Ian Perry

Now sold elsewhere - thanks for looking!

Hi all, selling a Spitfire 1500 single-rail overdrive gearbox (as per title, funnily enough) Includes propshaft, rear mount, speedo drive, gear lever (with switch) and wiring harness. I bought this intending to fit it and never did. Life move on (and I need to sell the car too) hence selling this. As I've never driven on it, I cannot vouch for the box's internal condition other than I have turned the input shaft using a drill and heard no bearing noise. The O/D sump was clean with no nasty bits. The prop looks a bit crusty, but the joints feel OK. The switch seems to work... So I can't offer and do not imply any guarantee as to its condition. It's on eBay at a £400 starting price, but I will pull it for a club member coming up with a reasonable offer! Location is near Lambourn in west Berkshire but I travel often to Salisbury and to east Berkshire so could deliver or meet (within reason) to hand over.

All, thank you so much for the responses and advice. I have a 'spare' day tomorrow* so will get the box on the bench and give it a proper poking. * I am supposed to be making a sword rack, but I need some more dimensions before I can finish it (I'm the part-time armourer in a Regimental museum and we have about 60 swords that are currently in a bit of a heap... ).

Hi Tim, Much as I would love to, I think there's precious little chance of trying to do RBRR in this, though might go for the Coast to Coast if I get all my admin sorted in time next time (also known as "getting all your sh.. in one sock"). I have a vague fantasy of touring in Northern Scotland in the Spitz though - which would definitely mean fitting the OD... Thank you!

Gents, many thanks - all sounds convincing... Bonus ball question then - engine out and do it on the workshop floor, or pull the interior out and do it through the cabin?

Now the Spitz is on the road, I am facing the next question. It works fine (well, there are a few niggles as always, but hey), but... It's a 1977 model 1500, with a non-overdrive gearbox. I have a second-hand OD gearbox (with gear lever and apparently working switch), crossmember, prop and speedometer drive. I have no idea the condition of the box, whether it works or is quiet, whether the synchro is all banjaxed, and no idea at all whether the overdrive works. I assume that in theory it would be a "relatively straightforward process" to pull the old box and prop out, put in the OD and reassemble everything around it... but then discover that the box or OD are u/s and start the whole blimmin show all over again. And put right all the new niggles that I've created by giving it the old "fresh air treatment". And also noting that I'll be doing it all on my tod. I apologise for the heretical question, but... Is it really worth it? Does the overdrive really make that much difference?

Lovely shot. Well done, keep going everyone.

I had been really looking forward to another joust across the highlands... 😞

Bu99er - sorry to see that.

I was trying to work out which bit that was - Anthony let me drive that bit, but he didn't tell me anything more than "we're in Scotland" 😄

A propos of not very much, having happened on this thread... My breakdown cover is provided by Liverpool Victoria/Britannia, and they advocated it. I haven't downloaded the app though, awaiting opinions/feedback etc. As an occasional mountain-trekker and a former soldier and rally driver/navigator - and a bit of a Luddite - I default to 'proper' map-reading and generally stay away from systems like Satellite navigation and what3words. They are totally dependent on fallible technology, and on a signal that will inevitably let you down when you need it most! That said, I do acknowledge that I am being rapidly left behind by the rest of the world...

Just to add my best wishes to everyone, I really really REALLY wish Anthony and I were going. Safe travels, and fingers crossed nobody runs short of gas.

I wasn't questioning the historic integrity of "the 8 points rule" itself, I remember it coming out. It was the proviso about the bodyshell, if not the original, having to be NEW, that was a more recent amendment.

Hi Roger, That's certainly different from my recollection - one of the things that stuck in my mind about the rules *at that time* was the conviction that you COULD re-shell a car, though everything else would have to be original. It seemed to make sense, to me at least! You may well be right though - there's plenty of wine flowed under the bridge since then! It's academic though (as far as this conversation is concerned) and I never wanted/needed to re-shell any of my cars, so never put that aspect to the test!

As a bit of a red herring, sorry... 🙂 I used to have a Toledo and (way before they started to become rare, and such sacrilege would be frowned upon now) I converted it to a Sprint drivetrain (and built it as a rally car). The system at the time for retaining the original registration etc was that each element of the car had a "points value" and you had to achieve a certain score to retain the registration/identity. The scoring system was designed so that you could re-shell the car, but would have to transfer everything else from the original car, to retain the original registration. Alternatively if you kept the shell and (IIRC) the interior trim, you could change the engine, gearbox, back axle, suspension and brakes 🙂 . Obviously by changing to the Sprint drivetrain I was changing pretty much all of that... and as the rally car prep progressed, somehow all the interior came out too!!

Nice, glad your battery is sorted 🙂 Re the electrical demand you're planning to run, what alternator are you using? Once the engine is started, the battery should be almost redundant as the alternator should be the thing that powers all the gizmos. If you're using so much electricity that you're draining the battery, you won't have the oomph to start the car next time you need to!

Very sad news re the accident damage, best of luck with the search and maybe turn the 'old' one into a longer term project? Never say die!

Three years ago, on the Friday morning of the RBRR I was in the Moss shop in Bristol arguing with the staff member that the head gasket he had given me was the wrong one. It was a flat gasket and wouldn't seal into recessed bores, no matter what the computer said. Eventually he gave in and found me a gasket that WOULD work, so I then had to race back to Hungerford, fit the gasket, get going. We re-torqued the head and bled the cooling system at Knebworth. The engine seized on the way back down past Carlisle (oil related not directly HG!) but the head problems had prevented us doing the road miles beforehand that might have helped find/diagnose/treat the oil problems... It was all very stressful and unnecessary, and not something I really want to repeat!

Thanks Ben. Having posted this question, I then immediately spotted that thread!🤪 I've seen quite a few adverts for complete 7" light units with built in LEDs, as well as the LED H4 "bulbs" to fit into a standard 7" reflector/lens. I don't particularly like the look of the complete built-in units, and suspect they would look pretty odd on the Spitz, but if a "bulb" will fit without too much hassle then it's got to be worth a try.

Hi Nick, is this resolved now?

Assuming they are actually legal, the much more important question is, are they any good?

Hope it all works out, Jim. Sorry I only just saw this - I put a new battery on the Spitz in December, it was a Tayna 015, bought direct online from Tayna via the 'Bay of E' for £46.99 delivered. It's 'only' 38Ah capacity, but has started the car absolutely fine every time so far. t fitted snugly into the box, no mods required - albeit that the car hadn't actually had a clamp at that point due to the fact that it had still been off the road at that time! A local motor factor had a suitable J hook type clamp (on the 'pearly oddments' stand) although it needed modifying by shortening the hooks and bending a new 'J' profile.

Thanks, Pete - on the odd occasion when I've had to pull out of something, I try to convince myself that it's done for sound, objective reasons - but it still hurts.

Howard, so, so sorry to see this, but very glad you physically are ok. Depending how much damage and where, fingers crossed the mono is salvageable (can you get a replacement chassis leg, or is it more widespread than that?)

Thanks, Pete, but yes, we're definitely out. Too many issues, not enough solutions!