DaveH Posted February 24 Author Report Share Posted February 24 Brilliant, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 On 20/02/2024 at 19:44, DaveH said: Happy to now be a proper member, just secured my Mk3 Spit & boost the Essex presence by +1 😁 Now just have to collect & plan the 240 mile drive home with it. That could be a fun / interesting shakedown drive! Royal blue mk3s are the best kind of Spitfire, I might be slightly biased though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted March 12 Author Report Share Posted March 12 😂 Colour is currently up for debate, I thought Royal blue, previous owner thought Sapphire blue, so who knows! Chance it may not even be a Triumph blue, as history indicates it was white at some point in its life! Ive made the journey to see the car, and am happy with it. Decided not to drive it back as it’s barely done 100 miles in the last 10 years! It’ll be trailered to me on Friday, so I’m currently in full on garage clearing mode. Not an easy task with 25 years of accumulated “might be useful” things! Passed its MOT last week with only an advisory on the track rod boots needing attention soon, which I have ready and waiting. It drove really well & I didn’t note any concerns. Paint blemishes look to be the main issue, but easily addressed in time. Passenger door doesn’t seem to hold closed without a big slam, so may need the latches looking at, and the windows don’t fully close, so more work there. It’s had new furflex seals on which don’t seem to help. All in, it ticks the boxes for a project for me with limited experience so far. Came with several boxes, manuals and a boot (which is fibreglass, so that will have to go) full of spares, and the icing on the cake for me being the original round tail hardtop in great nick. I originally thought it was just the shell, but no, behind the seats was a full new headlining kit, seals, and mint condition glass! Happy days. Im expecting many highs and lows as I go, but am pretty excited to be doing this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 Boots fitted to new track rod ends can have a life of less than one MOT. There are sources of goood ones, but they are never fitted to new joints new door seals are too fat, especially if bubble type. A sharp knife can solve issue, slit the bubble open. window winder has been put back together wrong I suspect, a previous owner possibly got bored of truing to get it right. The boot lid is fibre glass for good reason, have you seen the price of steel ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted March 13 Author Report Share Posted March 13 I’ve got some Polyflex boots so will see how they fair. Modern rubber seems iffy these days. Noted, I’ll give the winders a good look at, as the drivers side is a bit rattly too. Yeah, I saw new steel boot lids were pricey! Will keep looking for a used one, not essential in any case. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 Yes rumour is rubber is more environmentally friendly these days so falls apart quick and you have to buy another🙃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 Some of the additives used to improve the rubber were found to be carcinogenic resulting in bladder cancer affecting the workers These additives have now rightly been banned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted March 13 Author Report Share Posted March 13 Makes sense. My Granddad died of oesophageal cancer, worked in a rubber factory cleaning out rubber crumb from plant equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 11 hours ago, johny said: Yes rumour is rubber is more environmentally friendly these days so falls apart quick and you have to buy another🙃 What is odd that you can buy a brand new car and the boots last forever, buy a new TRE for your Triumph and the boot fails as you take it out of the box. I guess modern manufacturers are allowed to use nasty additives, but Triumphh owners have to be environmentally friendly. Or we are just being ripped off by shonky suppliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 One could be Cynical? Those parts of the world actually producing the part in question, few if any are produced in the “western” world, have questionable H&SE regulation. The car makers call the tune quality wise, on parts for new cars, but no one regulates the quality on the “aftermarket” products. So extreme variation in quality is one way of maximising profit. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted March 15 Author Report Share Posted March 15 Spit has now made the (trailer) journey to its new home here. I used the services of Car-Go Vehicle Movements https://www.cargovehiclemovements.co.uk/ based in Exeter and would happily recommend Amy who did the run. 10 mile shakedown drive done, all seemed okay, no scary moments. Looks like the first job will be stopping the exhaust box from knocking somewhere at the rear, then sorting that passenger door latch, then the boots. I can see how this is going to be addictive and take over my weekends! What have I done?! 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 29 minutes ago, DaveH said: What have I done?! 😂 You’ll really wonder that when you’ve got a couple more Totally not speaking from experience… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcevedy Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 It looks more like Royal Blue than Sapphire - Royal is a shade or two darker and was a choice on the Mk3 - Sapphire Blue was introduced on the Mk4. So if not resprayed, I would suggest Royal Blue. I attach a picture of mine which is Sapphire Blue and it looks a bit lighter. Looks a decent car so I hope it brings you years of pleasure - I have had mine since 1999 though don't use it as much as I would like but retiring in 2 weeks so hope to use it a lot more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted April 29 Author Report Share Posted April 29 Yeah, I’m not really sure to be honest, and it really depends on the light! I think the car was originally white, going by what I’ve found. In any case, it’ll get another respray down the line as a) it needs it, b) I fancy a metallic blue that ‘pops’ a bit more, like Honda’s Monte Carlo blue. I’ll have to start a thread in the ‘projects’ section to keep tabs as I work on it. Discovered a new gem I hadn’t noticed before where a PO has fitted rear quarter repair panels that lip over the rear wing! Christ knows what I’ll find underneath, so it feels like a bit more body repair than I anticipated. Still, I’m enjoying it though. Night class in Mig welding next I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now