Adrian Cooper

I would be interested in buying some too Pete. I have a Spitfire hardtop that needs headlining and a wife who can make patterns and sew. Adrian

My only experience is with my Mk2 Spitfire but I have been wrestling with poor aftermarket choke cables ever since I bought the car in 1985. Most never stay where you put them, many of them look cheap and all of them have been far too stiff. The last one required such force that it needed both hands to pull it out, and the dashboard would bend outwards too. Time for action. I started by looking at the return spring on the carbs. I undid the one that was there and was surprised to see that the jet tubes returned to their normal position just with the action of the springs that are built into the carb spindles. The other surprise was that the choke knob was just as stiff even when disconnected from the carb. I decided that the problem was with the heavy gauge piano wire that is used in the modern replacement cables and the sharp angle that the cable has to operate through in the narrow space between the carbs and the bonnet. Seeing that the control cable wasn’t really needed to push the jets back I thought that I could use a more flexible cable. After hours of sorting through my collection of choke cable bodies and playing with different types of control wires I found a workable solution using ptfe lined bike brake cables. I did this a couple of months ago and forgot to take any pictures but I have had a go at drawing what I did. I found a spare knob and drilled it through from the back. When I felt the drill bit break through the plastic I stopped drilling and used a thin rod to push out the transparent plastic disc and knob icon. I then drilled a bigger hole through the knob from the front to accommodate the nipple on the end of the cable. I dismantled an old radio aerial and chose the size of shaft that just fitted into the main body of the choke cable outer (the bit that screws into the dashboard and has the knurled chrome ferule) and I used epoxy to glue the nipple, knob and shaft together (behave yourself Doug). I could have used the original cable outer but the bike one was much better and so I joined this onto the back of the chrome bit with several layers of heat shrink cable wrap. I used Photoshop to draw the choke icon and I printed this onto silver card using a laser printer at work. The original transparent plastic disc just pushed into the front again. With everything fixed back together the choke is now easy to pull out and it does push back reliably. I have to confess that the aerial shaft has lost its grip a bit and the choke knob does slide back in a little after a bit of driving. I have resorted to the time honoured tradition of using a wooden clothes peg to keep it in place. As you can see from the picture, I have embraced this failure.

Or maybe the PO put in a set of 1155s thinking that these were an upgrade but they are only for racing use as they do very little until they are hot.

I've just had a look at two drives from my collection of broken ones and there seems to be some variation in the length of the threaded collars. I would say, if the thing is working, just pack it out with washers until there is just some play left. Adrian

Hi Ian, Do you have the copper washer between the angle drive and the threaded end piece? If so, perhaps fit a thicker one to take up the slack? Adrian

Here is a picture of the fan in my Spitfire and the switch, which came from a Triumph Acclaim I think, in the thermostat housing. I'm not sure if the later Spitfires have the flat bit on the housing though. Adrian

Hi Andrew, I have the Revotec fan on my Mk2 with the full width radiator and I am very happy with it. The installation kit is neat, with the fan behind the radiator, the fan seems to be correctly spec'ed for the job as it never stays on for long, even on the hottest days. I did remove the engine driven fan as I expected that it wouldn't be needed. I did change the location of the temperature sensor from the bottom hose to a tapped hole on the thermostat housing; it didn't make any difference to the operation but just looked a little neater. I would be very interested to hear your reasons for your advice Johny as I always find your posts to be spot-on. Adrian

To complicate things further, when I changed my steering wheel I thought to complete the job with a new nut too. The one I ordered from Paddocks was the correct type for an early Spitfire but it didn't fit and I had to fish the old one out of the bin.

Hi Mike, This is what I have done on my Mk2 Spitfire, on the advice of the hugely respected John Bonnett, (he of the GT4 Lightweight project) and it has worked out very well. If I were to do it again I would have used bigger fuseboxes as my original ten blade box spawned an additional eight blade box for the unswitched circuits and the ten blade for the ignition circuits is completely full, and I have yet to wire in my heated seats. I would also recommend making careful notes as you proceed as there may be detail differences in the real world to your original plans. I will need to redo mine at some point as much of what I have done is compromised by not having allowed for all the extra circuits in my original plan, and this does bother me as it is not as neat as it could be. Matters were made worse by a late decision to have everything major switched by relays and the desire to have these all grouped together on the bulkhead. But it sounds like you have all your extra electrical stuff either mapped out or already installed. Do you plan to use the standard wiring colours? I had a secondhand wiring loom from which I cut the necessary lengths and I used modern thinwall flex for the new circuits (radiator fan, USB sockets, interior lights, fog & spot lights, hazard warning lights etc.) but I have found that I could have bought wire in the correct Lucas colours for all of these. Now would be the sensible time to redo this as, working from home, I don't need the Spitfire for my everyday commute but I really loath wiring, almost as much as fitting carpets. Good luck and keep us posted. Adrian

Like many of us, some of the TSSC HQ staff are working from home including the delightful Angie. I called to renew my membership on Monday and, as always, a phone conversation with Angie brightens the dullest of days. Adrian

I'm sure that they are the same fitting onto the flywheel but I think that the release bearing carrier arm is different too. Adrian

Hi Neil, The two long bars that Rob mentions fit into tubes under the dash top. These bars can be quite well stuck in the tubes and may need an overnight soak with your favourite penetrating oil to get them free. Adrian

And when you go to put the gearbox back in, check that the pushrod for the release bearing carrier hasn't fallen inside the bellhousing. I only spotted this after I had done up all the bolts and had to take it all off again. And, and, while you have it all apart why not check the condition of the stupid pin that acts as the hinge between the carrier arm and the bellhousing. This little blighter can fall out and stop the clutch working. That's another gearbox out job. Adrian

The Mk2 should have a 4-2-1 manifold as standard and if you still have this there is, as Pete says, no real difference between the standard set up and the twin. I would suggest keeping the needles you have and working through Johny's excellent list. Adrian

That all looks fabulous, well done. One thing though, I have a feeling that the rear brake shoe is upside down and that it should have its hand brake slot at the bottom. Adrian

My flexible led bar arrived from China last week and it looked to be much better than I had any right to expect for less that £2.50 including delivery (link in my previous post) It is the same type that Paul has fitted so neatly to his Herald but I decided to wire in the brake light only. The bar comes with a self adhesive strip on the back but that was no use for my situation where I need to fit it to the inside of the flexible window of the soft top on my Spitfire. To avoid putting strain on the Vybak window material, the mounting of the led bar had to be flexible as well and I used some black closed cell foam, that came with the packaging of something, to make a frame round the led strip. I glued this to the window and covered the back of the assembly with some black rubber that may have been an off-cut of pond liner. I hope that makes sense. I ran the wire down the inside of the soft top and fitted a male 'phono' plug on the end. This plugs into a female trailing socket, that is wired into the brake light circuit, so that it can all be unplugged when I take the soft top off (Mk1 and Mk2 Spitfires don't have folding hoods, the hood and frame detach and get stowed) and the trailing socket can be hidden behind the tank cover panel with the folded hood.

Now that my Spitfire is my daily transport I have seen the wisdom of Paul's idea and I been wondering about fitting high level brake lights. The obvious problem being that the Mk2 Spitfire's detachable hood and frame makes finding a suitable fitting very difficult. Many modern sports cars have their third brake light on the rear deck or boot lid but I'm not keen to drill holes in the bodywork, besides fitting a light on the boot lid would not place it much above the standard brake lights and so offer little advantage. I discovered this on amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0761S184Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 it is a flexible led strip that is designed for motorbikes and I wondered if I could stick it to the top of the rear window of the soft top (inside) and have it connected to the car's brake circuit by a jack plug and socket. That way I could just unplug it when I remove the hood. What do you think, is it a daft idea? Adrian

Batten down the hatches Colin, comments about the wiring of that plug are heading your way! You first John? Adrian

I think the club magazine has been the 'Courier' from the start. The 'Turning Circle' editions were published alongside, at irregular intervals, and each of these was focussed on one particular model of the Sports Six family. The 'Turning Circles' were quietly dropped and never mentioned again beyond the late 80s. It must have been very difficult to find sufficient material to fill a magazine based on just one variant and the Couriers of that time were often quiet 'thin', with some recycling of articles from earlier issues. Adrian

Good detective work John, that's where I discovered this stuff. And that answers why I couldn't find the thread on this forum too! That's an interesting point Colin, In theory just bending the needle would reduce the available range of movement in the gauge, whereas using the adjustment points will shift the centre point of the whole gauge; In practice I doubt it makes much difference in such a crude instrument. Adrian

I had the same problem with the temperature gauge reading too high on my Spitfire even though a check with a thermometer confirmed the engine was not overheating. I tried several different senders and none of them put the needle in the middle. So I took Pete's advice on a previous thread and adjusted the gauge to read 'normal' in the car's usual operating temperature. I've had a quick search for the thread but couldn't find it, but the adjustment of the gauge is fairly simple, if a bit 'hit and miss'. If you take the gauge out of the car and look on the back you will see two small holes filled in with small rubber or cork bungs. These give access to the adjustment within the gauge which should be done with the correct tool, but a small screwdriver can work. Small movements at a time are the trick. I ran the car for the next few days with a cheap ebay digital thermometer, with its probe attached to a water hose, just to check that the gauge was going to indicate if the engine did get hot and I was happy to see that it did go above normal when stopped in traffic. It was a bit of a faf but I now have a gauge that sits in the middle and one that I can have some confidence in. I'm sure that Pete will be along soon if I have got any of this wrong. The picture attached shows one of the adjustment points and the other is in the plate marked 'coil' Adrian

Hello Kevin, My Mk2 is now my everyday transport and I agree with your restorer, don't bother with the locks. Anybody who wants to get into your car will un-clip the hood or slash it. The best approach is the leave nothing of value in the car and to fit a really good quality secondary locking device. I use a disclok which fits over the steering wheel and is Thatcham approved, and I usually use one of those things that locks the handbrake to the gear lever too to make it hard to release the handbrake (not that anybody can work out how to release the 'fly off' handbrake anyway) If I'm really feeling nervous I have a hidden fuel tap in the boot. A professionally fitted alarm/immobiliser would be an excellent thing to have. Adrian

Spooky, I'm sitting here with a glass of St Peter's Ruby Ale, also good stuff.

That's what I used on my hard top headlining. I mixed a little PVA glue into the paint too to give it a slight sheen. It lasted for years until the hard top rusted away. Adrian

Indeed, and the threads often drift in interesting directions, but the OP did specifically request that we didn't drift this thread too far. Doug, as for there being no active admins, have you not met Kevin? He has a light touch but he is definitely keeping an eye on us! Adrian