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Is the distributor drive dog set correctly on the cam shaft? Its very easy for the dog to drop down one tooth out, or worse, to be set 180' out. The first engine re-build I did decades ago I made the mistake of putting the dog 180' out with the offset in the wrong place, so getting the distributor drive 180' out meaning cylinder 1 had petrol in it but the spark was going in to cylinder 4 causing misfire.

When you re-built the engine did you have the timing cover and gears off, if so are they put back on correctly? If it was running badly before the re-con did the previous owner have those gears and chain off, if so, did he re-set and mark the new ones correctly? From memory, there is a section on re-setting the gears etc. by setting two of the tappets at 40 thou. It's a while since I did it but the manuals cover it.

I bought the carbs and manifold a while ago to convert a Dolomite I had to twin carbs. I cleaned and checked them and I think I fitted new ADN needles. The car has gone so they are for sale. The tag on them reads FX1122F so they came off a MkIV Spitfire. £105 o.n.o. inc. post The twin carb manifold (last two photos) I got as a spare and again is now surplus. £20 inc. post The cylinder head is brand new, part number 516033. I bought it as a spare or to go on a MkIV short block, I air flowed the ports in preparation (and painted it Hammerite blue but I started chipping that off). In the end I used a Herald 13/60 head so this head is now surplus. £150 o.n.o., PLUS POST (or collection).

Have you checked the carb float chamber? My Dolomite died at the traffic lights last spring (single SU), I wasn't there my daughter was driving. I went out to try and sort things out, there was a spark (Sparkright electronic ignition etc.) but the plugs were dry. I eventually got it started and got the car home. When I stripped the float chamber I found a greasy sludge at the bottom next to the fuel delivery pipe to the needle. I think it had partially blocked the delivery pipe. Modern ethanol fuel, the ethanol scavenging water from the atmosphere and dragging it through to the carb making an emulsion? The car, Y reg (!) has done 46K from new, the previous owner laid it up over the winter and looked after it (as I do).

A brief article in the British Beekeepers Association News (the ‘trade’ mag) last year said that researchers had found that honey is shown to kill the virus in peoples noses and throats! Honey is naturally anti-bacterial anti-septic, etc., etc.. Another more recent report in the same magazine reported that the BBKA had purchased samples of honey from 13 major UK supermarkets and sent them to Germany for testing for fake honey (we don’t have the equipment sensitive enough). Every sample was shown to contain fake honey, it originates from China! The Chinese equivalent of ebay (alibaba or something like) lists the chemical for sale to make fake honey! The USA take a firm line over fake honey and have destroyed thousands of tons. Again, same magazine source reported that a large proportion of Manuka honey on sale world wide is fake. Honey labelling and its source of origin is useless in this country, politicians again. Yes, I am a beekeeper and as far as I know, I haven't had the plague (covid), my daughter worked in a supermarket through the lock-downs and she didn't get, she drinks honey (ours) and lemon.

To get a diffuse light sandwich a piece of greaseproof paper between two layers of gell

If you can't find any try searching for spotlight gells (filters) and cut your own. They are used in photography and for stage lighting so can stand very high temperatures.

Thanks gents for a reply. I'm about 3 miles from the M1/M62 interchange. Basically just south of Leeds.

Saloon rear body tub. Needs the usual work. 2 saloon boot lids. 2 saloon roofs complete with rear screens, one has the factory cut out for a webasto sliding roof Some rear screens. Some rear side screens. 2 13/60 block castings I stripped the blocks with the intention of re-building the engines as spares ready to 'drop in' my cars. They both had standard pistons fitted and were running when I stripped them. I have the cranks and cams but they will need work. Some seats including early 12/50 types. These are stored so not sure what or how many I have. Too many cars and projects, these I will never get around to using and I don't want the 'metal thieves' (political correctness) to nick them

Two Herald 13/60 engine block castings for sale, £10 each. 2.5 litres of Pageant Blue cellulose paint for sale, £25 Only opened to check the colour I stripped the blocks with the intention of re-building the engines as spares ready to 'drop in' my cars. They both had standard pistons fitted and were running when I stripped them. I purchased the paint at the start of 'lock down' with the intention of doing a colour change on a car. The car has been replaced and other projects prevented me from re-building the engines. Buyer collects or arrange postage. Please PM me if interested

Yes

Thanks again to everyone for your help. I re-painted the car I need paint for now four years ago using paint from a supplier who had the correct codes. The car was then vandalised by thugs and needed re-painting (and more) again. I hadn’t enough paint left to re-paint again and started searching for a less expensive source. In my searches I went on to Wiki to try and find RAL codes and found them listed here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RAL_colors as separate colour bars, i.e. red, green, grey etc. Having found the bars I printed the grey bar on a laser printer and laid the bar on the car to match it to the Phantom Grey I had previously used. The RAL colour I found as a closest match (in reality exact match) was RAL 7011, Iron Grey. Back to the net. To have more paint mixed by the first supplier costs over £40, plus carriage etc. per litre. To have a litre of RAL 7011 mixed, and delivered cost me £21. I got it from; www.apshull.com (no connection). As can be seen, quite a difference and saving. There could be a caveat here. I have made and painted numerous models in my life and use a grey undercoat on them all. To over paint the grey with a red top coat takes a number of coats to cover the grey. Talking to a professional carriage painter he suggested using yellow as an undercoat for the red. Result, one top coat of red over yellow undercoat gave me the required finish! The undercoat on the car is grey primer.

Thanks Pete and Rob

Hi, Does anyone know the equivalent RAL paint code for Triumph (Standard) Phantom Grey please. I need to know to use it on a 1950's Standard 10, I think Triumph continued to use it on both the Spitfire and Vitesse for a time. Thanks in anticipation.