Vitesse MKI/II EFI

  • Model:Herald / Vitesse
  • Year:1967
  • Purchase Date:1988-05-05
  • Reg:
  • Comm No:
  • VIN:
  • Engine No:
  • Paint Name:Grey
  • Mileage:63,600 since '89
  • Location: GB

Constructed from the best bits of several cars 1988/89. Totally rot free chassis and tub (rough bonnet though)
Engine now running on Megasquirt EFI with home built plenum chamber manifold. Also 3D mapped ignition using Ford EDIS-6 parts also controlled by the Megasquirt ECU. Engine internals remain standard.
Larger Bosch 75A alternator now fitted plus compact Nippon Denso starter to allow room for Pheonix 6-3-1 extractor manifold. Gearbox is Toyota W58 5 speed from a Toyota Supra
3.63:1 Diff
CV joint driveshaft conversion (homemade)
Telescopic rear damper conversion
175/70 tyres on 13 X 6.0 100+ cross spoke alloys

Now updated to MSII ECU with barometric correction for those Alpine passes!
Still the same old engine, still dragging itself around

Photo Galleries

Club Triumph 2011 10 Countries run

(22/05/2015)

Summer 2009 Switzerland and the Club Triumph 10 CR

(22/05/2015)

Round Britian Reliabilty Run 2008

(22/05/2015)

New Wheels

(22/05/2015)

Megasquirt EFI conversion

(22/05/2015)

Driveshaft conversion

(22/05/2015)

Special Interest Projects

Brakes

The brakes on this car have always been marginal and seemed to be getting worse. They lacked bite and needed serious pedal effort to get results leading to a couple 'moments'! Having had the same setup fitted to my Herald and finding those excellent, I always wondered why. The Vitesse isn't that much heavier! First step was to check that everything was working as it should be. The caliper pistons seemed a bit stiff, so I pulled them apart and rebuilt with new pistons and seals. The discs were virtually unworn but rust marked, so I just gave those a good scrub off. All seemed well at the rear and the master cylinder had been rebuilt. Back on the road all was much as before. It was suggested that the 'standard' replacement pads available today are intended for cars with servo assistance and thus too hard. I then went on a pad testing mission. I have no idea what breed of pads I started out with - but they were BAD. Next up were EBC Greenstuff (still with the old discs) - they were slightly better but still very disappointing. Then I tried some new old stock asbestos pads from an autojumble. - They were better than Greenstuff but still well short of the Herald brakes. I was seriously thinking about fitting a servo......... At this point I noticed that in spite of all the action they were seeing the discs were still discoloured as though rusty. So I changed them. Just to confuse the issue I fitted Mintex 1144 pads at the same time.... And it worked like magic - all of a sudden I could actually lock the wheels if I wanted too without needing both feet. So I guess the moral of the story is - if your brakes are rubbish, make sure your discs are smooth and shiny and you have decent pads fitted! I think the pads were the magic bullet in this case. Mintex 1144, P No. MGB633 (some may need to drill the pin holes out depending on which variant of the type 16 caliper you have fitted). They aren't perfect - they generate loads of dust and make a mess of your wheels, but that's better than a bashed in front end!

Heater overhaul and improvements

I don't use this car alot in the winter months, but recently made on long trip on a very cold day which showed up the facts that 1) the heater produces NO heat at all 2) the air output (hot or cold) is very small. In the early stages of the trip the freezing fog meant ice forming on both sides of the screen (had to keep stopping to scrape it off) and later on I was just plain freezing cold - my hands went blue! Something had to be done: Triumph heaters did work ok when new, although the Heralds and Vitesses never had great blowers. So something had to be wrong. First I dismantled the heater and flushed the matrix through with a hose. This did get some brown cack out but it didn't seem very blocked. I dismantled the valve and found that it was in dreadful condition, but, I thought more likely to allow excess flow that obstruct it (more on that later!) I threw it all back together and found things much the same. No heat. This was odd I though as both inlet and outlet pipes were getting properly hot. After much discussion on the Club Triumph Forum, the consensus was insufficient flow, so I took it all apart again, unsoldered the end of the matrix (easy), manually rodded out all the tubes, pressure washed them and soaked in phosphoric acid for a couple of hours. The matrix was now definitely clean! Soldered it back together, pressure tested with the garden hose. Good to go. Threw it all back together again. There was now a hint of warmth, but very unimpressive. I (and my panel of experts on the CT forum) was getting frustrated..... could it be that the baffle in the top of the matrix had failed and was allowing flow to bypass the tubes? Then, some illumination. The new heater valve arrived and I realised that I had mis-understood the workings of the original valve and it was in fact a major restriction. All apart again. Also a quick trip to a local scrapyard produced two alternate modern blower motors that looked like they might fit. - Mk2 Golf. Bayonet fitting, fan only slightly larger than the original Lucas item. Speed control resistors built into it. - Nissan Micra (Rounded shape). Three lugged fitting, like the original but rather larger. Needs external resistors for speed control. Huge fan. Finally decided on the Golf unit for convenience. The Micra one could definitely be made to fit and would probably deliver more air but requires more work and needs external resistor pack. The heater front plate was modified to accept the new motor and the whole lot reassembled. Testing proved that lots more air comes out of the vents and it's hot! Just need to sort the wiring so that I can switch speeds from inside the car (multiway switch).

Gas strut boot-lid stay

Fed up with that clanky mechanical boot prop that won't lock or unlock? Use one from an Audi 100 bonnet - they are the right length and can be fitted in minutes!

MGF Seats

The original seats were shot, so I've fitted a pair of leather MGF ones bought off ebay at very reasonable cost

Toyota Supra gearbox install.

Update 03.04.2007: Now fully installed and working pretty well. Been using the car as daily transport for a week and it is fine. Really nice 'rifle bolt' change and good ratios. Propshaft doesn't vibrate!! A first ever for this car. Niggles: Very few! Might try a smaller bore master cylinder as the clutch is rather heavy and I seem to have more travel at the slave than I need. 3rd gear a little noisy but this a junkyard box of unknown origin. I'm fed up with Triumph gearboxes getting noisy, leaking oil and breaking without doing many miles. Looked at Ford Type 9 which appears too long for the Vitesse (although probably OK to GT6). Also ratios are very 'saloon car'. Toyota T50 is a good box and is known to fit, but very rare in the UK. There is some controversy over whether a Toyota W series gearbox can be fitted into a small chassis Triumph. Well, I reckon it can, although I'm not finished yet! I have a W58 box (the one with the nice close ratios and the tall 5th gear) from a UK spec MK1 3.0i Supra. It will go between the chassis rails with just some light fettling. It is a very close fit, but it just happens that the lumps and bumps on the gearbox fit in the gaps. Challenges 1. The bellhousing. Dellow (in AUS) make one and sell conversion kits. There is at least one person selling in the UK, but only as a complete kit and cost is high in the context of the value of a tatty old Triumph. I'm not about to spend 25% of the cars value on a bellhousing. Don't know what Dellow charge direct - they don't answer my emails. The Supra bellhousing has the starter position in the wrong place so doesn't lend itself to an engine backplate mod. According to rumour, some Hilux 2WD trucks (20R, 21R & 22R engines) use another W series gearbox and have the starter in nearly the correct spot - so maybe you could use that. My solution is cut the engine side off the Triumph bellhousing, cut bak the Toyota one to give the right face to face dimension and weld the two bits together. Edit July 06, Now finished. 2. The gearshift position is too far back (just like the Ford!), but other versions of the W series box have it further forward so this problem can be overcome using real Toyota parts. Edit: July 06, now overcome by fabricating new remote. 3. Clutch. I'm planning to use the Toyota release bearing, actuating fork, pushrod and slave cylinder. May need to change the Triumph master cyl diameter to suit - haven't worked it out yet! The clutch iteself will be standard Triumph cover with 215mm Toyota friction plate with spline to suit. This is a standard part - don't let anyone tell you it's a special - they just want your money! 4. Rear mount, I'll make something up using the Supra rubber block. 5. Propshaft, yes, it is a special and was a bit costly. 6. Spare Triumph right angle drive has been converted, bit fiddly but possible. Toyota gearbox seems to have same speedo gearing, which would be very handy!! Update March 07. Actual install well under way. Chassis modified by tapping the flange lip over and welding some mount brackets on. The original plan to use the Toyota mount was scrapped as it would have sat too low in the chassis limiting the space (even further!) for the exhaust. Clutch plumbed using Triumph master and Toyota slave + linkage. Everything moves but it doesn't quite feel like a clutch to my left foot - hmm...... Triumph master too small bore?? We shall find out very soon!! Now in and working - even the clutch - just got to fettle the tunnel cover to fit and wire up the reversing light. It can be done!

Distributorless Ignition

As a follow-on from the Megasquirt fuel injection project I decided to use the Megasquirt ECU to control the ignition as well. This meant adding a 36-1 toothed wheel to the crankpulley, the inductive VR sensor to sense these teeth (and thus engine position) and mounting the coil pack and EDIS control module. The distributor is removed complete. Initially, timing was simply translated from the standard 'mechanical map' in the distributor. Apart from some mods around the idle area I have not had cause to fiddle any further. This has made the idle much more stable and the engine is generally much sweeter running. I guess this is the result of reduced scatter and the timing being where it should be for the first time in a while as the old dizzy was not in good shape! It has also made it possible to reduce fueling in the low load and cruise areas of the injection map, meaning that I now have a car that goes better than ever and returns 35mpg average (was 28 -30mpg) so I'm quite happy!

1 Comment
  1. blue 6 years ago

    hi nick
    great reading , given me something to aim for.
    the megasquirt and the gearbox very good.
    diy great
    I love to hear people doing for themselves
    great
    thanks blue

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