Jonny-Jimbo

An update to bring us to date... Boot lid, and fuel tank removed; Rear lights removed, then rear body section removed. Was a pain in the backside, so this will have captive nuts to make it much easier. Seats, harnesses removed and wiring unclipped... Once unbolted I had my former event photographer round to help lift the tub off, which was nice and easy! We put it on my welding table, and then put on a shelf for future reference... The front end is mostly Spitfire, but a bit of a mess - notice the steering rack mounts pushing themselves out as the rack clamps were put on the wrong way round.

As Mr Bonnett is keeping a build thread of his G15, and is nearing the end, in order to keep the tenuous Ginetta's-have-Triumph-Suspension-And-Steering link going, I may write about the G4 restoration, which also has said same set up at the front. So, the first photo - the car pulled into the main workspace, sans bonnet after it's shunt 5/6... 7 years ago!

I wonder if they are 2000 calipers then. What is the disc diameter of a 2000, Spitfire and GT6? it would be useful (if it doesn't exist already) to built up a reference page to this sort of information, what sizes calipers are, dimensions of discs and lug locations etc.

Hi all, Another daft question for you all to have a pop at... On the Ginetta I'm rebuilding the front suspension is all Spitfire type. Originally It would have had Type 14 calipers I believe, however the ones fitted are not. They look similar to 2000 calipers, in that they have a rib down the side, and use a pad of this shape; rather than the usual Spitfire square pad. So, what other calipers have the same lug spacing as a Type 14, but look like a 2000 caliper? Are they all the same lug spacing across the Triumph range, or is it likely to be something like Dolomite or TR7 etc? The calipers are also centred on the disc with a washer behind the lug mount. If I can, I'd rather do away with this and revert back to Type-14 as long as the pad surface area isn't smaller. I'll take a photo of them tonight.

Alex Chandler sent me a photo earlier  of his 1500 and it has the same gap, so actually it might be okay in the end...

I didn't do it Nick, the owner assembled it all all, I just noticed the back plate was bent by the starter, but the gearbox is pulled home.

At Coventry Motofest this year theyhave permission for time trials on the ring road.

A couple of friends have rollers etc, and one has access to a very large press, so might be able to squeeze back flat if needs be... however, I also have a few spare plates myself, or could get an aluminium plate from Canleys.

I'd love to do an Austin 7 (grew up opposite an Austin specialist called Available Austins, sadly now long gone and the site turned into a generic car sales place)... but the cost of a 7 does surprise me, even in poor condition.

Oh wow - proper barn find Austin 7's do exist!!! Will this be special bodied as well?

Hi Colin, Is that because with the backplate bent it means the bellhouse mounts up on the cock? I ask as all the other bellhouse bolts are pulled home tight and flush, it's only by the starter that it's got the gap, hence thinking it will effect starter engagement. I admit, I hadn't thought about the fact the clutch itself could be effected too!

Torqued up last night with my torque wrench and a chuffing great socket. I removed the started motor and used a pry-bar on the ring rear to lock it whilst my other hand gave a good tugging. The nut needed nearly a full revolution to bring to torque, so it must have been pretty damn loose. As is often the way though, doing one job revealed another issue... or two... Waterpump gland seal failed, cooling fan held on with two out of four bolts, every single stud and bolt on the engine to bellhouse face has the fasteners in the following order; nut, plain washer, spring washer... ideal. Also the engine backplate is bent. I wonder what else I'll find...

Last night when torquing up the crank nut on the Spitfire 1500 I have in for a bit of work I noticed that there is a gap between the engine backplate and the bellhouse. With the starter motor fitted and torqued up the gap didn't close. Using feeler gauges I found the gap to be 2.281mm. I'm wondering if this will effect the starting of the car, as with the backplate bent, the starter motor is sitting at a slight angle to normal. Should I see how it goes, or will the back plate need changing for definite, in which case it'll be better to get the gearbox out and get a new plate on ASAP.

That method would also need the bar to be perpendicular to the crank and parallel to the ground, otherwise you have to factor in vectors etc.

In any case my 8" spanner undid the nut by hand, without trying, so either way it wasn't correctly torqued!

Cheers John, always best to double check these things. Dave, I'll have to double check what mine go up to. I know my little one does 110lb-ft, think my bigger one will go to 250, but I'll check and let you know. I need to have a word with you about your Herald actually, I'll pop over tomorrow afternoon, I'm about to go to a mates stag do.

Hi all, I've got a Spit 1500 in the workshop for finishing off as the owner is now spending most of his time in Germany. When setting the valve clearances on the engine I found with my 8" long spanner I could turn the crank nut. I think therefore, it ain't tight! What's the torque setting for it? Needs a 1-13/16" socket I think, looks like a 1" thread, maybe a Whitworth one or something? In my Dolomite 1500 manual it says 150lf-ft, is that the same for Spitfire?

My mate used the cheapo ones off ebay on his BMW 3 series, road use only, and lost a front wishbone off it because the bush failed. We had some supplied with a car when I was at Ginetta, and we had to change them before we sent the car back to the customer, as just sitting int he workshop and taking it for road tests etc was enough to deform the bushes. I use Superflex in the old cars and Powerflex bushes in the BMWs.

Haha, smallpoo... I know the car is called poo, but it still amused me... because I'm a child. Sorry.

Did you break the gearknob Richard, or have you decided to convert your auto to a manual O/D?

You'll have to aim for 0th position, so when you get demoted you come 1st!

Posteriors starting with the letter A and ending with E! Team Fallowell is out of the event - lost all the headlights on the way home from work tonight. Working to fix it, but may not get it done in time. Dropping out now to give Nathan a chance to run.

For the last 5 days the battery voltage has sat at 12.5 or 12.6... this would suggest to me that there is not an electrical drain and the previous owner just had a dead battery and didn't know what to do with it.

The 2000 passed today, no advisories either which is nice to get twice in a row!!

I've got a fairly good battery charger than can test the CCA of a battery. As I said the battery is brand new and only 2 weeks old at most. Yesterday the battery voltage was at 12.6V (parked, nothing turned on), and today was 12.5V in the same condition. One of the problems is that the battery is under the rear seat on the drivers side, and the fuse box is in the engine bay on the passenger side between the primary and secondary bulkheads. My intention is to monitor the battery voltage over the next week or so, taking a reading each day.