DanMi

I'm afraid that looking at the price paid confirms my suspisions. If that car was correct ie a genuine Mk2 with a later engine it's value would be crca £12000 sold for ££5625 which is the price of an usable but ratty 1500 not a beautiful MK2

If you can get to a local meet I would do so and have someone look at the car. As if I am right (an I do not want to be but am 99% certain) you need to look at getting a refund as that car is worthless although a beautiful car

I really don't know, but something is not right, MOTs could be from a MK3 that was crashed as could the receipts. That is not a MK3 and has no MK3 components that I can see. Maybe a MK3 was destroyed and a car stolen and given it's ID. So ye you may have MOTs for a J reg MK3 and sales docs for a J reg MK3 but the car you have is not a J reg MK3. I think that it is a stolen car that has been rung (badly)

make up your own minds. For a MK1/2 in that condition the price alone should tell you something, It should be circa £12000 https://www.handh.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-1970-triumph-spitfire/?lot=57174

That's not the point, the cars ID is wrong there is only one reason for that and that is that it is not the car on the documents ie it is a ringer (probably stolen), would you buy a car that was registered as a 2018 VW Passat which when you looked at it was clearly a 2013 model

Whilst it looks a really good car I have to question it's provenance. The body, Chassis etc is clearly Mk1 or early Mk2 the engine 1500. There is nothing from a 1970 MK3 except possibly the commission plate. So if that plate has an FD commission number it has no place on that car. I accept that Bitsa cars are fine, but I can not see why anyone would restore an early car and then put a MK3 commission plate on it (at least not legitimately)

surely the diagram would be with the car at rest, just as the car is above. The lower arm should angle down, I think that this has lowered springs, so the calliper is higher than the hose mount point when it should be lower, thus the hose needs to be longer. I had this on my car until I eventually swopped to adjustable seat height shocks.

If you look at this the upper ball joint's pin is at 90 degrees to the arm but above it is more like 60. It could be just the picture

Is it just me but the upper arms look to be at a very steep angle which does not look right. Is the car sitting very low?

what do you mean by dearer jubilee clip/fasteners. They always used jubilee clips. (unless pre about 67 when the used double wire) The issue is today some seem to be made of soft cheese not quality metal

I simply think of it this way. If the engine hasn't been run for long enough for the fuel to evaporate the oil will also have drained back so I just think of the few extra turns of the engine as being a good thing as it lubricates the engine before it fires.

You will probably want a new set of shoes as well as the old ones will be contaminated with brake fluid

my 1147cc main caps had no markings and were taken off by the machine shop and not labelled. so they just put the 2 on and ran a measure around them to figure it out, took the guy about 30 seconds. He also said although one way was better the caps either way round would have been within tolerance

easier would be to look at the flanges, if the have 1/2" bolt heads it is likely the original 4.11 if 9/16 it is likely a later 3.89 or 3.63

The spring spring conversion is irrelevant and 1248TPM is correct. It could be that someone has put a later diff in or the speedo magnets could have become weak. original tyres would have been 5.20*13 crossplies or 145*13 radials as an option. WQhat speed do you get at 3000RPM in 4th should be 50MPH

you will need a second 1 way valve between the pump and washer jets. The pump is a simple bellow so without a 1 way valve will bush a few cc out and the suck air back in, the original set up had a 1 way valve in the washer bottle and then another was in the pump, the repros do not have this so you need to fit a valve after the pump.

check that they are actually type 12 and 14 as there are early and late type 12s early has more material between the mount holes. Type 12 halves are held together by 2 bolts 14 by 4. I would definitely want a matched pair. As Pete says there is a far better choice of pads for the type 14 an if you don't feel like grinding the hubs any used ones from a later spitfire or herald should be easy to acquire. I think the brake shields are different as well but they are easily obtainable for the later cars.

I agree with Pete that looks like a spring on the clutch plate

you could try the breakers, they may have a terminally rusty shell that the metal could be cut from as it is not a rust prone area.

those brass taps were fitted to early spitfires and others. They are available new but I have had a few and all the new ones leaked. My original has the split pin rusted in and I haven't managed to get it out

I would say watch the temperature gauge. If it rises fairly quickly and then stays at the same place under different driving conditions, then it is working fine.

you could swop the wires on the fuel and temp gauge over as they are the same and that should tell you if it is the gauge at fault. If it was the stabilizer it would affect both.

it could just be poor repro parts. It does look like it has the lip to tuck the front of the roof under which the mk3 would not have. It could be better to take the original to a metal polisher, modern repro parts can be worse than used originals

I would say that about 1mm is worn but not to the bad extent that the thrusts have fallen out, which would be multiple mm and this is when it can affect clutch action. Probably just needs a new set the same as is in there and probably new mains and big ends whilst you are at it.

there should be an extension to the battery earth that goes behind the battery to the point were the engine earth strap attaches to the body. Not a serious issue and I guess it was omitted when the car was changed to -ve earth for the fan/fuel pump