CHRIS211083

Your right Nick. Dont know why im doing it again. Best reason was because I technically only did half of the RBRR last time. That and now I have a reason to put the car back together. Fingers crossed I can get time off come the event. Chris.

Well, It's gonna sit in the Heated Hangar till after Christmas and then I'll make a decision. Chris

Can't spanner anymore until the Diff comes back. Spanner Wanking is my day job in the Marines. Its not the spannering thats stopping me. I've spent £23,000 on a car that I'll get £10,000 for if I find the right person and spend another £1000 on it I wont get back. Or I could brake it up and get about £13,000 or more for it without spending on it. I've had fun driving it and I think it's time to move it on to the next person. Just depends on if thats in bits or one piece. Chris.

Cheers Guy's for the thoughts. Its been sat stationary now for 7 months. I could have easily done all the work it requires in about 6 hours but I've not felt the need. Its not like earlier before the RBRR where I was upset everytime I looked at it. Its more of a calm well I've done that now and i'm shifting onto other projects. Will I miss it, yes when the RBRR comes along but I wont miss throwing cash at it. Although it's quite Bomb proof now and it would be a shame to break it. Will see how things progress but if I'm gonna sell it then it needs to be right which means cash for the dyno etc. and that means more time just sat here. Will see how things go but I don't want to throw more moeny at it and it still need paint etc. I've got a few more weeks to think, will probably make the final decision after Christmas. Chris.

Well I popped the diff out tonight. Its off to get checked before going back into the car. I thought there was a slight bit of play in the diff but it turns out there isn't but there is a a touch in both output flanges so maybe the splines are worn on them. Will find out soon enough. The operation was totally painless, it came out nice and easy. No bleeding knuckles or stuck bolts etc. Crazy that. Unfortunately my enthusiasm has died again. I've had plenty of chances to put it back on the road but am just not that bothered. To be honest I'm considering options, if I sell it I wont get much for it and I'll need to spend on it before it will be ready to be sold. I also wont recover as much for it selling it whole as if I break the car. I've got all the best parts bits and bobs. After seeing what Willie's car went for there is no way I would sell for that. I have spent about £23,000 on this car. I'm sure I could sell most the parts quite easily and at least double the sale price of willies T6. Would be a bit heart wrenching but it seems like the sensible thing to do. I'm in no rush for the cash but I do have other projects that could be speeded up by Spiddies parting out, the LSD diff is worth £800 on its own once serviced and rebuilt with new seals. What to do??? I did get excited recently about the RBRR but in reality I've done it. Is it worth holding on to the car just for one event each year, I don't think so. Time will tell but I think its time to move on. Chris.

What about w56 box Nick. Can be had brand new from RWDmotorsport for £825 http://www.rwdmotorsport.com/toyota-w56-5-speed-gearbox.html Chris

I would say better to go EFI now as I'm sure you will have to spend cash on the carbs and dizzyetc. to get it running correctly. What state of tune is the engine?? I wouldn't go PI throttles but instead speak to Nick about a manifold with single throttle body. Pi throttles are too large for most setups and smaller throttles will give a more driveable car. Nicks style EFI is idea for 90% of applications and everyday cars and will perform much better then the carbs any day of the week and I'm sure he can make a kit for the correct price which will be much less than the Pi throttles which need the bearings and special linkages not to mention drilling for the injectors. Speak to Nick, thats where my money would be if my car didn't do Hill climbs. Chris.

Looks good Nick, Massive improvement over the stock carbs even if you don't weld the ram pipes flat to the radius. Chris.

Agreed.

Nice, looking good mate, thought you said it was two deg out not 180deg???

Maybe he put it forward or back for better performance???? Chris.

Glad some one is doing this. HS4 and 2's are crap!!! This looks like a real solution, Good effort Nick. Chris.

Did a couple of things to the car last night. One big thing was to improve the heater hose system. It looks a little like this. The Ratchet is the heater, it currently runs into the cabin and goes in to the driver and back to the heater to then come out of the heater out the car. New plan was to remove the driver operated valve and this would mean less hose, less clips and more importantly less coolant. So less weight essentially and less hoses under the dash to loosen off and leak. Less joints less issues. So I chose the Taxi heater valve from T7 design. Its 16mm ends and is light weight metal. I was going to put it in the engine bay but after seeing the corrosion to the hose clips and a broken earth lead I decided to fit it inside the car. Here is the new routing, bear in mind the piping is actually shorter than this. Much smaller system inside the car, hopfully less issues. I've got 13mm silicone hoses almost everywhere but they do relax over time. So where you do a service you must go round and tighten them up!!!! On the plus side the 13mm silicone hoses will go over the 16mm valve outlets perfectly so this meant the no adapters were needed. I also decided as the 13mm hoses fitted the 5/8 or 16mm adapters so well that I would change the bulkhead passenger side (feed). This allowed me to use just one size hose right passed the valve to the heater. Although the heater connections are 1/2 or 12.7mm and these the 13mm hoses don't like so I've used and adapter here. New heater valve in place and a Classic mini type heater cable operating it. Will need to type out some new heater instructions now. This also got me thinking about obvious weight. I've got more tail pipes than I really need and they have corroded on the mild steel Monza pipes. The silencers are stainless so they are fine but the other bits are rusty. I could easily remove one and the noise wont change much. This would very easily remove some weight and I kind of miss the 2" large bore tail pipe I use to have(not the noise). Maybe the local exhaust place could use my current silencer to make one similar. We shall see. More when it happens. Chris.

Hawk pads if anyones interested??? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Spitfire-Dolomite-Racing-Hawk-Blue-Brake-Pads-/181105311656?fits=Car+Make%3ATriumph%7CModel%3ASpitfire&hash=item2a2ab7bfa8 Same price as the Ferodo ds2500 Ferodo DS3000 are £100 a set. Now thats alot for pads. Chris.

Itiejim, DS 2500 just bought. I'll change the fluid too. How much do the spitfire calipers weigh??? Chris.

Hi Nick, I think I was on the verge of the fluid going as I could feel it in the pedal. Initial bite on the pads had also gone but they were still slowing perfectly well. I looked at changing to GT6 front ends but the cost is too much. By the time you take into account the new uprights(canleys) or brackets and calipers etc I might as well get the Caterham kit. Which I will if this fluid and pad swap doesnt work but to be honest I'm very optimistic. I've just picked up these Ferodo old stock DS2500 for £42 delivered. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301746291146?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Some things are meant to be. Chris.

Hi Mark, Under normal road use the brakes are fine. Going for a wee quick drive they are fine. Hill climbs they are fine as they are short. However big speeds long braking down hill repeatedly over and over at race pace chasing bigger more powerful cars is what gets them hot. I know they are hot as they loose their bite. I've never had them over heat to the point they have stopped working but I don't think I'm too far off that. Its a prolonged heavy use heat thing. I think the better fluid is the ticket. As Andy said, regular fluid change ever two years should be fine. The stuff i'm gonna try first is the react Performance. The £12 a bottle stuff as I've already bought some for my motorbike. We will see how that performs first. I currently have 1144 mintex pads but have been told to switch to Ferodo 2500 or 3000 any thoughts or experiences??? Chris.

Well just when you think you have it all sorted and your about to hit the buy it now and............You spot something else. Demon Tweaks. Bloody Demon Tweeks, they sell a brake fluid that needs changing every 18 months. Its boiling point is 270-300 deg C instead of the dot four normal of 155deg C required for dot 4 status. So with my current issue just being heat. I should be able to swap the fluid for this other Castrol srf dot 4 race fluid and I shouldn't get any issues. So were is the catch.......Well its £50 PER LITRE!!!!! Yes £50 PER LITRE!!!!! Anyone tried it??? Maybe thats how the racers have got round the solid discs boiling their fluid??? I have a similar problem with my Motorcycle. It has one front disc which when ridden hard heats up and eventually the lever goes soft and needs a couple pumps and it comes back with numbness and eventually cools after couple seconds not being used and brake bite is back. I bought Castrol React brake fluid for the bike but have not tested it yet. This has a 210deg C boiling point and is only £12 per litre. So maybe I should keep the current setup and change the fluids to the React Performance and then if it doesn't solve the problem then try the React Racing SRFfluid which was clearly made from unobtainium as its so expensive. Whats the thoughts on this??? I'll try the React Performance stuff first but has anyone used the Castrol SRF race fluid??? Or would you get the Caterham Setup as I was considering??? Chris.

If I were you mate I would fix that non return issue while its apart. It's easy to make a return pipe for the pump and all you need to do to your rail is drop it at a machine shop and ask for a barbed attachment for the end. Then you wont have any heat issues as the heat is taken away to the fuel tank. It will also mean no air will be in the fuel rail unable to escape. Just a thought. Chris.

Great photo, love this pic its probably my favorite. Funny what you see re-reading old posts. Chris.

Sounds like its either worn mate or there is some crap floating about inside the tank that has passed the mesh filter before the pump. Take it out and blow it through, not a hard job to do, you can program the extremes of the fuel sender while its out???? Another question your pump has both a feed and return yet your fuel rail is one sided. So what do you do for the return feed??? I take it this pump is similar to mine from Webcon ie fuel sender, self baffled, all in the pump body??? Chris.

Ok I've just re read Daves blog and his build thread followed by Hurricane1500's thread and I'm now wondering if the Caterham brake kit is the way to go. Quality parts and good support. I called hispec twice now asking for price of their different disc types and caliper kit price. Gave my phone no. the first time and my phone and email the second. 2 days after last contact and no response yet. Not good. Chris.

Yer I'm not too bothered about that. This was a has anyone tried Hispec brakes thread but cheers for the link. Chris.

Progress, tonight I started to refit the new engine and new gearbox back into the car. Progress will be slow as I have very little cash and have a few ideas to make the car lighter and less complicated on the heater part of the coolant system. Will post once I've done more. There is loads of corrosion on the car from last winters driving. 27,000 miles has taken it toll. Look like I'll be needing to get out the red paint. Chris.