12th December 2001

I have not had the car tuned for some time now, and after fitting the roller rocker shaft it was running a little roughly. Again I booked it into Redline 01753 655522 for a quick tune up.

Tony, adjusted the carbs, altering the mixture and balancing them properly. It was then run up on the rolling road. it is currently producing around 95 bhp at the back wheels, which allowing for a 20% loss through the transmission means that the engine is producing about 120 bhp at the fly wheel, not bad for a 1300 cc engine.

The next thing to do is increase the size of the chokes in the Webers from 30mm to 34mm and increase the main jet sizes accordingly. Apparently this might make it harder to drive at slow speeds, but increase the top end power. Currently it will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 6.5 seconds.

Click on these Images to see the spitfire being tuned.

In Redline

Being spun up on the rolling road

A couple of pictures of the Test gear, I was hoping to get a picture of the dyno at full power, but the digital camera took too long to take the picture!

14th December 2001

I took the car back to Redline today to have the larger chokes installed. afterwards it was run up on the rolling road. Now it is producing around 100bhp at the wheels or 130bhp at the flywheel. Cool!

The first picture shows the difference in size between the 30mm (on the right) and the 34mm chokes. this change should add an extra 4-5 bhp.

Tony trying to pull out the old chokes from the back of the carb body

30th December 2001

I have made a fantastic discovery! a shop called Speedshack and its only 3 miles from where I live. It is an Aladdin's cave of all manner of new and second hand performance parts. From Webers to tuned engines, from wing-mirrors to big exhaust boxes.  Although the majority of stock seems to be of Ford origin, obviously there are some parts that will fit anything, including Triumphs. The best thing is, is that they don't try and rip you off! Have a look at their website.... www.speedshack.co.uk   

I have now bought a solid state "Facet" fuel pump, some Performance Hose Sleeving (these just give standard rubber hoses a braided look) and the correct "Y" piece union for the Webers (before I had a plastic "Y" piece which had become dangerously brittle)..

The sleeving is made in the USA by www.russellperformance.com. It seems to be imported into the UK by Redhouse Autos and branded as CT Racing. The kit I bought from Speedshack cost £30.00. The only problem I had was that there was not quite enough braiding to cover all the fuel line and it didn't include the bottom hose. I also had to replace the concertinaed original top hose with a straight length of 1 1/4" rubber pipe.

Here are a couple of websites I found while trying to trace the source of these hoses:

I have now fitted the Facet fuel pump, the only problem being, is that it has to be fitted by the fuel tank, which will mean running even more wire up the length of the car. (Incidentally, the fuel pump from Speedshack was £25.00 cheaper than from Moss). I have mounted it on the rear nearside inner wheel arch on two Mini exhaust rubbers. The feed for the power is taken from the switched side of the coil and fused with a 12 amp fuse.

Some Pictures:

The fuel pump Engine detail, from the left

Engine detail from the right.

  Passenger's side Driver's side