Straight Six

Hi Paul & Velocita. Thanks for your replies.

Velocita; Yes, I'm saying that. But I asked the specific question because I think we've tried everything else. Swapped over front spring & damper units from one side to the other, removed anti roll bar, fitted anti roll bar the other way round, checked drive shaft lengths, checked rear vertical link bolts aren't seized, swapped rear shock absorbers over, and (frankly by now we were grasping at straws) checked that the chassis isn't twisted. There might be more but I've probably forgotten. Basically if you can check it without spending money we've done it!

When the drive shaft & vertical links were out one side of the spring sat significantly lower than the other (wish I'd taken a photo now so you all could see but I didn't ...) and while I've read about these swing spring set ups, being a rotoflex kind of guy (it's a friends car) TBH don't really understand them, hence my question.

It might be worth mentioning that the car was sitting very high at the back when purchased and so we have fitted a lowering block. That has improved both the ride height and the amount of heal/sag but it's still not right. The rear spring looks new with no corrosion what so ever and still bearing white paint marks from manufacture/storage at the parts supplier.

Hopefully you will see below a photo of the car. It's  not great as I haven't a picture of the rear straight on so you can see the amount of lean, but it does show how high the car was sitting on it's highest side before we fitted the lowering block.

If you remove the drive shafts and rear vertical links from a 1978 Spitfire, should the spring eyes be the same distance from the ground or is it normal for one of the eyes to sit lower than the other?

I’m confused, which frankly happens with worrying regularity. If I want to replace my fuel hose with stuff that doesn’t make the car smell of petrol, won’t degrade on the outer surface when exposed to the elements and is ethanol resistant I need to buy……. which product???

Am I missing something (probably) but if I buy fuel hose from any modern car main dealer - let’s say Ford cos that’s my nearest one - surely their hose will be of the latest spec and suitable for modern fuels? The only issue I can see is that Focuses and the like use this new-fangled metric system, but I’m sure there will be an equivalent size close enough.  

All the advice you have recieved is good then; Ensure that all ignition components, including HT leads are in A1 condition. Also as someone has played with the head check you are running the correct needles in the carb.

Having done that set the tappets & carb as per Haynes and then dynamically set the timing, checking that the centrifugal and vacuum advance mechanisms are working at the same time.

My MoT station is happy to take emmisions reading during the test and then (within reason) let me play with the carbs to set them up correctly. I believe this to be the best  way, with my car never going so well or returning such good mpg figures so it may be worth asking next time you take your car in for it's test.

By the way, a vacuum gauge is great for telling you if you have a leak on the intake side of your engine, but I've never been able to set timing and carbs up using mine despite what a lot of sites on the internet claim. The timoing is always way, way too advanced and the mixture too rich I always find.

Quoted from cliftyhanger

I will be controversial here. I use old stock asbestos pads that seem very capable everywhere, and lasting well.

(and despite what people say, there is very little health risk. Just think, there was not a trail of death left by every car from the early 1900's right up until they where phased out in the 1990's, or 2004 for pre 73 vehicles. As to asbestos related lung diseases, truly horrible, there is only a very slightly increased risk to those who worked long term as brake technicians, ie all day every day comparerd to the general population. take sensible precautions and the risk approaches zero.)

Thanks, I'll give Chris Wittor a ring.
I've got a manual but it's not readily accessible (long story...) I'll also try and dig that out this weekend if I get time. I agree it will make things a lot easier.

Basically, if I grab hold of the track rod I can move it towards & away from the centre of the car. The actual rack doesn't move and there is no such play on the near side.

Last night I noticed that there is lateral movement in the off side track rod of my Vitesse’ steering rack. Annoying as this was a ‘reconditioned’ unit fitted less than 12,000 miles ago. 🤔

Anyway, can this paly be taken up by shims? I seem to remember reading somewhere that it is possible, but can’t see any shims in this area on any of the exploded diagrams available on the net.

Thanks all. Box back in now and operating fine (as before - it came out because of a clutch issue) so fingers crossed and I'll let you know if anything goes bang in the future...

Thanks all. Easy enough to find out if its item 30 on Pete's diagram. I haven't had the cover off this box since the last time I removed the drain plug, if in fact I'm not sure I've ever removed the cover but again an easy one to check.

P.S. Not sure how the predictive text changed magnetic drain plug into magnetic drain playground in the original post, but well done for guessing what I was on about!

Here it is.....

Thanks for the responses. I'll try and take a photo soon, but I can say that it is definitely a slotted spring pin, not a bearing needle.

I found a small pin on the magnetic drain playground of my Vitesse's gearbox today. Looking at the technical manual it looks a lot like the counter shaft pin.
What function does this pin perform? Can I drive the car (it's been running fine with no undue noises).

What is the correct profile for a Herald/Vitesse door seal? My car has the bubble type  (I'm sure there's a more technical term for it), but I seem to remember I read somewhere - probably on here - that that isn't actually correct.

Thanks

What is the correct profile for a Herald/Vitesse door seal? My car has the bubble type  (I'm sure there's a more technical term for it), but I seem to remember I read somewhere - probably on here - that that isn't actually correct.

Thanks

Thanks all, I've just ordered some Dynaliner.

Does it stick to oily fibreglass?

The polythene clad insulation which goes over the gearbox of my Vitesse has finally disintegrated completely. I’m sure that there must be a better solution to heat & noise insulation nowadays. What do others use in its place?

Thanks Nick. There are a couple of witness marks on the wheels, but nothing serious. Just seemed incredibly close to me, but if they're all like that sir....

I have 13 X 5.5 Minilite wheels fitted to my MkII Vitesse and the clearance between the wheel and the trunnion water shields on each side of the trunnion is extremely tight. Is this normal?  We're talking maybe 1mm clearance here.  

Excuse the quality of the photos: taken whilst crawling under the car, phone in one hand, torch in the other!

Thanks for the replies. We had the spring out yesterday and it is brand new (not sure when it was fitted as my friend has only just bought the car, but the spring looks like it has just come out of the box). The drive shafts are the same length - first thing I checked - and the trunnions appeared to be ok but I will have a much closer look as I only gave them a cursory check. One thing that was strange was the fact that the previous owner had fitted one brand new shock absorber on one side but not the other, but I can't see how a shock can make any difference to the ride height.

As I alluded to in my first post, it did strike me that with the vertical links removed the off side rear spring eye sat lower to the ground than the near side one.

Been trying to correct an uneven camber angle on the rear wheels of a friend's 1978 Spitfire. When both vertical links are disconnected from the rear spring, would you expect each of the spring eyes to sit at the same height from the floor?
Thanks

Tey wewren't all converted to Strombergs. A Vitesse 1600 I used to own had those adaptors, but used a pair of 1.25" SU carbs. I know this conversion was carried out in the late 60's (my Dad helped to do it!).

Thanks Richard, the slammed look is not what we're after! The car is 61k from new and amazingly standard, and we want to keep it looking that way. I also have some old head studs lying around, so thanks for the tip!

Thanks Iain.

Just an additional thought: If I fit a 1" spacer block, will I need to change the studs in the top of the diff for longer ones?