Baxter

Paul, thanks for the starter solenoid suggestion and easing our tunnel vision focusing on just one potential solution. I don't understand how this would cause the problems I have but it does seem you went through a similar scenario. Perhaps one key difference is that my car will always restart - it just doesn't run well once the problem’s happened. Pete, Rob, I modified the fuel pipe layout as discussed and went for a test drive today. I was so optimistic, yet once again 20 miles and 35 minutes into the drive the misfire appeared. I do think we might have improved things though...if this makes sense, I was able to restart and drive along at about 35MPH, albeit quite roughly. Then with a gentle downhill section the misfire cleared and the car surged up to 60MPH and completed the final mile home well. There is still scope for further shortening of some pipes and lowering of the filter so I think I'll try that.

Rob, it is an electric pump and it is a little lower than the filter, and you've correctly identified the route from there onwards. I'll make the alterations you suggest and check for improvement before thinking about re-routing across the bulkhead. Thanks!

 

Thanks Pete, I'll paste some photos below. There is a high point between carbs 1 & 2. I tried to replace this fuel pipe per routing when i acquired the car, but can see in the original road test article that they keep this pipe flatter. In first photo the pipe from my tank rises into the filter and then curves up and round/down into the pump. BTW the problem may start under high load, but once it happens i often cant even run slowly on the flat. Your theory could still hold if there's enough of an airlock. Take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks

Hi Gunnar, how have you enjoyed driving your beautiful car the last few weeks? I'm really impressed by your restoration work, and how quickly you got it done. I hope you're falling in love with driving the car and forgetting the idea of selling it! Baxter

Thanks for the suggestions. Pete L - I think the cap is venting. No whoosh on opening it. And I specifically did the fuel flow rate test with/without the cap to check for this (and got the same each time). Went out again last Sat (5th Sep) and it was just the same. Fantastic for 18 miles and 35 mins, then suddenly, on hard acceleration up a hill, started misfiring. Managed to coax it home the last couple of miles, low-speed, and feeling as if 2 or 3 cylinders were switching in and out. Pete S - it always happens while moving. I think there's a pattern that it begins under heavy engine load. Water temp always normal. Once it's happened it just gets worse till it won't run; though it will always start. Seems to work again once completely cold (following day - leaving it for 5 hours it's still rough). I only took the fuel filter out to check flow rate (unchanged), then replaced it. I hear that vapour lock can be caused by the larger diameter of the filter, but it always seems full. Fuel pump is now a Huco mounted on bulkhead. I did do one longish day out since fitting this pump, so think it is probably not the cause. Before that I had an extremely noisy facet pump next to the battery, and a flow rate regulator. This was installed by a specialist while tuning the engine using a rolling road, and they set the regulator to 1 out of 5 (approx 1 psi). The car has the full Derrington conversion, so triple SU H2 carbs. Baxter  

Here's a link to 10 seconds of hesitant exhaust burble when I got back from my 19 mile, 40 minute test drive. https://1drv.ms/v/s!AmjW3mQn-IqAjMEFVBfpdop1nrrIGA?e=8vi2zk It was idling smoothly before I set off on the drive.  

Tony, my dad did his automotive apprenticeship at Lucas and I grew up in the shadow of the Dog Kennel Lane site. It pains me to find sub-standard parts being sold under the brand name. Quality of parts in general is a topic that gets me going!

Thanks for continued thoughts and suggestions. I've got news from the latest road test. First I did a couple of things at base: 1. I noticed a small leak from the exhaust manifold gasket, so did a temporary seal on that. (The engine will be coming out in a while as the sump 'seal' leaks badly, so can properly address all gaskets then.) 2. I checked fuel flow. With the car having stood several days, I measured 800ml per minute, from my bulkhead mounted Huco pump, then through disposable paper filter, and out the line just before carb #1. Removed fuel cap: 800ml. Removed filter: 800ml. Did I read somewhere to expect about 1l per min? Does my volume sound sufficient? When it's working, the car certainly seems to go well now. Road test: Fitted new Bosch coil (made in Brazil) onto two mini exhaust rubber cotton reels. Very springy. Points and rotor arm are from the Distributor Doctor earlier this year and still in great condition. As are the HT leads. Plugs have just done the one previous outing. Took a full set of new spares. Car ran better than ever. First time I've ever been able to accelerate up a hill near me. Sounded better too - quieter and crisper. All excellent for 17 miles and 35 mins of Cotswold lanes. Then a little misfire. I didn't have the heart for a 3rd breakdown in a couple of weeks so drove straight home. Misfire gradually worsening. Once on my drive the car didn't want to rev. Very lumpy. I made the cardinal sin of then getting sucked into other jobs at home, so didn't swap out any parts and retest. But it always seems to be at the 20 mile/ 40 minute mark I get this problem - so is it heat-related? 

Pete, that happened to me the first couple of times I posted on here. Frustrating! Now, if it's taking me more than a minute, I do regular 'select all' and 'copy all' commands, so I can paste it back into a new forum post window if need be.

Thanks for suggestions Dave. I have had a few small whooshes in the past when removing the cap for refuelling. But not recently - I've been monitoring it. I do still have concerns it's fuel-related. Tank is only a few years old, filter looks pretty clean. I'll try your carb test if it happens again. I have a new Bosch coil and two rubber cotton reel (exhaust) mounts arriving tomorrow. I'll then do a test run, taking spare new coil, points, condenser, rotor arm with me. And a red triangle.   

Hey Andy, good to hear you're enjoying the forum. Adjusting the ride height at the front depends on whether or not your new 'shocks' have fixed or adjustable spring seats. If adjustable, you can rotate the seat with a large c spanner to raise or lower the base of the spring. Often 'adjustable' on the description of a shock/damper is referring only to the rebound/compression damping, controlled by a knob on the side. If you've got fixed spring seats you need to change the front springs to adjust ride height. At the rear the leaf springs are to a standard spec and you use a lowering block between the spring and the diff to lower ride height. Hope that helps! I have some lovely old Dunlop 5.5J x 13 wheels, but I like fairly narrow rubber on these cars, so I'm running 165/70 x 13. No fouling, as the PO lowered the car and made other mods to try to replicate the Monte Carlo Vitesses, including (he told me) 'rolling in' the inside edges of the wheel arches to avoid fouling. It looked pretty close when I bought it - hard to push down and a corner of the car and judge if the bodywork meets the tyre. I've raised the ride and narrowed the tyres since then.

Nice video - handling looks great, and I love the sound!

Glang, 'After' is just brilliant compared with 'before'. 50mph and above on a typical B road became uncontrollably bouncy before. I had adjustable AVOs all round and tried the full range of adjustment but never found a non-bouncy setting. I tend to like things firm rather than soft, but really don't like bouncing out of control. Pot holes were always a bit jarring. Now it's pretty smooth and stays controlled whatever the speed and over some pretty rough surfaces. I fitted Konis thanks to Nick Jones and others recommending them. I clicked them to +1 out of 4 (for most firm). Will try higher setttings if I get to an autosolo :) Trouble with before v after is that I changed everything. My old leaf spring was clearly knackered. The PO had only just put it in to convert to swing-spring, but it was 'pre-owned' and luckily I decided to start from scratch in search of a good ride. Also, a specialist had fitted rear seatbelts, and one of the bolts for the seat belt clasps was interfering with the leaf spring! Hard to know where all the problems and noises were coming from. One of my front AVOs leaked all its oil out after just 2 years and took me back to bump steer. Otherwise I think they were good dampers, let down by exhausted spring at the back and too excitable 8" 380lb springs up front. Life is also much better 1.5" higher. I had so many groundings before, and if I could get a trolley jack under I often trapped it on lowering. I couldn't even get it onto the ramp at my local MOT tester without some planks smoothing things out.    

Thanks Guppy - hard to believe a new coil could fail so fast, but also reassuring to be returning to my original diagnosis. I'll order some cotton reels then. Still concerned as to why it seems to be about 40 mins till failure each time - makes me think heat level is involved and not just shaking. And why did my first coil last 2 years. I like the sound of Airey Tuning but as they're a fair way from here I'll probably try a local tuner first. Very impressive set up under your bonnet! I'm hoping for 95 bhp from mine.  

Pete, you mentioned side on photos. Here's one of my Vitesse newly fitted with the Rimmers UR springs up front (20% stiffer and 1" lower they say), and a new leaf (swing) spring on a 1/2" lowering block at the back. I've read that a 1/2" lowering block translates to 1" lower body. It sits 6.5" from ground to sill at the front and 7.5" at the back. NB the back was at 6" on the old spring WITHOUT the lowering block. So I've raised my car by adding a lowering block and a new leaf spring! The old spring was so tired it was almost 1.5" 'flatter' than the new when I put them side-by-side. Andy, welcome to the club. I've spent hours and hours struggling with suspension and ride height, and have all sorts of photos and measurements and experience on different dampers. Happy to share any info I may have of use to you. Good luck with your rebuild, and don't forget to post lots of pictures!

Andy, just saw your post and hope this is in time to help. I recently fitted some UR Rimmers springs to my Vitesse and I can show you exactly how long they are in the photo below - 11.5". They're meant to lower the car about 1" compared with standard set up. For me they've raised it a 1.5" as they replaced some grim 8" 380lb springs that my dampers could never stop bouncing, and the car was too low to get onto my drive; and as for trying to get a trolley jack underneath...  

I just found JohnGT6's cuts out when hot post - so got some good info from there.  I have a huco electric pump and then a fuel filter between it and the carbs. I think I should try the water-pouring test and maybe remove the filter or put it between the tank and the pump. However, my car will start quite easily each time after it cuts out (so maybe not vapour lock?), but is always then very lumpy and soon dies again. By this point I usually have the bonnet open. There is plenty of heat everywhere, but that's always been a feature of my Triumphs.

Struggling here with my 63 Vitesse 6. Been running sweetly for the last 2 years since new dizzy, points, condenser, rotor arm, coil and plugs. 11 days ago I was out for the afternoon and after about 1hr driving a small misfire developed. Got a bit more persistent but no problem getting home. It was one of those scorching days and I wondered if it was fuel related or the dreaded vapour lock - though I've not experienced either before. I cleaned and re-gapped points and plugs, reset valve gaps; checked float levels, fuel pipes and generally anything else as a minor service was due and I wanted to try to make diagnosis simple as possible if the misfire came back. I took the car for a good drive last Sunday - ran better than ever for a good 40/45 mins. Then suddenly a small misfire, this time rapidly developing into very lumpy running then cutting out. Wouldn't restart. Waited 3 hrs for a lift home on a flatbed - by which point it started sweetly and could be driven up my drive. Recovery chap said coil. Each time it cools down it can then work okay till hot again he said. So I replaced it. Then the condenser and plugs to be on the safe side. Again ran superbly today for 40 mins then sudden misfire and quickly ground to a halt. Any ideas what the problem is?  

Looking fantastic Gunnar! Exciting progress...and seems you've been busy over winter readying parts. Always plenty to do with these cars, even when harsh winters prevent taking to the road. I finally got my own mk1 back on the road after a similar lay up to yours - 41 years! Drove it 12 miles one sunny day in great excitement and nervousness. Needs a fair bit of fettling still. But we went straight into lockdown and it's not moved since.

Floyd, thanks so much for checking.  Presumably you have the type shown in the first drawing I posted? 14" matches nicely with the gap currently on offer  

Thanks for ongoing help. I'm happy to put a bit more effort into things, but first, is it the right bracket? Looking at the drawings I posted at the top of this thread, I have the #709691 Fascia Support Bracket from the top drawing, and the #807533 Dash Support/H Bracket from the lower drawing.  Even if I can leverage a little extra height, it doesn't look like the fixing holes will line up between my two items. Has anyone seen the #807533 H Bracket in a GT6 mk1? Could someone with the #810681 H Bracket in their GT6 please measure its height? As for driving the car...I'm moving workshop during the week, so will be driving it one way or another.  Plenty of rattles just idling in the yard, and plenty of potholes waiting outside, so I'm trying to fix what I can.

Keith That's brilliant, thanks! I just tested and can now use expressions such as  "dash support" +dash +support to get more refined and useful results.  When I tested them earlier this week, they gave just the same long list as dash support Many thanks Baxter

That's right - I measured the bracket to be approx. 14 3/4" and the space to be approx. 14". Couldn't even begin to 'persuade' it to fit when I tried to position it.

The archived knowledge and ongoing advice on this forum is really valuable.  Helped me figure many things out. Clive, two things would really make a difference to me: 1. Search.  When I search for a multi-word phrase, the words are all submitted as an OR function, rather than an AND function.  E.g. in GT6 section 'dash' gets 75 hits, 'support' gets 23, and 'dash support' gets 94, rather than a more select list featuring both words (let alone both words together!).  I can often find the most relevant threads on our own forum faster using Bing or Google searches.  (In fact that's how I came to learn of the forum and join the Club!)  Really need a simple way to do AND or "whole phrase" searches.  2. Pasting photos.  I can't find a way to do this, so I have to save my clipboard as a file and then upload it.  Too slow, yet we all love to see pics! Cheers!