hardhatharry

Has anyone tarted up their front spoiler. Mine has lost its captive nuts, anyone got a recommendation how to fix new nuts in place? Fibreglass? Some fancy glue?? Also the previous owner has half heartedly sprayed it in black, some is flaking off some is fixed firmly any recommendation how to remove the old paint without hours and hours of hand sanding? I'm planning to colour code the spoiler to the rest of the car

I have a new battery box to go into, does the old one unbolt out or is it a cut the old one out and weld the new one in type fix?

More painting tonight, again took these down to bare metal before painting. Luckily I have a few of these as the first couple has micro fractures that I only saw once in bare metal.

Had a bit of a break over Xmas and the cold snap, I had every intention of doing a bit but the temperature change stepping out of the front door force me to skittle straight back in the house. Back on it now..... Cleared all the tools, parts and rubbish out of the boot, taken it back to metal and into primer.Makes a hell of a difference. Taking the deck back to metal and I found a bit of a dodgy repair which I will address in the coming days ( this has been a common theme and I'll glad I took it down to the metal). Treated myself to a new tool to help to get into those hard to reach places. I had a couple of missing rear bumper irons so managed to source some at reasonable cost and also painted them Also started the repair of the fglass quarter panels but ran out of resin

Need someone to volunteer to try a 300N now

@rogerguzzi when we have both fitted them we can compare notes so see which works best and advise the group. I don't run a rear rack either.

Its a bit blurry

Its the perfect excuse to go hydraulic

bit clunky for me and sometimes it doesn't "catch" and I have to jiggle it

I was talking about the bonnet lift kit for £90 which you can sort out for around £40. £42 for the boot lift kit is about £30 too much

These are the struts: - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-ROVER-200-HATCHBACK-1985-1995-REAR-TAILGATE-BOOT-TRUNK-GAS-STRUTS-SUPPORT/232776790845?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 - £16 and the guy that makes the brackets, none listed at the moment but just message him https://contact.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?FindAnswers&requested=adunn9&_trksid=p2545226.m2531.l4583&rt=nc Kit was £27

they are about £90 aren't they?

Yes I have, there was a guy selling the bracketry on ebay for around £25 and the struts cost about £15 so all in it was £40 and worked well. I'll see if I can dig out the details

Looks good in the video thats what I'm going off and its worth a punt at a tenner.

Cheers Danny, when you say re-enforce how thick is the metal? Luckily my boot is in primer so I can weld some extra metal on. Gas strut 400N is a tenner https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL-GAS-STRUT-SPRING-450MM-400N-BOOT-BONNET-MULTI-PURPOSE-/274406142272 Just need to find the correct ends and job done!!

A single gas strut costs around £8, struggling to work out why this should cost £42.

Your so right Colin, all through the summer I was after a 1500 Spitfire engine and every one I saw, when I queried the engine numbers, were Dolomite engines. I know some aren't bothered but I wanted a proper Spit one I was starting to wonder of all the spit ones had blown up.

All spitfire ones according to the engine numbers.

Received the 3 other engines today a 1967, 1970 and a 1972.

Onto the bodywork section....... Managed to weld the small hole in the floor using some formed metal left over from the door repair and just happened to be the correct shape (well with a couple of hammer blows it was) which just leaves a repair required to the back of the passenger side rear wheel arch, passenger side windscreen gutter replacement and small repair to rear deck to complete the welding. With welding being a pain to do in my very narrow garage and the heavens opening up which meant I couldnt work outside I had to find something else to occupy me. First was to take the rear deck back to metal and found quite a bit of filler on the drivers side. then the windscreen to remove. The seals had turned into stone over the last 44 years so it was very difficult to release the glass. I did manage to break the glass (it was inevitable) but it already had a large star shaped crack in it anyway. and out with the petrol tank which was one of the first repairs I fixed on the car all those months ago. Yes I do need to clean out the boot. I was thinking of painting the floor gloss black with chassis paint as it wont be seen when the carpet goes in, is that agreeable?

Wow were did that month go........ A quick bit of research revealed that I have a 1975 1500 engine and a 1976 1500 engine. So the 1976 engine can go in the 1976 spitfire result!!!. I put the 76 engine on the engine stand and started to dig into it. A quick inspection revealed that although the engine was free pots 2 and 3 are worn and will need a bore and OS pistons unfortunately time ran out that day so I could find out what size pistons I need. The 1975 engine is also free and I will stick it on sale to fund the rebuild of the 76 engine. I have also received 3 x 1300 engines too....

Has anyone fitted a hydraulic boot lift kit? Can you recommend which strut to use and do you need to manufacture anything to fit it? Cheers

Just found a used once Clarke Pro engine stand local to me and bagged that for £40 and it really does look like it has only been used once too, good old facebook marketplace

Day off today so more time to spend on the Spit. Bit of a wet day so the gazebo I bought for trackdays/racing came in handy. Fitted the radius arm so that drama is over. Out with the welder again to complete the repairs on the rear passenger side wheel arch and B pillar. and fitted the rear section repair plate. and the inner wheel arch All ground to smooth and acid etched. Also got my 2 spare engines to my mates garage ready for a rebuild when I get some spare time away from bodywork.

Also on the penny pinching theme I have come across a type 9 gearbox which I could use on the spit and I have seen some conversion kits in the thousands and others in the hundreds, is there a recommended way to do this in a cost effective manner? I would like the gear stick and handbrake in the same position if possible. My 1500 is non overdrive.....