Baxter

Fun event. I turned up late to avoid the queues and already had my day made by spotting these two Telford beauties in the car park. Thanks! Got a couple of good parts needed for my Vitesse. Had half hoped to find a bunch of bits for my MG ZT as that's far more trouble than my Triumphs but only seemed to be MGF/TF bits from that era.

Thanks everyone. Got home late last night - 20hrs after first contacting the RAC. Feeling at a bit of a loose end today, though of course I have plenty of jobs here on my other 2 cars. Good luck to everyone still running! I'm not sure there is a connection between the puddle and the plug...just that 10 years and 12,000 miles after a full rebuild that was the precise moment it let go. Plunging hot metal into cold water? In the morning we found the plug in the suspension turret. RAC man happily hammered it flat, saying it was too small/loose, then made a tight hylomar fit into the block. Coolant refilled and the engine warmed up sweetly. But clearly pressure could be felt building in the radiator hoses so suspect head gasket failure between cylinder and water jacket. Cause or effect of the ejected plug? Seems it could be either. Flatbed recovery confirmed at that point. I'll report back when I redo the head but that will have to be a while. Things were getting quite hot by the time I found somewhere safe to pull over so I'll be checking head/block are straight and having a good look at the other plugs. Other concerns? (Oh, Nick, it was the one between alternator and coil so pretty handy. Did I see you at Badgers Halt control last time? Wishing I was heading there now!)

Our RBRR has ended with a sudden loss of coolant after driving through a lake-like puddle near Edinburgh. Super frustrating. Recovery is taking hours and it seems that, having pulled over fairly quickly, the car could be running again with a new plug and a coolant refill. Any experience with this and thoughts on possible extent of damage?

Good to hear it's working now. You mentioned you're finishing off the wiring so do shout if there are any further issues. I put a new loom in mine several years ago and for the most part used a diagram in an Autopress manual by Philip Smith. I had trouble finding correct or colour diagrams on the internet. Thanks for your comments on the Vitesse, I really like the 1600. Hopefully see your GT6 in action soon, or at least some photos 😃

Hey Tel I used this when I rewired my 67 MK1

Hazen, it's amazing to see your car looking fantastic and out at a show at last after more than 20 years of care and attention to restore it, and so many problems overcome along the way. Congrats on a brilliant job!

Thanks as ever glang. I'm with you on those options, and the replacement part does indeed have a plasticky feel. Need to get things going asap so I'll boil the kettle and have another go, and then superglue the split. Will have to make do for now. Oh, this is for the GT6, not the Vitesse - that thankfully is running well

Hi Trying to fit service kit for Girling MC on a Vitesse 1600. Does the pushrod come apart to make fitting the new dust cover simple? It doesn't look like it does (as the view from the clevis pin end shows a very smooth join), but despite warming and lubing I split the new dust cover trying to stretch it over the end. I'm about to try again with another new cover. If not, how best to stretch this over?

Good luck Ben, I hope that is the issue and the fix is easy. Hoping to see your GT6 out and about as we're located quite close to each other

Yes, no misfire. Crazy - it went from cutting out every 30 mins to doing the RBRR without a fault. (Sorry only just saw replies to this old thread)

Nick is surely right. Michael, did you mean to type £10,000 instead?

Congrats Hazen! How exciting must that have been after so many years on the restoration. How did it drive, and what did your wife think? BTW I have windscreen envy - I didn't know such a thing existed, but even after a thorough clean I could hardly see through mine with the low evening sun at the weekend

Tim kindly started this thread for me, so I should report back. I opted for MGF seats on the basis of the classic look of the MK1 seats and the reasonable cost/availability. Plus fitting was simple per the easy to find guide (from Adam in NZ for tssc?). We're really pleased with the results. Can't recline past the B pillar, but sliding forward to allow enough recline still left our legs comfortable. We each had one good solid 2hr sleep per night on RBRR, and it was probably adrenalin and minor car/route/event issues that prevented more. Re height: I've used the mgf runners. The seats do sit a little higher but not much, and we didn't notice it while driving. We did notice that being wider we're slight further over toward the door, making the steering wheel sit to our left. Soon forgotten. Photo below gives an idea of height difference. On the side-by-side photo, the vitesse seat is without runners, the mgf on its runners but with the 4 corner fitting brackets cut and ground off.

More seats! Having just retrimmed my GT6 seats I've taken the quicker and cheaper route on the Vitesse and fitted MGF seats. Allegedly more comfortable too, and I can't wait for my first test drive tonight

Great to hear - thanks yorkshire, Ben and glang for your quick help with this. I do have the separate header tank, but there's little in there at the moment. And I don't mind a fair bit of spillage as my evening suddenly looks better and doesn't involve shopping for more antifreeze and water 🙂