Hi All

My mum keeps a 1972 Triumph 1500 (fwd) out of sentemental value; obviously it was never very powerful but it has got to the point of being virtually undrivable.

It's a sunny Sunday car and does well under 1k miles/yr. Had the engine replaced in the late 80s, I believe they had to make up an engine (presumably bottom end, intenals and heads all from different engines); this was ok once run in and was a daily drive for a few more years. That engine has now done 30k but over the past few years has been losing power. It has now got to the point that the car will not even consider going up a hill unless fully up to temp, doesn't like it even then! I've not driven the car on the road, just turned around on the drive way but even from that it was obvious there's something not right.

Anyone have any ideas? Preferably for a quick-fix rather than a new lump!

If there are any BL experts on here, any tips for general maintainance? I'm going to start servicing the car myself (rather than the local independent mechanic) with classic specific oils etc. Are there any tricks to get the electrics working better? The wipers need to 'warm up' for a few minutes before they spring into life! Also, some std looking but modern standards headlights wouldn't go amiss as the standard ones are just dangerous!

Cheers,

Ben

 

Weak spark? Or crappy/corroded earth connection? Just wondering if your wiper and engine problem have a common cause.

 

more oil in the carb damper (presuming it's running a Stromberg, not sure if SU's need oil in their dampers)......................

 

Yep SU's used to in my day anyway.

I like the idea of a corroded earth strap though. It makes sense to me. That or just general caked-up-sh!tty-grease on the wiper spindles and clogged/coked engine.

 

1K/Year ? - It needs a damn good thrashing.

My '73 Midget has never run aswell as it did when it was my only car, did 15K miles/year and spent a good percentage of its life at 90mph with the rev limiter on the red and me hanging on for grim death trying to keep out of the HGV ruts

 

Split diaphram in the carb (if it's a Stromberg)?

 

Any one of the above or a combo of them. Never had a Spitfire but MG midgets and AH Sprites.

Also with the low anniual miles it could be a blocked jet and/or crud in the carbs or just degraded fuel.

 

Cheers, will check out all the above next time I'm back home. Sounds like it'll be something to do with the carbs so I won't have a clue, hopefully Haynes will help me out.

It behaves the same with new petrol (well, new as in just from the garage, but it is genuine 4* so I doubt that pump sees much use). It's a '1500' not a Spitfire 1500 (tho perhaps it's the same engine), the Dolomite used the 1500 shell from '73 onwards.

 

Ahh old cars. Looks like you need a good tune up. Cars back then don't tune themselves - Especially if the ignition/fueling hasn't been touched for a long time, which should be done on every other service in a ideal world.

Judging from your post this might be somewhat out of your scope....unless you fancy making a project of it. Or know a good old car buff.

Anyway to keep it brief you have two ports of call: Ignition and Fueling

Ignition: Check your dwell angle on the contact breakers...if that's off it will be a bag of crap. Check the timing is OK too and also remove and inspect the distributor cap and rotor arm for any hairline cracks and dry out any condensation. If the plug leads/cap/rotor arm contact breakers/condensor are over 10years old, they should be replaced IMO. Also if the spark plugs haven't been changed for over 3 years, change them.

Fueling: Don't know if these are Stromburgs or SUs carbs on these (Stromburgs are labelled on the top, SU's are dust a plain dome). If they haven't been checked for a long time, it probably needs a stripdown and a good clean. But sound like it maybe just a case that the fueling needs to be adjusted. The "old boys" approach of adjusting them by ear and checking mixture by lifting the pistons as menetioned in many carburettor manuals (from any good library )IMO doesn't work, but will get them to a stage where the car is drivable but ideally it needs to be setup on a gas anaylser.

If it runs ok warm, then it maybe your coldstart linkage needs adjusting. Or having problems with damp ignition components.

Not sure what the headlamps are...if they are sealed beam you can get halogen kits, which are usually a straight swap. These use modern day bulbs

Bad electrics such as poor lights and other bits and bobs not working is almost always rusty earth connections, find out when the wires bolt to the chassis. Unbolt them and clean up the connections to shiny metal with some sandpaper, use a bit of battery grease when you put it back together.

Finally, if the old car is a bit unloved, I bet the valve clearances on the tappets have never been adjusted either. Obviously with teh demise of leaded petrol (IIRC the 1500 engines don't have hardened valve seats) Checking valve clearances will be needed to be done (should be done on every odd service anyway, but nobody bothers).

Oh, and there is no need to use "classic oils" a good quality basic Multigrade oil is fine. 15w-40 should suffice.

 

Just a thought after reading Ali's post.

Could be the condenser and points on an old mota. the condensor regulates the voltage over the points and if fault could cause problems like that as the point pit. also get the carbs balanced. The SU carbs regularly seem to need balancing, i assume it has two as per the MG.

These cars are more a hobby or always where when i had mine, it used to take around 15 mins a week to top up the dash pots on the carbs, check the oil levels, tighten the knock off spinners, tyre pressures, etc on the car. All part of the ownership experience and a good part imho.

I had several MG Miget/Sprites one had very fast road 1275 engine putting out around 120 BHP which may not sound a lot but in a Mk4 Sprite was entertaining to say the least.

Happy days

Oh and if you are looking for parts etc you could try:

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/MossUK/

 

Great post ALi-B. I Love these old engines, you can actually see whats going on, and are so easy to fix if you just stand back and think a bit.

Had many encounters with them, mainly fords (Capris, Escorts, mk1 xr2 etc), and more often than not, the fault could be traced to: Ignition, timing, fuel system and bad earthing. All individually easily sorted out if you stayed logical.

*Goes all misty eyed*........*sniff*

The good old days!

 

Agreed this thread put a smile on my face, shame the Spitfire has a problem though.

 

Cheers guys, very helpful posts. It'll be a few weeks before I'm back at my mum's to have a look at the car, I'll let you know how I get on though. I do fancy making a project of it Ali, I'll do my best to do some reading up on carbs. The excuse for my ignorance is that the car is a fair bit older than me I've actually had a summer job at the garage which 'look after' the car and so know that there isn't a chance they've been doing what they should have given the age of the car - it'll just have had standard oil, filters and plugs changed as if it were a modern car Fortunately as I now have mates there I should have access to their gas analyser.

Paul, it's still a (Dolomite shape, but earlier) 1500 not a Spitfire 1275 Sprite sounds fun though I do love Triumphs having grown up with this car, I'd probably have found a Dolly Sprint for my first car if I hadn't had my Scoob (1.6GL) available in the family.

 

Hey, this must be a good thread for pslewis to advise on!

Joking obviously, hope I don't attract him, does he do searches on his own name?

I agree, love working on the old fashion engines - very rewarding when you can fix 'em.

 

I had one of these as my second car, fond memories ! If I remember, the heater was like a furnace !!! Excellent for the winters we USED to have

Part of me still wants a Dolomite Sprint too

 

I had wondered about points (hence weak spark) but thought of the wipers too. If points, do people still do electronic ignition converter kits? Parents got one fitted to their Maxi (or was it the Mk IV Cortina?), made life so much easier. I wonder if they're still made?

 

Yeah, they still make the lumenition optronic ignition kits (doesn't get any cheaper though). Also the slightly cheaper Magnatronic too

Can even get a Maplin DIY self build electronic amplifier from Maplin for about £10, it still uses the conmtact breaker as the switching signal, so it is susceptible to damp and you still need to set up the dwell properly (although no current involved, so it doesn't burn out). Used one on my Landy with good effect for a few years when the Lumenition started playing up (later found out to be a bridged out ballast resistor ).