Amy Wade

I've finally got my engine built & fired it up on the engine test stand. Now to fit the engine, replace the entire braking system, the wiring loom & finish the suspension... Video is of the first start, before tuning. 

4 hours ago, Steve Bonner said:

Amy, I'm probably late to the 'party', but wondered if you had any running gear parts from this Spittie? By that I mean suspension and steering parts and not engine/gearbox.

I have just bought a decent 1500 (1972) bare chassis, and want to start to build it up as the basis for a 'special', so could use any bits which help it 'roll'!

Cheers,

Steve Bonner

Sorry Steve, the car went a long time ago & I don't have any parts left from it.

It looks like you had a good time, such a shame I couldn't get Ellie the Spitfire ready in time. I'm looking forward to joining you next year. 

An ad is far more effective if you include photos and price.  

11 hours ago, Brockie said:

Many thanks Amy, however that clutch plate only has 20 teeth whereas the Type 9 has 23 teeth

I think you might need to post on a Ford forum, I'm sure you'll find someone who knows the part number you need for the friction plate.

The parts needed are:

Second hand Spitfire/ MG Midget 1500 flywheel. 

Flywheel bolt spacers, Paddocks have them in stock & are half the price of Canleys. https://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/flywheel-spacer-bush-2

Spitfire 1500 clutch kit (you only need the pressure plate & release bearing from the kit). https://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/clutch-assembly-1500-2

1600 Sierra clutch friction plate. https://m.buycarparts.co.uk/aisin/299946

The engine requires a 20W50 with a high zinc content, my personal choice is Duckhams Q although you'll find plenty of choice out there from other brands, even Halfords does an own brand classic oil range.

The gearbox/overdrive/diff require a GL4 oil EP75W/90 multigrade is pretty easy to find & will do fine. Never put GL5 oil in there, it will destroy yellow metal. 

I really like what Darren has done with it, the wheels are awesome and the Darren & Wendy Marmite sticker is a great finishing touch. 

On 13/07/2023 at 11:48, standardthread said:

If you have no luck I have a pair of Herald 13/60 blocks going free. They are in good condition, no ridges at the top of the bores, therefore little (?) wear.

If they're small crank engines I'd go for one of these, the only differences I can think of are the cam profile (use the FD engine cam) & the compression ratio (use the head from the FD engine). I can't remember if the small crank herald engine has cam bearings, it's not a big deal if it doesn't but if you want to have them you could get the block line bored. If I've forgotten any other differences, I'm sure someone will point them out...

 @Matthew it's entirely down to you as to what you do, I'm just trying to minimise your expense. 

Hi Matthew, 

What do you mean when you say you're looking for cylinder liners? On the standard engine the cylinders are bored in the block casting therefore there wouldn't normally be liners & the usual places wouldn't list them. If you're looking for dry liners to rescue a damaged bore, you need to take the block to your local engine machinist. They will find a suitable dry liner, bore the block to suit the liner & then bore the liner to suit the piston. It's a lot of work & if the block can just be rebored I would recommend doing that, you'll save yourself a lot of money. Obviously if it's already at its maximum oversize you will have to have liners fitted or find another engine. 

I hope that helps, 

Amy

I'm talking from experience, engine reconditioning was my day job 25 years ago.

3 hours ago, PeteStupps said:

One slight problem peculiar to the mk3 is the hood frame fouls on the original seats when you have them pushed right back with the hood down. But that's an issue for me as well and I'm only just 6 foot.

Pete

Does the hood frame foul the recliners?

Engine is now spoken for 😊

I have a 1500 engine surplus to requirements, I done a compression test on it before removing it from a scrap Spitfire & all cylinders had good compression. Carbs, flywheel, alternator inlet & exhaust manifolds don't come with it.

Collection from Culham, Oxfordshire by the end of the month otherwise it will be scrapped. 

Hi Tim, I'd be up for the drive too. 😊

While my engine's at the machine shop I decided it would be a good time to do a bit of tidying up of the bulkhead, the po had slapped some black paint around instead of doing a proper job dealing with the paint issues caused by spilt brake fluid. While stripping everything off the bulkhead to do the job I've found the live feed to the coil is melted. 😕 I've now got myself a rewiring job to add to the many other jobs to be done. At least I'll be able to strip out unnecessary wires from when I converted to alternator & add some relays for the headlights etc.

43 minutes ago, Steve M said:

Hi Amy

Have you still got the interior handle assembly for the driver's door?

Steve

Sorry, the car has gone now.

Stripped down my engine, the centre main bearing was just showing a bit of copper, I've yet to mic up the crank but hopefully I caught it just in time. It needs new pistons, the ring grooves are worn so I'll treat it to a rebore while I'mat it. None of the valves are sealing properly so it will be valves faced & seats recut. None of it is a surprise, it's done nearly 100k miles & never been touched. 

11 minutes ago, Velocita Rosso said:

Prices generally help

 

As do photos...

29 minutes ago, Linda Carr said:

It was recommended to us on the drive it day yesterday, so thought we'd give it a go, at least it's daylight hours and something I feel lady penelope will manage, altho we have no speedo currently it stopped working on the way home yesterday!! Discovering the joys of classic car ownership 🤣🤣🤣

Hi Linda, is the overdrive gearbox fitted yet?

12 hours ago, PeteStupps said:

I didn't catch the whole programme but saw Tim as soon as I switched over! Doesn't sound like I missed much though. The repairs I saw were a bit trivial - fitting door mirrors and sorting the tank sender on a Morgan. Will watch again next week though

There was never going to be big challenging repairs carried out, there wasn't the time available during filming days.

4 hours ago, Velocita Rosso said:

Did anyone watch the TV programme , Classic Car Garage the other evening? Along with Tim Hunt , was anyone else recognised?  

I seen myself & Ellie (my Spitfire VHP503H) in a few background shots 

I would agree with Wendy, try Mike Papworth for a recon gearbox, if you can get a 3 rail box it will make life easier regarding clutch. Don't forget you will need the correct length propshaft to go with it.

On a different note, how have you got on with the ride height of your car?

On 06/04/2023 at 19:27, Clive said:

Or better still, many people seem to have a stock of reclaimed shims. Not sure how many I have after people have borrowed my supply (but often none seem to get used, probably swapped side to side etc on the car?)

I am happy to look in the garage to see what I can find.

Thanks for the offer, I have reclaimed shims from the rear of the Spitfire I stripped down, hopefully I'll be OK.

As I am stripping & rebuilding my suspension I'm going to need my suspension geometry set up. 

I'm looking for recomendations for someone that knows spitfire suspension & can shim it up, preferably somewhere near Oxford. Can anyone help? 

Suspension bits painted, tomorrow reassembly starts with poly bushes all round.