I get a great deal of info from the TR8 and Stag list which is sent to me
via owner-TR8-digest@mercury.Ics.mit.edu and rwelty@krusty-motorosports.com
respectively but is there a similar list for Spitfires? This list ,
triumphs@autox.team net, seems to be mainly TR series cars, less the TR7
and 8.
I am currently having a bit of a struggle with the Spit with regard to the
distributor centrifugal advance. When I completely rebuilt the engine in
my 1971 Mk IV US spec car I converted it to Mk III European spec by fitting
the European cam shaft and dual HS2 SUs. I used the stock Delco Remy
distributor on the US spec Mk IV which just has a centrifugal advance and
advanced the idle timing to make it match the European centrifugal advance
specifications. Or so I thought. On checking the advance over the engine
rev range I find that it's only advancing 10 degrees whereas is should go
to 25 or 30 degrees. I would have thought that as the centrifugal advance
springs loose their tension over time the problem should be advancing too
much are than too little. Thinking about dismantling the distributor to
get at the centrifugal bits I find that the "core" plug in the end of the
rev counter drive has to be destroyed to dismantle the distributor and
nobody seems to stock these.
I looking for someone who has had a go at this and can tell me any pit
falls. I am certainly going to have a go at this come what may.
With regard to a vacuum advance , which is not fitted to the MkIV US spec
engine but is on the European version , I have a distributor from a
Spitfire 4 ( sometimes called a Spitfire Mk I) which does have a vacuum
advance. But it won't hold a vacuum. Has anybody ever taken one of these
apart and fixed it?
My overall quest is to get the power of a European Mk III and therefore
restore the power that was lost when Triumph had to sacrifice power to meet
the early US emission regulations.
Any thoughts that you may have would be welcome.
Stuart Greenwood
sagreenwood@earthlink.net
San Diego Ca
Triumph TR8, Stag and Spitfire Mk IV
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