Josef

However, given this repair is right next to a seat belt mounting it is most definitely structural and as such must be continuously welded to be road / MOT legal. Now if it’s tacked / stitched on one side and continuously welded on the other then it’d technically be passable I’d think, but I’d personally rather not risk ever having to have that argument with a tester! Having said that my Spitfire went through ~20 years of MOTs before I bought it with structural ‘repairs’ consisting of everything from brazing down to silicone bathroom sealant and expanda foam… So realistically the chances of a fuss being made are probably minimal.

What’s the TPM value? It’ll be a 3 or 4 digit number probably under the RHS of the trip counter. That’s all you need to match (and the speedo cable connection). I might have something that would do as a temp replacement, though wouldn’t be a GT6 version. Would be just a used one, I am able to check if they run at spec though. Also have you checked the speedo cable? That can also so give the same symptoms (and is cheaper than a speedo refurb!)

Strange, I could view them all. Might be the mobile site version getting upset I suppose?

Yep definitely! Even more so I’m looking forward to seeing it freshly painted and knowing for certain underneath the paint is solid metal this time!

Got a replacement fuel pipe made up and fitted this afternoon, then got the exhaust hung back on properly and gave the bottom of the fuel tank a wire brush and coat of paint.

Had an email from Tim at Willow Triumph yesterday evening with photos of the panel fit tidy up he’s been doing for me before sending the Spitfire for paint. So hopefully not too long before I get it back and can start reassembly!

Very nice result there! On the theme of using household products for upholstery cleaning, I found these Flash magic erasers did an amazing job on my tan vinyl in the Herald. I bought the whole shelf from Wilco when they were on offer at some point, and have used two or three (at under a pound each). Before I gave it a go I was a bit concerned they might damage the vinyl, but a small test worked, and the trim still looks great.

The photos in the brochures / owners manual / factory wsm show it over the carpets so we can be pretty confident that’s the ‘right’ way!

Since I’m giving the paint over the welding work on the Herald a chance to harden up a bit before starting to put it back together (and waiting for a part or two to turn up) I’ve started stripping the spare o/d gearbox to go in the Spitfire. It is currently fitted with an overdrive box, and is a genuine factory overdrive car, and was running fine. Problem is, it leaks badly, even by the normal leaky Triumph gearbox standard. So, plan is to rebuild this one and drop it in the Spit, then eventually the Herald can finally have an overdrive conversion with the other one once it’s a bit more oil tight. This is my first gearbox rebuild, so we’ll see how it goes… Current findings are that the remains of the oil looked pretty much new, the input shaft is rusty enough it’ll probably need replacing, lay shaft looks new, main shaft is badly worn on the surface that runs inside the input shaft and the woodruff key that holds the oil pump drive on is jammed in the shaft, gears generally look ok (can’t spot any major wear, chips or similar).

Also a handful of the Reg identifiers were reallocated to other areas over the lifetime of the system, I didn’t spot those noted in Pete’s list.

Clever! Such a neat design.

@Peter Truman here you are. The lighting isn’t wonderful cause the car is still mostly covered in dust sheeting after the bodywork I’ve been doing but they should give you an idea. Mine won’t roll any further back as they foul on the seatbelt mount on the transmission tunnel. However I have the original eyebolt fitting there, with something thinner than that the seats could be adjusted a bit further backwards.

Mine are MX5 Mk1 (tombstone ones with the integrated headrests). They do clear the b-post well enough you can recline the seat fully, if you were so inclined. I’ll try and get some photos of the clearance there for you after work.

For comparison (and oh wow mine look much more knackered than I thought when comparing with Pete's shiny red ones, the Herald has to wait it's turn till the Spit's back on the road though!)

There was a neat description in the Courier recently of using ABS sheet to make easily removable access hatches in the ABS covers. I think it was Andy Cook in the GT6 reg.

I’ve had MX5 Mk1 seats in my Herald for years, they suit it surprisingly well (in my opinion at least!)

The club shop sells the NGKs and I don’t remember ever using anything else (I’m pretty sure the last time I bought Unipart ones they were NGKs in a Unipart box)

Canleys, and most other suppliers sell the ABS covers. I’ve one in both my Spit and Herald and they fit nicely. The sticky backed seal that gets sold to go with them comes off quickly when oil gets on it, so I’ve stapled mine on. To do the mounts you just need to get a jack under the back of the box and lift it get the old ones in and the new ones out.

On possible electrical faults, if you have a RVC type tacho (electronic and looks more or less like the attached picture) then they can theoretically fail and short the coil to earth via the tacho rather than the points (I think?). So detaching the tacho feed from the coil, white wire with black trace, and running without it is also worth testing.

It’s a 72 US box with the reverse switch in the top cover, and I do have the cam on the remote so only need the single sided one.

I figure a secondhand one of these is going to be hard to come by cause it’s an overdrive related part, but does anyone have a spare bracket to hold the inhibitor switch on a late 3 rail overdrive box - 158002 here? I can see there are new ones available, but I’m sure I’ve also seen somewhere they’re not a great fit so figured it was worth asking here! Will also ring round the breakers at some point if nothing turns up.

Moving the choke cable to operate on the rear carb might help a little with the sticking. That cable looks strained and I’d guess is of a length designed to operate the rear carb as that’s what the Spitfire setup is. Looking again that’s probably not a major problem, but the choke cable is bent in the photo (in the off position I assume). I prefer a solid one to a braided one as I’ve had a braided version disintegrate inside the outer and become pretty useless. I’d also say from the photos that the rear carb’s jet is currently set as if the choke was in use. The jet is not resting against the adjuster nut. Is it like that under normal operation?

Yeah I did my drivers side bit by bit trying to preserve as much structure as possible, to the point I realised what I was preserving was nowhere near the right shape! So on the passenger side I just cut everything out and started again. However, you’re in a better place than me as you have a fairly solid looking floorpan towards the inside of the car (mine was poor quality, badly fitted repro sections so no use at all). Given the state of your a-post there, and your findings from attempting to adjust the bonnet I’d guess your bulkhead has tilted to some degree. If your car is level front to back, then the join between the upper and lower a-post should also be level. You also should be able to judge somewhat by how well the h-frame over the tunnel fits between the dash and floor (I was amazed by how much more clearance I got there…)

The thread on the side of my Spitfire where I ripped everything out to a similar state to yours starts here. I started with the a-post, fixed enough of the b-post to hang the floor off, floor in, inner sill, middle sill, the b-post and rest of the rear inner structure of the car, rear wing and outer sill fitted in and lined up together. Your a-post upper will likely have dropped at the rear of the car, and splayed towards the outboard (squaretails may be a bit stiffer than round tails across the bulkhead though? So this may not be as pronounced.) so as part of dealing with the door gaps as Mathew says, then you’ll probably need a way of adjusting that up and down / in and out (I used a jack under the rear of the a-post and a ratchet strap between the two a-posts). Self tappers work for test fits, and clamps, and temporary tack welds where appropriate. Have you skinned the door / do you need to? You’ve got a choice there, if it’s known original and in acceptable enough condition to be used as a reference then it might be sensible to do so. If it’s not in good condition, might be better to rebuild that first before ending up lining your new panels up with a wonky door.

I found this video very useful. The welder the guy is using is an extremely fancy one with way more adjustment than any hobby machine, but it does show you how to recognise which adjustment you need to make by the appearance / sound of your weld. (Though generally I don’t run beads on car panels, rather build up the seam from many overlapping tacks - there’s probably a proper name for this but I don’t know it…)