easloan Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Hello everyone. I'm new to the group. My wife and I bought a 1973 spitfire 1500 about six years ago and I started doing a lot of electrical work on it and some other repairs. We moved to Florida from Pennsylvania (USA) about a year after buying the car. It has sat under a cover for five years now, but I am now ready to get her up and running :-) My question is: While looking at the car from the rear, the back tires tilt outwards at the top and it doesn't look like they are supposed to do that. I am attaching a couple photos. With the rear wheels removed, you can see that the drums sit at an angle. Should I be concerned? And if so, what should I be looking to correct? Thanks in advance for your help/insight with this. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Quite normal for a Spitfire. Suggest that you get hold of a book for the car. Tony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Hi, yes they all do that to a greater or lesser degree! Its worse after having just lifted the back off the ground and can vary depending on the rigidity/curve of the spring and weight carried in the car. Aluminium spacer blocks of different thicknesses are available to go between the spring and diff which lower the rear of the car and give the wheels a more -ve camber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPearce Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 As they said, it's absolutely normal when jacked up or when first put back on the ground. You cannot assess the rear suspension of a Spitfire until you've rolled it at least 50 yards on level ground with "typical" loading (weight of a driver and full tank of fuel). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Could well be seized rear trunnions. Push the car back and forth and see if it levels out. Your do not really want any positive camber on a swing spring car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Quoted from thescrapman- Could well be seized rear trunnions. Push the car back and forth and see if it levels out. Your do not really want any positive camber on a swing spring car Correct.....and if not settling....wrong length half shafts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 Thats an interesting one. Does anyone actually know what a long halfshaft car looks like with short ones and what about a short axle car with long shafts fitted (might be an worthwhile mod)? Edward during the life of the Spitfire two different length halfshafts were fitted with later cars like yours getting the slightly longer ones. It looks like theyre interchangeable so theres always the small possibility of the wrong ones being fitted (a wheel bearing runs directly on the shaft so they do wear out) and of course this will affect the rear wheel camber.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPearce Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 I believe the spring was not changed, so a short shaft car with long shafts fitted is just a long shaft car, and vice-versa. The difference in stance is that the long shaft ones sit a tiny bit lower. If you have mixed shafts, it looks weird and you get one wheel with positive camber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glang Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 Thanks Rob. Apologies for the thread hijack but my Vitesse could be fitted with long shafts to get a wider track, more neg camber and lower stance👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easloan Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 Thank you everyone for your insights. I'll be getting out to the garage this weekend to do some work on the car and will check things out with a new perspective. I actually have two haynes manuals and a couple restoration manuals for the car. I better take a closer look at them :-) Thank you all again for the insights. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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