ShaunW

Hello again. I think I've got some parts missing from my hood. The pics show the front and rear rails, I think I know what's missing from the front ie 3 seal retaining stripes and the seal (713036, 713037, 713038 and 629584) but I can't seem to find anything equivalent for the rear. I'm guessing there's a seal but I can't see it in hood parts or bodywork parts. Any clues?

To be fair to NM, I did ask about the grammar. But I totally agree with your guidelines. I'm on another forum for work and it's ridiculous most days and descends into a futile slanging match.

Thx NonMemeber for the grammar. You say neither is an adjective but how about the two meanings of the sentence "the dog smelled"? Yes Chris absolutely. You'd certainly attract the right sort of woman.

You also get to feel if the condensation on your hand is at all slippery. And as Pete says the smell of the subtle blend of aromatic steam, CO, unburnt fuel, oil and antifreeze (if you're unlucky) tells you a lot if you've smelt enough. ('smelt' or 'smelled'? I think it's smelt if it's a verb and smelled if it's an adjective, like burnt and burned? ).

£4.80 for a 2" offcut of steel pipe must surely be worthy of an entry in the Guinness Book of Cheeky Prices? .... unless anyone has a better example?

Interesting stuff. Especially about whether I'll use it. Back in the early 80s when I was doing over 500 miles a week in a spit, I enjoyed the feeling of being a bit more protected from the elements in winter, especially on long hauls down the motorway. These days I think the car needs more protection from the elements than I do so it doesn't see much bad weather. But, if I'm going to have a hardtop stood there on standby, and there's any budget left by the time the important things are done, I'll resume the search.

Thinking beyond summer .... I've got a Lenham hardtop (i think) but I don't like it much. So I'm on the lookout for an original when the right one comes along, but I'm in no hurry just yet. I saw this OEM Steel Triumph Spitfire MK 4/1500 Hardtop NOS on ebay and wondered how easy is it to get glass, seals, catches etc? I had a quick look and couldn't see much. While I was on there I also saw a Spitfire Targa Top. It's not my cup of tea but I'd never seen one before.

Thanks. Yep I'm looking forward to having a bit more suspension under me too. Let's just say I've been making mistakes so you don't have to. Don't start talking about September, it's going to come far too soon for me!

Since Carillon went bust we've been stuck with a mud track to nowhere round Lincoln. Haven't seen anyone on site for months now.

And another one..... I just thought I'd brief you about a potential problem or two while they're fresh in my mind. Before and after photo. That wrinkle in the base of the new one... just needed another cable tie to get some more tension on. (Also I now realise I need some headrest covers in smoother vinyl). Did you save the little boards with clips on from your old seat back covers? I had to fish mine out of a bin bag (kept till the redo job was over) when I found the new covers didn't have them. They keep the sides pulled down and in. But when I refitted them I couldn't make them pull down far enough to re-engage with the slot on the frame. Maybe I'd glued my rear foam a tad too high, but it was only just above the frame tbh. Maybe the cover was 1/2" too short, I don't know. Anyway can you see how the bottom side parts of the seat back flare out a bit without them? I've cured it with a single rivet through a stainless washer into the frame side and it's spot on now and looks tidy.

Then your next job will look something like this. I was a bit worried about the ties pulling through the vinyl so I folded it over to go through 2 layers. Typically the second one I did went better and I got the cover to go right over the basket rather than have a bit showing. Still looks OK though because not much shows when they're installed. It's interesting seeing someone at exactly the same stage as I'm at. Photo is before I tensioned the ties. Covers came with 100 long strong ties which is thought was decent. You have to glue the fluted part of the seat base to the foam, and the back foam to the back frame, I found good old clear Bostik worked great for both jobs.

It's getting there. The only thing I can see different between those covers and the park lane ones is that mine had a flap of hessian at the top of the seat back fluting, on the inside, that pulls through a slot in the back foam to keep the cover tight. You might find a dot or two of grease will keep the runners running smoothly, wd40 tends to just evaporate away. Hopefully you'll have some of these arriving soon......

That's the sort of thing that's really useful to know. So much more useful than just quoting a number. Again many many thx to everyone for the feedback. (gripe of the day....new carpet arrived today, hooray, it's the wrong *&!@#**%ing colour, booooo!!! I've got such a love hate relationship with online shopping.)

I want to do a compression test on my 2500 (no issues, just curious) so I thought I'd have a word with you guys first. I know about disconnecting the fuel pump, removing the rotor arm and holding the throttle open(?) but.... Questions: 1. Hot or cold? It will take me a while so will probably cool down anyway? 2. How long to crank for? I've seen anything from 5 turns to 10s which seems a lot. 3. With and without a little oil in the bore? 5ml? 10? 4. I know it's about relative readings, but what's considered poor/normal/good? No rush to reply if you're all busy enjoying the weekend, it's a job for soon rather than now. Thanks

I'm about 20mls from Skeg Pete and I agree the roads are shocking. It takes all the pleasure out of driving. It's even worse on a motorbike and one of the reasons I stopped riding.

Thanks all. I think it's a GEX1440. As an aside, how much clearance should there be between the exhaust and the OD mounting bracket? Mine's just about touching, about 1/4"max. If the new one is the same, I'm tempted to put a piece of plumbers heat mat or exhaust wrap between the exhaust and the OD so I don't boil the oil.

Anything's a possibility with this car. It does look a bit agricultural so maybe it's something std that's been altered. It's 1 3/4" od. 45mm ish

Hi guys. The front section of my exhaust is getting a bit ify. I need the section that goes from the manifold to just past the gearbox. Trouble is I can't seem to find anything that looks similar. It's a 2500 in a Spitfire 1500 chassis. Is it a TR part? It's tricky getting a photo of it.

Might be the pics but is it a bit low at the back?

That's right, he'd put them both the same way (lips on the outside) instead of as you say.

You'll need a drip tray, or you'll spoil that nice block paving

Welcome Matt. You've come to the right place, the guys on here are incredibly knowledgeable and really generous with their help. Looks like you're going to be busy with that little list. Rimmers are good but don't be tempted to get the std stuff like nuts and bolts and connectors etc from them cos they aren't cheap. Ditto interior trim. When you get to that stage have a look at Park Lane Triumph. Great quality, fit and price but order well ahead cos there's a waiting list of about 10 weeks due to them being made to order. Good luck and have fun.

It's not a bad job Leon. I'd never done them on my 1500spit before but I bought the right puller, took my time, took lots of pictures and it went fine. Be careful about getting the oil seals the right way round though. My shafts needed changing because the last owner had put them in the wrong way round, the grease had been flung out, and the bearings had chewed the shaft up. I had to drive it nearly 200mls when I bought it and 10mls from home they gave way. There's lots of people on here who will help if you get stuck.

Yep it's all out there, I just liked scrapman's elevator pitch version. It confirmed what I thought when I read the DoT's 3 part serialisation with bonus DVD featuring a director's cut commentary.