Unkel Kunkel Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 OK , a bit of a cliche - and the expression does invite 'what about the other owners?, but this is in praise of lady drivers - or at least one I knew well who was a devoted Spitfire owner. When I bought my a Mk 1V Spitfire from her , it was genuinely a one owner. A lady owner .In fact a very delightful elderly lady and keen driver who bought it new in Devon in 1973 and drove it with great care.She and her husband kept every scrap of documentation from the original invoice. When I bought it about ten years ago, It had been standing her garage for a few years.Sadly, her health and her Spitfire's bodily health, ie rust in the "usual places', had almost simultaneously brought an end to their motoring fun. It had a genuine 97,500 miles in the clock when it started its "slumber" in 1990. It had been used for a combination of local runs and many long trips from Devon up to Southport where her daughter was at school.In the mid eighties she, her husband and the Spitfire " emigrated" from Devon to my neck if the woods. Although the body work was very rusty (and is still proving to be a long term project for me to restore) , the 'mechanical bits' were /are really quite remarkable: The engine has never been touched other than routine maintenance .It runs very smoothly, quietlty and lustily. There is barely discernable crank shaft end float. it still had its original clutch. The gearbox is fine apart from a very slight whine and sticky 2nd synchro when cold. The diff is silent with hardly any backlash and on the bench, the bearings are fine and even the 1973 gear oil was remarkably clear with only a trace of debris when flushed out recently. The propshaft joints are fine.Even original drive shaft joints are fine. The trunions were original but I changed then .likewise the track rod ends which felt fine. The front wheel bearings were in mint condition. The discs and calipers were the originals. Front springs /dampers = original. The rear dampers were replaced in the early 80s - and these Girlings are now weak. Interesting to reflect : From the extensive documentation, it is clear that this car was always greased and oiled as "per the book".Nothing special , but it never missed an oil change or service.It had quite a few relatively long runs. Perhaps, unlike many Spitfires in the seventies and eighties, this car did not have "young blades' doing "standing start " gladiatorial take offs from the traffic lights (and perhaps most importantly) skimping on servicing and it perhaps it benefited from her more sympathetic style of driving. She was really attached to her Spitfire.My purchase of the car and its emergence from the garage was celebrated with a bottle of champagne and a tearful farewell from her an a reiterated pledge from me that I would restore it.Each year I sent her a Xmas card with pictures showing the where latest stage the slow restoration had reached - I do regret not having completed the restoration before she died. Her devoted travelling companion for many of those long miles was her small dog- a remarkably smelly dog, I remember.Despite most of the car having now been rebuilt , I swear there is still an elusive essence of smelly dog somewhere in there at times.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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