Mjit
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Posts posted by Mjit
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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:
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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
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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.
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Hole cutting.
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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
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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.
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You've worked in the pits at the LM24 JohnD?
Classic still scheduled for July - at the moment.
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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?
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12 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:
Because it's closer to the top of the trim so needs a straight edge but has to be broad to spread the load; a circular one will protrude over the top by the time it's wide enough. Tony's on the right track but those are too thick at the base, i need thin metal ones. I know I've seen them before somewhere, but don't know the name to ask for.
Use the round ones but trim them flat on the offending edge?
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Need to pull the o/d gearbox out of my 2000. Anyone got any clues where the balance point is to position the jack?
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On 05/03/2020 at 14:30, Ziggy said:
1972 mk4 spitfire, bought a new fuse box but cant get the old wires out of the old box, how do you do that? the new box seems to have slightly different connections as well. Do I just cut them and maybe solder them on?
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...).
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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.
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On 19/11/2019 at 09:37, Bfg said:
Sounds interesting - would you happen to have any photos of (the TriumphTune cross-over manufold) ?
Still available - https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/manifold-inlet-cross-over-tt10549.html
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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.
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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).
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On 24/12/2019 at 11:32, Mark B said:
..replaced the yellow bulbs with E10 987 LED versions. The illumination is slightly better, a whiter light...
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.
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2 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:
I'm convinced I can smell diesel fumes from my latest purchase; every so often I get a smoky whiff from somewhere but every passenger that's been in it claims they can't smell anything.
Maybe my nose is just being paranoid.
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.😟
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Wasted spark ignition just means each spark plug is fired once for each revolution of the engine. In a 4-stroke engine there's only something for the spark to ignite in the cylinder every second revolution, at the end of the compression stroke. The other spark that happens at the end of the exhaust stroke has nothing to burn so is a 'wasted spark'.
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18 hours ago, thescrapman said:
There Is a a multi pronged Bosch that is much Better than the NGK, proving very difficult to foul in my PI cars.
about £1.50 each I think.
Multi electrode plugs, be they Bosch/SplitFire/etc only have one benefit - longer service intervals between needing to adjust the spark plug gaps...which on a lot of members cars will be "never". One electroide is always closer than the others, so the one the spark jumps to. Over time the electrode burns down until it's no longer the closest, at which point the spark naturally jumps to the new closest electrode.
At a guess a bit of fouling on a single electrode plug and that's all she wrote. On a multi electroide plug the spark will just jump to the next, hopefully less fouled electrode, with the then running engine able to 'clean up' the fouling.
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22 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:
base on a good few problem classics running with resistive plugs with an R in the suffix is they dont work well on our standard 22kv HT
swap for normals and hey presto all is recovered , so Im an advocate of no R's
pete
If you go full MegaJolt, etc electronic ignition then you MUST have resistive plugs (and matching HT leads).
I don't know what 123 say for their kit but most "points replacement" systems are just hall effect sensors so don't need 'R' plugs. -
Best - full mappable electric ignition, such as MegaJolt. Good side - rock steady spark at the right time, every time/better performance/better fuel economy. Flip side - most work (mounting a trigger wheel on the crank pully/crank sensor 1mm from trigger wheel/Ford EDIS moduel/Ford coil pack/MegaJolt unit/wiring) plus rolling road session to get the best from it.
Next - Probably a 123 distributor. Good side new, so takes dizzy wear out of the equation and mappable to one degree or another. Flip side - expensive and still less accurate than crank trigger wheel (fewer data points per revolution).
Third place - The rest. Good side - cheap, (should be) more reliable than points, and can cover up some dizzy wear. Down side - can't cover up all dizzy wear and still stuck with standard, compromize advance curve. Probably the best option for a standard engine with a dizzy in good condition.
For a standard engine and dizzy in good condition one of the basic 'points replacement' systems is the best starting point if you're just trying to make things more reliable.
On the other hand if the engine's standard but the dizzy past it's sell by date then a 123 dizzy if you're scared of wires/mappable if you're not.
For a tuned engine I'd say jump straight to mappable ignition. My car was always compromized on a mechanical dizzy, needing 3000RPM for pull away or running out of puff at 400RPM. Since going MegaJolt it's happy from 2000-6000RPM, with more get-up-and-go than any dizzy setting and better fuel consumptions too (on a long drive where I'm not using that better get-up-and-go too much).
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23 hours ago, Roger89 said:
Would only run with choke full on even after it warmed up.
While the mixture COULD be that far out, so worth checking (wind just up will flush with the carb throat, then back down (from memory) 2 turns to get a starting point) but I'd say unlikely so check/replace the hoses that go from each carb -> T piece -> rocker cover too. I've had one of these split - the car would drive fine till I gave it some beans, at which point it would only run with the choke out. The split would normally sit closed and all was well, but a bit of aggression would vibrate it open, letting loads of extra air in after the carbs and weakening the mixture to hell.
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I managed to keep the standard cover with a (I think 3/4") lowering block but did need some creativity.
- Fit longer studs.
- Fit nylock.
- Hacksaw studs flush with top of nylocks.
- ...run around on a Saturday trying to find somewhere to buy pair of 3/8" UNF half nuts so you can remove the studs the next time you need to remove the spring.
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1 hour ago, clive said:
I used some head studs from a spitfire engine on a car..... On my herald I bought bolts, which required careful measurement. They were needed as there was inadequate clearance above the spring to get studs in (courier spring plus 1" lowering block -awesome handling)
I've got lowering block+longer studs on my Spitfire and have to remember to roll the spring top forwards after sliding it across the car and before seating it so I can drop the studs through the spring box. There's then (just about) enough room to giggle everything in to position.
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How does the engine height compare to the height of the standard petrol tank sat atop the diff?
It LOOKS like you'll have a huge boot buldge...but easy to forget how tall the petrol tank is with no bodywork on the car.
Or is that just an excuse to go for a GT6-like couple rear body...?
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Think about how they move when you're driving. Turn the wheel to full lock and you twist the upright to either the left or right relative to the lower wishbone - and it's the thread on the bottom of the upright sitting in the thread in the trunnion that permits this to happen.
Screw them up tight and you'll be forcing them to turn even further when you try to steer. Unlikely to end well.
So screw them up the thread till they stop, then back down till pointing the right way to bolt up - and able to turn left/right for full lock (which is quite a long way on the small chassis Triumphs.
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Tanks folks but managed to work it out through trian and error, just shoving long and short bolts in different holes to see what combo gave the same amount poking out the far side
Re-veneering the dash
in Bodywork & Fittings
Posted
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.