Hexaflexagon

Hi, I have a screetching noise coming from the front nearside wheel which I guess is a failing wheel bearing. Can anyone offer any advice on a) sourcing a replacement and b) changing it. There seems a big difference in price with Rimmer Bros for example quoting over £100 for one kit and £12 for an 'after market kit. What's involved in actually changing it. For instance are any special tools required? All help gratefully received.

Hi Clive, Thanks for the suggestions. I finally got around to replacing the window channel, rubber and door seals. That funny circlip was indeed a nuisance. I managed to get a hand mirror into the door cavity so that I could just about see how it was positioned and hence  which way to pull it off. Needless to say removing it was fiddly and putting it back on almost as much. What on earth were the designers thinking of? Seems to me it would have been just as simple to have the pin on the raiser arm come through the slot towards the interior making the circlip easy to see and remove. The rubber seating channel for the window bottom was also trickier than I expected. Slotting the window into it wasn't quite as easy as I thought. In the end I arranged the U section of rubber in the channel so that the outside of the rubber was slightly higher than the near side which seemed to help since the glass could be pushed back against the far side of the rubber allowing the near side to be 'fiddled in' with a flat blade screwdriver.

Hi Clive, Thanks for the suggestions. I finally got around to replacing the window channel, rubber and door seals. That funny circlip was indeed a nuisance. I managed to get a hand mirror into the door cavity so that I could just about see how it was positioned and hence  which way to pull it off. Needless to say removing it was fiddly and putting it back on almost as much. What on earth were the designers thinking of? Seems to me it would have been just as simple to have the pin on the raiser arm come through the slot towards the interior making the circlip easy to see and remove. The rubber seating channel for the window bottom was also trickier than I expected. Slotting the window into it wasn't quite as easy as I thought. In the end I arranged the U section of rubber in the channel so that the outside of the rubber was slightly higher than the near side which seemed to help since the glass could be pushed back against the far side of the rubber allowing the near side to be 'fiddled in' with a flat blade screwdriver.

Thanks Clifty. That's most useful. A few supplementary follow ups if you don't mind. Re the regulator bolt/window channel fixing. Do you happen to know how that strange clip is located? Is it pushed or perhaps twisted on in some way? More importantly what's the easiest way of removing the current clip and what's the purpose of the U shaped bent bit? It looks as though it's designed to snap over a flange on the bolt, but the bolt seems to be just a plain shaft. And is there a part number for the bolt? The exploded diagram doesn't seem to mention it? Is there any significance in the 607902 washers being leather rather than say rubber or metal? Any idea why it seems such a complicated clip since on the face of it a normal bolt and self tightening nut might have seemed more appropriate. Given that it's the glass seating channel I'm having to replace what's the best order of events. I take the point that the window seals are the last to fix but is it easier to fit the seat channel to the glass outside the car, drop the whole lot down through the door and then bolt in the regulator mechanism, or first bolt the regulator to the seat channel inside the door, then drop the glass down and push it into the channel? Is the glass only held in the channel by the pressure of the seating rubber that wraps round the edge of the window bottom? Usual TIA

Thanks Clifty. That's most useful. A few supplementary follow ups if you don't mind. Re the regulator bolt/window channel fixing. Do you happen to know how that strange clip is located? Is it pushed or perhaps twisted on in some way? More importantly what's the easiest way of removing the current clip and what's the purpose of the U shaped bent bit? It looks as though it's designed to snap over a flange on the bolt, but the bolt seems to be just a plain shaft. And is there a part number for the bolt? The exploded diagram doesn't seem to mention it? Is there any significance in the 607902 washers being leather rather than say rubber or metal? Any idea why it seems such a complicated clip since on the face of it a normal bolt and self tightening nut might have seemed more appropriate. Given that it's the glass seating channel I'm having to replace what's the best order of events. I take the point that the window seals are the last to fix but is it easier to fit the seat channel to the glass outside the car, drop the whole lot down through the door and then bolt in the regulator mechanism, or first bolt the regulator to the seat channel inside the door, then drop the glass down and push it into the channel? Is the glass only held in the channel by the pressure of the seating rubber that wraps round the edge of the window bottom? Usual TIA

The channel in which the door glass sits has corroded and as a result it has developed a turned inwards 'lip' which fouls the regulator mechanism when lowering or raising the window when at roughly the half way point. It's  not possible to raise or lower the window past this fouling point without removing the trim and pushing the window outwards slightly to 'bend' it past the fouling point. I've seen this thread Sorry , link no longer available in which point 4 mentions a strange circlip that needs removing in order to separate the channel from the regulator but can't spot this circlip on any of the exploded diagrams at the usual parts suppliers. Does anyone know what the part number is in case I break the one I remove and need a replacement. In addition, when replacing this window channel and also the inner and outer weather seals, what are your thoughts on the order of replacing the weather seals. Should I fix these before pushing the window up and refixing to the regulator or afterwards? Any comments on the best way of fixing the weather seals would also be useful. In particular the relevance of mention of the 'special tool' which I'm presuming will be necessary if the seals are fitted after the window is installed. Or have I misunderstood this?

The channel in which the door glass sits has corroded and as a result it has developed a turned inwards 'lip' which fouls the regulator mechanism when lowering or raising the window when at roughly the half way point. It's  not possible to raise or lower the window past this fouling point without removing the trim and pushing the window outwards slightly to 'bend' it past the fouling point. I've seen this thread Sorry , link no longer available in which point 4 mentions a strange circlip that needs removing in order to separate the channel from the regulator but can't spot this circlip on any of the exploded diagrams at the usual parts suppliers. Does anyone know what the part number is in case I break the one I remove and need a replacement. In addition, when replacing this window channel and also the inner and outer weather seals, what are your thoughts on the order of replacing the weather seals. Should I fix these before pushing the window up and refixing to the regulator or afterwards? Any comments on the best way of fixing the weather seals would also be useful. In particular the relevance of mention of the 'special tool' which I'm presuming will be necessary if the seals are fitted after the window is installed. Or have I misunderstood this?

Hi, Thanks to all for the various suggestions. A supplementary Q. In reality how complex is it to strip everything down and rebuild the seats and are any special tools needed? There's mention of a riveter and stapler. I've looked at the step by step process (33 in all!) on the Newton Commercial site and it all looks rather a hassle with talk of needing new hardboard fillets, and inserting the 'tensioner flaps' (what are they?) through slots in the foam. Usual TIA.

Sorry if this has been discussed before but couldn't immediately spot anything. I need to remove the seats in my 1500 prior to replacing the seat squab/back foam which is crumbling and becoming a mess and would appreciate tips advice. For instance do I need to remove the seat rail bars that anchor the seat to the floor pan or is there a way to simply undo the hinging mechanism leaving the rails in place. Then once I've detached the seats what problems am I likely to encounter in taking off the fabric to get at the foam and might the webbing need replacing? Finally any suggestions for sourcing the seat foam pads. I've seen some on ebay @£185 for the 4 foam pads plus 2 base boards, and also at the usual suppliers (Park Lane Classics & others for similar pricing).

Hi, I'm on the last lap of putting my Spitfire 1500 back on the road after a layoff of circa 3 years and need some help re tuning the carbs. At least I think they need tuning since the engine was quite jerky when pootling around our road, which fortunately is private so no need yet for MOT/VED and Insurance. I've been reading that the first thing is to get the tickover to circa 800 rpm and turn the adjusting screws until the noise of the inrushing air is consistent between the two. (I'm doing this with a plastic tube and listening with the Mk1 ear so  no technical gubbins) The next step apparently is to use the piston lifting pins to lift the piston a little tio check the mixture richness. Apparently if on lifting the piston the revs drop, that carb has a weak mixture and the adjustment screw needs turning clockwise to richen it. And vice versa. The difficulty I have is that the revs do drop but after adjusting the screw clockwise to richen the mixture the rpm idle then goes well past the 1000 rpm, and I'm in a chicken/egg situation. Can anyone offer any advice? Is this the best way to tune it or are there other variables. I did wonder about the choke but I'm tuning with the engine hot and no choke, or at least the choke is pushed fully home. The air filter box is also removed whilst I'm doing this so not sure if that might affect things. Usual TIA

Thanks both Louis and Doug for your comments. Yes I think they must just be a paper/plastic backing from the manufacturer, since from memory (they're  not in front of me at the moment) Delco is written on the backing paper rather than stamped on the back of the pad. Agree Doug. I would normally change them out but I know for a fact they've not done more than a couple of hundred miles if that. They were changed at the last MOT before I SORN'd it 3 years ago.

I'm in the process of replacing the front calipers on my 1500 which had seized. I retained the old pads since they are hardly worn at all being relatively new. When I removed them from the old caliper I noticed that on the back of the pad there appeared to be a thin paper/plastic backing. I hadn't originally noticed this until I also noticed what seemed a slight raised 'bubble', akin to an air bubble but which on investigation seems to be a bubble of the copper grease. Pressing it causes it to spread out as you'd expect. I can of course remove this backing but am just wondering why it might be there. Could it simply be the manufacturers (Delco I think) protective layer when new and which should have been removed when originally fitted?. Any ideas and any reason why I shouldn't just remove it? Usual TIA

Hi, As far as I can see the only way to disconnect the flexible brake fluid pipe from the front disc caliper is to remove the caliper first and then unscrew the whole caliper from the pipe. The pipe is crimped to the end metal connector that contains the nut and hence turning the nut starts to twist the pipe. Is this the only way? A supplementary question,. What's the best way of preventing fluid from running out once the pipe is disconnected. I've seen mention of clamping it with a mole wrench but am worried that the teeth of the wrench might damage the pipe.