Julian Wilson

Hi, new to Forum. Had Spitfire a long time but has been out for limited summer drives since rebuild in 1998. It is Mark 3 but has Mark 2 1147 cc engine - only one I could get many years ago after blowing original on Westway in London. The problem has been how badly it warms up before driving; as long as it was left totally alone while warming up ( like a actor before a big stage role) for 10 mins or more and throttle not pressed - and never driven till warm - it drove like a dream ( through the Northumberland countryside). But any slight change to the "pre-stage process" then sooty spark plugs and no joy. Even got to point of warming it up with one set of plugs; then changing to clean set and would drive great. So it now has new thermostat - no change (it runs with standard 4 blade fan). washed out the water system ..... no difference of course. I didnt recore the radiator when I did re-build which was probably an error. Could that make a difference ????? Gave it to trusted garage; always wanted simplicity of electronic ignition (so electronic distributor replacement (Accuspark I think it is called) - so changed that; refurbished the carbs (new jets etc) and set ; timing set for new electronic ignition (garage says); compression test done - no problem with compression - in fact compression is good; It has not had heat shield for carbs for years so bought one of those the other day .......will that make a difference ????? Garage says now starts fine but once at temp sounds like a bag of spanners and plugs still soot up. It was not tested on open road by garage and the sooting of plugs was just revving it in garage setting. Appreciate this could be anything but any direction would be welcomed Best Julian