Work has Began, once again!

Hello keen classic car fans!
You'll be as pleased to know as me that work has began on the Spitfire!

On the move again!

My Spitfire has been transported from pillar to post on the back of a pick-up truck, but now, it has come to resting place, where it will be finished after so long. I am really looking forward to keeping you guys up to date with all the work that goes on surrounding my Triumph Spitfire!

Time...

Recently not much has been achieved with the Spitfire, due to house moves, and lugging it around on the back of a trailer everywhere! But I am determined this summer to complete the car. I will keep you up to date with all the goings on surrounding the car! But since the last post I have refurbished the brakes, and fitted shiny new carburettors (Yet to be balanced), and a new hood has been purchased!

 So I hope you enjoy reading and seeing the progression of my Spitfire restoration!

Engine Problems...

Recently, I have encountered a problem with the engine. It all started when I took off the exhaust manifold to get to a core plug which had popped out due to frozen water (Most likely). When it came to re-assembling it, I made sure that I had tightened everything up pretty well, but haven't torqued them, as I don't currently own a torque wrench.

(I wish!)

 An SU Carburettor[1]

I went to turn the key and nothing happened, usually it sparks up first time but for some reason, it didn't. So I pulled out the choke and it roared into life, I thought "Its going nicely now", so I put the choke back and the engine cut out. I tried it a few more times and this kept happening, so, the next day I re-did all of the work, taking off the manifold and Carbs again, but this time used some silicone based gasket sealer, once again, I put it back all nice and secure, left it for a bit so the seal would dry, and turned the key. Once again nothing started, pulled out the choke and it started happily, put it back in and it cut out again. So I am wondering if I haven't got the carburettors tuned to the right fuel to air mixture, or a valve is loose. It might be I need to torque everything to the correct Nm (Newton Meters), but I'm sure I will find out what's wrong with it soon and its something I will take from my experience and use the knowledge I have on further cars I own/restore.

If anybody has any idea what this problem could be, please comment, It would be most helpful, thanks!

[1] SU is an abbreviation of 'Skinners Union', the company who made them.

Brakes

The paint retains all of the original markings

This is a picture of my Triumph Spitfire's Calipers, and as you can see, they're in pieces. I took them off the other day because they needed a general tidy up. I have never been able to test these brakes on the car before because the Master Cylinder was seized, but I have un-jammed that now and there is no problem with the Master Cylinder. This is what I did to refurbish my brakes.

Firstly I bought a relatively cheap seal set from eBay, for around the £14 mark, as the seals had perished and split. The kit came with all of the rubber seals and their metal rings, and some paste to bind them. Then I took the calipers off, wire brushed them and gave them a good clean and prime them for painting. The paint I bought was a rust prevention paint called Hammerite, which you can purchase from your local store, most place's sell it and its a good price at £7.95 for 250ml from Wilkos. I then applied this carefully staying away from the main holes and covering up where you would seal them, with masking tape. The colour I bought was called 'Smooth Gold', as it was the closest thing to all the calipers I had seen on everybody's Spitfires, and it really surprised me as the paint was not as garish as I first thought it would be. Once it had dried it looked spot on! With the calipers looking good, I needed to check out the pads and to be honest they were in good condition, because like the Disc's, they'd been recently replaced by one of the previous owners and still had lots of meat on them. The cylinders in the calipers were in OK condition, they were a tad pitted meaning I would have to replace two out of the four, but they're a good price and a pittance in relation to buying a whole caliper new from Rimmer Bros for £90.

So, I would recommend buying these things and doing them yourself as it bring's greater satisfaction at the end, as you will find most things if you do them yourself, but remember, if the caliper is completely shot, get a new one, its brakes, they're pretty important. You would be jeopardizing the safety of yourself and others by riding around with no front brakes...

The Caliper kit I purchased:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251309602003?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

A Little bit of History...

The Triumph Spitfire 1500 (MkV) first hit the streets in December 74' and became an immediate hit with Britain's small car loving population, with its plucky 1.5 litre engine, and little weight meant that it'd fly around off the mark, reaching 60mph in just over 11 seconds, which was good for the time. It had stylish, sweeping line's which was usually complemented with a wonderful, vibrant paint job. The 1500 never really changed much from the Mk4, only a few interior and exterior changes, but they weren't really noticeable from a quick glance. The Spitfire 1500 changed by just a few badges and the rear trim to black instead of the Mk4's chrome. The engine also had a bit of a boost with nearly 300cc being added, giving it that bit of extra oomph from take-off! Most Spitfire's were fitted with standard steel wheels but some owners decided to put Mk4 wire wheels on them, to give that extra bit of style.
The Spitfire cost £3,631 ($6,000) in 1980, which wasn't exactly cheap at the time. But in the end British Leyland went out of business due to financial problems in 1986, and production ceased of the Spitfire in mid 1980. The last ever Triumph to roll of the production line was an Inca Yellow hard-top with overdrive, marking the end of a triumphant era.

The last ever Spitfire 1500 is in the BMH (British Motor Heritage) Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.
www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/

Shows 'n' Things




My Local Club

Being one of many Triumph owners means there are many shows and clubs which you can go to. They're all over the country and really useful when it comes to tips, especially for me being a novice in this area. They usually meet at pubs and most counties have their own club, the people who go are all really friendly and are willing to help. They usually meet up once or twice a month, for a catch up and obviously talk about their prized cars! There is a yearly fee if you wanted to join your local club.



Shows are one of the great things about it, thousands of Triumph owners from all over the country flock to different counties and proudly show off their cars! There's much more to the shows than just looking at cars, there are numerous stalls with independent dealers and some of the Britain's biggest part dealers like Rimmer Bros. You can find things much cheaper here than on the internet and it's sometimes better quality. For example we purchased a steel wheel complete with a Good-Year tyre at a show, both in stunning Quality for only a tenner! You can pick up all kinds of knick-knacks there too, like little trinkets and things like that! They're usually hosted at the county's showground because of space and the wide range of different sized buildings for inside activities and catering. 
Overall I'd say it's best to join your local club and go to as many shows as you can, even if you don't own, or aren't even interested in old cars, because its a great day out for all the family!                   

For parts check out:- rimmerbros.co.uk
                                - tdfitchett.co.uk