yorkshire_spam

Great stuff! A few bits at the start where I spotted us/UEP. Also spotted the place where we had our first breakdown - but we weren't there, so either you were well in front of us at that point or we'd already fixed it and moved on.

Does anyone know the current/power rating for the 2 speed blower motor fitted to the Spitfire 1500? I'm reviewing my wiring and fusing arrangements and obviously I'll over-spec the wiring, but want "realistic" fuse ratings - so knowing the current/power is pretty important. I'm trying to collate a list of the ratings, I found a reference online to the 2 speed wiper motor being 14W/1.2A which seems low? Any ideas if that's accurate? I also found a troubleshooting guide for the J-Type OD that says the solenoid should draw about 2A (so that's about 24W)

Greetings @TurningSpanners!

If you can't find a new supplier for the clamp maybe try Dave at Spitfire Graveyard? If you go for a new spring be prepared to have to fit a lowering block to get the right camber/ride height. Even with the "correct" spring from a reputable supplier (not the 'bros) I still had to use a lowering block to get mine right.

Even with relays - one of my snagging items before the RBRR on the Spitfire was "NS Headlamp (dipped beam) dim" - one of the bullet sleeve connectors behind the front grill was corroded, fine for the OS, but NS was down on brightness. Changing the connection sleeve solved it in 5 minutes.

@Buttercup brilliant! Thanks!

Thanks @Kevin R just what I needed! Cheers, Sam

Does anyone have a picture showing how the horns are mounted behind grill on a Spitfire 1500? I'm finally replacing the air horns a previous owner fitted with standard ones on my car.

Asked Dave for a quote on some parts yesterday, good price, paid by bank transfer yesterday around 1:30pm. Parts arrived this morning. Exactly what I asked for in "good used" condition, can't ask for better service than that! It's not the first time I've used them and certainly won't be the last!

From the Spitfire 1500 wiring diagram I have:

Ooooh now I'm really annoyed. I was chasing a fault on the side-lights on the Spitfire last night (neither front light working) so was checking voltages etc. Started to panic when with the engine running I got 20v!!!! Assumed the voltage regulator on the alternator was faulty. So shut everything off and swapped the alternator for the spare. Still showing 20v with the engine running and 18v with the engine off?!?!?! Checked my digital multimeter against a reference voltage of 6v and got 9.5v, re-checked everything with my expensive "indoor" multimeter - all voltages correct. All that faff and wasted time because my multimeter is mis-reading!

The people that care about other people will check them, the people that don't care won't. There will be a relatively small number who haven't thought of it for whom the reminders at things like the drivers briefing will be enough to prompt a check. The club already does enough/what it can. To be honest I had far more trouble with modern SUVs lights than other participants'.

Mine is modified, but Peter is an old school engine tuner with broad experience from standard road cars through to full race. He's also happy to hear what you want to get out of the tuning, not just tune for max power/soot.

A slight tangent... are the clutch and brake master brackets the right way round? They aren't the same, if I remember rightly mine were the wrong way when I got the car meaning the clutch one was low and the brake one too high.... I found an old blog post about it: https://yorkshire-spitfire.blogspot.com/2013/08/mixed-up-things.html Might be different on the MK3 though?

I have my tuning done by Peter Burgess - Alfreton DE55 7EZ about 90 miles away from you?

90% sure it's below, I'll see if I can get a picture this evening.

Filled in the prices I was missing from the internet, gives us about 36mpg. Seems high, need to check if I missed something.

Does anyone have a list of the prices for e5 super/premium at the places they stopped? I forgot to take note - so working out MPG is a bit tricky!

Brilliant! Thanks @PeteStupps

As an addendum/update to this - I fitted a set of Trico blades just before the RBRR and they worked GREAT. Much better than the previous modern style ones I had.

Update: I've had an email to say Powerspark have sent a replacement unit out. No response to my ebay claim, no response to my email, just a dispatch notification.

Hi John! I spec'd the circuit originally and was very cautious on the value of the fuse - possibly a little too low. At this point in the run the wipers had been running for almost 24 hours only being switched off at the fuel and breakfast stops. It only blew once so I put it down as "one of those things", no signs of shorts or overloads. Maybe the window went dry and it marginally increased the load that sweep? I'll keep an eye on it and probably investigate deeper now I'm home! The quality of the new points replacement electronic units seems to be very poor. So I carry 1x spare electronic unit and 1x "quality" points set (Dizzy Doctor) - small, easy to swap and a sensible "just in case" in my book.

The contrast in quality is very stark. I first fitted a powerspark ignition in 2013, that unit lasted the 2014 RBRR, 2015 10CR, 2017 10CR and numerous other events. I only replaced it this year because I physically damaged the wires due to my own stupidity. The new unit - magnetic ring doesn't fit (use the old one is the suppliers advice) and the unit fails in less than a month. Clearly their approach to business has changed fundamentally.

I replaced the rear spring on my 1500 with one from a reputable supplier, but ended up with a high ride height AND positive camber. The only solution seemed to be to fit a lowering block to bring in back closer to the original position/alignment. They might have some luck pushing back to the supplier, but I doubt it.

There's been a lot of talk about what faults/issues caused retirements on this year's run. Alternators seemed a very popular topic! Previous stats (which I think Martin Raider Randle used to maintain) suggested that wheel bearings, water pumps, fuel pumps were common causes of retirement on small chassis cars. But it got me thinking that there's another way of looking at this - what did you fix at the roadside that would have taken you out of the event if you hadn't had the parts/tools to tackle it? Car: Spitfire 1500 Problem #1: Ignition failure Car just died on the highland roads on Saturday morning. Took the lid off a SU float chamber and plenty of fuel that - so not that. Took a spark plug out and checked for spark under cranking - nothing. Pulled the electronic ignition unit and swapped to a spare and the car fired back up. Tools Used: Spark plug spanner, flat bladed screwdriver, cross head screwdriver Parts Used: Spare ignition module Problem #2: Wiper failure Wipers stopped mid-sweep on the M6 southbound on Saturday night. Even with rain-x we weren't going any further without fixing it. Co-driver noticed that washer motor had also stopped working, checking the wiring diagram suggested the fuse. I jumped a piece of spare wire onto the motor terminal from the battery and the wipers completed their sweep, double checked with a multimeter - no voltage at the motor. Unfortunately my custom fuse box isn't labelled! So at this point we started pulling fuses and testing continuity - found the dead one and replaced. All good and back on the road. Tools Used: Multimeter, long nose pliers (pulling/replacing fuses with my fat fingers), jumper wire. Parts Used: 1xblade fuse. Without the parts/tools to repair either of those faults could have left us out of the run.