Blubayou
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Everything posted by Blubayou
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No John, I don't blame the pump at all, as I said they are utterly reliable. I do blame myself for foolishly using old pipes & connectors etc... It did also occur to me that if the car was a total fire loss as the result of my poor / non-factory install, the insurance company may well refuse a payout
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Can I just add a couple of points which I've leared having had an electric fuel pump blow petrol all over the engine bay whilst driving? I've only ever used the facet boot mounted variety, always with a filter on the inlet, in two different vehicles. Both were utterly reliable. The first time was in an Avenger in the 1980's which was fitted with twin 40 DCOE's. This was misfiring at high constant loads which I thought may be due to fuel starvation (which it turned out it wasn't). It was pointed out at the time that the Holbay Hunters were fine fitted with an AC mechanical pump just like in the Spitfire. The second was recently on the Spitfire. The 42 year old AC pump was past it's best, so I fitted an electric pump just because I had one sitting around. It wasn't that easy to squeeze it behind the boot panel & run a pair of wires to, but it worked well. It also means wiring in an inertia switch at least, preferably an oil pressure switch too. All was fine untill it blew apart one of the old connections on the bulkhead. Only the smell made us stop. With the car still idling, fuel was blowing everywhere. There are loads of connections in the fuel line between the tank & the carbs, most of which were designed to be under vaccuum & are now under pressure with a boot mounted installl. I would replace them all with new & less joints if you plan to do this. I've now gone back to a standard mechanical set up....... :)
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Hi Richard, Can't remember the spanner size unfortunately, but do remember pushing the rod whilst driving as you are. I do seem to remember the adjustment being very fine to be just right, adjusting it one flat at a time and then back again. Not sure why it was so critical but all is still working a few years & about 4000 miles on.
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Thanks for that SteveGT6, I'll have a good look at that, currently de-gunging my old seal. Anyone have any experience of proprietary spitfire seals that are a good fit & available now? Ta :)
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Just took my old screen out, my 10 year old seal is reusable but I couldn't get the ally trim in before. Where did you get the plain seal from & is all still ok?
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Hi Roger, My car came to me as a non runner, I can't believe it ever ran like it was. It was also fitted with a Dolomite engine so it had probably been messed with. I seem to remember a lot of discussion about the pushrod length somewhere, anyway maybe it was a Dolomite part or something. I later upgraded to an overdrive box which was fully rebuilt by Mike Papworth, the slave cylinder then fitted exactly as it left the factory. :) Same clutch fitted with both, but different release lever I might add.
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My own version from many years ago. I seem to remember the pushrod was too short but this worked perfectly for a few years.
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Cheers Piman, Fitting turned out to be much easier than thought as I have only fitted the silencer at the moment. The 'fitting kit' supplied at £10 extra cost was 2x 2" exhaust clamps & some paste. Hmm. Anyway, I removed the stock silencer, fitted a stepped reducer, modified the nearside final exhaust hanger to suit the orientation of the new silencer bracket & hey presto. A pair of flat exhaust clamps were useful to get the system as high as possible without clanging the body. Suffice to say MOT passed without even an advisory. Exhaust looks great & sounds great, see here :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vOWDrIVSko
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Hi Guys, Getting the Spitfire ready for MOT last week after a long winter layup, all is funky until I check out the rear silencer. Due to a few condensate filled starts over the winter, the bottom of the rear silencer which looked intact is like a tea bag. Half hour of welding soon revealed I was wasting my time. So, I now have a Phoenix 3 piece straight thro' single pipe system sitting on the floor. I take it the single silencer hangs to the left on the existing hangar position? Any tips on fitting this impressive monster are welcome. I once had a Phoenix manifold that leaked at the joints & fitted badly, would appreciate not struggling like that again... :)
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Just for info, I used my stock 1300 carbs on a 1500 for quite a while and they were ok. I remember having K&Ns on them too with no issues, indeed they seemed louder than the correct 1500 carbs I have on now. 8) My own theory for why the 1500s were fitted with twin 1 1/2" carbs is rationalisation, as they would otherwise be the only car in the entire range at that time to be fitted with 1 1/4" carbs.
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Just for info, I used my stock 1300 carbs on a 1500 for quite a while and they were ok. I remember having K&Ns on them too with no issues, indeed they seemed louder than the correct 1500 carbs I have on now. 8) My own theory for why the 1500s were fitted with twin 1 1/2" carbs is rationalisation, as they would otherwise be the only car in the entire range at that time to be fitted with 1 1/4" carbs.
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I have a three rail Overdrive box in mine, I believe it's the sweeter of the two? It's without doubt the best change I ever made. As said above, a complete car is probably the best source, they seem to go for immoral prices nowadays. Mike Papworth can supply / fit /recon as good as new. He did mine about 10 years ago after I dropped it off in a pile of bits & it's still tight & quiet.
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After 8) The door shuts with about 6mm clearance!
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Before:
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Ok, easy fix ish - cut down the cover to suit as shown below. The little tin reinforcer is cut to match the trim too. Only one screw left to hold it in position but it sits snugly on the carpet as shown. Works well :)
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Hi all, Went to the Stony Stratford Classic yesterday, great informal meet, huge turnout, plenty of interesting triumphs too. Anyway, this was also my first proper journey with my Mk1 MX5 seats in. I must say it's the most comfortable journey yet in my Spitfire (my original seat foams were dust). My seats certainly didn't just bolt in lots of mods & welding on brackets needed, especially on the passenger side but well worth it. If you are a max of 5' 9" you'll love them, just right for me. Big issue is the seat belts are pinched up against the seat squab, so much so I can't get the side trims on which may cause damage to the webbing. I have fitted them as far into the centre of the car as I can and it's darn tight. Anyone got any bright ideas, swap them side for side or something :)
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Don't think I'd go near atank with flames, little point really. So far as I know, Spitfire fuel tanks are not in great demand? Think I'd source a replacement :)
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I got recon calipers from Canley. Very little more in terms of cost as your pistons will be shot. Look like new, work like new :)
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For my two penneth, I used tap washers held in place with silicone mastic on one side. Very cheap, ride height as it should be, should last as long as the originals :) I seem to remember using eight, think there are only 6 originally?
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Hi Mk3, Exactly as you say. I converted my Mk1V in a similar fashion, get hold of the standard one piece rubber mount (your rubber bobbin mounts are no use), bolt it through either a flat thick piece of steel across the chassis rails or fold up a thinner flat piece with reinforcing webs to suit. I seem to remember a piece of 6" trunking lid worked well :)
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I have 155 / 13 Avons and find they stick to the road just fine. Maybe I'm just getting old :-/
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I quite like them..... Very retro, just the sort of thing you'd see in the eighties. I had an orange Marina with white Weller Superslots back then.......say no more! :)
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Hi Markcro, Are we saying the fluid level remains the same when trying to bleed it? If that's the case I'm thinking is the pushrod on the MC set up too tight? This could stop the cylinder returninng all the way back to allow fresh fluid in.
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I put mine between the two existing gauges & moved the lighting switch above. Gauge & switch (early Marina type) cheap from autojumble, pipe, tee & fittings from the incredibly helpful Speedograph Ritchfield I seem to remember. They made it all up for less than a tenner I'm sure, but that was 10 years ago.