Straight Six
-
Posts
152 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Content Type
Forums
Blogs
Events
Downloads
Gallery
Membership & Shop
Everything posted by Straight Six
-
Yep! I get exactly what you mean. I was following the car in question this evening and it really is sitting very high at the back with lots of positive camber. The spring looks practically brand new (we're not sure as the current owner's only had the car a few days) so I'm guessing it'll need a 1" block to sort things out. We also noticed this evening that there is a larger gap between the tyre and the wheel arch on the rear near side than there is between the tyre and the wheel arch on the off side, so something odd is going on there, especially as the front appears to be level. The plan is to check dampers, trunnions & drive shaft lengths then see what we can do about the height.
-
Sounds like a daft question, but does the thickness of a diff spacer block directly correspond to the amount a car is lowered? i.e. Does a half inch block lower the car by half an inch, or does suspension geometry mean that the car is lowered by more than that? The car in question is a 1978 Spitfire 1500. Thanks.
-
thermostat or no thermostat, that is the question
Straight Six replied to supergreenmachine73's topic in Engine
Doug, It's not just about cavitation causing wear on the impellor. When a pump is cavitating it is not operating efficiently and hence not cooling your engine as well as it could. Getting back to the original question though, I agree whole heartedly with your final comment and with everyone else who has said that you must run with a thermostat. -
In my experience, different overdrives require different techniques. In general J Types seem to be smoother in operation without clutch use than D Types. However, I’ve driven D Type equipped cars which go in & out of overdrive very smoothly, and others where you need to use the clutch on engagement & disengagement. On my D type, I use the clutch to engage it unless at full throttle when it will go in smoothly, and give the throttle a blip on disengagement to avoid the lurch, which can be quite severe if I disengage on the overrun. The comments about an overdrive not needing use of the clutch are probably correct, but all the easy adjustments on my overdrive are correct, and the oil is clean so I’ll live with dipping the clutch occasionally rather than ripping it apart to look for a problem. So in short, my tuppence worth is; if it jolts or lurches use the clutch, if it doesn’t then you probably don’t need to use the clutch.
-
setting elecrtonic ignition without timing light
Straight Six replied to daver clasper's topic in Electrical
Be a bit careful when using a vacuum gauge to set timing. I have tried to set the timing like that, and the engine has certainly sounded very happy when maximum vacuum has been attained, but subsequent checking with a timing light showed the timing to be around 28 degrees BTDC at idle. -
Thanks for the reply Mike. I don't suppose you've got a part number have you?
-
I'm thinking of upgrading the interior lights in my Vitesse. Are there suitable LED units which can replace the screw in instrument lights?
-
1218 wrote:Yet my Herald runs DOT 5 Silicone fluid since its restoration with no compressibility issues at all. Mark Ditto my Vitesse. The pedal is no softer than when it was on normal brake fluid, and the paint on my bulkhead has been saved several times by the fact I'm running silicone fluid. Of course if your master cylinders are in perfect condition and you have a steady hand when topping them up there ls no need for silicone fluid, but we don't live in a perfect world. So from personal experience I don't understand the negative press silicone fluid gets, but each to their own, It is flippin expensive though...
-
I work with ship diesel engines, where as you might imagine water ingress is a fairly common problem. Depending on how high the water level rose, I would remove the sump and inspect the visible parts of the crank & bores. If the crank was submerged (don't forget oil floats on water, so the water level would have had to have been pretty high) then it would be worth inspecting the big end bearings at the very least, and realistically that'll mean removing the engine, but I would not automatically assume that the engine requires a full overhaul. The diff on a MkII Vitesse does not have a drain plug so it would be worth removing the rear cover to drain the oil & that will allow you to inspect the internals. With the gearbox, I'd be tempted to give it a thorough flush with clean oil, refill and see how it goes. The main problem here is that the contaminated oil has been left in the mechanical components for so long, although if your property was flooded I’m sure you had a lot more important things to worry about over the last few months than an old Triumph.
-
garyf wrote:Try Turning the Engine over with the Fan as you pull up and remove the radiator. The Bottom hose spout will fit in the gap between adjacent blades as you rotate the fan, you can then move the radiator up and out? Hope that makes sense? That's how I do it as well.
-
Is the centrifugal & vacuum advance/retard mechanism free to move & working correctly?
-
Thanks for all the suggestions. I made up a decent earth strap but that didn't do the trick so this evening I fitted a replacement alternator and the light is not glowing anymore, so it looks looks it was the diode pack. As an aside, the failed alternator was fitted to a scrap Mk2 2000 saloon before I removed it & fitted it to my car and I always assumed that it was a Lucas item, but on closer inspection today it turned out to be an AC Delco. Were many Triumphs fitted with these?
-
The red ignition light on my Vitesse has begun to glow dimly when the engine is running at any speed. I converted the car to a Lucas alternator several years ago. A voltmeter across the output terminal on the alternator and the -ve battery terminal shows 15 volts. I have noticed that the ammeter does not seem to show much charge even after I've discharged the battery. The ammeter reading does stay at zero with the headlights on with the engine running. The battery is new. Could this be a problem with the diode pack on the alternator, or a dodgy connection in the wiring loom somewhere? Thanks
-
Thank you. Being a bit of an anorak I find it all very interesting despite not owning an early Herald.
-
heraldcoupe wrote: there are lots and lots of detail differences according to the year the cars were made. Cheers, Bill. Do tell more Bill; I love little details like that! And I've always wondered why one of my doors of early '60's vintage has a piece of thick wire running internally between the drain channels while the other door of late vintage does not.
-
I always assumed the Stromberg CDS had a spring, but the Stromberg CD didn't.
-
I agree with all the above, but what a pretty car! :)
-
Thanks for the replies chaps. It was the hooked appearance of the gears that got me wondering and having never seen new, unworn examples of the gears I wondered I had nothing to gauge the amount of wear against. As the gears don't seem to be readily available and the chains are so cheap (almost worryingly cheap...) I'll carry on as I have been.
-
I appreciate that anything is possible, but is it likely that the camshaft drive gears wear enough to significantly affect valve timing? Although my engine has been re-built, the cam drive gears are original and will have done 150k miles. Obviously the chain has been changed several times!
-
Thanks for the replies. In the end I rigged up some piping and proved that air was passing quite easily past the spindles/bodies and so an overhaul at home was out of the question. The carbs are now on their way to Andrew Turner... Thanks again :)
-
Thanks for the reply. Can't say how much air is passing the spindles as the carbs are stripped on the work bench. It was getting difficult to balance them though, which was one of the reasons for re-building them. There was a reasonable amount of wear on the spindles which clearly need replacing, but I'm trying to determine whether the carb bodies are worn and there doesn't seem to be any information on this in any of the manuals.
-
I have issues with the Stromberg carbs on my Vitesse and am going to overhaul them. However, I am trying to determine whether they need re-bushing or not. How much play is acceptable between the spindles and the carb bodies? At the moment with an unworn spindle I have about 15 thou movement. Thanks.
-
If you do end up buying a new pump, my car has a Holley Red Top pump. One of these will be more than sufficient for your Sprint, but if you do go for one be aware that they are very noisy. Apparently the Holley Blue Top is quieter, but would be over kill for your engine.
-
If the pressure relief valve is open doesn't that mean that the oil is by-passing the oil filter? I could be wrong; a bloke down the pub told me that :P
-
I agree with the general opinion; Nowt wrong with Stroms, a much maligned carb (by some). Mine were overhauled 50,000 + miles ago and are still doing a grand job. But if you want to mess about with different needles etc. then SU are the way to go as you are very limited in choice/availability with Strombergs and will always end up compromising. (I'm not trying to contradict vastly more knowledgeable people on here, I'm just talking form my experience).