Richard_M

I think there'll be a fair contingent from South Yorks - we'll even bring Colin in his inflatable pot. Richard Measures - Spit mk3 Pete Johnson - Spit 1500 Al Banks - GT6 mk2 Duncan Banks - Spit 1500 And poss 2 or 3 others... Richard

Thanks for the input on this - it seems the actual ratio of Mk1 Pi master/servo is a mystery lost in Standard Triumph... I've ordered the 1.9:1 version - the supplier assures it's correct for the car. We'll see... Richard

Curious? Always :) The one I have is in need of a rebuild - but I've seen this and others: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400368964719?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648 Same type and style - but not sure if the Mk1 PI had the same ratio...

Thanks for the input Andy but, my bad, I mis-described the servo. This is for a Mk1 PI - not Mk2, so it's the remote servo type. Whether this makes a difference to the ratio is perhaps another thing altogether. Cheers Richard

Anyone know what the ratio of the brake servo on a 2500 PI is? My research suggest 1.9 to 1, but I'm struggling to get confirmation. Any takers? Richard

One of the pedal strengtheners is in the wrong place, more in-board than usual... R

Thanks all. The engine is developing circa 130hp. I currently use a standard box with close ratio 'GT6' internals, and a fine-splie input shaft, modified from an 1850. I can stick with this setup, but it's clearly a weak point at rick of failure. Type 9 is an alternative and will handle the power, as will a more expensive Supra conversion, but as I have the Vitesse mk1 box sitting around in mint condition, thought it was worth asking... Richard

I need to replace a gearbox on a mk3 Spit - but am looking for something a little stronger as the engine is putting out quite a lot more bhp than standard. I have access to a Vitesse 1600 3 rail box in very good condition - what are the internals of this like in comparison to standard mk3? All wisdom received and appreciated. Thanks Richard

4 hours well spent with Mr Vessey and his tuning gang. Idle jets and holders were well off. Sorting these allowed a good idle at about 1500 and better pick up. That allowed the ignition timing to be set properly at about 4000. Still popping through the carbs at this stage, and mains and aide were next. Dennis suggested putting a bung in the exhaust for a lambda sensor so he could tune more accurately, and with this done mains/airs were played with on a series of power runs, trying to make it more lean at lower revs put keeping it fully-fuelled at full revs. End result? 100bhp at the wheels and 127 at the flywheel at 7000rpm. There may have been a tad more in the head if valve bounce hadn't come in at 7500 - a mechanical rev limiter! Will try to stay sub-7500 on Friday at Blyton. Lots to do now refreshing suspension etc tomorrow. All in all a good day, and a genuine 100bhp/litre. Nice. Richard

We'll find out tomorrow AM - Rolling Road sess with Mr Vessey, should be interesting (meaning exciting or disappointing, delete as appropriate)... Hoping to get her to Blyton on Friday - even with her battle scarred bonnet - we'll see.... :)

Hmmmm. Spent some time today checking for leaks with WD40 and carb cleaner. Nothing obvious, but there did seem to be rev fluctuations at times, so I removed the carbs on their manifolds, prepped the surfaces, adjusted the lugs for equal height on inlet and exhaust manifolds, applied some Stag sealant and refitted, torquing up the nuts proper tight. The car is now happy to tickover at 1750RMP with +15deg advance - so an improvement. Blip the throttle though and it dies in a number of ways, and there's still much popping through the carbs. So jetting seems the most likely issue. I've booked a session with Dennie Vessey and his rolling road for next Wednesday - we'll see what the real problem is and how far off the proposed jetting is. All this may avoid the need for MJ or 123 - but it's still something I'll consider over the Winter for next season. Richard

Thanks RRR, Nick and Piman. I'm on the hunt for air leaks today. In terms of overall advance, I can get the engine to idle fairly happily at circa 1250RPM, which is when it shows +30deg advance. Applying throttle from there does increase the advance, but only marginally - maybe to +35deg - its a little hard to tell. So I tend to believe the dizzy is operating properly, and I have it out of position to force a stable idle - instability being caused by a bad air/fuel ratio. This could be the jetting OR an air leak, so I'll check for leaks today and report back. Nick - it was the programmable version of the 123 I was considering as it gives much of the flexibility offered by MJ - but I do hear James' comment on the inherent instability of the dizzy pedestal when compared to a crank sensor, especially at 8000RPM... R

Good thinking, will do....

.... or not. Good friend Pete (Yorkshire Triumphs) brought me round his timing light tonight (sorry Colin). All it cost was tea, and he was dropping by anyway. Gives exactly the same results as mine - only happy idling (circa 1250RPM) at 30 degrees advanced. But, what with him knowing a thing or two about the way of the Triumph, he immediately said 'that's fuelling'. His opinion was that the stuttering and popping back through the carbs was simply too much air/not enough fuel. So we got it idling relatively happily at +30, then flicked some fuel into the Dell'ortos' trumpets. Result? Idle picked up and the advance dropped to approx +10. Seemed happier to pick up on the throttle too. Conclusion (so far) - the carbs are set up way off, even on the idle jets. I'll talk to the person that specified/did the setup and see what he thinks - think there might be a long story to develop there; we'll see. Richard

Well, TDC is pretty much TDC. I've done a more accurate check today and the timing cover pointer is perhaps 1 degree out. Checking my timing light is next - thanks for the offer Colin - and then it really is decision time... Richard

Hello Nick And so we meet on the other side... :) Thanks for your input. I'll establish the accuracy of the indicated TDC tomorrow but in the meantime have a decision to make on MJ. I too would prefer to use TPS in a race situation. My immediate problem is compounded by the very rough way the engine runs as fuel is added - lumpy, backfiring through the carbs and reluctant to get above 4500ish revs.  Of course this could be down to the new carbs. This is their first use since acquisition and gentle refurb by a mutual friend. The lump runs so badly that I've gone down the precautionary route of checking timing first to avoid damage by detonation etc. R

Thanks for the thoughts chaps. With a chance of getting the car RR'd and to the Blyton Park track day next Friday - I'm resisting the MJ idea, but it sounds like a possible over Winter for next season. In the meantime, I've tried my stiffer springs in the Lucas Dizzy AND an entirely different Aldo dizzy from my mk3 road car. In all cases, the engine idles happiest at what is indicated on the pulley as +30 degrees. So maybe the dizzy isn't the fundamental problem here. Or maybe the timing mark is out significantly? I did a TDC test with a straw through the spark plug hole earlier and it seemed roughly correct - maybe I'll try a more accurate measurement, but fundamentally I don't get it - why would it want to idle at +30 degrees? Is it the 'bonkers' cam? (think) R

MJ eh? Well, it's possible - I even have a kit here. The only significant work to do is adding a trigger wheel to the aluminium crank pulley, something I'm a little loathe to do because of how much money's been spent on balancing the bottom end... But - it it overkill for a race engine that lives at 4000RPM plus apart from idling..? R

Hi Clive Yes - electronic ignition is allowed within CSCC regulations - I could even go MegaJolt if I thought it would help but my understanding is that its a case of staying at 32 most of the time too. However, the engine is behaving pretty strangely, and I don't want to damage it by being too advanced at low revs. Richard

I'm suspect of the Lucas dizzy on my Spitfire 1300 race car - and am wondering whether to have it reconditioned and setup professionally, or to go with a more electronic method. Background : This is a small crank 1300 engine, bored to +60 with a Kent 264 race cam and high flow head. I've just finished fitting new twin Dell'orto DHLA40E carbs - with a good choke and jetting setup. Before starting for the first time, I checked the ancillaries and noticed a fair degree of crud (some from dry powder fire extingusihers - long story) inside the dizzy. This is a standard Lucas unit with the vernier and vacuum unit removed, and a '15 degree' arm. It also has Pirhanna optical electronic points. So I disassembled to about halfway and cleaned up the obvious crud - but overall it looks pretty tired in there. Reassembled and got the car started, but lumpy and reluctant to rev. This worried me - I know it will need a good rolling road session to setup the carbs finally, but I'm confident they should be in the ballpark up to about 8000rpm. Checking the timing using a strobe, the car was at 30+ degrees advance at idle - yikes! So, being a stranger to the way of the dizzy, I did some research last night on what to look for in a sorted dizzy. Well, this obviously isn't. With the cap off, the rotor can be turned ACW approx 30 degrees, but doesn't return to static - there's about 10 degrees of play. Taking the plate off reveals that the springs aren't pulling the arm back sufficiently. I'm about to test some shorter springs from an old, gash Lucas dizzy off the shelf - these do seem to return the arm, but it clearly needs sorting properly really. So - do I send it to somewhere wonderful and have it reconned then setup for the characteristics of the race engine, or could I go for a programmable 123? Getting a 123 gives me a new dizzy that can be programmed for the advance curve I need, and avoids the recon cost - but will it stand up to race use and work happily up to circa 8000RPM? Thoughts gentlemen? Richard

This event is just 2 weeks away now. It's being organised by 'Classic Car Driving', not sure if there's a Practical Classics connection this time. We have eight cars booked from the Donny area : 2500S, 5 Spits of various flavours and 2 GT6s, maybe a TR7, maybe even a SD1 so we can do a full re-creation of a Sweeney car chase with the 2500... :) Good day out. Open pit lane. Relaxed attitude. Buttie van. Good craic. Nice circuit with lots of run-off. Talk to Nick at CCD - nick@classiccardriving.co.uk

No real merit, just added complication. I'm not sure why Triumph did this back in the day, maybe they had a load of 6v coils to shift, or maybe they were having starting issues due to plugs/points or whatever - dunno. I can kind of see it on a 6-pot, where there's more mass for the starter to turn and therefore a quick start is preferred, but even then.... If you had a 6v coil then taking either route would be understandable. As you have a 12v coil and a mk3 based Hurricane - go 12v and no ballast wire - IMHO. R

Hi Greenie In simple terms, just replace the ballast wire with normal. Ballast wires are for use with a 6v coil, and drop the voltage from 12v to 6v. This system was used to create a spark boost on cranking for some GT6s and Spits, but not mk3 Spits. If you've got a 12v coil (standard to mk3) just swap the wire. R

I'm a big fan of the column switch too - having had and used this and the stick mounted version on a Herald. I too had problems with the stick cap cracking and generally coming off at inconvenient times :) Also - the column mount is original to certain cars - my Spit mk3 for instance - factory fitted! R

IMHO there's an awful lot of shite talked about Webers - mainly by those that prefer not to spend money on things like rolling roads and like to keep it in-house and tune their SUs themselves. If they're the right sort of Webers (or Dell'ortos) and they're properly setup, they give more and instant power AND return high 30's MPG when pootled. If you keep your foot in (and why wouldn't you?) they give mid 20s MPG (but lots of grins). My twin 40DCOEs will do 200 miles on a Spit mk3 tank at 50-60 cruising. And they stay in tune, but I NEVER self -fiddle apart from the idle speed adjust screw, depending on weather/season. You really cannot tune them yourself, so plan a good rolling road session (at a RR that understands Webers and carries spares) in your budget and around £150 for new or exchange chokes/jets. Other musts: - Match the manifold's in and out to the head and carbs - Get a good linkage that goes between fully closed and fully open throttle properly and repeatedly - Avoid modern (Spanish) Webers if you can - try and find a pair of Italian's off Ebay or similar Then, enjoy! Great upgrade from SUs - makes for a more fun car even though a well sorted pair of Webers will ultimately give you very little more max BHP than a well sorted pair of SUs.