cliff.b

Yes, I will have to investigate further and also try and find out what the differences are in the pulleys.

Hmm, I suppose if the pulley was smaller than the one usually used with that fan then It would run faster and that could have been contributing to the squeal. It did seem to shift a lot of air and was quite noisy. I think a smaller pulley would also give less contact with the fan belt.

That's interesting. Are the water pumps interchangeable?

My Spitfire 1500 has always made a short squealing sound when blipping the throttle, changing down for corners etc. Decided it was probably the fan belt slipping but already as tight as I was happy with. Noticed it had a 4 blade metal fan which I'm guessing isn't right for 78 Spit? So tried taking it off as an experiment & squeal gone. Fan appears to be steel & weighs nearly 0.5 Kg. I'm guessing that a combination of air drag & inertia overcame the grip of the fan belt when there was a sudden increase in revs.

Yes, I intend to. Very strange though.

Yes, it now feels exactly as I would expect it to. Car feels ok on the road and rear now level, as far as I can see.

While we are in that area though, prior to the latest brake strip down I had noticed that the rear of the car looked significantly lower on the o/s so investigated while I had it stripped. Thought it might be the spring but then found the shock only had about 4" of movement from fully closed. After applying quite a lot of force it suddenly freed up, expanded to full length and then appeared to work normally. I have now put it back on the car and seems to be ok. so I'm wondering what happened to it and should it be replaced 🤔

I'll take this off my list of serious things to worry about then lol

Replacement adjuster fitted, brakes re-assembled & adjusted, car taken out and tested ok. Hopefully this thread can now be "put to bed" 🤞

Ok, thanks, that makes sense. I took the drum off again and no grease had made its way that far. So if as you suggest, that seal has been fitted incorrectly, what, if any, are the implications?

Ok, got a new grease gun and tried again. Pumped maybe a dozen times then grease came out of a small hole in the underside of the trunnion near the backplate. Just above the brake adjuster. Is this what I should be expecting?

The adjuster that Mark kindly sent me has just arrived and I am about to fit it. So hopefully I an now sorted but many thanks for looking for one 👍

Yes. I found I had to monitor the current as it started drawing more if the amount of "clag" suspended in the water increased. Seems the current can be controlled to some extent by moving the steel anode out of the water a bit or further away from the wheel. Then all the suspended stuff drops to the bottom & the current drops right off again 😒. I'm sure that with experience there is a "sweet spot" where it all takes care of itself.

1) I put the wheel & an old piece of steel into a plastic tub with a weak caustic soda/water solution. 2) Connected negative lead of battery charger to wheel & positive to the steel (make sure it doesn't touch the wheel) & set charger to a low current. 3) Remember to do it somewhere well ventilated as the bubbles you see are hydrogen & oxygen 💥 4)Leave for some time (days) 5) Check occasionally to see how it's doing Result, less rust on wheel (possibly none of you leave it long enough), stuff that looks sort of rusty on the piece of steel & in the bottom of the tub

Absolutely. I experimented removing the rust using electrolysis and it was quite effective. Certainly quicker than removing it all by hand.

Hi Mathew, just thought I'd send you a pic of the wheel that you kindly let me have now that it's been de-rusted, painted & tyre fitted. Again, many thanks 👍

Got round to fitting my membership disk to the car this afternoon and removed this one

It certainly felt like a significant mass when it hit me on the back of the head ☹️

It's been bugging me that all the bolts on my Spitfire bonnet stay were very loose, so I tightened them and shortly afterwards there was a gust of wind & the bonnet landed on my head. I thought this was a one off but when it happened again I realised the loose bolts were a "modification" to stop it happening. I contemplated careful adjustment to get it right but didn't want to risk another clobbering so came up with my own mod. About 6" of plastic electrical conduit which can stay on the upper bar and then slid down tightly onto the hinge when required. All good now which is more than can be said for my head 🤕

My Wife recently bought a pair of hair clippers off eBay and although it said the seller was on London, the PayPal payment went to Hong Kong. While trimming my hair yesterday they became very hot so I opened them up and found this (see pic). The wire that is soldered with no insulation is at 240v. The metal parts are connected directly to the cutters & there is no earth. It is potentially lethal. A UK adapter plug has been fitted over the 2 pin plug that was fitted.

Co-incidentally, I visited Wilco's this afternoon and they have an offer on the old original Redex, two little bottles for £3 👍

That seems a good idea

Ok, many thanks 👍

Thanks again for the offer but didn't realise you were so far away.

Thank you, I would appreciate that as not too happy to fit another new part until I understand the quality issue. Can I send you my address?