Black Cat

Now have my gas struts fitted to my 1500 Spitfire. Had to do a small amount of modifications to get them to fit. The bracket which holds the front valance, which is fitted under the stainless steel bracket in the first photo has a raised V section in the centre on one side. I had to grind this off to enable the new stainless steel bracket to sit tight to the side and and bottom and be able to locate the existing bolt holes. Thinking about it after the event, could have left that off and just used the stainless steel bracket. Sod it. The struts are from a Rover 200 and are about 670mm long, which is just right. They come with the end swivel section already fitted but had to cut a few milometer off the thread to enable it to fit between the 'U' bracket. Bolted the other plate on the bonnet and used ratchet straps to pull it down a few milometers to get it to line up with the brackets nut. All in all a good job done. Access under the bonnet is now a lot better. For those of you who have read my earlier post. The struts which I first brought were 800N. Sent these back and changed them for the Rover ones and all works fine.

Hi, Which is the best book for a complete restoration guide for a Triumph Spitfire 1500?

OK Gents, now have my two replacement flasher relay units and ready to fit, problem is what terminal goes to what pin on the relay. I have attached a photo of the relay I have below. The colour of the cables in the old flasher unit are green with a white strip on one wire and two purple wires going into the other terminal. I know one will be an earth, but which one and which ones do I connect the other wires too? Need to sort this out the next 30 minutes as taking it to it's first Triumph meet. Many thanks

Yes Badwolf, might have to do that.

That's what I'm worried about. I can see myself bouncing on the bonnet to get it to close as well.

I have a couple of bonnet struts which have a 800N force indicated, will these be too strong to fit on the bonnet of a Triumph Spitfire and could they damage the bonnet hinges if they are too strong?

Thanks Pete will check that out tomorrow.

Thanks for your assistance ladies and gents. Electrics are not my strong point. So first thing check the voltage from the battery. All four bulbs work, they are constantly on but no flashing on indicators or hazards. They will occasional flash but very slowly and when they feel like it. One flasher unit found, need to find the other one now and then may have to order two new flashers as indicated by Clive, as I would like to change the bulbs to LED's at some point.

Thanks Clive, Forgot to say that the hazard flasher unit also not working, and haven't located that yet. Did this model have two flasher units as I'm aware that some models only had one? If that is the case, and there is a second flasher unit would it be the same as the indicator flasher unit you you have indicated above.

Flasher relays seem to be a common problem with Spitfires but there doesn’t seem to be a one fit answer to all the questions. I have a Triumph Spitfire 1500, 1977 model which I recently brought. Everything seemed to work OK when I got it, but until turning a corner, where a car was waiting to pull out the other day, indicated, as you should, the green dash light flashed, albeit very slowly and intermittent and the gentlemen waiting to pull out seemed a bit vexed and muttered a few choice words, which suggested the indicators went working. Got the car home and low and behold the indicators didn’t work. Well I say didn’t work, occasional they would wink but most of the time didn’t. First thing I did was checked all the bulbs, one had blown. Replaced that but still no improvement, all the indicator light come on but no flashing. So I’m thinking it may well be the relay, the relay I have is a Lucas FL 12V 12A MAX FLASHER with the numbers 35053B 0377 7315. Managed to locate the relay under the dash, it is a two pin replay, switched the indicators on while holding the relay and felt and heard nothing so I’m assuming the relay could be at fault. My question is this, am I right to assume the relay is at fault and if so do I replace it with exactly the same or is there a more suitable one which I should be using?

Hi Gents, I’m new to Triumph's but have just brought a 1978 Triumph Spitfire which is in need of some tender loving care. The good thing is the car is quite sound apart from the usual oil leaks and a little bit of rust. There are a couple of things I need to undertake as a matter of urgency as I want to keep the car on the road for the next couple of months before I start the complete restoration which will involve taking the body off, engine gearbox and diff rebuild, any bodywork replaced or repaired and respray. Firstly, the exhaust system needs to be replaced, not sure what the previous owners have put on it, they claimed it was from a Triumph Stag and that it sounds sporty but to be it sounds like there is a great big hole in it. Had it up on a hoist today and no sign of any holes but would still like to replace it with a Full stainless steel sports system with twin rear silence. Where is the best place to get an exhaust system, how much will it cost, and should I also get a stainless steel manifold at this stage or wait until the rebuild? The engine doesn’t run very smoothly at the moment, I’m hoping with the new exhaust in place the carbs can be reset up and then the car will run a lot nicer. Secondly, there is a leak in the radiator, only a small one, again at some point I will replace this with a large aluminium one. I think these work out at about £100.00 plus, is it worth having the rad I have repaired or should I just bight the bullet now and buy a new one with a new fan? Many thanks Steve