1969Mk3Spitfire

I had a three year old Mk4 Spitfire during the glorious summer of 76. Other than the carbs regularly drifting out of tune, I did a 70 mile round-trip daily commute and it never missed a beat. Or perhaps that’s my nostalgic rose coloured glasses.

Seems very wise. My first outing after buying the car ended at the curb side. Not entirely unexpected and, fortunately, I’d asked my wife to follow me with a boot full of tools and a tow rope. It cost me a new petrol tank.

Thanks to all for your words of wisdom. I’ve done a bit of tinkering this morning and, based upon the engine idling on the drive, it now seems to be working much better. Sadly, I don’t have time to take the car for a drive, it will have to wait a couple more weeks. There’s no jiggle pin to be seen so I “burped” the hose going into the heater valve. I’ll also keep an eye on the expansion bottle. After being off the road for approx 30 years, it’s restoration was completed at the end of 2019. A year ago, I changed the coolant but I’m not altogether happy with its colour now, black, so I may use a proprietary flush and refill. Any suggestions for a favoured brand? Prestone?

I agree with your observation. For the last couple of years, I’ve half filled the expansion tank with new/clear coolant. It seems to have never discoloured so I concluded that there is no expansion/contraction flow. Strange.

That makes sense, thanks. My car is now back in the garage with its cover on as I’m doing a bit of sailing malarkey next week. I’ll check upon my return. Where is the bleed hole and how does it function? There’s no evidence of coolant leakage around the pump or thermostat housing, from memory.

Will do, Pete……..a small hose near the heater or engine top hose? It felt as though the temp sender was measuring coldish water until the radiator cap blew, then all returned to normal. I seem to be back where I started with no heater but new valve 😂

Yes, Doug, I wanted heat. I tried full in and full out, the new valve has opposite actuation compared to the one removed and I’m very easily confused and can’t quite recall which is which, so tried both and also in the middle.

As you may know, I’ve just replaced the heater valve. Heater had never worked since car in my ownership. First start after 4-5 months and first drive on Tuesday. Less than a mile from home, warm/hot air through the heat exchanger. Noticed that the water temp gauge didn’t move as quickly as I recalled, in fact, for a while I was thinking that it was not working. 5-10 miles from home, temp gauge started to move, simultaneously, very little warm air via the heat exchanger. Stopped for a couple of hours. On the return journey, water temp gauge behaved as expected and little heat into the cab. At home, lifted the bonnet, there was a lot of coolant spray from around the radiator cap and the expansion tank was half full (normally empty). I did not refill the radiator. Been out again today. Water temp gauge moves quickly to middle of display from cold start, very little heat coming into the cab from the heat exchanger. Expansion tank empty. It doesn’t feel right. Anyone offer and explanation, please?

Sorry to read about your second run. Hope you gave it a good talking to when it was back home. Nice picture of your car, by the way.

Earlier than I had planned but with a good weather forecast I thought it time to take my Spitfire out of hibernation. In another thread, I’ve changed the heater value, thanks for the advice, so was keen to see if I had cabin heat for the first time. After an oil and filter change plus several ticks from the annual service checklist, I pressed the solenoid to get some oil circulating. Turning on the ignition, it took a short while to get fuel to the carbs and think about firing. One cylinder woke up, then stalled. Two cylinders…..almost. Next turn of the key and three cylinders were alive and kicking and she ran. A few seconds later the forth cylinder joined the party and she sounded sweet. Had a really nice drive in unseasonably warm sunshine. Perfect. Had a prearranged meet up with a pal for a coffee. He drove there in his Elan. I’m always amazed by people in a car park wanting to chat and share their experiences of owning similar cars in their youth. Good start to the season, my little car puts a huge smile on my face.

I don’t think that turning the base 180 degrees will work. All it would achieve is to change cable connection “from offside towards near side” to “from near side towards offside”. Otherwise, the outer cable retainer and the inner cable nipple positions would be wrong. My owners handbook shows “in equals off” but now it is “in equals fully open”. This is preferable to the previous state of it not working at all. Many thanks to you all.

The replacement valve arrived today and is now fitted. It has p/n 724021 and is described as Spitfire or Herald heater valve. Interestingly, the orientation for the cable attachment is 180 deg different compared to the otherwise identical looking valve originally fitted. Looking forward, the cable was originally located forward of the valve, now it’s at the rear. Hence on the dash, what was pull out is now push in an vice versa.

Thanks to all for helpful suggestions. I drilled the rivet and open it. Completely caked solid with 50 years of crud. The membrane wasn't pretty, either. Nevertheless, it clean-up reasonable well and now seems to work ok. Job done, but I'll take your advice and buy a replacement, keep this one as a spare, or as my wife calls it "more junk cluttering the garage shelves" Last question, the vee profile donut seal for the flange adapter - are these available, what can be used as an alternative?

I received these pictures from the guy doing the refurb. How do you suggest that I proceed?

That’s a good suggestion, Colin, thanks. I haven’t started the car since hibernation and not planning to do until early April as I have a few commitments between then and now, albeit time on my hands today. I can now blow through the valve but it’s far from clear. Moving the spring loaded control mechanism doesn’t as yet have any impact so there’s still a way to go. It’s currently soaking in boiling water. Any suggestions to free-up the intervals would be most welcome? As I’m in no particular rush, I may simply leave it soaking in mild caustic soda for a day or two - thoughts?

Just removed the valve and it’s blocked. Currently poured-in some sink unblocker, now waiting…..I don’t have any caustic soda but tempted to walk to shops to buy some. Any other suggestions? With the valve off, thought I’d check that the matrix remains clear. Tried a bit of suck and blow through the hoses and can confirm that antifreeze doesn’t taste good. Used mouthwash to no avail, now trying coffee. Guess I’ll have this taste for the rest of the day. Oh the joy.

Just taken these pictures. There is a long pipe running under the manifold. Is this “in” and “out” is through the valve? First test is to check flow going in?

My new-to-me hardtop is near completion of its restoration. The side window rubbers are in need of attention. Replacements do not appear to be available via the popular sources - anyone know of a source? Alternatively, is there a way to remove a layer of paint (yuk) applied to a rubber seal? Many thanks.

Car is Mk3 Spitfire. I replaced the heater motor a couple of years ago but there is no heat transfer into the cabin. The matrix holds pressure and water flowed freely when I put it under a tap. The job has found its way near to the top of my “to do” list. It would not surprise me if it was a simple air lock but I’m thinking of removing and testing the valve. Any tips or other pearls of wisdom from those of you with more experience?

I need to replace the tailgate gas struts on my wife's Audi TT. The choice seems to be between Optimal or Stabilus. One is twice the price of the other but the higher price gets 3-star reviews while the cheaper one get 5-star. Especially when there are only small numbers of contributors, my experience suggests that interweb reviews could be wildly out of kilter with fact. More commonly known brands, such as Monroe or Magnetti Marelli, do not seem to be available / out of stock. Does anyone have experience of either of these two brands and care to comment....... Many thanks.

Thanks for posting, Clive. Mine is currently somewhere between the body shop and the upholster. I’m hoping to get it before the end of the month and doubtless will have seal queries at that time.

Watching this with great interest. I’m having a Mk3 hardtop refurbished at the moment and doubtless will have seal issues to resolve in due course.

Many thanks to you all. I was asking on behalf of a friend. He has bought from the Club Shop and also become a member. Good result!

Does anyone know of a source to find an original / factory workshop manual for a Mk3 GT6? Many thanks.

What was it, do you recall? There was little to no F1 activity from any of the European factories as it was done by HQ factory in Los Angeles. We generally considered the early days of F1 Turbo era as a PITA as the "I want it now" mentality took precious Dev Shop resource away from "real" customer programs. The technology was nothing special other than it requiring a fairly small turbine stage to generate power to drive a very large compressor, hence thrust loads very high. The era did gives rise to the introduction of cast iron alloys capable of being used at >1000 deg C. In many ways, it was a "no-win" endeavour because many, just like Firefly, were left with the impression that the product was unreliable. A bit like Pirelli tyres (I did 13 years for these guys, too). No one seems to have a good word for what really is an excellent product.