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Aitch

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  • Location
    South Wales
  • Cars Owned
    1979 Spitfire 1500

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  1. Aitch

    Offside or right

    Starboard is right, Port usually comes in bottles!
  2. Aitch

    Quandary

    Thanks for two well balanced replies. I'm of the opinion to move it on as a common sense approach, so I'll have to start the ball rolling soon. Aitch
  3. Aitch

    Quandary

    I had my first Spitfire in ’73, 1500 non o/d, magenta. Great car for ‘a bit of the Jack the lad’. Fast forward to present day and I have ’79, Spitfire, o/d, jade green, 79K. Still memories of ‘Jack the lad’ but older with more grey hair etc. Purchased just before lockdown and have done some considerable work/ replacements etc. since then. Chassis is rust free and bodywork has a few marks so overall not in bad condition. However, since purchase we have moved house and I have had a hip and knee replacement so my mobility is not so good especially if I try to get out of the Spitty. The car has only been driven 5 miles in that period. It is now SORN’d and on axle stands. My so called ‘car fund’, has become non-existent due to the horrendous problems with the remedial and renovation work after the house move, some still ongoing which is taking more money. The quandary is that I cannot see myself finishing the interior of the car, electrics, dashboard, carpets etc, etc. I would like to keep it, but common sense says to sell it, as the car needs to be used and not on axle stands. With the winter months coming the car is winter prepared and under two covers. I don’t have a garage, so it’s not going to move anywhere soon. So what would you do, in the hope that comments/ advice or suggestions can give me a better direction as to what is the best I could do.
  4. I have a 1979, 1500 OD. I drove it back from the garage 2 weeks ago (2mls) and straight onto the drive and parked it up. After it’s lay-up for the last 18mths, (hip and knee replacement) I needed to move it away from the wall to allow the pine-end of the house to be painted. So the question is; to engage reverse gear, (It’s H-pattern with dog-leg up to the right for reverse), do I pull up, or do I push down on the gear lever? At the moment, I have no problem with selection of all 4 forward gears, but the lever comes up hard and does not move to allow the selection of reverse. I can see that MARTIN V, has an earlier post relating to his ‘reverse stop plate’ and am wondering if my problem could be related? Aitch
  5. Bit of an update as to getting the Spitty started. As much as I tried, and with your suggestions, I had no luck. Resorted to recommendation of a local garage and my neighbour helped me tow the car there. So the car is now up and running so one happy bunny. The problems were; 1. Lack of Fuel; so remote tank set up and carbs checked, serviced and filled but float needle had stuck on rear carb. I thought there was half a tankfull, but as the gauge was disconnected, I didn’t notice. 2. Checked for spark, all 4 plugs OK. Low compression on No 4 cylinder, and found that the exhaust valve had seized. That was freed and now OK. 3. The ignition coil, although new, had one terminal that had all but sheared off. Only held on by less than half a thread. It wasn’t visible to the naked eye as it was hidden by the plastic connector shroud. That was replaced with another new one. Engine then fired up, ran sweet as a nut, timing was correct. Overall a very pleasant experience with the garage. They took the time to give me a detailed explanation of everything, so very impressed. Now for the remaining work. Thanks, Aitch
  6. Car hasn't been used for 18 months, due to house move and hip and knee replacements. Was running fine before it was laid up. As a result, I'm assuming the timing is correct but I don't have access to a timing gun. No air leaks on manifold, good compression on all 4, sparks on the plugs, slightly wet, but with a new battery thought it would be looking a bit stronger. Haven't tried the condenser yet. Good earth on the strap and the bolt. Forgot to add, 'full choke, no throttle' on my list. Will have a look at the condenser tomorrow, or perhaps take it up to the local garage.
  7. Recommissioning Spitfire Without jumping in on a similar post by ‘northernbrowns’. I am having trouble in recommissioning my 1500 Spitfire. A previous post of mine (carb overflowing) has been sorted, and I have tried a methodical approach to get it to start. Petrol Tank is ½ full, fuel a couple of months old but did include a small dash (teaspoon) of Redex . Fuel Lines OK, and petrol to pump. Filter clean so no c**p in it. Vacuum line connected and OK Fuel to carbs (2 x HS4) OK, float bowls OK. Oil pots are full. Gaskets throughout are new. Pancake air filters new. Distributor New, points new but cleaned and checked, all OK. Distributor cap New and OK. HT leads new. Plugs new and correctly gapped (0.025). Ignition Coil New, all connections clean and OK. Carb mechanism responding to accelerator and choke movement. Battery New, Negative and Positive leads are all good. When ignition is turned on both the red and green light appear and are healthy. When starting: Firstly, ignition on but no choke or feathering accelerator. Turns but does not fire. Secondly, ignition on but feathering accelerator but no choke. Turns but does not fire. Thirdly as above, but accelerator pumped to the floor. Turns but does not fire. Fourthly, ignition on with choke and repeat as above. Turns but does not fire. Fifthly, using ‘Easystart’, repeat of all of the above. Seems to want to fire but does not. For access to the carbs with the pancake covers removed, 2 second squirt with ‘Easystart’, can see that the throttle bodies move freely and do not stick. So have I missed something obvious, hopefully not, but any help and advice appreciated. Aitch
  8. Following the suggestions, I removed the offending bowl to find that the needle had somehow dropped to the bottom of the carb bowl. Virtually new in appearance, so replaced and then checked the other carb bowl, but no problems there. All back together and overflow has stopped and not now a problem. Thanks to all. Aitch
  9. Thanks for that, something for me to pursue.
  10. Fuel lines are about 1 year old and good quality. Fuel pump is original, appears in good condition and no c**p in the filter. Good flow to the carb inlet. When I checked the carb needles etc. about 2-3 weeks ago before proceeding with the further work, all appeared OK. Perhaps, it has pulled some 'rabbits' through. Still baffled by the vent though?
  11. My ’79 Spitfire 1500 is in the process of being recommissioned. Methodical and common sense approach taken and now coming to the carbs (twin SU HS4) etc. Carbs cleaned, petrol in bowls, gaskets good, floats correct height and free, no stiffness. Needles etc. all OK, no stickiness or any signs of being gummed up, after a long standing. All connections secure so no air leaks. However, when I turned the engine over I had petrol coming out of the ‘Overflow Pipe’? Only happens on the LH Carb (nearest the bulkhead), RH carb OK. The car didn’t have one and ran OK after I bought it. I have taken 100’s of photos of the car before I commenced any work, so am baffled as to whether I should have one. My photos don’t show one. The petrol was leaking from the stub pipe just below the jubilee clip in the picture. Have checked the Haynes Manual, no mention. Rimmer’s show a diagram for an overflow line (Front 125170 hose, Vent Pipe 215924) but I do not know if this is what I need, or for that matter how it fits, or where it goes to. Any suggestions? Thanks, Aitch
  12. Interesting comments and pictures (Looks like Acrypol that you use of the roof) My Spit is coming up for recommissioning and has been standing for over a year (double covers and thick blanket over the engine compartment) due to my hip and knee replacement. Currently, there is some water in the cooling system and radiator but this is clear and clean. I don't know what the previous owner used and he didn't say when car was purchased 2 years ago, so hopefully taking the sensible option of complete flush and replenishment as well as I also have a new thermostat to fit. Aitch
  13. Intriguing, but can't enlarge photo . Who makes it as can't read details?
  14. Thanks for that, will have a read and probably go in later in the week.
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