TNTbefree

Well, in an effort to keep ya'll posted, not much has taken place for the last couple of weeks. I took the radiator out and took it up to a shop. Needs a new core. For $300 bucks, I'll just put in a new one. The engine is still frozen, but I hear that it can take up to a month to break one free if it ever can be. Have picked up a few things to get started on working on it, but it's a hundred in the shade and I am holding off for a bit nicer weather.

This could explain the mix-matched spark plugs I was talking about earlier... Spark plug 3 and 4 look a bit shorter than 1 and 2 that the sleeve things are in. Will try to remove sleeves and see if a 3 or 4 sparkplug will go in.

Another day, another surprise... Still trying to see if I can get the engine unstuck. Was trying to add some MM Oil to the cylinders but couldn't get the tube into One and Two. Come to find out, they had sleeves in them. The holes are much smaller. Guess at some point, the threads got stripped. Debating on getting a new head and replacing it. Also took out the radiator and ran it up to the radiator shop here in town to have it pressure tested and repaired if needed. Good pic of one and edge of two with sleeve inserts... 3 and 4 No Inserts

So this is my new build thread and today was the first day I had time to play with my new toy. My first mission was to see if I could turn the engine by hand. I pulled the spark plugs and took a look at them. #1 plug looked ok. #2 had a lot of build up on it. #3 looked like it burnt oddly. and #4 looked ok to me. Note: the PO used mix match plugs. After I had them pulled, I shot some PB Blaster into the spark plug holes. Grabbed my big a$$ wrench and attempted to turn the engine. She did not budge. I pushed, I pulled, I banged, and I cussed, but all to no avail. I then shot some ATF down the holes and moved on to the valve cover. When I first pulled off the cover, all I saw was rust. Not a good sign. This freaked me out a bit, but I took the air hose out and blew it off. The rust was from what fell off from the inside of the valve cover and not on the engine itself. Then I sprayed it down with a pound or two of PB Blaster as well. Just for the heck of it, I also poured ATF all over and in it as well. Seeing as I had the cover off, scrubbed it clean with a stainless steel brillow pad and hit it with a splash of paint to keep it from rusting again.. I also cleaned the the gasket area and put it back together. So all in all, I got little to nothing done. The engine will still not turn and when I sprayed a bolt I planned to remove tomorrow, I messed up the new paint on the valve cover due to overspray. One-step forward...

Hello all... I posted how I got this Spitfire in my intro post Hello From Jacksonville FL. If you missed that, basically this little beauty was given to me by my neighbor. He bought it in 78, drove it for twenty years, it broke down, and it has been sitting in his yard for the last twenty, till he gave it to me. I'm going to post the pics here that I posted there, so ya'll don't have to jump back and forth to see them. From here on out, this is going to be my build thread. Thanks for any interest and all the help I am sure to need.

Thank you. I googled trunnion and came up with cannon parts. Then I googled Triumph TRUNNION and saw a video on it. Good info to know, but I am way far off from fretting over a trunnion. Tomorrow, I am going to pull the plugs and spray some PB blaster in them and see if I can even turn the engine over by hand. Just hoping it isn't frozen. What size wrench will I need to turn it?

What the heck is a trunnion?

And fast too. Already ordered the Spitfire books. Will get the carb book later. Thanks all, for the fast and helpful replies.

That is good to hear and I will for sure need the help. Like the first question I have is... What kind of carbs are these and what is the deal with putting oil in them? Also, any recommendations on a good book about redoing one of these little beauties?

That's the plan. I will admit, I have no experience or knowledge with these British vehicles, but I do have a leg up, my wife is the manager of a body shop and knows a lot about vehicle and body repair. I have had some experience with a previous project that I think went well... I picked up an 81 Goldwing 1100 for $450.00 and had a lot of fun redoing it.

Hello from across the pond.... A week ago, I was heading home after work. I was coming up the back way to my house and I cursed my luck when I found that I was blocked due to a tow truck that was pulling a pickup truck up onto its bed. I was stuck.A guy I know was standing there, so I rolled my passenger window down to ask him what was going on. He told me that his neighbor was having it towed off and that he was getting the old vehicles off his property. He pointed over my shoulder and said "That one is next".I looked over and saw a Triumph under a blue tarp. I asked Erick what the guy was asking for it and he said that he would probably give it to me if I wanted it. I told him I would love to have it, so, Erick went over and told Bob that I wanted it. That's when Bob came over and asked what I planned to do with it. I told him that I hoped to fix it up and get it up and running again. He said, "It's yours".That's when he told me it was a 1966 Triumph Spitfire MK2 and it hasn't run for over 20 years. He said it died, so he parked it. He planned on fixing it up but never did. Now he is at the age where he doesn't want to.I had to wait a week for him to find the title and for me to find the time to push it down to my yard, but here it is...