lordleonusa

Matt, Don't make any hasty decisions that you may regret in time. Put the car on stands, cover it up, forget about it, it'll still be there for you later, if you get your mojo back. Trust me, this is the way to go. Leon

Its kind of neat, but I am concerned about the positioning of the fuel tank. I don't even like the position of the fuel tanks in my Vitesse and aim one day to have one made to fit above the rear axles. Leon

Yesterday played with my new jet-washer underneath my wife's truck and underneath my Vitesse, that shifted a lot of grot! I am liking this toy! Leon

Finally finished replacing both the fuel and water hoses on the Vitesse today. It took no less than three attempts to get the right hose, first time they sent me 60" of 0.250" ID hose, then they sent me 60" of 0.500" ID hose in absurdly bright blue, then they finally sent me what I wanted, 60" of 0.500" ID silicone hose in BLACK. to SAE J20. All I have to get now is a few stainless steel clamps, without the holes in, that's all the l;ocal flaps have. Next I am going to get a pair of replacement SS throttle cables in a teflon-lined housing in black, instead of the blue that I presently have on there. I have finally found a supplier of those, intended for go-carts. Leon

Nice Lambretta. Today, I completed the fuel system renew on my car. Oh and BTW, I had purchased another Mr.Gasket fuel filter as a spare for my car, and guess what, at some point during the ten years between buying the old identical looking filters, they have changed the threads again! Now, 24 TPI, I played with it for a while, cracked the housing and threw it in the bin, except for the filter element that I can reuse. (yup, made and printed in China, now looking for alternatives)... Anyhow, I went to the fuel station and bought two gallons of 110 Octane Ethanol Free Race Gas for starting the car for the first time this year. It fired up on the key, (good job battery tender, 13.9 volts all winter). [that's two U.S. gallons at $7.99 each] Checked it for leaks, found none, drove to town, stopped for less expensive two gallons of Ethanol Free 92 Octane, (that's equivalent to about 95 UK Octane), for $4.949 each gallon. That's almost the same as 10% Ethanol Fuel Super at the normal fuel station. Checked again for leaks, found none, drove another two miles to my workplace, found no leaks, and drove home, no leaks, but it was really hot here today, about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Leon

NPT and BSP are two different standards for threaded pipes. NPT stands for National Pipe Tapered and is primarily utilized within the United States. BSP, or British Standard Pipe, can be found in many other countries. The difference between these two thread types can be seen in the number of threads per inch and the angle at which the threads themselves are cut.These sizes and pitches vary depending on the size of the pipe. BSP pipes often includes more threads per inch (TPI) than NPT, but these are not standard rules. A pipe of one inch in diameter, threaded to NPT standards, includes 11.5 TPI, while BSP uses only 11. As the pipe becomes smaller, the TPI increases in both standards from 27 TPI in a pipe of 1/16" NPT pipe, to a TPI of 8 in pipes of 2 1/2" diameter or larger. Though NPT and BSP are common throughout the world, many cities and industries, such as fire fighting, define slightly different thread standards.The two standards are also further divided into whether the pipe threads are tapered or parallel. Parallel threads maintain the same outside diameter throughout, and thus do not form a tighter seal as one goes further down the thread. By contrast, taper threads create an increasingly tight seal as the pipe is screwed in further. Plumbers typically use tapered threads in applications relating to gas, while parallel threads are common with water lines. The British Standard Pipe has two types, BSPT (British Standard Pipe Taper) and BSPP (British Standard Pipe Parallel). These two types have the same angle, pitch and number of threads, but the BSPT will have a tapered thread while BSPP uses a parallel thread. National Pipe threads standards have two types: NPT (National Pipe Taper) and NPP (National Pipe Straight). NPT similarly differs from NPP through the usage of a tapered thread. More reference links: www.relab.cn

but why would Mr.Gasket Co, based in Ohio be using British Standard Pipe on their products, whereas National Pipe Thread is more common here and indeed on Triumph engines from the UK! confused Leon

Good point, but I don't come from where I find myself! Leon, somewhat left of centre, geographically speaking.

Decided that while I am working in the boot, and have the glass/nylon mesh fuel filters off, I will replace the plastic barbs as supplied with the filters with brass barbs. It turned out that the black plastic barbs and the filter body has a thread of 28 tpi, with a 1/8th inch barb. (now that is a stupidly unavailable thread size if ever I saw one!) Needless to say, the brass barb has a more normal NPT 27 tpi, and 1/8th inch barb. After bashing my head against the nearest brick wall for a few minutes, I used a tap to change the thread size in the body of the filter at each end to NPT 27 tpi at each end, so that I could use the brass barbs that I already have. I also replaced the nylon filters and the rubber sealing rings in the filters, while they were out. I have realised that I will have to remove the engine bay filter to do the same thing to the threads. Also today, I replaced the top radiator hose, (made of Kevlar reinforced rubber), with a black silicone replacement from the TSSC. I also replaced the heater valve to engine RH side water pipe, (Kunifer) with a couple of black silicone hoses, presently joined with a 2" steel pipe, soon to be replaced with a nice alloy made-for-purpose pipe from Pegasus Racing. Finally, I will tomorrow be ordering a 45" long black silicone water hose to replace the rubber water hose that is running along the RH side of the engine. That lot should take care of all the water and fuel hoses and joints for the next 15 years, or so...

OK, taking a step back, the above 30R14 I have not yet been able to find anywhere, but what I have in fact managed to get ahold of is 30R9, which is certainly better quality than my present 30R7. Gates - Fuel Injection/MPI Hose Part Number: 27095 Line: GAT 1 Year Limited Warranty UPC: 38244244720 5/16" x 25' (180 PSI) Detailed Description Recommended for clamped hose applications on all fuel systems, including fuel injection systems. Not designed to replace coupled hose assemblies on fuel injected engines. Approved for use with leaded and unleaded gasoline, diesel fuel and gasoline blends of ethanol, methanol and ethers (up to maximum concentrations allowed by the EPA) and 100% methanol or ethanol. 60% fluoroelastomer liner resists permeation and alcohol. Oil resistant tube combats heat. Polyester braid reinforcement increases strength. Oil resistant cover resists heat, ozone and abrasion. Meets SAE 30R9 requirements. Temperature Range: -29 degrees F (-34 degrees C) to 257 degrees F (135 degrees C). Intermittent Maximum Working Temperature: +302 degrees F (+150 degrees C). Note: Intended for use with fuels where MTBE concentrations are no greater than 15% by volume. Brand Information Recommended as the premium choice for clamped hose applications on all fuel systems, including fuel injection systems. Not designed to replace coupled hose assemblies on fuel injected engines. Approved for use with leaded and unleaded gasoline. I hope that is a bit clearer!

My mistake, this stuff is 30R14.

More info

My new Gates hose is 5/16th inch diameter, the hose clamps are 14mm.

Due to time constraints etc, work on refitting my oil cooler has been put aside while I replace the 30R7 fuel hose with fuel injection hose in 30R12, which is resistant to modern ethanol based fuels, the car should no longer smell of fuel, as the new hose is lined and not permeable to the fuel. I am also using ABA fuel hose clamps in 304 stainless steel, these are the bees knees, rolled up at the edges to prevent cutting into the hose, and so much nicer than the cheapo clamps sold everywhere. I got them on-line from a BMW specialist on the east coast of the USA. More later.

Well now. let's see, we are relatively safe when a big earthquake runs up the pacific coast fault-line, about 30 miles off the Oregon coast, and the 100 foot tsunami wipes out Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR. Simply because we are 1390 feet above sea level, but then there's the destruction of the main Interstate 5 that the trucks use North-South to supply our food/fuel etc. Not to mention the subduction zone. There is of course the world's biggest super-volcano in Yellowstone only about 560 miles away, and we are within the 600 mile radius of destruction. The only normal Volcanoes that are still active around here are Mounts Rainier, WA, Mount Hood in Northern Oregon and Mount Siskyou about 60 miles south of here. Hmmm, wonder how long the food, water, fuel and sanity would last? There's a lot of folk with guns in Ory-Gun!!! All paid up card carrying members of the NRA and the Republican party! Leon

One of the many reasons that I left.

That's exactly why we have the FBHVC, to fight this kind of stuff and stop it going to far. L

My Vitesse took me 13 years! The therapy is going well.

March 4th, my birthday, glorious weather. I tried to fit my oil cooler radiator on the left hand side of my alloy radiator on my Vitesse. Spent the entire day working on it with a pal. Found out that there is simply not enough room to fit it there. The Vitesse radiator is wider than the GT6 radiator. My Oil Cooler Radiator is 13" long and the absolute maximum amount of vertical space available is at best 12" Eventually decided that you really cannot fit a quart into a pint pot. Weather today was dull, cold and windy, so did a bit of gardening work instead. I've decided that the only place to fit it is behind and just below the water radiator, with the pipes pointing upwards. To that end, I have ordered a couple of Radiator Mounting brackets from B.A.T. Inc in Florida, they are the main importers of Mocal in the USA. Unfortunately, I have cut off 3 of the 4 mounting brackets from the oil cooler radiator in my attempts to fit it, but I will strip the paint from the sides of the oil cooler radiator and the mounting brackets and use Gorilla Glue to adhere them together. That Gorilla Glue will not come undone, in fact it is so powerful, it will likely be stronger than the metal once set. Leon

Welcome Clutch, I admire the Oz can-do attitude, and the helping each other out, it's like the UK used to be maybe 30 years ago. I look forward to following your progress on here. Leon (UK expat) now living in Southern Oregon, USA.

Good thread he has going there, it will be interesting indeed to see how it all turns out. Much kudos to clutch monkey for not walking away from the wreck, but instead getting back on that horse! Leon

On Monday January 21st 1963, my Triumph Vitesse rolled off the production line at Canley in Coventry, Warwickshire, it was an exceedingly cold, and snowy winter's day in the English midlands, (I was in Wimbledon, London, just approaching my 4th birthday). January 1963 In January 1963 the country started to freeze solid with temperatures as low as −16 °C (3.2 °F) in places. Freezing fog was a hazard for most of the country.[2] In January 1963 the sea froze for 1 mile (1.6 km) out from shore at Herne Bay, Kent;[3][4] BBC television news expressed a fear that the Strait of Dover would freeze across. The upper reaches of the River Thames also froze over,[2][5] though it did not freeze in Central London, partly due to the hot effluent from two thermal power stations, Battersea and Bankside: the removal of the old multi-arched mediaeval London Bridge, which obstructed the river's free flow, and the river embankments, make the river less likely to freeze in London than in earlier times (see River Thames frost fairs). The ice was thick enough in some places that people were skating on it. Icicles hung from many roof gutterings; some of these were as long as a metre (3 feet, 3 inches). http://www.britishpathe.com/video/freeze-up-all-round My car was originally built up as a Triumph Vitesse 6 Saloon in Phantom Grey, with a Spa White flash down the sides, complimented by a red Vynide interior. It was eventually delivered to Reigate Garage in Surrey, where it was registered as 7456PJ. Today, on Friday February 3rd 2012, 49 years later, parts of that car, (the bonnet top, and headlamp surrounds), still exist in the Signal Red Triumph Vitesse Mk.2 Convertible that sits in my garage here in Medford, Southern Oregon, USA. Next year, I will hold it's 50th birthday party. Leon photos below, include a very similar Vitesse 6, although mine had a red interior instead of a blue one, and it had a webasto folding sun-roof.

I know where I am, not too sure exactly where I am going, (that keeps life interesting though), money is getting ever tighter, and it's therefore getting harder to maintain our standard of living, but I do appreciate that there are MANY, MANY more people in a much worse state than me. So, if I have to severely restrict my Triumph driving this year, as in 2010 when medical costs got pretty horrible, then so be it., (this years, it's all my dental). Our house may only be worth 50% of what I paid for it in Dec 2004, but that will change, probably by 2020 according to my calculations, but that's no big deal, it is a small house, with a good sized garage for my Triumph. I still, somehow, have a job. It's just the working 6 days a week, for 4.5 years that's getting me down, I just need some time to rest, say a couple of days, then I will have the energy to get back on my car projects, but at least I have been able to build up a workbench in my garage, and collect some decent tools and parts to do that work. (perhaps, a staycation this year) The key to keep going is to realise that nothing stays the same forever. I lost the muse, with writing a monthly article for 10 years, then I had nothing left to say, but that seems to be coming back a little. I haven't lost the will to make my car even better, this is actually helped by seeing the (mostly older) folk at Triumph shows here, having 'issues' with their equally elderly and mostly original Triumphs, and my realising that I have engineered those out of my car, (yes, of course, I always help them with good grace). I really relate to my step-daughter, on many psychological levels, and she is High-functioning Autistic with Asperger's Syndrome, and she has learned to adapt and hide her 'condition' from neuro-typicals, and my wife who was in the medical profession for many years, identifies many similarities between us. I have always known that I was a little different, but in a good way, as I recall being bullied throughout the school system, because, like the dogs they are, morons who bully, can smell fear. It didn't work, I was always getting into trouble at school for fighting back, (good job I didn't have any serious weapons to hand back in the day!) I do think that I am probably fairly smart, as my co-workers and customers keep saying so, and they can't all be wrong. OTOH, perhaps they are just less smart??? Funny old world. Take care Dave, we all like you! Regards Leon

I get pretty depressed sometimes, stuck in a rut in the UK, left the UK, now stuck in a rut here. I am only truly happy in the company of my best friends, but don't get to see them often enough. Working on my Triumph is the best therapy I have found, and of course driving it, on interesting windy roads. Beats drugs, beats therapists, (they all said I was fine) My wife is probably right when she compares me with her autistic daughter (my step-daughter). I am likely a high functioning autistic, don't know what my IQ is, but I feel my talents are wasted where I work, and our daughter has an I.Q. of at least 146, but is doing well down in Silicon Valley. I don't get suicidal though, I have too much more I want to do with my life. Leon

Thank You this link is terrific, Timken available here in the USA. Leon