Rychu

Thank you for all your help. I think I need to investigate further and I will bear all your suggestions in mind 👍

Hi Glang, the callipers were replaced when the car was restored but the problem was evident before and after this.

Hi guys, the problem is purely long pedal travel. The brakes are not spongy. Canleys only list one tandem cylinder for my car, this one: https://www.canleyclassics.com/?catalogue=triumph-spitfire-mkiv/1500&diagram=triumph-spitfire-mkiv/1500-brake-master-cylinder-tandem-2 This is the same as the original and not the one with the larger cap and wider reservoir used on earlier 1500s.

Thanks chaps. I have tried winding the adjuster fully on then only slightly backing off but it makes no difference. The master cylinder (dual circuit) and complete braking system was replaced 8 years ago when the car was restored but from memory the problem was the same with the previous cylinder. Although I do recall years ago I jacked the rear end up as high as I could and left it for a while then bled the brakes and the pedal travel was much shorter. This makes me believe it is air in the system but bleeding makes no difference and as I said when I slightly apply the handbrake the pedal travel is shorter. I’m not stupid, although some may disagree, but this has me stumped. Does anyone know someone in the Basingstoke area who might be able to have a look as my lad wants to be able to use the car so I want the brakes to be as good as possible.

But what I do not understand is why when I apply the handbrake slightly the pedal travel is much shorter? Hence my thinking that the handbrake cable is too loose.

I normally adjust until the brake fully activates then back off 2 clicks but this doesn’t cure the problem. I assume therefore the handbrake cable is too loose? Thank you for all your replies. im hoping to get her back on the road this weekend after a few years in the garage.

Thanks Clive. So when the handbrake is off should the handbrake cable be taught as at the moment it is slack?

Hi everyone, I hope someone is able to help me and I thank you all in advance for any advice. The brakes work but the pedal travel is long. Normally I would expect this to be air in the system but I have tried bleeding many times to no avail. However I have noticed that if I apply the handbrake a couple of notches the pedal travel becomes significantly less. Any ideas? Regards Richard

Thanks very much Nick, lim replacing the gear knob with another where I intend to mount an Illuminatied push button switch which is rated to 3A hence my question. i have a small 10A relay that I could use if I get any issues. Regards Richard

Hi, does anyone know what current is taken by this solenoid? TIA RICHARD

Thanks very much chaps. I will remove the opposite fin and see how I get on. Still learning how these little Honda GX engines work and how best to modify them.   Richard

Hi, my lad has a racing go kart which has an aluminium flywheel with cooling fins. Stupidly I dropped it and one of the fins has broken off, now for this to be usable  (as they are not cheap) can I simply remove the opposite fin for it to remain in balance and apart from being less efficient in the cooling dept. would this be ok to still use? TIA Richard

Thanks Roger. If Mike can't do it then I will try them. Leatherhead is close so that's a plus. Thanks Richard

Hi John, I did a search but it came back with nothing. Yes I was surprised! The consensus seems to be that Mike Papworth is the man for such things so I will try him first. Thanks very much Richard

Hi, whilst changing a front wheel bearing yesterday I noticed a rather large pool of oil under the gear box so it looks like usual situation of doing one job and finding another that needs doing I was thinking of getting a refurb done anyway to cure a whine. Can anyone recommend where to get this done, preferably somewhere that can also check the overdrive unit as well? Local to Basingstoke would be useful but not essential. I've seen a listing for Heathrow transmissions on eBay. Does anyone have experience using them? TIA Richard