Conor L Posted March 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 Well today has been a big day for this restoration and a massive leap forward in progress because THE ENGINE RUNS!! Between myself, a good friend and a bit of fettling the engine roared into life! As you can tell I'm very excited because not only is it the 1st time I've heard it run but its the 1st time since 1984. Conor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan.gilbert_6384 Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 6 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said: Thanks Alan, although you did confuse me with the route of that exhaust until I realised it was upside down.. Hi Colin, sorry forgot to mention my spitfire has twin exhaust system, the back boxes are off whilst I treat some surface rust under the bloody underseal Twin exhaust; Pro's, looks good. Con's it louder than the original Supermarine V12 made by rolls Royce. Any body got any ideas how to quietener her down a bit, the boxes appear to be straight through but have all the padding in them ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 Aftermarket motorbike silencers are usually rivetted so can be disassembled for a repack but yours look to be welded so cant be done. Reckon you might be able to fit a slim primary silencer in the section between the chassis rails but dont know how much difference this will make..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 10 hours ago, johny said: Aftermarket motorbike silencers are usually rivetted so can be disassembled for a repack but yours look to be welded so cant be done. Reckon you might be able to fit a slim primary silencer in the section between the chassis rails but dont know how much difference this will make..... A little difference, not enough. Looks like that twin system is the "worst offender" type. Some have accoustic tailpipes which help (Note use of the word help, again a bit) If you want a quiet exhaust, I would heartily recommend using either a std spitfire system, or with a 4 branch manifold a GT6 system which will be narly as free flowing as what you have (you will not have a slower car!) Alternatively Canleys sell a single box sports system that is pretty good. Sell the twin system to somebody who wants one..... plenty seem to believe they are a great idea! When I built my car, I initially had a twin system. Horrendously loud especially on motorway journeys, and on track it scraped through testing at 98db after the addition of a centre silencer. But was always the loudest car on trackdays, me getting pulled in to be retested but passing, just. In the end I made a bespoke exhaust. It has the centre silencer, and then a 20" silencer that goes across under the boot, a 180 bend and a 36" silencer back across the bootfloor, exiting on the drivers side. Total box length is 72" The centre box is 3 1/2" diameter, the rear boxes 4" diameter, but my pipework is 2 1/4", larger than a normal Triumph, so the silencers have less volume available for sound reduction. But the exhaust is free flowing and you can talk at speed on the motorway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan.gilbert_6384 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 3 hours ago, clive said: A little difference, not enough. Looks like that twin system is the "worst offender" type. Some have accoustic tailpipes which help (Note use of the word help, again a bit) If you want a quiet exhaust, I would heartily recommend using either a std spitfire system, or with a 4 branch manifold a GT6 system which will be narly as free flowing as what you have (you will not have a slower car!) Alternatively Canleys sell a single box sports system that is pretty good. Sell the twin system to somebody who wants one..... plenty seem to believe they are a great idea! When I built my car, I initially had a twin system. Horrendously loud especially on motorway journeys, and on track it scraped through testing at 98db after the addition of a centre silencer. But was always the loudest car on trackdays, me getting pulled in to be retested but passing, just. In the end I made a bespoke exhaust. It has the centre silencer, and then a 20" silencer that goes across under the boot, a 180 bend and a 36" silencer back across the bootfloor, exiting on the drivers side. Total box length is 72" The centre box is 3 1/2" diameter, the rear boxes 4" diameter, but my pipework is 2 1/4", larger than a normal Triumph, so the silencers have less volume available for sound reduction. But the exhaust is free flowing and you can talk at speed on the motorway. Thanks very much, don't suppose you have any pictures of what you did ? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 The first transverse box looks shorter than I remember, but you get the idea. For a 4 cylinder car 1 3/4" pipework should be adequate, a six may need 2". (mine really needs 2 1/2" apparently, but would have been louder and more difficult to squeeze in!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky_Spit Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 My Spitfire used to nudge the upper noise limit on scrutineering for night-time rallies at 96db. I fitted one of these https://furoreproducts.co.uk/exhaust-db-killer and it reduced to about 92db, which does not seem to be much, but is quite significant in terms of actual noise level. I didn't notice any tangible drop in performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 Did you fit this in your tail pipe? If so Im surprised it was effective cos theyre normally used on motorbike silencers where most of it is actually in the end can so the noise that is stopped from exiting directly can be absorbed in the packing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky_Spit Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Yes, into the tail pipe of a Phoenix single pipe box. I held it in place by drilling a 5mm hole in the underside of the tail pipe and the insert and used a stainless socket headed bolt/nut with a shakeproof washer. I've also got a similar one in the exhaust of an Enfield Bullet 500 which has a straight-through Gold Star "silencer". I needed to do something after nearly causing a horse rider to be dismounted, even though I was about 100yds away and crawling along. The insert came from Hitchcocks Motorcycles and takes the harshness and volume off the bark of a big single without losing performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor L Posted June 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 Hello everyone hope you are all staying safe and well in this strange difficult time. I have a bit of an update on progress and in need of a bit of advice too. Starting off just before lock down started in March the inside of the body tub was zinc primed and painted Radiant Red to match the underside (dash will be blown over), Unfortunately I was then furloughed and with the restrictions no further progress was made however I had been busy in the garage at home by sorting it all out painting the walls and making a feature wall In the previous update we got the engine running! since then I have took the carbs off stripped, cleaned and polished them also while I was there I fitted a new stainless manifold which looks a lot nicer than the original. I fitted the new stainless centre pipe and second hand back box ive had in the garage for a while (needs a polish) The reason why I chose this exhaust set up is because it was fitted to the Spitfire that inspired me seeing it drive down the road from my high school blew a 13 year old me away. This is what the chassis looks like all finished and in daylight Ive also started to refurbish some parts ready to put on when the car comes home starting with the master cylinders which were stripped, inspected (bore all ok), painted and new caps fitted as the originals looked a bit tired just need to reassemble with new seals in the morning with the restrictions lifted slightly I have been over to the restorers over the past few days to start prepping the body ready for its respray (social distancing of course) Starting with the bulkhead and taking it back to bare metal Battery box looking good Only found a small hole which will be repaired Tis is where we need some advice/reference when I started stripping the windscreen frame I uncovered a build up of filler in the rain channel which we assume isn't correct after digging out all the filler this is what we are left with From what we can see the rain channel is just spot welded to the back of the frame unfortunately we have a large gap between the frame and the channel where all the filler was if anyone could post some pictures on how this area is supposed to look would greatly be appreciated. That's all for now folks. Stay safe, Conor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 Love the work your doing on the car. The channel is correct apart to what looks like a hole to the bottom, I will see if I have a photo of one of mine. if you zoom in you can just see the channel. Will photo a better shot later. found this picture 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 Conor, is that filler or sealant in the rain channel as there is supposed to be a generous bead of it to stop water getting between the windscreen frame and the rain channel? Your progress looks amazing, and the chassis looks very impressive with just engine and suspension in place! Karl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 Some more gutter pics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor L Posted June 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 6 hours ago, Mathew said: Love the work your doing on the car. The channel is correct apart to what looks like a hole to the bottom, I will see if I have a photo of one of mine. if you zoom in you can just see the channel. Will photo a better shot later. found this picture 1 hour ago, Mathew said: Some more gutter pics Perfect thank you Matt the hole at the bottom of mine is something that needs to be repaired hopefully your pictures will help! Remember seeing your yellow Spit on Ebay will be following the resto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor L Posted June 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Bordfunker said: Conor, is that filler or sealant in the rain channel as there is supposed to be a generous bead of it to stop water getting between the windscreen frame and the rain channel? Your progress looks amazing, and the chassis looks very impressive with just engine and suspension in place! Karl Thanks for your kind comments Karl finally feels like progress. There was definitely filler there which just filled up the channel completely confirmed by the huge white cloud when stripping it back to bare metal. You mention there is supposed to be sealant between the channel and the frame, what kind of sealant is supposed to be there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 Conor it’s just a basic seam sealant, same as you would apply to any welded seam, but obviously even more important here given the role of the rain gutter. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor L Posted June 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 12 hours ago, Bordfunker said: Conor it’s just a basic seam sealant, same as you would apply to any welded seam, but obviously even more important here given the role of the rain gutter. Karl Thought it might've been thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan.gilbert_6384 Posted June 22, 2020 Report Share Posted June 22, 2020 On 06/06/2020 at 22:26, Conor L said: Hello everyone hope you are all staying safe and well in this strange difficult time. I have a bit of an update on progress and in need of a bit of advice too. Starting off just before lock down started in March the inside of the body tub was zinc primed and painted Radiant Red to match the underside (dash will be blown over), Unfortunately I was then furloughed and with the restrictions no further progress was made however I had been busy in the garage at home by sorting it all out painting the walls and making a feature wall In the previous update we got the engine running! since then I have took the carbs off stripped, cleaned and polished them also while I was there I fitted a new stainless manifold which looks a lot nicer than the original. I fitted the new stainless centre pipe and second hand back box ive had in the garage for a while (needs a polish) The reason why I chose this exhaust set up is because it was fitted to the Spitfire that inspired me seeing it drive down the road from my high school blew a 13 year old me away. This is what the chassis looks like all finished and in daylight Ive also started to refurbish some parts ready to put on when the car comes home starting with the master cylinders which were stripped, inspected (bore all ok), painted and new caps fitted as the originals looked a bit tired just need to reassemble with new seals in the morning with the restrictions lifted slightly I have been over to the restorers over the past few days to start prepping the body ready for its respray (social distancing of course) Starting with the bulkhead and taking it back to bare metal Battery box looking good Only found a small hole which will be repaired Tis is where we need some advice/reference when I started stripping the windscreen frame I uncovered a build up of filler in the rain channel which we assume isn't correct after digging out all the filler this is what we are left with From what we can see the rain channel is just spot welded to the back of the frame unfortunately we have a large gap between the frame and the channel where all the filler was if anyone could post some pictures on how this area is supposed to look would greatly be appreciated. That's all for now folks. Stay safe, Conor Hi, I don't suppose you have any pictures of the other side in the area where you have the rust hole. I am curious about the inner construction in this area, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor L Posted June 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2020 Regarding which hole? Near master cylinders or windscreen frame? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan.gilbert_6384 Posted June 22, 2020 Report Share Posted June 22, 2020 Sorry the windscreen frame, cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor L Posted June 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 21 hours ago, alan.gilbert_6384 said: Sorry the windscreen frame, cheers We were concerned for that area too as the rain gutters have bulged out towards the bottom so we are going to cut off the rain channels in due course to find out what's going on behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan.gilbert_6384 Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 You might like this one by Elin, Please let me know how you get on, cheers good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor L Posted July 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 Recently ive been thinking whether there is anything that I can refurbish ready to bolt back on to the car when it comes home seeing as we are getting closer to paint, I was rummaging through the boxes of parts and thought the Heater Box would be a good starting point considering it'll be 1 of the 1st things to be refitted so here it is the original smiths unit as removed a few years ago, considering it sits behind the dash I thought it would be less crusty never mind nothing that a clean up and paint wouldn't sort. before taking it apart I had a look to see if I could get any life out it the blower and test to see if the resistor worked on both speeds and to my surprise it powered up into life After this I took the front cove off and the fan motor all screws came undone without fuss, Bonus I then lifted the matrix out, it looks a bit scabby but I took it to work and smoke tested it and all seems good with no holes that I could see. I removed the directional flaps, linkage and resistor before prepping, priming and finally painting the box with some satin black, the finish isn't perfect however i'm not too concerned as its tucked up under the dash anyway I have also painted the front cover and flaps but have forgot to take pictures. I've done some research into rebuilding 1 of these and I can't find much about them I know I need to replace the foam that was wrapped around the matrix but I'm a bit unsure at how think the sticky back foam should be. I would also like to thank both @yorkshire_spam and @Mathew for there responses to my Hub wanted ad unfortunately I forgot to document that on this thread. Conor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted July 31, 2020 Report Share Posted July 31, 2020 10 hours ago, Conor L said: I would also like to thank both @yorkshire_spam and @Mathew for there responses to my Hub wanted ad unfortunately I forgot to document that on this thread. You are more than welcome Conor! That heater box is looking a lot better! I have the Dolomite one to do - I think the core is stuffed up, but I'm rather dreading removing the entire interior just to get to it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted July 31, 2020 Report Share Posted July 31, 2020 Nice work Conor. I've probably posted these before but I did my Mk3 heater about three years back: Before: I have a blast cabinet, so the intermediate: And then primer and satin black: And assembled: I don't have a record of the foam that I used but it's not very thick. Probably 2mm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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