CharliesStag

Excellent stuff.  One issue is that alot of the fans sold out there cannot move the air.  My RST had this problem but then it was short of space everywhere! The spoiler analogy is interesting!  I knew you had good results with my old Stag, as did StagDad on his.  Seeing as you've had the same results on the new car that can only mean good things.  It's not like it is a pricey modification either.

I do know one good source for fuel hose.  It's R10 and it has been proved by a few of us in another club.  The guy also sells power steering hoses to a number of big names and has come across fuel hose issues with his own cars.

Hard one to call.  They are a pain to do but relatively simple. If it's just the one that is out I'd be tempted to leave it.  That said, on my modern with very tricky to adjust valves there was a pleasant difference after I adjusted 4 or 6 shims out of the 24.

This is true ; my BMW uses a similar coupling to the one that he first tested.  He did however go on to say that in his opinion that an RPM dependant coupling would cause a similar power loss given that the VC tested was cold ; it had a dummy radiator in place along with the room being cold. It would be interesting to see what actual difference the lack of fan made on a Stag unless someone has already done it. While I have nothing against the Stag VCs I do have something against the new items being of varying quality. But we are straying off topic here . I've had a copper radiator on mine and been fine. The one thing the copper rad offers is that they are rebuildable.  I'm sure Ally items are too but it is not as simple. But Copper rads can be fussier on the coolant requirements (i.e, non-OAT preferably) due to the tanks being soldered onto the core. While Copper has a higher heat transfer ability over Aluminium the soldered joints can impair that, meaning that Ally actually has a more uniform heat transfer ability due to no lead or brass being in the mix, thus no differing metals. If it were me I'd probably stick with a 4 core gill and tube radiator until they became too pricey to recore ; only then would I consider an Ally item.

The fan debate is an interesting one.  I have a viscous fan on my modern. However, a well known Magazine editor in the States tested a few different fans.  The results were surprising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXdLgaFXZzs FWIW mine was OK with just the electric Kenlowe.  A better fitment and shrouding would have made it more effective however.

I also used to use the rear of the diff .

While the power figures are a little bigger a certain series does cover what effect the silencers and cross pipes have on an engine.  Some bits are quite surprising. If the figures in the videos below are correct  I am a little gutted that I didn't ditch the H-Pipe when I was considering a budget and easy silencer fitment.  I planned to just fit either some cherry bombs to the Stag or some straight through Jetex/Simons silencers.  I however wanted to keep the H-Pipe for the improved torque from what I had read elsewhere but was keen to try it out. Warning, the American accents may get on your nerves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCio5K0WfHU https://youtu.be/bXQ-cXeri1Y https://youtu.be/Y7_lSU3D0jw?list=PLGvTvFzdMg_O2T3UdUEt5dIHutSOu7srE

IIRC Wards make a CW&P set which does not whine.  Cheap it is not however.

If the bolts are free and the area surrounding the pins is OK it's not *that* bad a job to take out the entire rear suspension and it can make life easier IME.  Accessing the driveshaft nuts for instance is easier with the whole lot off the car, especially if they are being a pain to remove. To drop the rear subframe you need to the do the following from memory: Remove the exhaust Remove rear damper nuts at the bottom Remove springs Disconnect handbrake cables Disconnect brake lines ; handy if you need to change the brake fluid anyway Disconnect the prop Remove 4 nuts securing the subframe assembly Support and remove with a jack taking the weight of the subframe The benefit of this is that you can also clean the lot and take the nosecone bearing out if it is being subborn.  That and if it were me I would strengthen the nosecone housing with plates just to make it a little more sturdy. That said, I'd be tempted to try it Russel's way.

Pretty easy really. Either get a bush removal tool or some washers and studding. What bushes are you planning on fitting?

Me going to 15" wheels brought a load of benefits to my Stag.  It was one of the better modifications that I did.

I was under the impression that many of the aftermarket systems were not that big an improvement since there was more to it than just it having 2 or 3 secondary pipes ; collectors for instance played a part.  Didn't someone once show that one of the stock manifolds was better than a tubular item?  While Mike the Pipe and a certain man known as GT are known for making great systems both are in short supply and the latter very expensive. I cannot comment beyond that however. The Maniflow system does seem to have a half decent collector mine you.

If it were me I'd do the following: -Get a Zetec engine and a Type 9 gearbox ; the latter is trickier -Possibly get a set of Escort Zetec Mk1/2 engine mounts as a base on what to go on for the Spitfire -Megajolt the ignition system  or similar; this should be simple to do with a Zetec assuming the flywheel is in place for the timing reference -Use a banger racer's carb kit.  This is basically a manifold that allows a number of Weber carbs including the 32/36DGAV up to the 38DG*S to fit the car.  A couple of Anglia/Escort guys have done this and are seeing mid 30s to the gallon on a run and around 140BHP from a 2.0, or close to that with a 130BHP spec 1.8 (that would be for the Orion Ghia Si, Escort XR3i (130) and Fiesta RS1800). It probably would not work out that much more pricier than the Slant 4 conversion in the long and give far superior longevity.  However it is all an academic proposition.  The carb may well foul the bonnet. You have to love forums.  A simple question is answered and everyone gives a different answer to a question that was never present!  I may also fall into that camp....

I see this thread became derailed quickly! For those running too cool what brand of thermostat were you using and what kind of gasket were you using for sealing the thermostat to the block/head? On any car I have fitted a true OE brand of thermostat (I am not referring to QH or Firstline here, but to someone like Calorstat) or genuine thermostat I have never had an issue with a car overcooling.  With alot of pattern rubbish lately a number of cars where I have put them in them have resulted with me running cooler than what was removed, which was the reason for why I changed it! None of my cars on pattern thermostats or gaskets (the last one is more hit and miss mind you) seem to heat up well bar from years ago. My Spitfire on a Firstline item ran colder with that than it did with the Waxstat thermostat that was removed, and checked for operation.  My gauge went from reading 1/3 of the way to a 1/4 and that was with an 82 degree item!  My gasket was not the best fit with the kit so I wonder if fluid was bypassing the thermostat, thus always running cool ; a number of cheaper thermostats seem to have a slit in them as opposed to a jiggle pin so as allow the bleeding process to occur thus the thermostat is always open, albeit slightly, which most of my cheaper items did. With most of my old cars running good thermostats (the Stag and my old MGBs, which ran Calorstats and QH stats which seemed to keep a stable temperature reading back then (My MGB stayed around 85 degress all of the time come summer or winter!) I have never had an issue with overcooling. That said, the Stag and MGB did have separate thermostat gaskets bought for them from the suppliers of the time which may have made a difference over the cheap universal paper supplied by the rest, and the new cars left me no choice ; they rely on a rubber O ring to ensure that the thermostat does not allow water to bypass it when shut in addition to it ensuring there are no leaks present in the engine bay.  None of them overheated in the summer either, bar when the MGB's fan switch became iffy (albeit I caught it in time). The only other reason I can think of Triumphs undercooling could be down to how to cooling system is plumbed.  I know that Westfield Zetecs have the bypass plumbed via Westfield so that the water is always being circulated into the radiator and then back into the engine despite the thermostat being shut. Many have replumbed their cars to emulate what Ford did (i.e have the matrix be part of the bypass system and plumb it back into the hot pipe side of the engine, generally the lower radiator hose just before the water pump inlet.

Monarch selling lower springs I was unaware of, but they do sell the rear springs to go with the fronts as well for a Stag however .  It's what two known Stag specialists supply and one has admitted to (I'm happy to say via PM ).