Tuning & Modifying
My car is not a concourse show car and was never intended to be one, It has been modified or as I see it improved. The modifications made are covered below.
To see full size photographs click on thumbnails.
Engine
The original Mk3 unit was completely rebuilt with + 60 pistons, balanced crank & fly wheel, fast road cam, stage two head. Plus a duplex timing chain and uprated oil pump with external oil feed pipe to the head.
Fuel & Carburetors
I started of with standard twin 1.25 SU but found they were inadequate even with K&N air filters. A pair of 1.5 SU carbs are now fitted, this made a vast improvement to performance. The carb needles are AAA. Try to get older carbs with no emission control.
The fuel system should be kept as cool as possible. On the standard car the fuel line runs over the water pump, this area gets very hot. It should be rerouted to run along the bulkhead. A cool air supply into the carbs is essential. This can be achieved by fabricating an airbox around the K&N air filters with two flexible pipes leading towards the grill. This is a very worthwhile improvement, the engine will pickup better, run cooler & be more economical on a long run. (I get nearly 40 miles to the gallon). The water heated inlet manifold should also be bypassed.
Click
on either photograph and scroll down to see them in full size.
Photograph on the left shows the airbox assembly.
Photograph on the right shows rerouted fuel line.
Brakes
If you are tuning your car it is essential the braking system is uprated. My car has a servo fitted plus Aeroquip brake hoses and fast road pads at the front. I recently improved the brakes by fitting cross drilled discs with Kevler pads, these made big difference. Kevlar pads are available from the Triumph Sports Six Club
This
shows the position of the servo
Suspension
For this I fitted Spax shock absorbers all round with uprated rubber bushes. (Polyurethane bushes are now available). At the rear I fitted a swing spring from a MK 4 Spitfire. When fitting this a larger diameter front anti roll bar from the MK 4 should be fitted. A conversion kit is available from John Kipping. http://www.kipping.co.uk