Jobs on the Vitesse

Although OOD looks pretty much together and ready for the road, there is a lot to do to start her up and get driving.
I'm going to list the main jobs as I see them and then go into some detail.
Firstly, it's worth pointing out that this car is in remarkable condition and it's a testament to the builder and the choice of quality parts when it was assembled. I have to admit to being a little in awe of it and that's some of the reason it's taken me so long to get to this point. It's gradually becoming mine as I get to know its secrets.
 
The main issues I see are:
  1. Fuel system - it's a PI that's been sat for a long time, partially stripped and now needs putting back together with some new components. Hoses are mostly good as they are Aeroquip. 
  2. Brakes - well hydraulics really - discs need de-rusting, it's equipped with Tilton race brakes and a Tilton pedal box that all need attention and maybe rebuilding - pedal goes to the floor and stays there. I'll rebuild the three master cylinders, I suspect the callipers will be fine but will need testing. Rear cylinders my need replacing but it's had silicon fluid in it and it all looks very good. Clutch seems fine, it's got a Saab annular release bearing that seems to function OK.
  3. Electrics - needs a battery and probably some cleaning of contacts etc, again it all looks great and as good quality components were used I suspect all that will be needed is checking and contact cleaning. Battery is in the boot and the batter box mounting needs attention to fully support it - I need to design something to cope with the angled boot floor.
  4. Oil system - the oil filter housing isn't fully mounted - it's insecure at the moment and that needs sorting, I'll give it an oil and filter change before I try and start it. I'll also drain the gearbox oil and use some Redline MT90 which I used in my last Vitesse - a great fully synthetic that works well with overdrive.
  5. Door trims and window winders - these were never fully finished and Adam is working on improved window regulators to cope with the body strengthening mods (more on this later). He's designed some new regulators and has relieved the door panels to suite, I just have to pick them up from him in Portsmouth. This was part of the purchase deal and I'm very grateful he's doing this. I've also noticed that there's no anti-drumming in the doors, I'll get some adhesive pads fitted before the door cards go back in.
  6. Engine - a bit of an unknown quantity here. The car was run for about 700 miles (I think) and developed a fault, believed to stem from overly strong valve springs that may have caused premature cam wear. The engine was pretty much new and a well tuned 2 litre. However, some of the quality of the components available in the late 80s early 90s was dubious and Adam thinks this may be what's happened here. I've got some investigations to do that's for sure! 
  7. Minor stuff that will wait - the seats (Bond buckets) are fixed and will need some runners for other drivers. The hood, white vinyl, has shrunk and I fancy a black mohair hood, the fuel tank sit across the (extended) spare wheel well and needs a tweak to allow the full sized spare to fit, there are a few other non essential bits I'd like to do but most are minor.
No 1 - the fuel system.
One of my favourite views - Lucas PI in a Vitesse

The fuel system was partially dismantled when I got the car - when she was parked up it was never envisaged that she's be stationary for circa 20 years . As Adam said, life intervened - as it does. So the fuel system solidified in the tank, filters, pump, injectors, etc. Most of this has been cleaned out and the rotted out fuel sender replaced.  
The car is a 2 litre with Lucas PI, Bosch pump and diaphragm PRV. The system was build well with new or reconditioned parts - in fact that goes for the rest of the car too really. There are numerous modifications which I'll explain as I come to them, lets just say this isn't a standard Vitesse.

This was the temporary installation - some great rope work with paracord - the pump and filter mounted on a backing piece and slung on the rear outrigger. Age and fuel had eaten the low pressure feed pipe from the tank - I have some new pipe for that. The Aeroquip pipes are all fine, they are pretty indestructible. 


Stainless custom fuel tank, the big heat sink looking thing is an amplified for the in car entertainment system, some of which Adam still has - all in good time.

Bosch pump and filter - testing shows it runs but I'm not confident that it'll be OK, I will assume it is until I can test it fully

Bosch filter, looks fine but I'll renew before running it, I have a spare in a box somewhere!

I powered her up (battery, in the boot, was knackered and didn't come with the car, I've since bought a replacement). The gauges are really neat with digital read outs of fuel and oil pressure in one gauge and oil temp and pressure in the other.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

More Lucas PI info - some pearls of wisdom here :-)

Over the years I've collected loads of info and books about the PI system, some better than others. I have always meant to scan and post up some of the more interesting stuff. I had my scanner working recently (but not on my spanking new Vista equipped PC - incompatible!) so I thought I'd scan a few things when I came across an old trio of A4 sheets held together with a rusty staple. They appear to be pages from a magazine article but from where I don't know. The last page has a few small adds on it but no clue as to where it first appeared. The opening paragraph suggests and owners club and the adverts are 1990 vintage - if you know where this came from please let me know and I'll give them the credit. Anyway, I scanned it and OCR'd it and here it is. I've been through it to correct the OCR errors but if anything doesn't make sense shout up and I'll check the original. THE LUCAS PETROL INJECTION SYSTEM - MARK II We are very fortunate to be able to publi...
Read more

Worried about your trunnions? Relief is to hand!

Image
This is an bit of an infomercial for my mate Dave and his company Canley Classics. I know Dave well, I get most of my Triumph stuff from him. I sometimes work on the Canley Classics stand at shows, I own a Canley Classics T shirt and I have spent many hours driving Triumphs with him. Other Triumph parts suppliers are available, your mileage may vary and this may contain nuts. If you don't like what I say, ignore it :-) - It's a well know fact that the small chassis Triumphs have some design frailties. One of the more spectacular failures you can suffer stems from the front trunnions. When you get a failure here you can loose a front wheel - this isn't a good thing. Often incorrectly known as "trunnion failure" what actually happens is that the vertical link that sits in the trunnion snaps - it does this for a number of reasons, lack of maintenance, fatigue, corrosion, previous trauma, bad luck. Most often it's the nearside that goes, it's the side that ...
Read more

TR6 Clutch investigation (and interior replacement)

Image
Blimey, it's been a long time since I did anything serious in the garage. Having found myself with some time on my hands - I'm currently looking for paid work again - I decided it was high time I sorted out the TR6 interior. When I got the car it was the interior that let it down, a bit of a mix of old and repro trim, mostly past it's best, carpets stick directly to the floor and sagging seats. I did the seats immediately and then gathered the parts to do the rest - new carpets, underlay, a trim kit, H frame cover, clips and fastenings, glue, etc, etc. So it seemed like a "cheap" job as I had all of the big cost items. It was just time - and now I have that. So I stripped it all out and there it sat earlier this week, looking all empty and then I thought what a pig of a job it would be to have to take it all out again to fix the clutch! You see I've always had a tricky clutch in the car, not awful but occasionally when warm it gets quite "off/on...
Read more