RobPearce

I've encountered almost exactly this query on either this or the TSSC forum, not that long ago. It's different to the indicator question we talked about at the meeting. There is no intentional "deviousness" in the stop/tail light circuits. The intention is that the bulb is always earthed and the circuits are thus independent. If you have an earth fault (which is very common with those light units) on one side only, the tail lights will still appear to work (if a bit dim) if they are filament ones, because the current can flow through the brake light filament of that bulb to the brake light filament of the other side and thus to earth. However, the faulty side will just "go out" when the brakes are applied. This won't work for LEDs but is, in any case, a fault condition. Unfortunately I don't remember the conclusion of the previous discussion of LED stop/tail lights but I have a suspicion we concluded the "bulbs" were duff, possibly by design. Try this: on a bench, with a battery, connect the bulb barrel to negative. Take a wire from positive to each contact in turn. One should light it dimly, the other should light it bright. Then connect the positive wire to both contacts together. It should light brightly. Any deviation from that behaviour is a duff LED bulb.

No, I think the Sprint starter is the same as the 1850 one, which is the same as a 2000 saloon one - it's a pre-engaged, so looks like the Dolomite 1500 one, but uses larger teeth so won't work. As Clive said, the Dolomite 1500 starter is unique.

The Dolomite starter is a pre-engaged, quite different from the Herald/Spitfire "Bendix" type. The 1500 version has finer teeth than most, which is why the flywheel differs. I believe the Dolomite 1500 starters are rare, so it may prove easier to swap the flywheel, since you said you have some on "iffy" engines.

True, but when I needed an exhaust for my Toledo, the cost of a year's membership, added to their correctly made, stainless Toledo system, still came to less than Rimmers wanted for a mild steel "would need small modifications" system.

You will find people have personal opinions on oil. I use Penrite or Millers, depending whether the engine tends to low or high oil pressure. Plugs can be awkward, too. Generally, NGK (BP5ES or BP6ES) are among the least bad, though Bosch W78 were good, it's just that only the WR78 are available now, and they're resistive, which is bad for old car ignition systems. Stainless exhaust for a 1500FWD? Your best bet is probably the Dolomite Club.

I believe that "thingy" is intended to centre the filter on its seat on the block, so it needs to be nearer the thread than the sprung bit. However, it doesn't really have much work to do and its exact position isn't critical. I'd pull it back onto the pips and see if you can get it to stick in place a bit, then be careful putting the filter element over it.

On a big saloon, where there's plenty of room, and as long as the adapter fits properly, yes. On a Vitesse they're a pain (mine has one, fitted by a PO). The original works fine if all is well. My GT6 still has the original type and builds pressure quicker than the Vitesse does.

Hello K and welcome! Unfortunately there is a LOT of utter rubbish so-called R9 (E10 compatible) hose available from many places, especially the bay of E, but including most high street motor factors. You need to ensure that what you buy is the real thing, and the only way is to go for a reputable brand from a reputable source. Gates Barricade is the one to choose. That said, many people find that the original factory rubber hose, while never specified for ULG let alone E10, survives it better than much of what's available now.

My "steed" for this year is currently running quite nicely apart from feeling a bit gutless at the top end. I didn't use it for the DPMR (second reserve did that job) but have entered it for Border Raiders and intend to for C2C. P.S. Shynsy may want to fix the typo in the thread title?

I once had a REALLY LOUD high pitched whistle on an 1850 Dolomite, which was caused by my having got a fold in one of the inlet manifold gaskets (which are a pain to fit because the manifold is attached with bolts into the head, not studs that you could hang the gaskets on).

That behaviour is, I'm afraid, not the cable but the speedo itself. My Spitfire's old speedo did it, until one day it broke completely. The needle is connected to a sprung aluminium disk in close proximity to a magnet that is spun by the cable. Because they're not in contact, the needle is moved by the force from the induced current from the magnetic field. That's a pretty weak coupling. If there's a stronger coupling, such as a bit of grit or oil, then the needle swings right off the scale, often accompanied by a screech of the bit of grit rubbing on that disc. It may be possible to fix it by dismantling and cleaning, but it's a delicate mechanism that's hard to get to and easy to break.

And my point is that if a laminated screen is subjected to that same extreme impact then it will shatter into a matrix of cracks and shards held together by the plastic. We're not talking "A small stone" or "A bump in the road", as you put it earlier. Neither of those are going to do anything to a toughened screen. Yes, if you are unlucky enough to have some idiot throw a brick at you from a motorway bridge, then the laminated screen affords some very small extra protection (but you're actually more likely to be killed by the brick hitting your head directly, in a convertible). I have nothing against laminated screens but I don't think there's any justifiable case for claiming that toughened ones are any sort of safety hazard, and certainly not that:

I think you seriously underestimate the robustness of toughened screens. As I said, I've NEVER had one fail other than by intentional vandalism, and all the stone chips I've picked up have been tiny. I've done a LOT more miles with toughened than my Mondeo has, on the same sorts of roads, and with the same oncoming lorries throwing stones up, but it's the Mondeo's laminated screens that have got cracked to the point of needing replacement.

Smashing a toughened screen leaves you with an open hole, which is uncomfortable but still driveable. The equivalent on a laminated one leaves a mass of crazed glass held in place by the lamination, resulting in no forward visibility and therefore an unusable car. Both cases result in the car being out of commission, but the toughened one lets you limp it home first, whereas the laminated forces the use of a recovery truck. I'd also add that the only time I've had a toughened screen break was due to intentional vandalism. My Mondeo, on the other hand, has been through three windscreens in nine years, all caused by stones thrown up by oncoming lorries.

As Clive says, the problem seems to be some "unusual" metadata that iPhones attach to the image. All I did was download the photo from the forum, rotate it in Gimp, and save it again. I don't know whether the offending metadata was removed by the download or by Gimp. I don't have an iPhone so I can't test Clive's idea.

As Clive says, the new alternator is a Lucas ACR clone. The ACR would have been original fitment on a TR7, at least up to 1980. I'm not sure what your current one is.

Same from us. It was good fun and, for once, I was able to plot from the novice clues and almost end up with something not unlike the right route. 😛 Iris still won't be up for more than a pleasant Sunday drive, though, so beginners we remain.

I think that's us immediately behind you.

Oh no! That's bad. I've lost garage spaces a couple of times - first with two lockups in Abingdon. The cars in them were both unroadworthy, one of them extensively dismantled. I had a single garage and some space, in Banbury, and we hired a lorry to transport the pile of bits of Spitfire. - much later, a space in a barn workshop. The Spitfire had to move again and I ran out of garage space. Luckily I had enough front garden that I was able to get a nice 3-bay with workshop area built. But then I've always lived a little out of the way, certainly never in central anywhere, so my options have been less limited than yours. Good luck!

Doesn't SC denote an estate? Pretty sure that's what it means on Heralds so I'd expect the same on the 2000s.

If the fault is not declared "dangerous" then you have always been allowed to drive to a place where pre-arranged repairs are to be made. That said, I note (from my GT6's recent test) that the "certificate" has been updated again, so there's now a section for "minor faults" which don't count as failures but should be repaired ASAP, independent of the "advisory" section for things that aren't actually faults but could become faults soon. So clearly it's now intended to be so confusing that nobody knows what to do with it (rather like the tax system).

... which is anticlockwise viewed from the back, so if you're using a drill to drive it then it needs to be a reversible one.

Took my GT6 for its MOT yesterday and it... should have failed. The garage I use tend to mark things down as "advise" or "minor", knowing that I'll fix them anyway. On this occasion, one of the front lower suspension bushes (the nylon top-hat in the trunnion) is totally shot. I need to replace that before the DPMR.

Yes, which is why ST suggested tucking it under the windscreen seal - I assume he meant the inner (glass) side of the seal. Being so close to the bodywork will reduce its efficiency as an aerial but most car radios are designed to work with pretty rubbish aerials anyway.