Ralph Whitaker

Most filter elements are bonded in to the cases, there is a good chance that the drop has broken away some of the adhesive so it is probable that your filter has become partially detached. That would be like poking a hole through the filter element allowing unfiltered oil through and into the engine. Do you still feel happy leaving it on?, I know I wouldn`t. Ralph

Yes it is close but the sidescreens just miss them. Ralph

I never realised that there were different covers for the hood sticks. My car is a 3a and I was sent a cover with the long ears, so just added the missing peg to the B post. Ralph

Had a run on Sunday to my first show of the year at Elvington Air Museum. Great day and entry included to the museum. Lots of aircraft to drool over, but I had to take a photo of this. Surely designed by Gerry Anderson of Thunderbirds fame. Ralph

Mine has 12. In fact 14 if you include the ones under the corners of the hood sticks, though these were impossible to use with the cover I bought so I used them along the back edge instead, about 18 inches apart, to stop the cover billowing up. The pic makes it look as though these extra studs are right in the corner but they are not, they are 9 inches either side of centre. I attach these first, then put the hood sticks down and wrap the cover up and over to attach the back studs. Ralph

+1 That plastic plinth is the same as the fitting used on the Tex mirrors as seen on the red car. I just fitted one on the passenger side of my Dolomite. The plastic block and base gasket are held to the door with the self tappers and the mirror is then attached to the block with a grub screw. The originals had an alloy mounting block which was much better, but now we have these cheap plastic items. Somewhere I did read that they now have to be able to detach in case you hit a pedestrian which is why they are plastic, but I think this is just an excuse for cheapening the kit. Ralph

I would hesitate to use anything magnetic, the reason being that I used to use a couple of magnetic strips, the type usually seen in commercial kitchens for holding knives etc, on the inside of the back doors of my van. Very useful for holding screwdrivers etc. However it was not long before the shape of the magnets on the inside could be seen on the outside as they attracted minute particles of metal, presumably cast iron from brake drums and discs, which started to rust. Also could not be simply rinsed away with a hosepipe without first detaching the magnets from inside the panel. Just

I will check later but I am sure I have a picture of the tunnel mounted stalks, as I stated before the outer mounting I used one of the body mounting bolts which is a smaller diameter than ideal, certainly smaller diameter than the bolts supplied with the seat belt kit, but at least picks up on a stronger area. I had the advantage that all my body mounting bolts were new as I had only just put the car together, however I found later that it does interfere with the seal travel with standard seats and I cannot slide my seats fully back, by about 2 inches. As I am a shorty it doesn`t really both

Moss do show an alternative braided hose, part no TT3141, that does look a lot like Phil`s set up, so perhaps it was one of these that has given way. Ralph

The clutch pipe should be a proper flexy pipe, same as a brake flexy pipe. It is a wonder that didn`t blow off the first time you used the clutch. It looks like someone has just cobbled it together with plain pipe and rubber hose so you may not have the correct fitting on the other end of the rubber pipe either. If the hole only goes in to the bell housing for what ever reason, then a suitably sized rubber grommet should suffice. Ralph

Aldy, I`m not sure which TR you are working on, but some have a motorcycle type fuel tap low down in the engine compartment. It is there so you can disconect the fuel line without the high mounted tank draining. If you have this tap check that it is open (pulled out). Next, have you got enough fuel in the tank?, may sound obvious, but if the tank was completely empty just putting one gallon in may not be enough to cover the outlet pipe which is generally raised off the bottom of the tank as a guard against sediment getting in the pipe. Try putting a length of pipe direct to the pump

This looks like one would have to dismantle the windscreen frame to drill and fit the top mounting unless you already had the hardtop brackets. I use a sucker mounted mirror all the time, I do not have the original dash mounted mirror. I have it at the top centre of the screen and although it drops off sometimes it is fine. On my Vitesse I had a similar mirror which was stick on which was better. Why not just get a sucker mounted one for the times when you have the boot bag fitted. Ralph

I have the Securon 500/30, the reel is mounted low down on the side of the wheel arch, actually mounted through the rear seat floor on my post 60,000 car, using one of the right angle brackets provided in the kit. (I don`t have the rear seat). The belt then goes up to the swivel part mounted on the top of the wheel arch where it comes easily up over my shoulder and across to the buckle arm mounted on the side of the tunnel. I picked up on one of the body mounting bolts for the lower attachment of the lap strap. You will need at least 3 re-enforcing plates per belt, or 4 if you fasten the

Both the Semi Synthetic and the Mineral 20/50 state 1500ppm ZDDP, both are the same price so which would be the better choice do you think? Ralph

Now I`m confused (again) Are you saying that the Westway oil with 1500 ppm of ZDDP is not enough! Can you point to an oil that has Zn ppm stated please. Ralph

Found this which came with the angle drive I bought so thought it might be good to re produce it here. Ralph

I was thinking of one of these FL7 4 fuse boxes as commonly used on cars of the 70s, should fit where the existing box is and gives 2 extra fuses so I can divide the loads up a bit. Ralph

I must admit my fuse box is getting a little crowded and I could do with either a bigger box, or an additional one to share the load. Ralph

Found the rattle eventually. The back lower corner of the bonnet had been catching the scuttle just above the wing rain channel. I found a small area where the paint had been rubbed away to bare metal about the size of a pin head. 2 minutes with a flap wheel in the Dremel removed about 2 mm from the offending edge of the bonnet. A quick dab of paint to stop rust and no more rattle. Only took 3 years to find. Now I have another tinny rattle coming from the engine compartment to find. Ralph

Probably the gravel in the tyre tread, it is surprising how easy it is to hear this in an open car, particularly the rear drivers side. Ralph

Yep, those are the fellas. They have some kind of coating on the threads to ensure no air is drawn past. Make bleeding really easy but essential to use the rubber covers to stop moisture getting in and rusting the internal spring and ball. Ralph

Keep your eyes open for the easy bleed nipples that used to be available in the 70s, they do come up occasionaly on ebay, and many cars of the era used 3/8 unf nipples same as the TRs. I think one of the brake specialists do still supply them but I cannot remember which one. I bought one last year, again off ebay, to bleed a Dolomite clutch cylinder as the nipple is almost impossible to get at. It was expensive though at about £12 per nipple, but it made the job easy. Failing that use one of those pipes with a one way valve most accesory shops sell. Ralph

Hi Brian, start by making sure that the rear brakes are adjusted properly. Use the adjusters to lock the wheel and then back off until the wheel just rotates by hand. Then adjust the cables from the compensator to the levers on the brake backplates to remove any excess play, but be careful not to overtighten which will pull the levers and cause the brakes to bind. Then finally if necessary adjust the cable from the handbrake lever to the compensator. At each stage try the handbrake lever as you may find that simply adjusting the rear brakes will be enough to make the handbrake work better.

I bought one off a seller on ebay, happy to say it is still going after 5000 miles or so. Speedograph Richfield have made their own which is a square boxy thing, have a look on their website. Ralph

Well, I now have intermittent facility on my wipers, so one result, but the vibration rattle still evades me. I wedged a lump of foam between the bonnet stay and the underside of the bonnet with no difference. I now think that it could be the bonnet itself just catching the raised lip on the scuttle, evidenced by some paint chipped off. I have ordered a few metres of plastic edge protector to try on the basis that it will take up any slight gap and give the bonnet something to close against. Other option was to put another gasket under the hinge on the scuttle, but as this would require removi