kartman24

Thanks for the replies, the clutch fitted on the splines ok, I used a little copper ease to help it as well...............Martin

Hi all, I am just finishing putting my tuned small crank 1300 Herald engine back together and need some advice, it has a higher lift Newman cam fitted. The head looks like it has had approx. 1/8" skimmed off it and I have now torqued it onto the block but I have run into problems with fitting the rocker assembly. I have undone all the adjusters as far as they will go but the pedestals are about 1/8" clear of the head, I realise that the posts will have to be pulled onto the head evenly and that some of the valves will then be open. I cannot attempt that as the two end cylinder head bolts are now going to be too long and the end posts with the angle will touch them way before the shaft is firmly seated. When using a skimmed head do you have to cut these two bolts down, if so I will have to lift the head off again to pull the studs out, am I ok to reuse the head gasket (engine has not been run since the new black head gasket was fitted). Also with this much off the head will I need the rocker post shims, are these sold in different thicknesses or just the one available from Rimmers? Many thanks for any help.............Martin

Hi all, I have recently replaced the engine in my 1958 Fairthorpe with a tuned 1300 Herald small crank engine, (it had a standard 1300 spit engine before).I have changed the gearbox also but for another Spitfire one the same as came out as the syncro was getting tired on the old one. I have fitted a new 3 piece clutch set which all looked the same as what was on the old engine (diaphragm clutch etc.) Before fitting up the carbs, exhaust and prop I decided to check the clutch was clearing ok by sticking it into gear and turning the gearbox rear flange. The flange can be turned in 4th gear but you can hear the clutch rubbing and feel a lot of drag from it, if you try it in 1st or 2nd you can`t turn it, the pedal has to be at maximum travel to even get this! I have now put a new slave cyl on in case it was causing problems but it is still the same. The release bearing carrier is the larger of the two types, I gather there are two different thickness bell housings where they bolt to the engine, I have both here and the bell housing is the one off the original gearbox which is the thicker type. I can see the release arm moving as soon as I start to push the pedal but there is not much pressure on it until it is halfway down which leads me to believe that it is only then pushing on the diaphragm plate. Do the small crank engines need the bellhousing with the thinner mounting flange (where it bolts to the engine), in theory this should move the release bearing closer the pressure plate. Any thoughts on this, the thrust bearing is the slightly domed type not the flat one just in case you were thinking about that. There are a lot of knowledgable people on here, I am sure one of you can put your finger on the problem, thanks for any replies.................Martin

Many thanks for the replies, I am about to torque up the flywheel bolts, the manual mentions lock tabs under the bolts, my engine had none, should they be on there or do I just torque the bolts up?............Martin

The Spitfire workshop manual says use zinc copper grease to provide some lubrication for the clutch spigot bush, I have some Copper Ease here will that do the job?.........Martin

Many thanks for the replies, just what I was after............Martin

What should be the lb/ft torque setting for the crank pulley nut on my small journal 1296 Herald engine, the workshop manuals I have don`t have a torque for the nut? Also they mention a locking tab washer, there wasn`t one fitted, should it have one?............Martin

The early small crank 1296cc Herald engine I am rebuilding has only TDC marked on the crank pulley/ timing cover using a hole and pointer. As I understand it the timing is set at TDC then a knurled nut is turned on the distributer the get the required timing before TDC. Ok now my problem, I have a rebuilt distributer that does not have the adjuster, so how do I get my required timing? I gather you can buy a timing light that has an adjustable setting allowing you to set it at say 6 degrees before TDC and this will light my engine marks up when the timing is at 6 degrees. How do others get round this, could I use a protractor and mark the crank pulley to get the 6 degrees, would that work ok? Or is there another suggested way of doing it?.............Martin

I have gone with the Payen gasket, turns out Jigsaw somehow got confused as they thought my engine was an 1147, hence the offer of the race gasket, apparently they use the Payen ones on tuned 1300`s also. The rings I have fitted are Grant ones as supplied by Jigsaw also...........Martin

Hi Frank, have just noticed your Atomota Man user name, I like it! Things have moved on gearbox wise, I took the herald box with the Vitesse ratios into a Classic car gearbox firm about 30 mins from here and he gave it a good look over. He could sort it but due to the level of corrosion on the teeth which had been out of the oil for 30 odd years the gear box would certainly be noisy in use, one of the selector forks was very heavily worn as well. He reckoned over £400 to completely strip/clean and repair where necessary and the box would still be noisy due to pitting in the gear teeth, so I passed. Having now looked at the casing number on what I thought was a GT6 box it is in fact a USA spec Spitfire box with the FK number. It has the round propshaft flange which would mate with my propshaft but the input shaft is a larger diameter. Can this box be adapted to fit my Herald 13/60 engine, the bell housing is different but I am assuming that is interchangeable, I am stuck with my flywheel and clutch cover plate as they have been balanced along with the crank. The ratios seem quite good compared to the earlier UK Spit boxes..............Martin

I have been supplied a late 1500 oil pump with the angled pick up, is this a superior pump to the 1300 unit with the straight pick up which is what the engine had in it before? The reason I ask is that I have fitted a windage tray to the sump and now the sump won`t fit over the pump pick up due to the engine backplate and the oil deflector shield at the rear of the sump. to get it to fit I would have to cut the windage tray nearly the whole length on that side to give clearance, making the tray virtually non effective on left hand bends? If the angled pick up pump has no benefit I will just get it changed so the sump will drop straight over the pump. Both windage tray and angled pump came from the same supplier..............Martin

Sorry meant to say 6 studs on one side, the 1296 has 5 on each side.........

Hi all, I have a modified 1296 Herald small crank engine which has been lightened and balanced, TRIS 260/375 Newman cam 1 1/2" SU carbs, big valve ported / polished head which has been heavily skimmed, pistons are County .030 oversize. I need a head gasket for this and was wondering what the options are due to the high compression ratio. I have been speaking to Jigsaw Racing and he has offered some that are old stock race 1147..............Surely these wont fit, there are 5 studs on the standard 1147 on one side?.............Martin

The 1st gear ratio is definitely not the same as that of the GT6 box so I don`t think it just has GT6 internals but hopefully I can get the two boxes over to them next week and see what they can do.

The `close ratio box` came off the back of a 1300 which was purportedly SAH tuned race engine which was on twin 40 carbs, I was told the box was a close ratio unit. The gears appear to be 2.8, 1.8, 1.3 and 1.00, these are approx as it was done with a chalk line on the input shaft and rear flange. The box is stamped GB, I will be taking into a local gearbox specialist who deal with classic cars to see what he thinks about rescuing it...................Martin

I have the engine out of my car at the moment and while I am at that stage I thought I would replace the tired gearbox that has poor synco on 2nd and reverse. The diff in my Fairthorpe is a 4.1 in the Standard ten axle, I am stuck with this as the better ratios all take larger splined shafts so 1st gear is pretty redundant. The engine and box are 1300 Spitfire, I had a hunt around my stash of parts and found that I have a close ratio Spit box and a GT6 box amongst my parts, both have a better 1st gear ratio, the close ratio box feels a bit rough when turned so I took the top off it and found a bit of rust on the top of the gears where they had not seen the oil in the bottom of the box for 25 years. So I thought I would use the GT6 box which has good ratios but have found that the splined area on the input shaft is a larger diameter than on my Spit clutch plate. I have had the bottom end of my engine lightened and balanced during the rebuild so I can`t change to the larger GT6 clutch, I am stuck with what I have. If the GT6 box was dismantled would a spit input shaft fit the casing and the GT6 mainshaft? Short of that I guess I will have to take the close ratio box into a gearbox rebuilders and see if he can clean the gears up...............Martin

Ok, thanks for that Nick, it seems to make sense, the new Big end bolts came from Jigsaw Racing so should be right for the job.................Martin

I am putting the bottom end back together on my tuned 1296 Herald engine and am finding conflicting data in various workshop manuals regarding the torque settings, Haynes gives the main bearing cap bolts at 50-55ibs/ft and the Autodata book gives them as 65lbs/ft ? Big ends are given as 38-42lbs/ft and 46lbs/ft respectively. The mains bolts are the slightly longer ones with the spring washers under the head, the engine is a GE Herald unit, I have used new spring washers on the mains and new bolts on the big ends...............Martin

Hi all, I am currently rebuilding a 1296 Herald engine and am using a highly skimmed head so trying to work out the figures to arrive at the head gasket thickness required so I don`t melt my pistons! I have done the cylinder head using the Perspex with drilled hole method and am happy with the results but I have the block to do now and am thinking that surely the fluid used will leak past the top piston ring gap so I will not get a true figure?............Martin

Thanks for the replies, I am running double valve springs so it sounds like they won`t fit anyway! I have another question, I have a new set of Grant rings and have started checking the gaps in the bores, I have found one compression ring that is right on the lower gap limit, if I put it in no1 bore halfway down I really have to force the .012in feeler gauge in with my thumb and it takes a lot of pressure to get it in. If I try it in any other bore the feeler simply won`t fit, I have oiled the bore and ring before fitting, will this make a difference in the gap and also once the newly rebuilt engine is run will the gap open slightly, does the ring bed in and wear slightly? Many thanks for your thoughts. The car is a 1958 Fairthorpe Electron Minor..............Martin www.fairthorpe.blogspot.co.uk

I am rebuilding a Herald 1300 engine to fast road spec and will be doing some AutoSolos with the car, I have read somewhere that Ford Pinto valve stem seals can be used and glued in place, anyone here done this and is it worth while or a waste of time?...............Martin