Vincent MPH
Riley inspired Rag Top

Vincent MPH Brake upgrade

Improve those brakes, Mintex Brake pads

Click for full details of several options to improve you brakes.

What are your Brakes like??

We have discovered that some people have misunderstood how to connect the Dual Circuit Brake Master cylinder. There are TWO chambers in this cylinder, (Forward two outputs & Rear two outputs ). One FRONT & One Diagonally Opposite REAR brake MUST be connected to each chamber. NOT !!! like this one, this is Incorrect !!

Do your Rear wheels Wobble ??

We have discovered that some people do not realize that the REAR wheel does not seat properly on the Taper of the Rear Spline adaptor.

There NEEDS to be some Clearance on the Spline adaptor retaining nuts, see picture, This is not where you might expect it !!!!

It is on the edge of the nut closest to the Tapered seat.

For this reason, On the rear, after fully tightening the nuts, They should be trimmed to give clearance and to make it easy when servicing the brakes next time, all nuts SHOULD go back in the same place, therefore it is a good idea to Mark each nut & the splined adaptor with the drum.

Letter , Number or center punch dots !!! 1-4
Nuts to Adaptor AND Adaptor to wheel studs & drum & LHS, RHS

Front Wheel Bearing adjustment

These are Tapered Rollers Bearings and they require Specific Adjustment !! First make sure that you have a “D” washer ( it Has a D shape in the center and prevents the Spindle nut tightening on the bearings during normal running ) behind the Castellated Spindle nut. The method is to Tighten the nut up to 5 Ft Lbs, ( 0.7mkg ) i.e., until the hub becomes a little tight. This is to make sure that the Wheel bearings are all fully Home! Then back of the Nut One Flat or to the nearest Split pin hole, giving an End float of between 0.002″ -0.008″ ( 0.05mm – 0.2mm)

Trunnions

Trunnions are recommended to be Filled with Hypoid Gear Oil SAE 90 or EP!! not grease, This is achieved through the Grease / Oil Nipple just above in the Trunnion, (this picture has a Bolt which should be replaced by a Angled Grease Nipple).

Shock absorbers

Normally fitted with Damping Adjustable screws. If they are Spax! then they have 14 Clicks of Adjustment. As the lower end i.e., Fully Soft, Anticlockwise, is difficult to correctly set, it is Much easier to turn the Screw More than 14 Clicks Clockwise!! and then back it off! Backing Off 8 or 10 Clicks usually has been found to be suitable for the British Country roads. Avo usually have 20 or 22 Clicks.

CAUTION !!!! Anticlockwise, fully soft, the adjustment comes to a STOP!! Don`t force it, it Will Break! Clockwise will go on forever.

Tyre pressures, 165×15

• Front 21 psi
• Rear 23psi
• Toe-In, 1-2 mm Total
• Camber, 0 – 1/2 Degree IN

If you set it at 0 degrees Unloaded then it will be about 1/2 degree with passengers.

Ride height

I have noticed that there seems to be a wide variety of Springs and Ride heights on the Vincent’s. So I think the car will benefit greatly from some Set Up improvements. The Top wishbone should be Horizontal to Slightly Up as in the picture. Looking directly at the front suspension Wishbones, they should be in this position with weight in the car, i.e., one driver or if you make it Two children for an even spread of ballast !! To make corrections you might talk to me about different springs or/and Spring spacers to fit Under the Springs.

Anti Corrosion

Polished Aluminium parts. The Aluminium is Unprotected, most of it just Polished and will corrode. You can help to keep the Vincent’s Value and condition by simply Polishing all the aluminium parts and then Simply spraying them in a Silicon Spray commonly used on modern cars for all the plastic trim. This also works well on the Wire Wheels.