DVD3500

2 weeks' of vacation to tear "Bitter Lemon" ('75 1500) apart and figure out how to make one car out of two. 🙂

Please note parts are currently in Germany... I bought a 1500 Spitfire just for the body and have no use for the motor or anything that has to do with it. See pictures for the state it is in. It is a Californian car so the cylinder head is different than most 1500s (low compression) and it has Air Injection System, Exhaust gas recirculation, automatic choke and a catalytic converter. I have no idea if any of it works so no guarantees, no returns! I don’t need anything that has to do with the motor so the radiator, fuel tank, fuel lines etc. can all go. I am willing to deliver anything within a 100 km of Heidelberg (that includes Alsace and if I have to Basel). If I have to I will get a “cherry picker” engine crane (you pay for the rental) and remove the block. Otherwise I am willing to send parts anywhere if buyer pays for shipping (From Germany!) . I accept wire transfers and PayPal. It all must go by 1 October or it gets dumped as the rent on the garage runs out at that time. If interested send a private message. Je peux aussi répondre en francais s’il faut… Again: No guanratees, no returns! Photos: https://slotcarp.wordpress.com/1500-motor/ Ich habe einen 1500 Spitfire wegen seiner Karosse gekauft. Den Motor brauche ich nicht. Zustand, siehe Bilder. Wie man sieht hast das Ding das Air Injection System, Exhaust gas recirculation, automatisches Choke und einen Katalysator. Achtung Kalifornien Auto, Zylinderkopf ist entsprechend „angepasst“. Ob es alles funktioniert kann ich nicht sagen. Alles, was mit dem Motor zu tun hat brauche ich nicht, den Kühler, Tank, Benzin-Leitungen etc. kann alles weg. Alles ist gegen Gebot und muss bis zum 1 Okt. Verkauft werden, sonst wird es verschrottet. Dann läuft die Miete für die Garage aus. Ich kann alles selber abbauen (bis auf den auch der Motorblock: Ich habe keinen Kran) und innerhalb von 100 km von Heidelberg liefern (bis zur französischen Grenze [Elsass] und bei einem entsprechenden lockerndes Angebot auch Basel] . Mit Motorkran kann ich auch den Block transportieren (evtl Kosten Übernahme). Sonst kann alles verschickt werden gegen Übernahme der Portokosten. Auch International. Überweisung oder PayPal möglich. Keine Gewährleistung, keine Garantie, keine Rücknahme. Bei Interesse PN/DM an mich. Fotos: https://slotcarp.wordpress.com/1500-motor/ Je peux aussi répondre en francais s’il faut…

We had that recently here... Headline read "Vaccines set to expire soon!" but in the text they stated they were being shipped to Egypt to vaccinate people there.... Don't get me started on sensationalism...

That was what I was thinking: Soak the oversized ones so they then fit "properly"....

I loved his enthusiasm for all things Triumph...

Those are from Canley correct?

I picked up "Bitter Lemon" in Belgium last week. It's a Californian Spec 1500. Not sure of the year .... I spent over 4 hour trying to get the ugly front under (over?) riders off but apparently the bolts have broken of on the inside as they just spin and nothing changes.... I will try to cut the bolts off soon... Even though I told the guy about 3 times I don't need the engine he left it in... So if anyone needs Californian/US 1500 parts let me know! They are yours for 1€ plus shipping (I live in Germany...)!

I like Johnny. A nice balanced attitude towards cars...

I am looking for a 3.27 Diff if someone has one.. I can trade a 3.89 an a 3.63... Thanks

I bagged groceries in the US for a long time and cleaned up a cinema after showings. Found $20 once which at the time was... 20$ ! but enough to fill the tank twice and have a milkshake... 🙂 I kinda stumbled into my current position after doing German -> English translations for a long time it turned out I am good negotiator (essentially means I can give people bad news and they aren't upset about it...) So I oversee a portfolio of IT projects. Training the dog is actually harder work!

Lecker!

No foam on the two MKIVs I took apart... maybe on 1500s...? Though from pictures it doesn't appear so...

Small update: Found an abandoned project car in Belgium. Californian car complete except for the interior. Probably the car that I should have bought in the first place as it has the gearbox, brake system and stronger doors that I wanted BUT I only found the seller through contacts that I got by buying the first car. Plan is to use the best/preferred parts from both cars. With any luck I will have it stripped and ready for rebuild in September (maybe sooner if the the weather holds up)...

In German it says "place on head" on the tube. And I thought I was being hilarious wearing it as a hat...

I am in Germany so France is still our best neighbor. 😉 I think the restrictions will be down soon. On a besoin des bons vins!

We hope to return to France again soon....

Elle est belle. 🙂 Where abouts in France? I am only 1 hour from Strasbourg.

I have been in love with the MKIV/1400 body style for over 30 years so I don't think that will change. 🙂 I will keep searching... I do plan on visiting Ol' Blighty again at some point. 2018 and 2019 I was in Gaydon for teh "Slotfest" for Scalextric and slot cares.... Really wish the last Spitfire were not on a plinth 30 feet in the air...

OMG! I am very jealous of people who can pull that off and have the time and resources.. Not sure I get the Hurricane and T6 comments...

The highlight of the day so far is a neighbor told me there is a scrap metal place that gave him 30€ for a metal pot so the body must be worth hundreds!!! Granted the pot was mostly copper...

The pictures were taken a few weeks ago and I haven't had time to make new ones (rolling the car in and out is a 2 person job and I am usually alone). Since then the holes in the floor have grown as I stomped around the car. The pillars on the windshield frame can have a screwdriver stuck through every 4-5 inches. Rocking the frame makes the walls in the footwell flex. You can almost pull the outer rocker/sill off with your bare hands. The floor is starting to give way and the captive nuts are gone on the driver's side. Every weld seam has rust in it and is starting to burst. The bodge on the A pillar was the stab in the heart for me. Covering that with fiberglass (the hole is about 1 inch in diameter) is down right dangerous. Since I can't do body work myself (No space, no equipment, no knowledge and likely no talent) my goal was to have the car rebuilt so that it would likely never rust again. While you could grind the rust away , treat it and repaint there is a high chance it would come back again. German MOT (TÜV) does not allow any rust to be visible on the body of the car. Decent panels would cost me several thousand easily and they likely won't fit right so if I can find a decent tub that needs little to no work it is likely an easier/cheaper endeavor . He pretty much only works on older cars. A TR6 was in his shop recently. A doorskin here costs between 600 and 800€. He repaired it for half that so I don't really question expertise or cost of labor. Having said that, I am more than happy to house someone who wants to come over and do all the work for me!

I will double check... maybe he also has a fast charging option. Still, he basically recharged during bio breaks and mealtime and of course over night. I think they stopped over night at least 3 times so that is 24 of the 50 hours right there...

Have you seen how ugly modern cars are? I would rather have a running car that happens to have an evolved powertrain than the rolling blobs we have now. For me a car is equal parts looks as well as technology and while I salute and appreciate suck, squeeze, fart engines (I get weak kneed around a flat 12...) I really don't think there is anything criminal in converting a car to electric. I would of course not do it to a rare car or one of historical significance but for cars that were produced in the (hundreds) of thousands I think it is a good option. I would rather save a car and convert it than let it get crushed...

Short version: I have pictures uploaded here: https://slotcarp.wordpress.com/spitfire-stripped/ Password Stripped with capital S (sorry about the linking... I can upload pictures next time...) What you don´t see is the gaping hole in the A post that was covered by fiberglass, the 6 inch/10 cm of rust and holes all around the bottom curtain , rockers, sills, and trunk/boot. When body parts started to flex and when we started scraping the weld seams and discovered that rust had started to actually push the panels apart my body shop acquaintance told me to get a new body.... No amount of work could save this... I have not given up yet. Chassis and hood/bonnet are still good so if I can find a decent body it may actually save me time and money in the end. If someone knows someone in Western Europe let me know. I have a contact in Belgium and have asked in my Spitfire club. Otherwise moral support would help me feel better. 🙂 Cheers... Andy

A guy converted a Spitfire about 10 miles from here. The car weighs the same as before. The motor has been tweaked to behave more or less like the the old one, mostly because it is tacked on to the gearbox which can`t handle a ton of torque. It does feel a little like a turbo though... He starts in 3rd and switches to 4th most of the time. Range is about 80 miles in ideal conditions, less if headlights are on etc. Trunk space is almost the same. The batteries and chargers only extend to where the rear wheel arches start. The chargers take up about 10% of the parcel shelf inside. Charging takes between 2 to 8 hours but that is down to the chargers he uses. It cost him nearly 20k€ but each car they do after that will be less because he paid for the tooling. That may sound like a lot but he does not have to pay for fuel, oil or water. His brakes barely get used because of recuperating braking. The clutch also barely gets used as he doesn`t shift as much. He needed a new engine which would have cost at least 3000€. It costs about 7-8 € to "fill" the car with power. He has driven to Greece and back with no problems. Check out Vintage Voltage,, They do it all the time...