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hardhatharry

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Posts posted by hardhatharry

  1. 7 hours ago, Badwolf said:

    Colin is right, the front needs to drop to close up the gaps with the corner valance and the passenger door but the cill appears to be too high. There is something not quite right in the 3d geometry here. As an interest, how does the passenger door line up against the B post and is the front LH quarter valance fitted correctly?

    Addition

    Are your bonnet stop cones in place or is the bonnet sitting directly onto the bulkhead? Are the bonnet tubes ok, not bent, fitted awry or bolted loosely?

    I see on looking at a hi magnification of you photo that the bonnet actual hangs over the sill where the filler is at the corner, but is just above the sill at the front section. Levelling this up to give a consistant line may make a big difference at the front. Looking from the front, does the bonnet appear level...measure the height from the road. This sort of 3d stuff is something that I hate and have it to come myself if I ever get my bonnet finished.

     

     

     

    Door lines up great with the b post. Quarter valences mount points need alot of bending at they are a mess. Tubes look OK and the bonnet used to fit before I started the work. 

  2. 9 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

    Being an... ahem... expert on Herald bonnet gaps (ok so the Gt6 gaps were perfect) both of those need to come down at the front; if you imagine the top rear corner as the pivot point then down at the front will pivot back at the lower edge and align the gap. The driver's side looks as though it will drop slightly however worryingly there's no room for downward movement at the passenger side sill, as the bonnet is currently resting on it, and if the bonnet is raised at that side, it'll be too high at the top. That sill may be on incorrectly.

    Do you have any room for adjustment at the front hinge boxes by loosening the bolts and dropping the brackets, or are they at full drop already?

    Full drop already 

  3. 76 spitfire 1500. Been prepping bodywork ready for paint for months now and struggling with bonnet /door alignment. The top of the wing/ door is tight and it gets wider as it travels down. If I press the bonnet down at the front the gaps go OK. Also the bumper will not go far back enough as it fouls the gusseted part of the bonnet hinge pipes which makes me suspect the hinge boxes are too high. I did replace the hinge boxes as the old ones were rotten. Any tips on how to line up the boxes correctly? As these hinge boxes were cut from another chassis I'm also concerned that some metal has already been lost and cutting again will loose some more, any tips on this too? I also have a time issue as my mate who is painting the car looses his garage in July so quick fixes appreciated. Thanks all

    IMG_20220507_121219.jpg

    IMG_20220507_121152.jpg

  4. So while I find time to do the sills I decided to rebuild the gearbox and overdrive of unknown history I bought years ago and has been hanging around my workshop. Luckily (or unluckily) I was bought an plastic gearbox tunnel from Moss as an Xmas present which never turned up and after much negotiation money was refunded which I spent on a full gearbox rebuild kit from Paddocks.

     Tapping with hammer and brass drifts failed to release the main bearings so raiding my mates garage I found a bearing puller that should work, what could possibly go wrong....

    IMG_20220111_190853.thumb.jpg.4ee03951febd107b704984de6c99f383.jpg

    After more jiggling and worry success (yes I know its a bit messy at the moment but you try storing a whole spitfire in a workshop).

     

    Success!!

    IMG_20220111_192659.thumb.jpg.7d1f81cb5b77fdd386336b576a1d6271.jpg

    Paint!!

    IMG_20220113_221410.thumb.jpg.536c174417dd8f4ced37bd493c16c49d.jpg

    Cleanup ( who is R.B?)

    IMG_20220113_211839.thumb.jpg.7b7ea8a8491e378fffd3dd92623a1939.jpg

    Got a bit stuck with end float so I have posted stuff in help section

  5. and I am back and still not painted the spit!!!

    I have problems stopping progress one is the swage line on the passenger side isn't lining up correctly. Lots of head scratching over a couple of weeks led me to grab a tape measure, mmm 13mm difference in the door aperture size between the driver and passenger side. More scratching of head but in a rather alarmed fashion. Time to get the big ram out and "make" the passenger side the same size as the drivers side and see ehat happens. IMG_20211229_125400.thumb.jpg.3d0fcdb269a11500b126df6497080673.jpg

    Talk about stress as the pressure is ramped up and the car you have been working on for over 12 months of blood, sweat and quite alot of tear makes strange groaning and creaking noises.

    The result was the outer sill had a rather large hole which a previous owner had bogged over (quite convincingly). IMG_20211229_134457.thumb.jpg.1db66a258245248009d67c9faaa6d3c7.jpg

    IMG_20211229_141631.thumb.jpg.47cf2edc87ae909910729cc918533cd4.jpg

    It also wouldn't surprise me if the inner strengthener was missing or rotted away so order 6000 went into paddocks for an outer sill, strengthener and end piece. Unfortunately it will be a couple of days work on the ramp so I will need to find a couple of days of work to do it. 

     

     

  6. As a break from the bodywork I dug out an engine from the scrap pile that is to be called superfast engine 01 :)

    Using a motorcycle hydraulic lift and a willing volunteer I got it onto my engine stand and stripped it down.

    Got a look at the bores and bore 4 is rather worn and just under 1mm over standard so will need to get a rebore and +40 pistons.

    IMG_20210902_201121.thumb.jpg.835a5d9a657988a90e7e2bc1b87bc113.jpg

    IMG_20210902_201115.thumb.jpg.466391fdbc6e86bd5d4a4ae680f45424.jpg

    I also have a fast road cam and big valve head to go in the engine once its been machined.

  7. Back fettling.....

    Onto the engine mounts and although the rubber is perished the nuts do not want to let go even with liberal doses of penetrating fluid.

    Eventually out came the grinder which gave up too and broke the disk smacking into the oil filter....oops luckily there isn't a h&S book to fill in.

    New filter ordered.....

    Eventually though the mounts gave up the struggle and the new ones bolted on.

    Now the big day arrived, off to my mates paint room so onto his big trailer.

    IMG_20210827_124417.thumb.jpg.b41a516d5c48a4040a1aed6a35401007.jpg

    Then a nervous 40 mins of me driving with a thumping big trailer down some narrow streets.

    Off the trailer and looking cool.

    IMG_20210827_134737.thumb.jpg.8ca41fa778a5fa18704ebab0d616c61f.jpg

    and into the booth.

     

    IMG_20210827_143619.thumb.jpg.14c86b9cd3f19458dfadd68512a73ff0.jpg

    It was this point where my mate got out his marker pen and circled all the dents his trained eye could see and my dumb eye couldn't, which was about a weeks labour for me to do.

    Rear wing......

    IMG_20210901_124455.thumb.jpg.6f5a64293126f52d0a384cc5b815855c.jpg

    IMG_20210902_120008.thumb.jpg.91d2af1e03fcd8e91e328d67a285b5f0.jpg

    Doors

    It was also when I was poking around I found a big blob of sealant hiding another couple of holes...... sigh.

    IMG_20210830_104141.thumb.jpg.6bccc57a76ad461f0c3a6c3ca1e16f3d.jpg

    IMG_20210830_102944.thumb.jpg.ea01f25c4d883df14b8321bc51d406e2.jpg 

    3 days in on the weeks labour now so the colour is getting close.....

     

  8. Back on it today, wasted a bit of time chasing a carb leak which turned out to be a split in the pipe where it goes into the card (lots of stripping a floats and valve seats).

    Fitted a nos throttle cable which is surprisingly red (is this the right routing laid over the engine?). 

    IMG_20210808_135029.thumb.jpg.39f6d9b381faada93e8fa68de1ad53c4.jpg

    Found some holes in the drivers floor which will need patching

    IMG_20210808_122716.thumb.jpg.70eb0c40e7232afc37c02ee9dc2298ab.jpg

    and looks like new engine mounts are needed.

    IMG_20210808_143400.thumb.jpg.8261f4136300c13cad7fe7ad8d224310.jpg

  9. Disappointed....... had a shiny but old stock fancy rocker cover for the Spit. Dug it out from its hiding place and spent a hour polishing it. Then I noticed it didnt have a breather pipe spigot, hmmmm. Dug out a standard Spit rocker and measured, grrrrr it looks like an A series rocker, it was sold to me as a Spit one but it was quite a while ago now. 

    IMG_20210805_184418.thumb.jpg.45a4a0798e4bd4065a8e9a56f94f86f1.jpg

     

  10. Onto the problem of the fuel not arriving at the carbs. Off with the tank and undid the pipe which goes into the tank. The pipe was really hard to get out but after a few taps with a rubber mallet out it came. Gave the pipe a good clean and then cleared with an airline, all seemed well. Next I connected a slave tank to the feed from the tank to the carbs.IMG_20210805_124412.thumb.jpg.89bb112305ea77cfa3eaadb86e018359.jpg

    Car started fine with this setup, so put it all back together and connected up the feed from the tank to the carbs and hey presto, all working.

    Strange one I'm assuming removing the pipe from the tank must have removed the blockage.

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