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Spitfire Total Rebuild!
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Got stuck into last Thursday morning; I had left it the previous Friday evening with the new belt fitted but no oil pressure building. So, I stripped the front down again, made sure everything was ok, which it was, and tried firing her up again. Turned it over on the started alone a good 10-15 seconds at a time.....oil light still not going out and no oil getting to the head
Trying and trying....still nothing!
Getting frustrated I tried to take the oil filer off to have a look, didnt have my chain strap to hand so hand to try use a cheapo metal band type filter remover, couldnt get a good grip on the filter and could only give it a bit of a squeeze and turn it a little, at which point I figured I wasnt going to get it off so tightened it up again. Thought 'f&*k it, I'll turn her over again' and hey presto.......the oil light went out and oil was flowing to the head (could hear it draining back down when the engine was stopped)
:D
Delighted it not the word!! Stuck back in the plugs, connected back up the fuel pump and turned the key......sweet as a nut!
Back on the road again (had to take her for a spin of course)....
After this I was a little confused aout which badge I should put on the front?
I went with the Spitfire one in the end
Dressed up for Halloween then, wooOOoooOOooo.....ghost car! That or a Halfords all weather car cover.....
Took her to my Sunday job then for a bit of an outing. Seemed appropriate to have a Spitfire parked outside a military museum.....right?
After that then I started tackling the wires for the dashboard. Slowly getting through them and seperating out the wires from the Starlet cluster out to the various lights and dials on the Spitfire dash. Lot done, more to do!
Stuck on my vinyl licence plate then. Its growing on me. I didnt want the typical plate down the front as it would either cover the grill or the lower valance, I reckon its a nice clean look, so the only alternative was a stick on plate. Hey, if its good enough for the E-Type then its fine by me.
The addition of the plate certainly makes the car look more finished, as opposed to the old metal plate I have stuck in the front windscreen, hah.
Until next time........0 -
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Not being picky (but I am, lol) but I imagine a slightly smaller reg plate, positioned off to one side, occupying only one side of the bonnet, might have looked a tad better. I know size is a legal requirement, but I think the slightly sharp nose on the bonnet causes a slight clash. The E type bonnet, like many cars, is a much straighter affair. Just my tuppence worth.
Glad you got your oil issue sorted ( or it sorted itself?). Hopefully you won't have too many nasty surprises like this. Hope you're enjoying it also.
Thats a good point, one that I hadnt considered to be honest. I think I've come round to the plate now so it's not bothering me
Got another few bits done over the weekend....
In lieu of my rear bumpers, which I still have not finished I made up a temporary plate that fits behind the licence plate onto which the licence plate lights fit. Also temp fitted the two rear reflectors in the bumper mounts.
'Twill do for the time being.
They might be a tad on the bright side? Hmmm...
:cool:
I still have to take the rear lights off, clean/polish all the lenses and attach the light bases to the stainless backing.
Got stuck into the door weather strips then. Wasn't looking forward to this job as I heard it was supposed to be a difficult one, but I was pleasently surprised! Very easy job after I bent up an improved tool for pulling the clips into place.
Front suspension is very hard so driving isnt the most comfortable experience, plus it makes the car a bit noisier inside than it needs to be. So, I'm gonna try the rear springs from the Starlet in the pront shocks, which I hope will drop it and soften it out a little.
Spitfire spring: 90mm diameter - 310mm uncompressed - 12 coils
Starlet spring: 93mm diameter - 334mm uncompressed - 9 coils
I'll swap one over and see what happens 0 -
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Spitty was flying high, but she's been brought back to earth
Tried a rear spring from a Starlet on an old Spitfire shock and the fit was good! Trimmed off a slight angle at the tail end of the spring to help it sit better and offered them up.
^ Trial fit of starlet rear spring in old Spitfire shock. Look grubby here but both were cleaned up before fitting.
^ Going airborne! Before the spring swap...
^ Brought down to earth! WHAT a difference it makes, its amazing. There hasnt been another job, since the paint of course, that has made such an impact on the car!! Whats more the drive is far more comfortable and a little quieter.
^ Sits in the arch just nice!
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That's a fantastic transformation. Well done.SpitfireIV wrote: »Spitty was flying high, but she's been brought back to earth
Tried a rear spring from a Starlet on an old Spitfire shock and the fit was good! Trimmed off a slight angle at the tail end of the spring to help it sit better and offered them up.
^ Trial fit of starlet rear spring in old Spitfire shock. Look grubby here but both were cleaned up before fitting.
^ Going airborne! Before the spring swap...
^ Brought down to earth! WHAT a difference it makes, its amazing. There hasnt been another job, since the paint of course, that has made such an impact on the car!! Whats more the drive is far more comfortable and a little quieter.
^ Sits in the arch just nice!0 -
Nothing much to report guys! Been busy in work and will be for another while.
Had the dash out recently to clean up a few bits and fit the LED strips to the recessed panels. Taped up the joints on the gearbox tunnel too with aluminum tape; hopefully that'll kill off a few more sounds. The wiring is a pain, but I have to finally pick through it and sort out whats what and eliminate or tape up....
Popped the dash back in and tried out the LEDS...
:cool: Bit on the bright side, especially at night, but I like the effect. I green LED bulbs for the dials also but I got positive earth ones, so, I'll have to do some modding on the wires again before I can try those out. I'm gonna have to look into dimming the panel lights a bit or ideally adding a dimmer so I can adjust them to my liking, if such a thing is possible?0 -
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Re the sound deadening I used this stuff called flashband that I got in woodies. I've lined the rear section of the floor and boot with it. Makes a huge difference in reducing road noise.
I didnt get the Evo Stick brand, but I did get a wide roll of that bitumen based flashing and have put down sections on the floor pans, bulkhead and other areas, not sure if it made that much of a difference to my car, its noisy regardless :P
Doing a bit of rough shaping, grinding and filing on the rear bumpers. Added 'humps' to fit the reflectors to. The cut off ends of the bumper will also accommodate the licence plate lights.
They'll look somthing like this mock up....
Hope to get them finished pretty soon and off to the powder coaters.0 -
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Cheers guys, I've left them off to be powder coated last week so I'll see how the look when I get 'em back. It was the DB5 which gave me the idea for bumper bulges; after realiing my rear light design was somewhat similar to the DB I noticed their novel idea for mounting reflectors. I was struggling to find a spot so figured the bumper was as good a place as any
The interior is coming together really well! Done some major tidy up work with the plan being to get the inside presentable so I can take the car for a spin or two over the Christmas period.....think I earned it this year!! Last Christmas I was fitting the gearbox to the engine on Christmas eve and modding the fuel tank on Stephens day!!
Special thanks to OscarBravo who was good enough to send me a dimmer for my LED back lights, it worked an absolute treat and allows the intensity to be adjusted right down to a soft glow......just perfect! Thanks again Oscar.
So, some pictures.....
The rev counter is actually an early MG electronic counter that I've fitted the dial face from the Spitfire mechanical rev counter to, hence the different needles.....still a work in progress.
The dials will be taken out eventually one by one, stripped down and cleaned, but for now...
Still using the Starlet ignition and a light stalk that hidden under the dash that controls the power to the lights and high beam/low beam, that will be seperated out to the centre switch on the switch panel and the left hand stalk eventually.
Glove box door sticks out like a sore thumb now. That'll be covered with vinyl soon and have a lock fitted.
Fitted a panel covered with a bit of carpet in by the gearbox tunnel on both sides, cleaned it up no end and hides all the wires!
Looks great at night! Camera just doesnt do it justice.
Hooked up the interior lights also, one on the driver side and one of the passenger side.
Until next time! Hope to have the rear bumpers fitted by then 0 -
Happy Christmas all!
Got a few little jobs done on Spitty before xmas and then I've just been enjoying her, took her out for a good spin today (approx 65 miles), longest run yet with no hiccups. Roof down, cold wind beating me on the back of the head but it was a great experience and good fun.
Rear bumpers back from the powder coaters (the little specks/dots are rain drops).
Fitted! I like them!! If there was anything I'd change would be the depth or thickness of the reflector units, I'll look at getting something with a slimmer profile I reckon.
How it used to look....
Time for a good spin then...
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I'm loving the bumpers.
Me too, they're on to stay!greendragon3 wrote: »wow she is looking really really well now , the bumpers are class and really set her off no end , shes a real credit to your hard work and perseverance , happy Christmas to you and your family and here's to many happy years of motoring with
" spity " .
Thanks very much, happy new year to you too.How's the engine choice feeling now , sound and performance wise ?
Is the gearing and handling working out well ?
65 miles on a rebuilt triumph engine would have it already pi55ing out oil
Engine feels good and goes well, I've gradually become adjusted to it I think and everything seems to be settling in fine. I've yet to have the overdrive wired up so I'm looking forward to trying that out. She'll sit happily at 100kph but is screaming to go up that extra gear that I dont have at the moment
Happy new year all!
Nothing much to report really, not been doing much work on her these past couple of weeks, just been enjoying her and taking her out when possible, so, all I have to share are a few glamour shots of the last week
Next job I think will be to sort some carpet, see you then 0 -
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Wow! Its been a while, hoping none of ye were hanging on the edge of your seats waiting! :P
Been busy enough the past while; got more of the electrics sorted, I now have:
- A working horn (uh er)
- Fuel guage and temp guage working (for future reference, a Triumph water temp sensor will screw into a Toyota water pump housing....fluke?!)
- Tried the battery meter guage, but it isnt funtioning properly.
- Clock wired up, it works and surprisingly keeps correct time!
- Ignition wiring sorted and transferred from Toyota ignition on the column to period Lucas switch under the dash on H frame.
- Overdrive wired up and working (makes some difference to be able to switch into over drive on 4th!!)
- Purchased a cheap Chinese amp, and now have a pretty decent sound system! :cool:
- As well as assorted other odds and ends of interior trim.
Anyway, a few pics...
Took her on a couple of runs too and from work; not a bother!
Working under lights getting more wiring sorted. You can see the rev counter on the scuttle, we tried to get it working but had no joy, the innards are prob too old and not compatible with the 'modern' Toyota ignition. I have a rev counter from a 98 Corolla in the post, so, that should do the job!
Over drive hooked up and works a treat! Unfortunately before this the speedo cable decided to snap! Have since ordered a new one, but the effort of fitting it...ugh.
More to follow.....0 -
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Time to tackle the cosmetics and interior trim now.
Stitched up and fitted a new armrest cover from some leatherette.
Picked up some carpet then, just regular ol' household stuff, pretty basic, short pile black on a felt backing and started chopping!
First up was the rear deck area! Before.
Cut and stretched some leatherette over the inner wheel arches.
Cut and fitted a bit of carpet.
The one piece panel that I had cut and fitted before Christmas was taken out and had an oversized section of carpet stuck to it.
Glued and trimmed.
Fitted and looking sharp! I reckon so anyway....
Seat belts back in. Have to get some U trim to finish off the edges but overall I'm very happy with how its turned out.
Then along came an amp....well, after about three weeks!! Seen here fitted temporarily to a side panel!
Making the panels....
Stitching on the edge binding, first step.
With that done you have to fold it over and go again.
Like so.0
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