Nice looking Vb there John!
Many thanx for the reply John, and yes it was 'deffo' a 67 lower 'channel' plate, so I rubbed off the 7 in disgust as it doesn't exist lol...
They stopped making/using them in 66 so why would they cast a 67 lower plate!!!
The poppet valve (as I call it) the one I am speaking about is UNDER the manual valve.(fat wobbly hemi-orange circle)
Obviously not present in 67 upwards VB's and WHAT does it do???
The tiny spring was broken inside the 'P' valve, it also has a rubber ring seal (under a small plate with two screws) and it was able to move up and down freely, oh dear!
( I replaced the broken spring with one I had spare from a PTK, I had upgraded that one before with the black B&M spring in a later Vb)
Clear as mud...