RobPearce

There used to be one. Based in Banbury. But then I moved to Cambridge and nobody took over. So I'll say what Derek Pollock said to me both* when I joined the club and when I moved: Why not set one up yourself? If there are enough positive vibes from other members, just pick a venue and day that suits you all. If not, there's at least one other Triumph club who do have an Oxfordshire group, so pick the same venue and day as them, and claim it's a joint meeting. (Well, probably best to contact their AO and ask if that's OK, first) * Technically, the first time, I'd contacted him as the TSSC Banbury area organiser, to invite CT members to our meetings. He said "Why not join Club Triumph and be our AO too?"

Probably not usefully. If you're putting 300A through the cable then a typical multimeter's resolution of 1ohm is way too coarse - you need to confirm that it's well below 40milliohms. Same goes for the bulb test - all it can tell you is that it's hopelessly scrap, which we already know it isn't because the motor does spin. A more useful electrical test is a bulb across the starter motor, while trying to crank. If all is good, that bulb should come on brightly almost as soon as you start cranking. If it only glows dimly, or takes half a second to come on, then the cable is dropping too much voltage.

Not really. Those methods are for unsticking a Bendix that's jammed in mesh, and won't have any significant effect on one that's stuck at its rest position.

The first looks like it has brackets for mounting the horns - it does look like the stiffener plate. Is there an intermediate bracket between that and the grill, perhaps?

Also worth trying places like Spitfire Graveyard as they may have serviceable second hand units.

The originals are pretty decent seats if refurbished. It's not overly hard - I've recently done the ones in my GT6 using the kit from Park Lane.

Looks interesting. I'll raise it at the meet this evening to see whether Cambridge area will turn up en-masse.

After a rather frustrating day yesterday, the weird behaviour of the sidelights turned out to be a combination of a weak battery and the fact that (this particular brand of) LED bulbs turn off if the voltage drops below 9V. So re-charging the battery fixed it. In the mean time, I fitted the rubber weather strip to the driver's door, which has been rust repaired and rebuilt with a working window winder. Unfortunately, in the process, the glass cam detached from its support channel, which means I now need to dismantle the whole lot again. Grrrr..... Today, though, I fitted the valance. The bonnet catches it slightly when opening or closing. Of course it does. I need to see how far I can raise the front (without falling foul of a PO's "reinforcement" plates on the frames that hit the chassis front rail before it's fully open).

Most of the new ones are dodgy - pressure set too high - and require bodges to make them work right. I've rebuilt a couple of original ones in my time and it's not too hard. Also, the kits are generally fine. It sounds like yours probably needs the valves replaced, which is a bit tricky as they're staked in, so a bit of delicate work with a Dremel is needed.

A split diaphragm certainly won't help. Unfortunately this is another one of those parts where the new replacements aren't right, so make sure you buy from somewhere reputable. Burlen should be OK.

If it's an early one then it's really simple - Huge battery cable to one big terminal, with several fat brown wires also on there. - Other big terminal to starter motor huge cable - Little white/red wire to the spade terminal on the solenoid. Mk4 is a fraction more complex as there's a second spade terminal...

I was going to post something on here a few weeks back but couldn't find it, so thanks Tim for the bump. Recently I have finished rebuilding the passenger seat of the GT6 (I'd done the back before the RBRR and used it in the Spitfire with the Spitfire's base, but now I've built up the proper base for it). I'm a little reluctant to do the driver's side base (the last part of the full seat refurb) because it's actually in good nick, unlike any of the rest were, so I'd sort of prefer to find a grotty one to build up and pass the good-but-not-new one to someone else. I've also been modifying a Herald 13/60 fibreglass front valance so that it actually fits the Vitesse. That's about ready to fit now but I'm trying to sort out some electrical niggles with the sidelights before I do so. Then it needs a clean and some new door trim panels, and it'll be ready for an MOT. The Spitfire had a flaky overdrive switch which was annoying on the RBRR and the C2C, so I replaced that the other week. Unfortunately it's in a mood now and has developed rough running, occasional loss of engine oil pressure, and a sluggish/intermittent overdrive that feels like low gearbox oil. Grrr...

Certainly different lock mechanism and I think you're right about detail changes to the B-post to accommodate that. The door frame may also have needed a small change, I've not compared them that closely, but I thought it didn't. Still, my point remains that any such changes would be less likely to affect the finish on the bits that definitely didn't change than a general "up-trimming" of the whole interior would.

No, it was a 1966 one, so a relatively late Mk2. You may be right on the twisty handle but since the door lock change only affected the outer skin and not the door frame, and because the presence of a bit of vinyl makes no difference to that, I suspect the trim change would have been more likely to have happened when other interior trim changes were happening. Didn't Mk1 cars have rubber mats an no carpets?

I'm not entirely sure either. Mk1 doors had painted metal, Mk3 definitely had the vinyl. My brother's Mk2 also had the vinyl when he bought it. My guess would be it was added for Mk2, because there were other interior trim improvements then.

I don't suppose you have a driver's side seat squab (the bit you sit on)? Condition not important as I'm only really after the wire frame bit to fit new foam and cover on.

Oh, that is sad! My brother and I enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon chatting with her at Porthmadog before the C2C start. A sad loss to the community.

I've just done a set for a Mk3 GT6 myself, using the kit from Park Lane. I found it not overly difficult - just follow the instructions carefully. The ones for my Spitfire I had done professionally by a chap in Cambridge who I'd previously recommended to a well known club member. We are both very happy with the chap's work. Where abouts are you?

Rebuild the original seats. It's a lot less hassle and you'll discover they were actually quite comfortable. Otherwise, if anyone has a worn-out driver's side seat base for a Mk4 Spitfire, I'm looking for the wire cage bit to build up instead of ripping apart my current perfectly serviceable one to match the rest of the refurbished set.

Ordinary engine oil for the damper, and fill it only far enough to feel resistance as you push the plunger back home to where the screw thread engages.

Common causes are excessive fuel pressure (due to poor quality new pumps), dodgy needle valves, bits of rubber in the fuel line blocking said valves open, or the float jamming down.

No, absolutely not. This idiocy was NOT the EU's idea, it was our Brexit government who wanted to f*&k things up for no good reason. Nobody in the EU wants the hassle, it's the petty-minded jingoists of the Tory party who need to get a clue.

That's common even when you don't have problems, but it is due to fuel vaporisation, especially if you mean it's been driven, then parked in this heat. The whole engine bay gets really hot and the engine heat soaks through to the carb, where the fuel in the float chamber all boils off. Also, the fuel in the pump can boil and escape (the vapour is pushed through to the carb where it vents). When you come to start it, there's no fuel anywhere and it takes ages to prime first the pump then the carb, and as the carb fills the mixture gradually richens up, meaning it probably tries to start on too weak a mixture first, then gradually struggles into life.

The Stag engine does not suffer from overheating, at least not of the whole engine, nor at all if well maintained. The "must haves" are all work-arounds for the cooling system not being maintained in proper working order, prompted by paranoia about the alloy heads. None of this affects the oil, which remains at normal temperature and is not overly stressed.

Here too