** ON TO THE NEXT BIT ** Nose to Tail - 1972 Spitfire MkIV restoration upgrades!!

[Badwolf]

I have grovelled!!! Now don't all shout at once, but I have found another hole in the footwell, about 3" away from the bulk head on the LH side.  There is no spire clip and it was bunged up with hammerite. However, there is no corresponding hole on the RH side BUT this could have been filled in when the bodyshell was originally repaired in the 1980s.  So off to the shed to look for another keyplate, although I could always use one of those from the bulkhead and just use a self taper and large washer. 

Update....why do I keep all those useless, used, worn out parts and why is what I'm looking for never there. Next place to look, the spares boxes in the garage..which I can't get to. Such is life!!

[Neil Clark]

I've been sold two kinds of sealing strip for mine.  One set came with the new tunnel from the club, fat rubber, impossible.  The other is a peel-able foam strip which came with the fitting kit and which crushed and worked well.  (The fitting kit hardware didn't really make life easier).  The big problem I've encountered is the cross piece on the dashboard support frame hitting the oddments tray profile.  And that was made worse with the moulded carpet set I've inherited.  I had to file away the profile somewhat on the dash support frame to fit the curve around the club tunnel and be a bit brutal with the carpet where it fits round the oddments tray.

[Badwolf]

One of the reasons that I went to so much trouble refurbishing mine was because I knew that it fitted. As for the fittings, that is still ongoing!! The sealing rubber came off fleabay. Double D draft excluder rubber strip...we will see how well it works.

The carpet over the tunnel cover is something else. It really needs replacing. It was already repaired with gaffa tape when I took it off. The seams are going and the point where it was cut originally for the footrest is dreadful, but for the amount that will show I will try to repair it by using spray adhesive and backing it with some black denim that I have found in my sewing kit. I don't really need to go to the expense of a complete carpet and all the 'tunnel cover only' carpets that I have seen for sale have been worse than mine. We will see.

[PeteH]

B-W. Don`t forget. Mine is a 13/60?. Other small chassis cars will likely be different.

Pete.

[Badwolf]

PeteH - Thanks. Mine is a mongrel. MkIV Spitfire with Herald 13/60 engine and overdrive. Always trying to work out what came from where and does it fit?

[Colin Lindsay]

26 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

Always trying to work out what came from where and does it fit?

Bit like dating these days. You're not sure what anything was originally and what it should be now, and what you need to fit where.

[Badwolf]

Just tried a couple of experiments with the tunnel cover carpet and the denim. Looks like it might be a winner. Done three patches all appear to have taken but I will wait til the morning when the adhesive has gone off properly. First attempt, too much adhesive. Carpet side was fine but the patch was wet through, which I discovered when I pressed it in place. Cue 10 minutes with solvent trying to get rid of a rapidly going off mixture of glue dog hairs, metal swarf and general @##@ !!!. When you have glue on your hands don't lean on the garage carpet!! Note to self...vacuum carpet first thing in the morning!! Now using the tried and trusted tools...marigolds and silicone release paper to press the patches into place. Apart from the hairy paws syndrome, all looks to be going fairly well. May even dig out the hardtop and the DA sander tomorrow, who knows??

[Badwolf]

Slight change of direction today. Sitting quietly in the garden enjoying the peace and quiet when all hell breaks loose. The car alarm on the Spitfire erupts for no apparent reason... it's not even set. Strange. Then I spot that the display on the trickle charger is flashing and the flashing headlights from the alarm activation are looking very dim. Immediate thought is that the Aldi trickle charger is goosed so swop it with the charger on Lady BWs car. Same problem. Battery goosed then. So where is the current best place to get a replacement. Fleabay (Tayna, Batteries on the net) or Halfrauds with my trade card.

 

[Josef]

I’ve used Tanya for all the batteries I’ve bought over the past few years. Halfords’d probably do if your card makes them end up cheaper for what you want. I wouldn’t go random eBay seller cause if it does go wrong in the warranty period it’d likely end up harder to deal with than the other two options. 

[Badwolf]

Done a little research in the past few minutes. Halfrauds are showing these but say they don't fit a Spitfire. Other forum members say they do!!...

https://www.halfords.com/search?q=063

Best price for the calcium one with are is £56.00 with a 4 year guarantee and they are only down the road from me if I need to cash in the guarantee.

There is also the 075....

https://www.halfords.com/search?q=075

for £74,00 with card.

Got the current one Bosch, from Europarts, of course just out of warranty.

 

[Bordfunker]

The Halfords battery finder search is absolutely useless.

Tried it twice recently, first for the C1, and then for the C3 last month. Each time it directs you to a selection of batteries, none of which are apparently suitable for the vehicle in question!

In both instances I’ve ended up going with a local factor as they were cheaper and could confirm the correct battery for the vehicle.

Just checked the Herald’s battery, which I am assuming is the same for a Spitfire and it’s a Halfords HB038.

Karl

[Josef]

This is an 063, so they will fit (have the same in the Herald too).

[Badwolf]

Carl - Thanks. The 038 is cheaper but has the terminals at the front. The others are at the back which suits me better.

Josef - The 063 looks like the one for me. Others around the forum also recommend the 075 which appears to have been cheaper than the 063 last year but is now more expensive. I don't see any reason for the more expensive one, but am open to serious advice.

The Halfrauds, as mentioned is much more convenient and I can moan at them if there are problems. Collection won't cost any more than the petrol cost of our weekly shop as they are in the same block of shops..for once, very useful.

 

 

[Bordfunker]

I’d forgotten I’d swapped to a battery with terminals at the front, it’s so long since the battery has been in the car!

Karl

[Badwolf]

Thanks both, afraid that my local shop these days is fleabay. No decent independent spares shop within 6 miles. Last time I bought stuff locally was fuel pipe and they sold me the wrong internal diameter, don't even know if it was E10 safe!! Must get some Gates!! Amazing, just got a text from Halfrauds offering me £5 off a sale over £25. Are they psychic, who is monitoring my cookies which I though we're safe, or do I really believe in coincidences. Bet it doesn't work!!

 

 

[NonMember]

Another vote for 063 here - I have them on all three Triumphs. All of mine (and the one on SWMBO's Yaris) came from Tayna because my nearest motor spares place is 7 miles away (and the nearest Halfrauds even further).

[Badwolf]

Just went as far as final payment with the Halfrauds battery and they are charging a total of £51.00 (collect) for the 063 calcium, with the 4 year guarantee. Any better offers out there or do I press pay and find the cheaper one tomorrow?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Badwolf]

Mathew - I like your style

[Colin Lindsay]

11 hours ago, Badwolf said:

No decent independent spares shop within 6 miles.

That reminds me how lucky I am, over here. I have at least four and possibly six, all within roughly a six mile radius - just found another last Saturday which I hadn't been into in years and the staff remembered me; furthermore they had starter solenoids, both square and round / push button sitting on the shelf. Haven't seen that in a long time! The one I use most is about 50% of Halfords prices. The local 'High Street' one is more expensive than the rest, probably due to rates on the premises, and the staff are quite young therefore I usually have to explain everything (circlips, for one) but among the best are the ones with East European staff as they know all the tricks and shortcuts, plus alternative parts.

The Herald got an 075 battery which has front terminals and a bit more starting power, just in case.

[Josef]

I did find an independent parts shop somewhere between me and work a few years back. My one visit didn’t go that well. The proprietor argued with me about what sort of flasher units a Spitfire had on the basis that he’d owned one in the past and I was younger than him… Then concluded he wouldn’t have any anyway. 

[Badwolf]

Now, here's weird. Just gone out to the car and the battery is showing fully charged.  Bear in mind that this is not the same charger unit that I was using before.  Is this normal that a battery shows not charging when it is on it's way out? I did check the connections before I swopped the chargers and everything looked OK.

[Josef]

I’d usually rely on checking the voltage with the engine off and the engine running. Any less than 12.5V when off and any different from 14V when charging on the car and it’s bad. When my last Herald battery died it had failed to start the car, so I charged it till the charger thought it was done, and it still failed to start the car! Then I brought out the multi meter and concluded it was toast. 

[Badwolf]

OK.  Will have leave it on for another hour then disconnect and measure.  One thing that did happen is that we had a short (a few minutes) power cut during the night before the battery 'failed'.  I don't think that it would have affected the battery/chargers but I mention it just in case.

 

and a few minutes later....

Weirder and weirder.  Ok, so I have just taken the battery off the charger to isolate it totally from the car system at that time the charger was showing the battery as having 13.8v. Reconnected the charger to give it an hour free of any sort of drain and the charger is now flashing again s if the battery is not taking any sort of charge.  I have put a meter across the terminals which shows 13.8v. so I don't understand what is happening but the same is happening with two different (although the same model) chargers. Both work normally on Lady BW's car but not on the Spitfire battery.  I will leave it on charge for an hour or so, to see if anything interesting happens, then take the charger off, and follow Mathew's instructions.

[Badwolf]

Thanks Mathew. I have capitulated and done something awful.... I have found the battery charger instruction book..and read it!!! It has nothing in it to explain why the display on both units flashes when connected up. However, something like this has happened before. When I was trying to charge an old knackered battery using the old style charger, when connected up, the indicator needle swung over, the unit clicked and the needle returned to the park mark, then the whole process repeated again and again. The flashing of the new style electronic charger is very reminiscent of this. I suspect that the battery has gone 'open circuit' or something similar. I have not tried to start the car with it as I am not ready to try to turn it over yet.

[Chris A]

53 minutes ago, Badwolf said:

... I have found the battery charger instruction book..and read it!!! 

It's that serious then. Not only read the instructions but admitted it !

My fingers and toes all crossed for you 🤪