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rockrockmcrock

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  1. rockrockmcrock
    rockrockmcrock joined the community
  2. rockrockmcrock
    Cheers Nick - I'd hoped to do it today, but sadly the virus incubators (kids) infected me with a flu bug.....hey ho, let's hope its a 24hr kind of thing  
  3. rockrockmcrock
    Cheers all - guess I've got to clean the diff, see if I can remove the rusty allen head bolts and then pull the output shafts before I'll know the - I'll do that this week if the kids & work let's me! Will keep you posted. Is it worth replacing the seals and/or bearings all round (in for a penny etc etc)? or just leave well enough alone? RRMR
  4. rockrockmcrock
    Yeah, I'm pretty sure there should be none too 🙁 Thanks for the images. This isn't the input shaft though - this is play in an output shaft (i.e. the sides that connect to the drive shaft). AFIK there is no spacer there, just a bearing, but I could be wrong. The input shaft is the bit that has the collapsible spacer on later models, luckily mine seems OK and is of an earlier model that uses shims but I will check the numbers.
  5. rockrockmcrock
    This is the one part of the car I've never really rebuilt - so I'm not my usual confident self, but the time has come!   I've just dropped the rear diff on my spit IV and found that while there is very little rotational play, there is a few mm's of in-out play on one of the output shafts. I know these are splined, so I'm guessing this is just the splines sliding backwards and forwards on the gear joint - bearing failure? Shims? what's gone wrong here, if anything? Considering I'm going to have to crack the diff anyway to replace seals that are a bit suspect - I guess I should tackle this as well. I'm pretty certain this is an early diff, but if it helps the front drive shaft flange conceals a nut/cotter pin arrangement on the input shaft. I can find lots of info on rotational play, but none on in-out play in a diff, so any help/appreciated - cheers guys! RRMR
  6. rockrockmcrock
    thescrapman wrote: Check carefully that a new pump is likely to actually be better than your existing one. New ones sometimes need work to bring them into spec. That's not good news as I'm pretty certain it'll be beyond the tolerances now  :-/ If I do need a new pump, who do you recommend I get one from? I was just going to replace the sator/rotor assay...
  7. rockrockmcrock
    9077 wrote: Groundswell of opinion is the memory of lead is good enough for an unleaded head so why do it? If your worried use the additives. Yup, perfectly true from my experience - I've run on unleaded for ages relying on lead memory without issues. However, the valve seats were very pitted last time they were off and really should have been reground. Hence if I'm doing the head gasket I may as well have new valves and the valve seats reground, and if I'm having that, then I may as well have hardened seats put in at the same time. TBH I'm astounded at the price at my local - £200 for seats, regrind, skim and all parts! I've used these guys for decades and they really know there stuff, so given some of the prices I'd seen around I'd expected it to be much more as they are real perfectionists.
  8. rockrockmcrock
    Car was running fine up until a suspected minor head gasket failure (clouds of white smoke) on the way to work 7 years ago - so off the road it came right at the wrong time  :'( Spot on about the way rebuilds usually go, I spent far too much time and money in the past that way - which is why I'm resisting or at least trying to be objective about it ;) The good news is that I know a lot about this car as I've partially and fully rebuilt it many times since the early 90s. So as to what needs to be done this time: Head: The heads off anyway and at the workshop - suspected head gasket failure and an old leaded head make a head rebuild for unleaded a no-brainer. Especially as the last time it was off in the late 90s, I only just got away without new valves (I was a student back then so cash was limited!) Oil pump again I should have refurbed the last time around, but cash was limited. No brainer this time around really, although it was fine right for years after the late 90s rebuild. Front crank seal This was starting to leak a little when the car came off the road All the above are engine in repairs so I am starting to wonder if I forget pulling the engine/box - if it comes out I know I'm going to go the whole hog as those BE bearings were replaced last in the 90s so I may as well....and then there's the crank which was at it's regrind limit last time around....etc etc.
  9. rockrockmcrock
    So my Spitfire IV (1500) has sat for 7 years (I had kids!) but the resto has finally happened. I've now completed the bodywork and moved to the engine. The bonnet is off, so access is easy. The original plan was for a full engine rebuild (head, bearings etc.) - I've done it a number of times, last time was in the late 90s. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just leave the engine in the car and do a partial rebuild (head, front seal, oil pump) and hope I get away with the dry rear seal. But then there's the O/D and gearbox too... and the bonnet is off so removing the lump is easy at present. So I'm in two minds - Should I pull the engine and gearbox for inspection? Any thoughts guys? What would you rebuild/inspect and what would you leave alone after 7 years of standing in a dry garage?
  10. rockrockmcrock
    Just my two cents worth but I'm not sure there is a "best" one, it just depends on your needs and experience at the time. At 18 and with no experience I started off with the original BL workshop manual - it was way too complex for my needs, so I bought a Haynes which was nice and simple. I then crashed and rebuilt my car - again using the Haynes. Same with the first engine rebuild - Haynes proved best with occasional referrals to the BL W/S and parts manuals. It wasn't until I started having issues with an OD that the workshop manual came into it's own. Many years on and I work on all sorts of modern and classic cars and hardly ever refer to a manual, but I'm glad I've got them there if I need them. So personally I wouldn't be without either the BL parts, W/S manual or the Haynes - the Haynes for quick reference, and the BL stuff if you need to do something with a more obscure component. Although I'm starting to realise that  even the original BL stuff (especially their parts diagrams) is inaccurate....see another thread on this forum. The parts stuff is useful and much is available to download as a PDF on the web, just do a search.
  11. rockrockmcrock
    2250 wrote:The "T" was introduced on engine# FH59689 and further, together with rerouted hoses to the heater, and new return pipe. FH was 1300 with HS2 carbs. On the 1500 manifold the heating and the balance chanels changed place. Harry It does seem as you say, that many of the W/S and parts diagrams are just plain wrong as there seem to have been so many minor changes made to the engine. You sir, have an amazing wealth of information - where do you get it from??!! However, this has made me think that it's a very interesting design decision on 1500 - it used the same sized ports on the head, but then larger inlet ports on the manifold for the bigger HS4 carbs. You'd surely expect the ports to be bigger on the head as well if you wanted more air flow? Weird - I'm not a CFD expert, but this does make me think that the larger HS4's seem unnecessary. Still I have some lying about somewhere so I may stick them on instead of the HS2 as do a comparison if I can find a suitable manifold.
  12. rockrockmcrock
    9716 wrote: Surely the 1500 inlet manifold is sized for HS4 carbs and can't easily be fitted with HS2s. The differences between late Mk4 1300 inlet and the 1500 inlet are not that huge. In fact, aren't the mounting flanges of HS2s and HS4s quite different? mmmm.... you have a point. I hadn't considered the sizing difference for HS4's. I was basing the positive ID on an inlet manifold with a 'T' junction on the water jacket which is only consistent with W/S diagrams for a 1500  - like this: ...but could this be another diagram error? Seems likely now.... One thing I did find out though from off and online research:- not wanting to open a can of worms, but it seems very likely that the HS4 carbs were fitted as a standardisation measure by BL and not because of the increased air requirements of the larger 1500. It seems that HS2 carbs are perfectly fine and do not 'throttle' the 1500 engine at all.
  13. rockrockmcrock
    OK thanks to everyone I couldn't have got here without your help ....... but finally I can confirm the engine size! Drum roll please  ;) The engine is definitely a 1500 with a measured piston throw of >85mm. However pretty much all ancillaries are 1300 - the exhaust manifold is 1300, water pump assy is 1300, 1300 HS2 carbs are fitted and only the inlet manifold is of 1500 design (but is incorrectly shown as a 1300 design on some websites!) Sorry it took so long to post this confirmation, but the blown head gasket had pushed water up some of the studs and seized the head - it has been a complete mare to remove (but lets hear it for the old rope down the spark hole trick!) 377 wrote: It would only blow head gaskets if you fitted the wrong gasket or didn't torque it up correctly. Having done loads (and I do mean loads) of research on this I tend to agree with this as there are enough posts and blogs where this claims to have been done - although timing is very different from standard to get the engine running correctly.  8)
  14. rockrockmcrock
    34 wrote:How much should you wrap and with what. Depends on whether you're wrapping original ordinary steel or a stainless manifold. If you're thinking of wrapping an ordinary steel manifold then don't - it'll crystallise, crack and fall apart. Bad idea - ask me how I know ;-) If you're talking stainless, depends on the length & diameter - use kevlar type wrap not glass, a single wrap is sufficient with 25% overlap. Leave the seats clear, but otherwise cover everything as much as you can. It'll smoke like a @!!"£! until cured and then be maintenance free. I'm a big fan of wrapping as it increases the temp of the exhaust manifold so the gases flow much better as they exit the head. It is expensive though.
  15. rockrockmcrock
    That_Man wrote:You said you've rebiult this engine twice before, did you ever have the block rebored? the pistons you bought.... SNIP... accurate as the difference in stroke between the 1300 and 1500 is 11.5mm Gordon Both rebuilds kept the same piston and crank - although the first reground the crank as well as replacing a piston rod + bearings (Big end blew). Luckily all the parts I replaced are identical between 1300 & 1500 variants from the part books, so me ordering 1300 parts at the time has made no difference from what I can work out! Yes I kept photos in a rebuild book, but this was pre-digital cameras (or at least one's I could afford as a student) so I have no idea where they are - but thanks for reminding me as I'll now search them out. I think the easiest thing will be to measure the piston throw - 87.5mm for a 1500 and 76mm for a 1300 from what you're saying? Toledo_Man wrote:Totally Triumph cased trading recently when Max decided to retire. That's sad news, Max was excellent as a source of lost knowledge on many things - nice bloke too.
  16. rockrockmcrock
    ferny wrote: And two others I'd not touch with a barge pole from what they've done to friends! I won't state in a thread who or why. Recommended the good ones from personal experience is the more polite thing to do. Agreed - however, coming back into the game after 7 years raising kids I'd appreciate a heads up if you feel you could PM me - I used to be very plugged in with traders, but I'm feeling like a newbie all over again now! 1684 wrote:I have 2 x 1500 engines both with 1500 heads and both heads have two single exhaust ports in the middle. Thanks mate, that confirms that the workshop manual diagrams etc are incorrect - since the early 1990's I thought I owned a 1300, but in fact I own a MKIV 1500 - I know this doesn't sound like much of  a revelation but, seriously, this was my first car so it actually has hit me quite hard (in a good way)!
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