1500 Spitfire Restoration

[Twincarb]

I am new to the forum, and have just aquired my first spitfire 1500 1977 model which I am planning on a full restoration back to her former glory.

As can be seen below she isnt in the greatest of conditions, but I am pretty sure with a bit of effort and time she will once again transform into a classic British Sports car.

Plans for her so far are to:

Strip everything left on her out
Remove body and put to one side for now.
Perform what ever repairs are needed on the Sub Frame
Renew all needing to be renewed in respect of Sub frame items... suspension steering etc...
Rebuild the engine, the clock show 99,000 miles!
Paint and finish the Sub Frame
Engine back onto the Sub Frame
Possibly replace the gearbox with a 5 speed its currently a 4 speed no overdrive
Get the Body acid cleaned
Repair/replace all panels in need of work
Acid wash again and have the body dip primed
Respray the body the original colour Tahiti Blue.
New internal trim.. New Wiring... New Seats (New being refurbed!)
Sit in the drivers seat and enjoy...

[Pom Down Under]

That looks to be in reasonably good nick from the photos, lucky boy(?) Twincarb.

We all sit in the seat and imagine at some time, so enjoy. No doubt all the other "builders" will welcome you during the next few days and will give lots of good advice - just take it slowly and record what you do BEFORE you pull it apart, the pictures will probably assist later when you are reassembling it.

Spend some time checking through similar threads on this site and try not to be discouraged by the amazing results that some produce - use them as inspiration instead, and remember, they also have been where you are now.

Welcome to the community.      8)

[Clive]

Welcome!
My first bit of advice is to get along to a local Triumph meeting. Don't wait until the car is finished, you need to get involved BEFORE starting stuff. It WILL save you a ot of grief and heartache, not to mention cash.

Take lots of pictures and notes, store stuff labelled and keep it is sub-assemblies as much as possible. Check here before buying stuff, much of what is out there is pants quality, and some people in the trade are rather better than others.

It may be worth getting the car running before stripping the engine, looks like it has had money spent on it in places already, 4 branch manifold and single box sports exhaust, so that will save you money. It may have had the engine overhauled or replaced too, so don't jump the gun! A compression check at least will tell you if the piston rings/valves etc are OK, and a sump off inspection will let you know how the crank etc is, maybe a set of bearings and good to go :)
Sounds like you have ample budget, so this will be an interesting rebuild. But do get local support.
Put your location in you "signature" as it helps with people knowing who is local when you need help ;)

[Pom Down Under]

Looks like you have ample garage space too!   Please note others; it is not just Goody who has garage space!       ;)

Gee, that was close, just beat you Clive.

[Twincarb]

Thanks for the replies so far, we have a motor club where I work which is where the car is, my normal projects are motorbikes, this is my first car "rebuild" I am used to working on car engines and bodywork including spraying.  I have the view that if a job is to be done it should be done properly.... So with any luck I will have a car that will not only stand the test of time but will look good as well. I am quite lucky that I am able to do the majority of the work myself excluding specialist tasks like the acid strip... My logic for doing that is that it will reveal more than what shot blasting can do (In all its guises)

The suggestion of getting the engine running first isnt a bad one and I have certainly considered it, the car seems to have had money spent on it in the past, with various panels being welded but a long time ago...

I was doing some work on the car last night, removing various dashside components and getting ready to remove the Body. Took the camera out and took the first pic only for the screen to pop up and say no memory card! Ooops school boy error there.

The photo's don't show the sins of the car... rust has eaten away in the normal locations... Boot panels.. Passenger foot well... Passenger side windscreen frame. The Sills have been replaced at some point... the only concern with the Sills is being able to count 4 individual sheets of metal! The rest of the body appears to be in good order... no rust visable on the wings front or rear (at the moment)

[Clive]

Number one rule. Replace the sills before taking the body off the chassis.

OK, it can be done after, but best to stop it deforming ASAP.

[Twincarb]

Sills seem to be in good order if only having been done to a poor standard in the past! When i sort the floor plan out i will take the opportunity to tidy up the job that has been done.

I fotgot to put in my earlier post (I was working nights last night and only just had a sleep) That having taken off all the bolts that hold the body to the sub frame it won't lift off. Looks like someone has used something sticky around the area where the hand brake is which is holding the body down good and propper!

We are waiting to get a vehicle lift installed next month, so havent had a chance to look properly from under the car yet, I am thinking that I may need to heat up the area around it to get it to loosen the grip...

[Clive]

I bet you have missed some bolts!

Seatbelt mounts go through to the chassis. plus some under the bitumen just behind the heel board, about 12" either side of the centreline of the car. Need to chip the bitumen away and all is revealed, they are visible as a small lump before you try getting all the bitumen off.
plus a pair on top of the spring hump, covered by grommets (easy to get them though)

[Twincarb]

Thanks Clive... that's got me wondering now! The only 2 it could possibly be is the seat belt ones... The photo's i have here dont show clearly the area where I believe the seatbelts should mount. (they were removed by the PO)

Have I circled the right point where the seatbelt would mount? Its going to be a little over a week before I will be able to have another look  :'(

[Clive]

No, the ones for the seatbelt stalks, buy the propshaft tunnel.
The two behind the heelboard are on what could be considered the rear seat pan, near the front edge, either side of the propshaft hump.
You also need to undo the radius arms, either in the wheelarch area or the two seen in the pic above.

[Twincarb]

Radius arms are removed... These are photos which i took when the car was fresh in the Hanger!

I take it you mean the ones approx in the middle of the very right of the photo? They are def out, but that is where a black rubber can be seen.... which is what I am suspecting is along that section of sub frame/body work and could be what is holding the body in place!

[sprtz]

don't forget these bolts two or four? I forgot  :P  

[Twincarb]

Two bolts there on either side I am on leave from work at the moment, but am thinking about heading in during it just to see if I can work it out and get the body lifted. I am sort of convienced in my mind that the Rubbery gunk that is visable where the seat belt bolts are is the culprit.... I am just not sure how far along the frame it runs....

The only way to find out is to get my overalls on and look more lol!

[Sheepy]

Hi twin carb and welcome.

That looks like a RAF hanger? Nice place to work.

As the others have said, take notes, take pictures, label up things etc etc

One other point, as you are stripping down (the car smithy!!!) note parts you need and order early, I am restoring the body on a mk2 for a friend, and one of the front floor brackets were on back order, we have been waiting and waiting, so we ordered one from another supplier! Sods law now two arrived! Oh well I will use it on the mk3.

Buy the best parts you can afford, and if you need panels try and go for heritage, and even then they will need a little fettling to fit, but not as much as the other pattern ones!

So keep the pictures coming and good luck! (I need to update mine)

Cheers
Shaun

[Twincarb]

Hi sheppy, your correct that it is an RAF hanger although I dont believe this one has ever had an aircraft in! We still have the runways and perry tracks so once the car is rebuilt I have a safe area to test the car out before taking her for an MOT... That is as long as I dont excede the sites 20mph speed limit!  ;)

I have been looking at parts from Moss and Rimmer so if there is any advice on wether either provides better quality panels I would appreiate it.

With any luck I should be keeping this as an online record of the work i am doing so all can see.

[bodders1]

Hi  Twincarb.

For panels, TD Fitchett are the place to go; as I understand it, they bought the original Triumph presses and tooling.  They are a bit "old school" and don't really to the interweb thingy.  They have a double page add in Practical Clasics every month.
Moss and Rimmers can be good for panels if you wait until they have a sale on and then put in a big order.  

[Twincarb]

Morning all,

I was able to have another look at the car yesterday looking for the reason why the body wouldn't lift off of the sub frame.... With the Car on Axle stands to lift it and then using planks of wood to spread the lifting load on the body, It now looks as if someone has done some welding on the underside of the car welding part of the back section onto the subframe!

Sunday afternoon will be "splitting day" now using a mix of Cold chiesel's and a grinder to see if the welds can be removed with the minimum amount of damage caused! Pictures will be added when I am underway, with any luck the body will be off the car and the subframe work can start...

[firebobby]

Hi TC, where are you based, I take it your in the UK?
It may be wise to brace your door openings before you remove the body from the chassis, there are a few cars about that have some weird shut lines when finished, due to the body bending when removed.

[molten]

I echo same comments from Clive & firebobby.
I would personally recommend completing all structural welding BEFORE unbolting the tub and brace door gap securely, very important if there is even the slightest suspision of corrosion under the outer sill or lower a-post and front lower wings.
Not much to these tubs and distortion can easily be introduced when welding. Following this advice helped me ensure a perfect re-alignment when really fitting tub.
That said, there are hours and hour (and more and more hours) of "fun" to be had restoring these cars and the Guy on the forum are really helpful :-/ mostly

[Twincarb]

The body is going to be going back on the subframe before any welding is done to it. I can see the benifit in bracing the frame before the tub is removed. Will prob do it as my first job tomorrow before attempting to break the welds that have been done between the Frame and Body The sills are sound and have been replaced before... But the finish on them is very poor.... structually they are sound. So I will be redoing them.

@firebobby yeah I am based down in Cornwall

[Twincarb]

Time for a quick update as I have been able to spend a couple of hours working on the car, I have now removed everything ready to work on the Sub frame/chassis just in that questioning moment of wether to get it sandblsted or if I am better off using a sanding disk to prep before using POL 15 (I know people have there views on the different chassis treatments!)

















Having stripped it to nothing, I managed to get the pressure washer onto it to clean off the worst of the grease and dirt. Will be giving it a proper degrease over the weekend and by that point will hopefully have decided on the best way to clean it to remove the rust and existing paint....

The only properly rusted section is as the photo's show at the front. I think the best way forward there will be to cut off what is there and repair the main box section and then build it back up from there with the only replacement part being the front crossmember. It has been patched in the past but the job wasn't executed in a way to preserve the long life

[smithy]

Good work mate, ah how it takes me back.
Re:

6059 wrote:

.... before using POL 15 (I know people have their views on the different chassis treatments!)

...yes a lot of people use POR 15 instead, but if you like the "L" version better, off you go.  ;)

[Twincarb]

lol It's a custom mix of POR 15 and U-POL .... which should give a solid as a rock zinc protection and streamlining all in one go......

That or R and L are so close on the keyboard.

Ok I confess going to use POR 15 instead.

[smithy]

I have one of those old QWELTY keyboards too, easily done. :)
I did my chassis with nitromors and then painted it with hammerite, back in the day. It's still fine now, so I think there's a lot of fuss made about it, to be honest. Just so long as you use a decent rust inhibitor, no worries.

[Twincarb]

As with all rust preventment treatments it all comes down to the preperation... well thats any paint job really, I did consider going hard core and getting the frame galvanised, but after lots of reading (not always the best thing) to get a long lasting paint holding onto galv it needs to be painted (or at least primed) within 24-48 hours of it coming out of the tank. I am more than aware that the best laid plans tend to get wiped out! Well life throws the spanner at you!

So kind of decided that a good compromise would be to use POR 15 3 stage system I like the idea of a hard coat thats hard to chip and I can also have it in light blue which I hope will be not to far from the mark of Tahiti Blue which the car is going back to.