Maff

So would this fit a spitfire? Or just the Herald? Sorry for my ignorance.

Cheers fellas. ?

Thanks for the useful advice, I'll have a look at the weekend. I'm well aware of being massively overcharged, it is painful but what can I do? He's an idiot and I live by the saying, what goes around comes around.

Hi all. Long story short, took my spitfire to a local restoration place in Rothley to look at the temp gauge. He charged me £308 to replace the thermostat and give a general check up. Now my idle is at 1500 whereas it was below 1000 before I took it in. He claims the idle was 'all over the place' yet I can't recall this being the case. Is it easy to adjust the idle to the ideal speed? What is the ideal speed? Many thanks in advance!

Aaahh. I get easily confused with levers and pull switches. Knew I'd missed something! Cheers Pete.

Hi all. Any idea's what's going on? Matt.

Will do Andrew, cheers.

If anyone requires tools to fit press studs, eyelets etc you're welcome to use mine rather than buying new. I also have some spare 10mm eyelets, 15mm antique look studs and silver ones too Reply on here if you want to borrow the tools! Matt

Thanks for the replies everyone. Informative and no trace of hilarity whatsoever! I'll get bucket out.

This will no doubt get a load of laughs but here goes. I am very nervous about washing my new (49 year old) spitfire. I feel like any contact with water will cause it to collapse in front of me, into a heap of rust! Should I just treat it exactly as any other car when washing it? Should I leave it as long as possible before washing it? Is there a 'dry clean' method Once you've stopped laughing any replies (useful) would be brilliant.

I ended up getting some eyelets from the same company as the pliers. I'm thinking that some 'S' hook's will do the job.

Aaah. Great info, knicker elastic is so versatile! Did your straps have the hooks already fitted? Mine are sans hooks so will need to see how I can get them done.

Thanks! The TSSC shop in Lubenham happened to have a new one knocking around when I visited a few weeks ago. The hood bag has a couple of straps hanging off, behind the seats, that have no fixings attached, I'd like to fix these under the bag itself to tidy everything up but don't know where or what to secure the straps to?

So I finally got round to fitting the hood bag today! I thought the vario prym pliers worked a treat so many thanks for the recommendation. The hood bag definitely improves the overall look of the car I think but I couldn't get it fitted snugly to the bodywork despite my best efforts. I ran out of pop studs, still have 3 to fit so will finish it when they arrive. Many thanks for everybody's input, this forum is invaluable!

Thanks for the informative replies! I will look at getting to the source of the issue on my return from our holiday. Love having a classic car to tinker with!

My mk3 spitfire has suddenly started to get hot, needle above halfway and climbing. Opening the bonnet reveals a spray of coolant hitting the underside of said bonnet from somewhere, nothing major but a bit concerning nonetheless. I drove it to Lubenham and back, 50 mile round trip, the other day and it was fine so wondering whats happened in the meantime. Is it just the heat?

Thanks Richard. I've ordered the 15mm ones, will finally attempt to get the new hood bag fitted in the next couple of days!

Can you tell me what size and type of plastic inserts I need? I'm finding this all quite complicated! I bought pliers and on reading your post a second time now realise I need more kit!

Where can I buy the correct dot punch? I've looked online but am wary of purchasing the wrong size.

Hello, I purchased a new hood bag for my mk3 spitfire and thought I would be fitting it yesterday. However, despite having a hole punch gizmo and the pop studs I find I am missing something, whatever it is that is needed to secure the complete pop stud in place. The attached pic shows the tool I have. Do I need further tools? Also, my door card has come loose and won't sit tight to the door. How easy is it to fix? I assume I replace a broken fastening? Any help is both necessary and appreciated!

Thanks for the informative reply. I'll certainly make further enquiries with the pointers you have provided.

Oh right. You'll have to excuse my ignorance but I'm not sure what you mean? I have contacted hq in Lubenham as they are South Leicestershire and I'm North but no joy. I have asked the question a few times now in different places and I am still none the wiser which I find surprising as it's quite a straight forward question!