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Johnny123, That distributor could be from an early Spitfire, they used a Delco dizzy. The easy way to tell them from the usual Lucas part is the main body of the Delco is pressed steel, Lucas used die casting. Cheers, Paul

Steveant1, The shorter reach plugs would be used with the 1147 and earlier engines. 1296 and later got longer reach plugs. Regards, Paul

65redspit, I understood it to be H for high compression ratio and E for engine. Cheers, Paul

Adrian, The larger reservoir was introduced when disc brakes were added. Wear of the pads could lower the fluid level too much with the smaller reservoir. Regards, Paul

Hello, There should be two seals on the windscreen post. The furflex running from the windscreen capping around the door opening to the B post capping. The second is a "P" shaped seal running parallel to the furflex, but outboard. Together these form a channel the door glass fits into when fully closed. The bulb of the "P" shaped seal is placed away from the furflex with the flat section running under the edge of the furflex. The "P" shaped seal continues below the level of the dash for several inches. The check strap seal would have been on the A-post originally. Cheers, Paul

Harvey, You could check the Canley Classics catalogue pages for both to check the front sections of the chassis frame for part changes. If the chassis frames have no changes the bonnets should interchange. Cheers, Paul

Nick, No, they weren't the same. Triumph changed the brake master cylinder for the Mk3 Spitfire to one with a larger reservoir at a right angle to the bore. The one Glang posted a pic of looks right. Even the Mk1&2 had different master cylinders for brake and clutch. The reservoir on the brake cylinder was about 12mm taller. Regards, Paul

John, We don't use MON here in the USA. Nothing that simple. We use "pump octane" This is found by adding RON to MON and dividing by two. I just filled my Spitfire with 93 "pump octane" fuel. The RON and MON ratings are not displayed at the pump. 93 is the highest octane available in my part of the States. Other sections have only 91. Regards, Paul

Hi, A point that hasn't been touched upon is the difference between the gearbox and differential requirements. The differential requires EP additives because the hypoid gear set has a wiping action where the gear teeth slide over one another. The gearbox is better served with an oil that doesn't contain EP additives because it depends on the friction between the synchro rings and the cone surfaces on the gears to match their speeds. EP additives decrease that friction and can lead to slower synchro action. The modern GL4 oils meant for manual gearboxes don't have EP additives that will reduce the friction in the synchros. Regards, Paul

Julian, As I posted on 11th July high revs with the throttle closed show a vacuum leak. On the Mk3 and later Spitfires the two nuts below the inlet manifold are difficult to reach and are often found looser than they ought to be. Cheers, Paul

Julian, High revs on start-up usually means there is a vacuum leak or the throttles are being held open slightly somehow. Nice to learn you have gotten it to start however briefly. Regards, Paul

Julian, That could be a coil problem. But first give the top of the coil a good clean to make sure there is nothing to aid the spark going to the primary terminals. Then check the timing to make sure the rotor is pointing at least close to the number one post on the cap when the engine should fire. If the spark has no easier way to ground than jumping on the top of the coil that is what it will do. Regards, Paul

JJ, You missed it. There are two ways to get the valves at the right position to set the clearance. One is to turn the engine until the valve that will give a sum of 9 when added to the valve to be adjusted is fully open. So, for example, to adjust valve 3 you want valve 6 fully open. The second system is to have pairs of valves "on the rock" to adjust a second pair. Those pairs are as follows: Open valves ............................... Adjust valves 1 and 3..............................................6 and 8 2 and 5..............................................7 and 4 6 and 8..............................................1 and 3 7 and 4.............................................2 and 5 If you find any of those pairs on the rock when you start, you can follow in the order I have given them to adjust all of the valves. This minimizes the number of times you must turn the engine to complete the process. Regards, Paul

Tom, Have you tried the non-functioning bulbs in the sockets where other bulbs worked? That will show whether the bulbs are the reason or if there is some problem with the sockets. Regards, Paul

Matthew, You are right that nut doesn't belong there. It is a bad sign. A common reason to add length to the push rod is to make the clutch release when the engine thrust washers have failed and dropped into the sump. You should check the end play of the crank shaft. If it is more than barely noticeable the thrust washers are badly worn. If it is something over 1mm the thrust washers probably are in the sump. When they drop, the crank rubs directly on the engine block when the clutch pedal is depressed. That does the crank and block no good whatsoever. I hope you are lucky enough to find I'm wrong. Regards, Paul