Mjit

Given how much of a ball-ache, largely working blind with 18ft of socket extension bar getting some of the gearbox bellhousing bolt OUT was I'm really not looking forward to getting them back in! I'm really dreading trying to get those very top nuts to take the threads...

I only tend to change the diff. oil when buying a 'new' car. It could be fresh. It could be the oil it left the factory with. It could be GL5. It could be 50% oil/50% sawdust. The fact it only took a cup of oil to top it up could be because it's only lost a cup in 40 years...or in the 40 miles between a pre-collection top-up and getting the car home. I now KNOW it's fresh EP90/GL4 oil and is starting its life with me at the top of the filler plug.

I've got one of these - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cgg500-500cc-oil-suction-gun/ Certainly used it to suck the old oil out of a big saloon diff but have a feeling the tube might be a bit big and stiff for the smaller diffs. Should be bodgable though with some smaller diameter, flexible plastic tubing and some duct tape.

Well that was, umm, 'fun'. Ended up having to get the Dremel out and, really carefully, grind through the side of the seal's metal cup till it was paper thin and I could start working a penknife blade behind it. Eventually it started turning inside the nose piece and from there popped out just dandy with the seal puller. Now just waiting for some locking wire to come through the post to complete the gearbox...but have an exhaust manifold swap to look forward to in the mean time. Dropping the exhaust to remove the gearbox on the parts car all three manifold/down pipe nuts came off just fine. Doing the same on the good one...two nuts and one snapped stud 😞

Had TSSC ones on my Spitfire for a good number of years too. I find you need to flip the catch, then give it a little tug each side, but mainly to free the bonnet cone. After that easy to lift single-handed from either side.

AAAAaaahhhh!!!!! OK, anyone got any tips on removing the oil seal from the big saloon (Stag/TR6) gearbox nose extension? I'm swapping gearboxes from my parts car to my driver with a rebuild on the way through and just stuck with the nose extension oil seal. The one in the spare gearbox shows no signs of moving anywhere. There's a bit of rust inside the clutch release bearing tube so maybe that's got to the seal and rusted in place, so I tried the one in the being-replaced gearbox... No rust inside the tube on that one but, like the first all I can do is mangle the flat-side lip. The circular section sat in the bore shows no signs of movement what so ever. Is there a trick to removing these? Oh and yes, of course the clutch release fork pin snapped on this one too.

@yourkshire_spam - the secret, just Top Gear is to record it. You can then just fast-forward through the 'Tim sneaks in to part supplier who didn't know he was coming and pulls a fast one (despite the place being full of camera and production crew)', 'Lets play a practical joke on X', and 'Here's a fun was to give the car back' (or for Top Gear the 'Car in a reasonably priced car') segments and just watch the good bits.

Can't say I'd ever describe my stainless bumpers are being thin.

I've got a set of Harrington bumpers on my Mk IV and very happy with them. Look: Park next to a Spitfire with freshly rechromed bumpers and yes, you can see the difference (the chrome gives a much more mirror finish). Park next to one with slightly older chrome bumpers though and the SS ones look as good if not better. If you own your car to polish it, go chrome. If you own your car to drive it, so stainless. Fit: I needed quite a few washers to fill the gap between car and bumper mounting and to slightly elongate one of the body holes at the rear to get the holes to align BUT I wouldn;t like to say how much that's down to the bumper being wrong and how much is down to my car not being quite the same shape it was when it left the factory 47 years ago! Oh, and they use a really odd thread for the captive nuts in the bumper that didn't seem to match the supplied bag of bolts. Sorted with a trip to eBay. I'm only in SE London so, once we're aloud to socialise again, you're welcome to see them.

Actually nose bleeds are turning out to be a not uncommon symptom, just much less common than/developing later than the most common feaver/dry cough ones so not widely listed (as That would just mean the window lickers of the world would go "I've got a feaver and cough but no nose bleed so it can't be Covid-19 and I'm OK to (go out and spread the virus)."

Well that dash will be fun when you're driving with the top down and the sun behind you! Think I'll stuck with a less reflective, satin finish.

Are you using a burr or non-burr vaneer (standard Triumph is non-burr)? If the former then you do need to do some prep. work on the vaneer. If not sticking and clamping will usually sort out any minor wrinkles. For adhesive - just bog standard PVA wood glue is fine. I did the dash and door cappings in my 2000 last year, following the steps on https://www.frost.co.uk/how-do-i-re-veneer-my-cars-wood-trim/ up to step 11. I then went with the "How to Rub to a Satin Finish" instructions on https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/rubbing-great-finish-satin-gloss/. Doing the Spitfire next, which with it's simple, flat surfaces will be a hell of a lot easier than the swooping shapes of the 2000! Just read through Bordfunker's write-up and, other than using 'just wood' as opposed to 'glue backed, iron-on' vaneer the things I did differently were: Hole cutting. I used a fresh scalpel blade to 'punch through' in the middle of the hole, then carefully cut across the grain to each edge. I then ran a series of cuts with the grain from that centre cut to the edge, creating a series of thin vaneer 'fingers'. These would then nicely fold, following the hole contour under gentle thumb pressure. Then with a small file used only stroking down through the hole from the vaneer side they would break off cleanly at the hole edge. This worked well for both the large gauge holes and the smaller switch/glovebox lock/etc holes. The main thing was just focusing on taking theings slow and not trying to rush - probably the hardest part Stick dam you! I also had a few points where the vaneer didn't stick, usually down to not being able to clamp the vaneer to the dash evenly while the glue cured due to the curves of the 2000 panels. Here I found an old scalpel blade came in handy, as you could get a little glue on it and then slide it in between the vaneer and dash to get new glue right inside, before reclamping the local areas. I'd definetly recommend Rustins Plastic Coating (as Frost instructions and available on eBay). I found it actually works best when you really lather it on - it's self levelling to a degree and you're going to have to sand back loads anyway. If you do all the vaneering first, then the coating as a second, single step by the time you've done one coat over each piece it will be dry-enough to go back over with a second, so you can get a few layers on in each session. Rustons DOES stink to high heaven, so either an outside or all windows open (during, and for some time after you stop) job. It also kills a brush after a couple of applications, as it starts to cure where it's been drawn up the brissles (so a couple of cheap-but-not-too-cheap brushes are the order of the day). On the other hand it will also last several days mixed up in a jam jar if covered with clingfilm when not in use.

Meh! No hole in my fork - and looks like drilling one through from the threaded side before fitting would be easy...but from the back after fitting a real bugger

What barriers are you thinking of, Kevin? Circuit wise almost all of it is permanent these days and the main sections that aren't (chicanes on Hunaudieres, Mulsanne and Arnage corners, entry to the Porsche curves) are quick removal ones owned by the ACO (though the last couple of years there's been a lot less re-opening of the public roads during the week). There's still a lot of temporary fencing around the campsites and padocks - but the camp site stuff comes down between Le Mans and the Classic and there's probably more padock fencing for the classic the the 24. Traditionally the biggest hurdles to be jumped have been getting permission to close the public roads. Things seem to have been a lot easier the last 3 or 4 years, so I assume people running the Le Mans and La Sarthe councils, and the ACO are getting on better at the moment.

You've worked in the pits at the LM24 JohnD? Classic still scheduled for July - at the moment.

I take it the theory is you snip the locking wire, unscrew the pin bolt, then the clutch leave cross shaft slided out of the gearbox, with the clutch release fork dropping in to the bell housing as it goes? And not that you snip the locking wire to discover the pin bolt has sheared at a point where it's still interfearing between the shaft and fork?

Use the round ones but trim them flat on the offending edge?

Need to pull the o/d gearbox out of my 2000. Anyone got any clues where the balance point is to position the jack?

Assuming it's running the original, standard fuse box then the wires crimp diretly on to the fuse contacts so you have two options. Cut the wires as close to the fuse box as you can, then crimp on to the new fuse box blades. Accept that you're junking the old fuse box anyway and get physical with it till the connectors come free, still on their wires. They should then slot straight in to the slots in the new fuse box. Personally I went route 2 the two times I've done it (it's REALLY hard to compress a new foam seal to get the new fuse box to clip in to the bulkhead...and really easy to snap the clips on the new fuse box...).

Either an electric element or just the the air con in reverse. Should be possible to reclaim heat generated by the batteries, etc but doubt that's done in most cases.

Still available - https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/manifold-inlet-cross-over-tt10549.html

I always take the prop. off my Spitfire from under the car. To me you have do crawl under there to do the diff. one and remove the prop. so I find it's less hassle to just slide along and undo the front one at the same time. Can't say I've noticed much difference in the spanner throw between front and rear UJs.

If you want a London option I can semi-recommend Mech Weld in Catford - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mech-Weld/1438198176420723 I say semi-recommend as it's where my local (friendly and helpful) MOT place recommended for welding on my 2000 (though so far every time I've gotten close to trying them something else has falled off the car and delayed things again).

Sounds like you've made the mistake of using white LEDs, rather than green ones - https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/blogs/news/why-you-should-not-use-white-leds-behind-coloured-lenses I fitted white ones from eBay and was a little underwhelmed too...before I found Classic Car LEDs.

At Le Mans (24hr) in 2018 different people would randomly get a waft of petrol smell that would quickly pass. Took a couple of days blaiming different people filling their petrol generators before I popped the Spitfire bonnet to check the oil...and found the fuel pump had started weaping fuel up past the screw again.😟