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I rang the DVLA today. Waste of my time. You can only report it by post. But of course you have to ring them (30 mins on hold!) to discover this as there is nothing on their website on the subject, or nothing I can find anyway, and I've been looking.
The attitude was that it wasn't really their problem...... talk to the police. Strange. Pretty sure they usually claim that registration marks always remain their property ultimately, so you'd think they'd be interested in fraudulent use - if only because it's costing them VED! I will be commenting on that in the letter I write.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Thanks to all for you comments and thoughts. It’s my sons car and he’s been struggling to contact the DVLA as it seems to be phone or nothing and their phone hours more or less match his work hours. I’ll try ringing them tomorrow. I may also try reporting to the police in the areas the offences occurred.
He has written to the councils concerned and we’ll see what shakes out.
Thanks Nick
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Last Edit: Oct 1, 2020 20:29:31 GMT by vitesseefi: iPhone autoscramble
1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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How will you arrange the circuits?
Modern stuff is mostly diagonally split. But to stop them pulling violently towards the working front side they tend to have large amounts of caster angle, which you won’t want on a classic, even if it were achievable as it would make the steering unreasonably heavy amongst other things.
Older dual circuit systems tended to be front/rear split, which doesn’t raise the pulling issue. The drawback is that if the front circuit fails, the rear brakes alone tend not to be very good at stopping you and can easily lead to a spin if braking really hard. As already mentioned there were a relative few models (Volvo, Austin Princess) with true dual circuits retaining some braking effort on all four wheels. Clearly the best from the safety perspective but complex.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 30, 2020 12:17:43 GMT
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So, imagine that a week ago you bought a "new" car. You've jumped through the bureaucratic hoops, paid you road tax, your extortionate insurance and the DVLA is informed......
Then, barely a week later, you get post. Demands with menaces from councils (yes, plural!) accusing you of traffic infringements with, apparently photographic evidence of your sins.......
But wait.... Cambridge? Where even is Cambridge? It's not round 'ere. You haven't been to Cambridge.... or even Chelmsford. In fact, looking at the dates and times of the alleged offences, one took place about the time that you saw the car for the first time.... in Exeter. More than 4 hours away as google flies....... At this point in time it would still have been in the previous owners name because you hadn't even agreed to buy it yet.....
And how has your new car been photographed in a Chelmsford bus lane, when it was actually more than 4 hours away in a works car park in Devon on the first day it took you to work?
The photos are quite convincing. Same make and model, same colour. Same reg number. Your car has an evil twin...... A worrying thought strikes.... perhaps your car is the evil twin...... perhaps the nice old couple you bought it from are actually scammers...... You rush out to check the VIN. But it's ok... the VIN matches your shiney new V5.
So how can your car be in two places at once? Simples...... some dishonest curse word saw the reg on Facebook market place and thought.... hey, that's handy, that's just like my car (or the one I've just swiped).
But what do you do about this? Obviously you have to write to the councils explaining why you have no intention of paying them anything. But a crime has been committed..... and this may only be the tip of the iceberg.
One might think the police would be interested. Devon police however it seems would struggle to care less. Crime no? curse word off son, that'll curse word our stats and it's nothing to do with us. Should you try the Cambridgeshire and Essex constabularies where the evil twin seems to be operating? What about the DVLA? The subject is taboo on their website. No mention. Zip. Zero. Nada.
You're on your own apparently. Guilty until you can (hopefully) prove your innocence......
So what should you do?
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 29, 2020 19:52:28 GMT
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Cracking video of a cracking car. Sounds spot on from the inside and outside.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 25, 2020 20:40:58 GMT
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Going back a bit now, senior management had an early (B reg) Peugeot 205 1.4 GR. low mileage, 1 owner main dealer car. Not Peugeot’s finest work. Riddled with faults. Mostly irritating, some a bit more serious. Broken door locks, self dismantling gear linkage, self unbolting brake caliper, persistent, endless pinking when hot.
Dealer useless and not very local, so I gradually worked through the issues. The pinking though..... had clearly been an issue from day one and was all over the service history. Check timing, renew distributor, renew distributor again. I checked the timing and found it was already retarded by several degrees. Putting it to them book figure made matters worse. Though it ran much better when stone cold. I was mystified. Finally, while tinkering I dropped a screw in the air box and ended up having to remove and dismantle it to retrieve the screw. In doing this I discovered the air diverted flap that was meant to select either cool air from the main intake or hot air from a pipe to a shroud on the exhaust manifold. This was supposed to be controlled by a ex capsule and a wire pushrod. But the pushrod was not engaged in the flap so the flap was permanently selecting hot air..... Bingo!
Reassemble correctly, set timing to book figure.... and wow! No more pinking and many more horses released.
She had already had enough of it though and it got traded for a ratty Mk2 Golf GTi, which was just so much better...
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 25, 2020 20:21:26 GMT
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Audi A4 avant B6 1.9TDI.
Younger sons car previously my brothers for many years. Came cheap with a couple of known issues.
One was a small water leak from the bulkhead which would run down the throttle pot wire and cause throttle action to cease. Had been to the garage several times to be fixed and each time the fix was disproved by the car conking out on the M25 in heavy rain with the whole family on board. This is what got it evicted from brothers household. This was a fairly easy fix if time consuming. Previous “professional” garage chimps had obviously moved it to gain access to the wiper mech. As well as butchering the wiper mech they’d trapped the lower seal so a small loop of it was hanging into the car, right over the throttle pedal wire. Easy....
The other was that the auxiliary belt was a terrible squealer. Mostly when manoeuvreing at low speed. This got worse and worse until the steering would kick back quite violently.
Looking back through the history file the car had had several belts, a tensioner and even a power steering pump. The internet though said it was probably the over-run clutch on the alternator...... Who knew such things even existed..... Clearly not the garage chimps..... So I changed the clutch thingy (bit of a trial) and ...... instant cure. Bro wants his car back now!
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 16, 2020 20:47:32 GMT
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When I saw this my first thought was “wtf...... lion cubs?!” Nick I know George likes animals so heres a nice picture for you Bearing in mind the bedroom area for them is 3.5mtr by 1.5mtrs with a ton of comfy stuff all over its seems a pile is the way to go, I guess the other 2 couldn't fit on!
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 16, 2020 12:21:11 GMT
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Only partially.....?!
Just as well it was at the other end of the country or I might have been overcome by temptation myself.....
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 15, 2020 19:49:16 GMT
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Suzuki Jimny engine and box? M13A has 85bhp and very light. If the electronics are too much, SJ413 with the G13A.
Both have a separate transfer case so RWD only is easy.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 14, 2020 20:36:50 GMT
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Yes, 35 slightly smaller than 38 obviously, but the throttle body does not have the restriction of the jet bridge and will probably flow more air than the SU. HIF38 is plenty big for a 998 anyway.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 14, 2020 15:32:13 GMT
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It’s basically the same as a single 1.5”SU.
So should be fine on a 998 but a bit small for a 1275.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 9, 2020 19:59:28 GMT
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Might be worth trying the multi-electrode plugs with 3 or 4 earth prongs. Though intended for long life not performance I have found that they work really well in some older engines. Triumph pushrod engines definitely like them and so do the older VW 8v water-cooled. I think it has more to do with the side electrode design rather than the number of electrodes. They are fairly cheap too. Although NGK do do them I prefer Bosch as I’ve had problems with NGKs failing if the insulators get wetted by fuel flooding. This on ordinary single and triple electrode plugs. I’ve not had great results with fancy plugs on older stuff even with high energy ignition. All you really need to do to take advantage of that extra voltage is to open the gap up a bit, but be aware that this will tend to find the weaknesses in you HT system components.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 9, 2020 11:30:48 GMT
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Baku....
Spent an “interesting” week there in 1996 for an oil & gas industry exhibition. Many memories, quite a few of which are more fun as memories than the experience at the time though.
Not much to add on the wheels except I remember seeing several sets on different cars in fairly quick succession while on holiday in southern France. Memorable due to the cumulative WTF effect.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 4, 2020 20:10:04 GMT
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Got to admire you tenacity!
Trouble is when right at the top (or bottom) of the stroke, you don’t get much leverage from the crank......
ATF & acetone? Block of wood and BFH from the top seems like the only option.....
May the force be with you!
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 3, 2020 17:45:36 GMT
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Plate system applies pre 2008 too and is operational. Recently struggled with an 04 A4 TDI.
Regs say default “3” or, crucially what the plate says, if fitted. The plate says 0.6! To put this in perspective, that’s lower than the default value for post 2014 vehicles with DPF (though they are likely plated lower).
Unsurprisingly it struggled. New air filter, injector cleaner, a savage ragging before the retest and it still took about 20 passes to blow a 0.58. An early example of VAG emissions “optimism” perhaps. I watched the retest and at no point was there any visible smoke.
MoT tester observed that “if the plate isn’t there or isn’t legible I have to test to default” though in this case it would have meant a full fresh test as the 0.6 was already in the system.
He also commented that there is a particular LR Defender (forget which, sorry) with a completely unachievable plate value so have mostly been de-plated by now.
Reckon it’s time for an EGR blank on the A4 as I checked the old MoTs for my ‘96 A6 and noted that that has been blowing under 1 on the first attempt on every MoT since it’s EGR delete...... it doesn’t have a plate value anyway, but last year it managed 0.33. Not too shabby for a 90s tech turbo diesel with >300k on it!
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 2, 2020 12:20:18 GMT
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The 4HP22 in my A8 was flippin monstrous, though obviously some 4wd gubbins on that too.
There have been a very few auto Heralds/Vitesse conversions which I think all use the relatively compact BW65 but even then fairly extensive chassis mods are needed.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Meant to say before....... the pits shown near the lobe peak on your first cam photo mean the cam is on the way out. Should be no pits on the working surfaces. You can also measure the heel to peak distances for all lobes and compare them. They should be all the same on a standard cam. They rarely are on a used one, even when they look ok.
Follower condition is also very important. Light circular markings on the flat face are normal but it should be flat. Any dishing indicates significant wear as does pitting or a a diametric wipe mark or score showing the follower has stopped turning.
Old followers in good condition may be reused with the same cam in the same block provided they are returned to their original position.
Be wary of new followers. These are flat tappet engines and flat means flat...... not CROWNed. Even those who should know better have been known to supply CROWNed...... so check!
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 1, 2020 12:55:20 GMT
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Why do you say these engines don’t like asymmetrical timing? I have a hybrid Newman PH3 (inlet)/PH2 (exhaust) in my current Vitesse engine and that works just fine. Don’t have a bhp number as it’s never been on a synonym but it pulls hard from 2,800 and is very docile and tractable below that.
Wouldn’t recommend for twin carb use - it’s too wild (inlet duration 300 deg, exhaust 280 deg). Needs a throttle per pot really - does have some minor reversion issues on my plenum Inlet EFI setup which make it a bit trying in extended stop/start traffic, though apparently not enough to force me to sort it (5 years /18kmiles)
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Sept 1, 2020 12:28:51 GMT
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Does both. The “bubble” is the single flare used with the male fitting and is done in one operation.
The double flare as used with the female fitting is formed in a second operation (the threaded former is fitted the other way) after first forming the bubble.
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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