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The bush depends on the mark - I think they're always 3/8" bore but the lengths are different. I had to carefully drill out the ones in Toby's chassis brackets as they were rusted solid. 9/16" outer diameter, so fatter than a trunnion tube but similarly sensitive to the exact length. On the earlier chassis, the bonnet frame has slotted holes for front-back adjustment and the chassis bracket has slotted holes where it fits the chassis for up-down. From memory (it's 25 years since I rebuilt the GT6's chassis boxes) the Mk3 should also have horizontal slots in the inner bracket where the bolt goes through the bush, and vertical slots in the front of the outer box to allow those brackets (part 715805) to move up and down.

No, the two spellings are interchangeable when used as a past-tense-verb, at least in British English. Neither are an adjective (indeed the "adjective" use of burned is actually a past tense verb being hijacked). The "smelt" spelling can also mean other things (a verb to do with metallurgy and a noun for fish) and in American English the "smelled" spelling is by far the more common as a past tense of smell.

The standard, single speed, wiper motor for an early Spitfire has three terminals connected to the loom. One of these is a fairly obvious ground wire - it's a terminal on the case and the wire is black. The other two wires are a live feed (green, from the ignition-switched-fused circuit) and the connection to the low-side switch. Here's a photo of mine.

No pristine ones but I have a crate full of unwanted "OK" ones.

All my Triumphs have the same as photo 2 on both sides. I don't recall ever seeing the first type but, like you say, it looks like it should be OK. The pre-load on the rubber is tricky to find specs for. It doesn't need to be huge, just some. My usual method is to squeeze both clamps to the rack "a bit" with mole-grips both sides (so four mole grips in total) while doing up the bolts to the chassis. Don't forget to push those lower plates hard against the inner flanges of the mounting plates, so that they hold the tension on in service.

On the original wiring, the heater fan is powered by the green circuit - ignition switched and fused. The brown/purple fuse is originally the (permanent live) fused supply to the horns, hazards, and other stuff. It looks like you've got three separate such circuits but they're not distributed as well as they might be.

Are you sure? The one shown does not look like a 2-speed. The 2-speed on the Mk4 / GT6 Mk3 has a round body. That one looks like a Mk3 single-speed type. The Canleys site seems to show the same wiper motor for all round-tail Spitfires, and Herald/Vitesse.

By the way, some comments on the motor being "a modern one" or "not the usual model". The car appears to be a round-tail Spitfire. The wiper motor appears to be a Lucas DR3A. This is exactly the expected combination. Or am I missing something?

It's supposed to be like that, because... The red wire connects the -ve side of the motor (which is the switched side) to the not-a-full-circle thing. The rotating copper contact is connected to ground through the shaft. This is the self-parking mechanism - when the wipers are parked, the grounded copper contact is in the missing bit of the circle. When they're not, it connects the red wire to ground, thus energising the motor until it does park.

No, Pete, but he had also re-set the mixture to something sensible. He commented that adjusting either way from this nominal base point gave an RPM drop, whereas before he'd found that leaning off caused the RPM to rise. To me, that suggests it was hopelessly pig rich before.

Hey ho. My first Vitesse, many years back, had a speedo that I could get to read 130 if I was really trying. Given that it was a perfectly standard Mk1 2L, with a factory top speed of 95, I don't think the speedo was terribly accurate.

The springs should be compatible. The choice of double vs. single springs depends whether the engine is likely to get revved a lot (GT6) or only ever lugged up to 3000 RPM (2500S). So by the time you've skimmed that head to the right compression, it's a GT6 head, not a 2500 one, and should take the GT6 springs.

and if so, will it be as much of a monster as the one on a certain other forum?

As Pete said, those clamps are usually pretty good at coping with indentations. Unlike the Mk1 2L engine, where the clamps are rubbish.

Seen who? Nobody there that I can see. Welcome, Paula, and Feargal.

I'm fairly sure the 2500S exhaust manifold is the same flange as a Mk3 GT6, so you're probably after a standard Mk3 GT6 pipe. Rimmers list the same part number for the standard exhaust manifold on TR250, 2000, 2500 and GT6/Vitesse.

If they're relatively early Mk4 Spitfire shafts, and if they have the larger UJ flanges, then the brake backplates are the only thing you need to swap (well, plus the shoes and drums, obviously) to fit a Mk1 Vitesse. Late Mk4 Spitfires had the longer shafts, like the 1500s. Whether the localised stiffness/looseness is a problem depends what's causing it. If the bearings feel smooth and are quiet, it's not likely to be them. Possibly something caught in a seal, or between the hub and backplate, or maybe the inner grease cap fitted wonky? None of those would be a problem. You'd have to strip it to find out.

My GT6 had a 4.11 diff for many years. It wasn't terrible but it's a lot nicer now it has a 3.63 The Vitesse also has a 3.63, as did my first Vitesse once I'd broken the 3.89 (high mileage, the cage shattered). It's a nice ratio for that. The Spitfire, although a Mk3, has a 1500 engine, so it's got a 3.63 diff because that's the factory spec

Hurrah! Congratulations! It's a great feeling when you first get the engine running after some surgery (or, in my case, after it had sat in a series of damp barns for 25 years). It sounds from the video to be running quite nicely. A bit tappetty but I see you've already got that on the list. Smoke from manifold paint can persist for a while - mine has overspray from the body on the thermal wrap of the tubular manifold so it'll keep smoking until I've clocked up a good few miles, I expect. As to what to watch for, I guess it's mostly the usual things - leaks, low oil pressure, high coolant temperature, and bad noises (as I said, the video sounds OK on that front).

Just filling in the gap that Pete left for me... if you fit a Mk2 engine you will need Vitesse/GT6 Mk2 manifolds. I think the Mk1/Mk2 carbs are the same in most markets (Mk3 GT6 got emission control ones). The exhaust manifold may be the same on the saloon but the inlet is no good for you.

First, don't throw your engine away just yet. At the very least, you will need some of the bits. If you already have a GT6 gearbox fitted, then the engine from a 2000 saloon can be fitted very easily. If it's a Mk1 you can use your existing manifolds... Bah! Pete has beaten me to it. I'd only add that you probably want to keep your existing flywheel as the saloon one is a bit too thick.

But as has been said, the oil pickup should be below the dipstick minimum mark, and the oil capacity between marks is much more than the expected capacity of the upper part of the engine. If your theory is correct, then you've got a serious problem with failure to drain back from the working parts to the sump. I'm not quite sure how that could be.

Alternators aren't too expensive, although more so than they used to be. I have a spare one I was toying with giving a quick refurb (having refurbed the other spare for my Mk3 and quite enjoyed it). Some people opt for the "dynamator" option, which looks like a dynamo, but I think those are a bit more costly. By comparison to a modern car, "pretty awful" is probably about right. They're not servo assisted so you need a good bit of pedal effort. Many people recommend Mintex pads, or EBC. My Vitesse had EBC Greenstuff on it when I bought it, though, and I didn't like them that much. Yes, burning the gasses is considered a LOT more environmentally friendly, which is why the factory changed from an open breather on 948 Heralds to the PCV system on Spitfires. The Mk4 arrangement, venting into the carbs, or the Herald 13/60 one, venting to the air filter, were both cost-down versions of the PCV.

Fair point on the cold air tubes (my Mk3 has had a 1500 transplant many years back). However, on the "restrictive" question... compare those air box slots to the size of your carbs. They don't restrict anything.

Hi Matt, Welcome from a fellow Mk3 owner. I know where you're coming from on the colour. Wedgewood or OE white both look good on a Mk3. As Pete said, keep it standard (or, in some areas, put it back to standard) and get it running right before you start introducing potentially hassle-prone mods. The original airbox may look restrictive but its cold air intake means you often get better performance than with pancake filters. Rob