'd engine and car for for 6k, but that is wishful thinking (pray)(pray)(pray)(pray) Going by budget, engine wise I would have thought lightened and balanced bottom end, 3-angle valve seats and POSSIBLY a quick clean up of ports of money allows. Get the best header (exhaust manifold) you can find, plenty of people here who can advise, and and port match the manifolds/gaskets/ports to each other. As Andy says, TR5 cam, you can always rebuild with fancier at a later date if you want to increase. Ohh, and EFI. That way you get fuel efficiency and best power, PI is finicky if you can't find someone to help set it up. If the engine is going back, then a new propshaft is a given. What shafts does the GT6 MkII come with? Rotoflex? If so, they should be fine with up-rated U/J's and a well sorted suspension setup, look at Marcus's (GT6M) car as an example! Diff may need some work however. Get that done, then worry about flowing/uprated engine bits/etc IMO. Or simply say sod the budget, and go for broke, which is what I would actually do  ;D ;D ;D ;D Cheers, Phil

It is to do with the air flow past the seat. I'll start from basics, so bear with me :) Your valve insert is simply a ring like a washer, only much thicker. The valve seats itself against the inside radius. If it was to be left as a right-angle the valve only seats against a very small surface, and wear easily occurs, plus if the edge is damaged you lose the seal needed for compression. By cutting a seat here, and having the back of the valve at the same angle allows a much bigger seating area, which gives a superior seal. If you have the one 45 degree cut, you go from vertical  to 45 degrees to horizontal, which if you draw on a piece of paper you can see creates two "sharp" edges so to speak. This disrupts the air flow past it, which is not ideal, but a darn sight better than the right-angle :) Now if instead of one angle cut here we put three in, drawn as follows: Take horizontal as 0 degrees and draw a line, then draw a line at 30 degrees, then 45, then 60 and finally at 90 degrees, As you can see, this basically rounds the corner more, allowing the air/fuel mixture to flow past it easier. It may sound like a lot of work, however for an engine shop this is pretty much standard practice these days, modern cars have this 3-angle cut as standard, whilst our cars were built before things like this were really thought about hence the 45 degree single seat. It will enable your engine to produce a touch more power than it otherwise would, but is not a modification that will concern the insurance companies. Throttle response will improve slightly as well. As you may guess, you can play around with this, add more angles in, change angles around etc etc, this is what racers etc play with when trying to get every last drop from their engines, however standard angles are as I gave above, 30-45-60. In fact, if you were to say to your engine builder 3 angle seats this is likely what he would put in. Make more sense now :) (and I apologise if I have made this too simple, I was trying not to bog the post down with un-needed info, which I regularly do otherwise  8) :X 8) ) Cheers, Phil

Personally I would go for 3 angle seats for the valve seats, I don't think it costs much more than a simple 45 degree seat, but does count for an "improvement" without losing originality on the engine. You MAY need to think about a contingency budget for things like head skim, if you are not leaking out the head gasket I reckon you should get away with it, but don't spend your entire budget elsewhere and then discover it needs doing!! Again, not hugely expensive IIRC.

1704 wrote:Phil, I aint been through it word for word but..... Has it been mentioned that if you file off the top of a zerk/grease nipple so that the ball and spring are ejected, then if this is substituted for whatever is in the upright, it makes the job a little easier. Take it out after use of course. 8) Good point, I can understand where people are coming from on this one. I shall update the article to include this. Unless anyone produces a cohesive arguement not to, I shall mention this as a mod that can be done if you still use the blanking plug, plus reasoning (easier to pump etc). I shall also give the alternative method of using nipple with spring/ball, such that the nipple can be left in place (which is, I assume, the main reason for using this method). I am trying not to create an article that states my way is the only way, I prefer to give the options and let people make their minds up. If they really want to discuss the inner pro's and cons of the matter, then they can always come here :) Muwhahahahahahahaahahahaha  8) 8) 8)

As Requested!! http://www.kinkyspit.co.uk/?page_id=191 If anyone would like their real names substituted for their foum ID's please forward it on to me, and I shall oblige. Cheers, Phil

3472 wrote:I am new to spittys could someone explain to me exactly what I need to do, I am worried about my trunions now with all this talk of them breaking. a little idiots guide with a pic would be great :) thank you, Very good idea, I shall do so!! I will pull the info from threads/blogs on this site and collate into one document, which for ease can go onto my site, and anyone else's blog/site if they wish. If anyone has pictures of this job being done I should be very happy if you could forward them to me :)

jcarruthers wrote:A normal pump action grease gun holds the oil fine and fits the nipple. That's not what is being questioned here, I think most of us are aware that a grease gun will do the job. The thread is about a readily available alternative.

Cheers for that Oskar!!!! Oddly enough I bought one of these cans a couple of months ago to refill the Diff, good to know I can use it on trunnions as well!! I had not even thought of that. Saves me buying an oil gun at least!!

Depends on what kind of driver you are!! Mintex 1144 are generally reckoned to be good, however if you are wanting to track race and use the brakes more heavily, then 1155 work at higher temps better, however they are suffer for normal use when cold. If you are of a more gentle disposition whilst drving you may find some of the EBC pads (green, then yellow, then red if my memory serves me correctly) will suit. Really depends on what you prefer, easiest answer is to try until you find a set that work for you! There is not really a 'correct' answer here, you may get a whole load of opinions on the subject, all you can do is try and decide what works for you. Cheers, Phil