Nick Moore
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Everything posted by Nick Moore
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I think a kit was produced when Solex-carb'ed Vitesses were current to convert them to Strombergs? See here: Sorry , link no longer available It would give you a bit of period go-faster respectability at the same time 😎
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I'm guessing that when it tooted while jacked up, you were using the jacking points under the sills? My Herald's done that, and I later figured out that the front of the chassis was sagging downwards from the jacking points due to the weight of the engine. That movement was enough to pull the inner steering column down, and make the switch contacts close intermittently as Mr Tester pushed and pulled on the road wheels. As the car tooted and parped he looked at me. I just shrugged and asked "well, would you like it?"
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I don't use the clutch when switching in or out under power, ie cruising or accelerating, as there's hardly any lurch. However, I do dip the clutch on the over-run, ie slowing down.
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My windscreen fitter fitted the C-section stainless trim to the rubber, then fitted the glass inside the seal, and then fitted the whole lot to the car, top side first and pulling the string through along the bottom. I had to remove the dash crash pad for him to do that. 'Twas a barsteward of a job, and took several visits over several months. I wouldn't be surprised if he is now in therapy.
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The sump may not have the Vitesse's steering rack recess in it. And if you swap sumps with the current engine, the 2.5 crankshaft will hit the shallower sump. That can be cured with a hammer though. I don't think a D Type overdrive will cope with the 2.5's torque though. A J type will.
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Yep, as Caspar says, pull the wheel towards you and you will gain a lot more room. Well a bit more anyway, everything is relative with these cars.
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Is there someone who can lend you a torque plate? Either someone here, or a machine shop? Maybe we should have a register of people with fancy tools - hub pullers, spring compressors, that sort of thing? Andy Thompson lent me his, but we're a bit far away I fear. It was well worth doing though. My engine builder was very pleased to see it. And grumbled that Andy's was better than his torque plate!
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My Herald's cooling system has evolved over the years, especially when I brought it to Australia. Stop-start traffic on 40 degree summer days quickly showed what worked and what didn't. The mechanical fan was ditched years ago, more to cut down the noise than liberate horsepower. In temperate New Zealand, twin 12" sucker fans did a good job. Once in Oz, they struggled. The basic radiator worked well - at 20mph and above the temperature was stable even on hot days - but below 20mph, they didn't pull enough air through. I added a cowling behind the radiator so that the fans sucked air through the whole radiator, not just the sections of core they sat against. Now they drag the temperature down quickly. I may add ducting in front of the radiator one day A couple of observations from the summer just gone: as you'd expect, changes in air temperature are reflected in the water's temperature. On a 20 degree day, the water will be around 70 (too cold, almost). On a 40 degree day, it will hover around 90. Also, as was pointed out above, the water pump doesn't do much at idle. I can sit at traffic lights and watch the temperature rise even with the fans going, but blip the throttle and the pump starts moving water around, and the temperature drops instantly. A six-vaned alloy pump will be the next experiment. That's just my experience, not a recipe for success!
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Yeah, I found rust in my NOS master cylinder as well. I'll get it resleeved rather than hope a replacement is any better.
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Early MX5 seats fit, are lower than Herald seats and very comfortable. You'll have to drill some holes in the floorpan and use large washers on the underside, but that's all the modification needed.
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Today my 13/60 has covered 300 'continental' miles, most of those on flat country roads at 60mph. The outside temperature was 30 to 32C, coolant temp ranged from 85C cruising to 100C climbing the Great Dividing Range, oil temperature stayed around 60C, and the oil pressure was 40 to 45psi at cruise. So no, it doesn't need an oil cooler. Oh, and it's managed 40.6mpg despite twin 1.5" SUs, which is nice.
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Looks pretty presentable already! Rust on a white car often looks worse than it is - would it need much work to get back on the road in standard form before you start modifying it? I ask for two reasons - firstly, it'll give you an idea of what you think needs changing and what's fine as standard, and second, if you extensively modify it as part of a ground-up restoration, a straightforward job will turn into a years-long and seemingly never-ending rebuild. Ask me how I know... As for modifying options... if it has rotoflex rear suspension, then it already has a pseudo double wishbone setup. The leaf spring doubles as an upper wishbone, and the camber change is much less than with swing spring cars. And they handle OK too. The Triumph engine can be modernised with electronic fuel injection and ignition, as well as tweaked to give as much power as most people need. Have a look at the 'Dipped in Green Glass' thread to see what I've done. Likewise, the gearbox can be replaced with a stronger 5-speed, and there are a couple of options to strengthen or replace the diff. Whatever you do, I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun!
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Leon Guyot fitted two tanks to one of his cars. He found that they needed a valve between them on their link pipe - if the car was parked on a cambered road, petrol from the uphill tank would flow into the downhill tank and then exit through the fuel filler.
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Wim, you're turning into our tandem circuit brake guru! Where did you get the new PDWA seals?
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You can replace the buttons with teflon ones - I just bought a set from a Czech guy on eBay. He sells them as either standard thickness or, for cars with saggy rear ends, thicker. A little bit of grease and Robert's your mother's brother!
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I fitted a double skinned stainless steel heat shield to my Herald - this one in fact:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Spitfire-MG-Midget-SU-Carb-Heatshield-For-1500cc-cars-made-in-STAINLESS-/251908253299? The air gap between means that the second layer receives mainly radiated heat from the first layer (apart from the amount conducted through the metal connecting them). And it works well even in traffic in the tropics, with hardly a trace of fluffiness, and no problems restarting the engine. I'm not sure if anyone sells double skinned shields for six cylinder cars, but you can always make your own! I found a picture of a single layer shield that you could use as a starting point. And as others have said, route the fuel line behind the engine. If all that doesn't work, maybe you could fit an SU pump as a booster for hot restarts?
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Jobs on the go, or next to do...
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Never fear Mark, this thread has some way to go. I updated the to-do list on the garage blackboard this afternoon: resleeve brake master cylinder, finish brakes, make the fibreglass section of the gearbox tunnel, finish the carpet and trim around the gear lever, modify and fit the headers (still in Melbourne), mate them up to the new stainless steel exhaust system sitting on the garage floor, fabricate the inlet manifold, modify the US-spec seatbelts so that they're Australian Design Rules-compliant, and fit a large radiator So just a few things! My intention is to have it on the road later this year, and then no doubt there will be a few teething problems. I have a road trip in mind for it at Christmas...
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The windscreen is in! It only took two years and four visits from the mobile fitters. Why? Because the locally manufactured glass was too damned big, and getting a windscreen imported intact would have been expensive and risky. The windscreen was made by PGI here in Brisbane, and supplied and fitted by O'Brien's Glass. O'Briens had to machine 3mm off all around even after I'd had PGI machine it down, and they also made a special tool to fit the trim to the rubber. After all that they still only charged me the standard one-visit fee, so they definitely deserve a free plug here. Rob the fitter brought an assistant so that he could see how old-style rubber seals screens are fitted. Here's how he did it: First, the trim was fitted to the seal, and then the glass was fitted to the seal. That was done back at their workshop. The windscreen was fitted to the car top-side first. (I remember fitting the Herald's windscreen the other way around - bottom side in first, but the roof lip got in the way here). I had to remove the dash crash pad so that they could pull the string through along the bottom edge of the windscreen. I'll find all the nuts later... And it was sealed with heaps of black mastic. Their apprentice lost one stainless clip (fitting my trim was punishment detail for newbies), so O'Briens are making two new ones free of charge - they'll be here next week. Oh, and this isn't the hardest one Rob has done. P5 Rovers, apparently, are much worse.
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If you're going to fit GT6 front brakes, you should fit the larger rear brakes as well to keep everything in balance. At the front you'll need GT6 or Vitesse uprights, caliper mounting brackets, discs, hubs (I think) and of course the 16P calipers. At the rear you'll need 8" drums, backplates, slave cylinders and shoes. If you want to throw buckets of cash at it, you can replace the uprights with trunnionless uprights, buy alloy caliper brackets and hubs, and even fit larger-than-GT6 discs and alloy 4 pot calipers. Bigger-than-GT6 brakes definitely aren't necessary though, unless you have a lot more power. Some will pipe up and tell you that you don't need the larger brakes, just appropriate pads and shoes. And they're right. Being contrary though, I fitted the same larger Vitesse brakes to my Herald - I figured that no one ever complains about having too much brake! It took a while to scrounge the necessary parts though. And they work very well.
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Snap! Same problem here. I was changing my UJs this week (after ten years of knocking!) and found that one yoke was cracked. My immediate thought was the same - that the whole axle would have to be replaced, which is a pity because the shaft and bearing seem fine. I don't have a spare axle or a proper hub puller either, so took it to my local Triumphologist. He couldn't do the job before Easter, and I plan to take the car to work next week - 750km each way - so he's going to weld it up instead. I should be able to pick it up today. If it isn't strong enough I will post here, probably from a roadside in rural Australia.
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For anyone getting seats recovered by an upholsterer, ask them to stitch a 1/4" layer of foam rubber under the cover. It gives the pleats more 'body' and definition but doesn't make you sit any higher. Mk3 reclining highback seats, with plain leather instead of perforated:
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Wire brushes are brilliant but very dangerous (much like some people). I don't find wires sticking out of my hide until later, and a few have ended up hiding in my beard. Make sure you protect your eyes with safety goggles or a face shield. Also, don't wear anything loose that can get caught up - a flapping T-shirt or even gloves can catch on the brush, and it'll start ripping out skin in about a tenth of a second.
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Before you start pulling the car apart, get underneath and check that the MOT man actually knew what he was doing. History is replete with testers failing to recognise normal play in a component, or mis-identifying the bit they were wiggling.
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That all looks very familiar. I used angle grinder wire brushes, which gradually threw off their bristles so that I looked like a steel hedgehog. The 'strip-it' nylon pads are great too, but wear down quickly. And it took a lot of showering to get the muck and debris out of my hair! Oh yes, very familiar.