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1975 Spitfire 1500 Restoration


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Your heater box looks great @NonMember unfortunately I don't have the luxuries of a blast cabinet so the trusty wire brush, sandpaper and elbow grease will have to do. I'll have to see if I can find some foam thanks for the info.

Just a quick update whilst I'm here, no more progress on the heater box however I have been keeping busy with other things that needed some attention 1 of those being the handbrake lever. I needed to take it into work to remove the grip which clamping in the vice, heating with a heat gun, WD-40 and me stumbling back when it finally came off seemed to work. after this it had a quick rub down, primer and 3 coats of satin black paint before reassembling the ratchet mechanism.

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Much better, unfortunately the grip is a bit scratched up towards the leading face (was like this when I removed it from the car) unsure if there is anything I can do to make it less obvious or try and source a better 1 as I cant seem to find anywhere that stocks these later grips

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Another job that needed doing was replacing the channel that holds the door glass in as the originals are way past their sell by date as can be seen below. Luckily the replacement green door came with these channels in far better condition which saves me over £70 for new 1s. I read online that these can be a pain to remove and that turned out to be true. I started on the Nearside glass as that channel was worse than the drivers, after leaving it to soak in WD-40, carefully heating up the rubber seal, cutting the rubber with  Stanley knife and a good hour or so the glass finally came free and just look at the state of this,

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Not ideal! moving forward I gave the glass a quick clean up and offered it up with the replacement channel,

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Much better just need to seal the glass in. I then moved in to the drivers glass and repeated the same procedure, all was going well until the Stanley blade snapped and slit my wrist open resulting in much swearing and shutting the garage door that's a job for another day.

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Drivers door glass with said broken blade still in the channel.

Conor

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Ouch!! Hope the wrist gets better. When doing these I attack from the end, you can see a small gap between the channel and the bottom of the glass, so a good long screwdriver blade in here will prise the two apart. For resealing I just use Tigerseal round a rubber channel cut and shaped from an old inner tube. Works for me!

 

 

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Wrist has healed slightly now thanks Colin I did try levering up with a screwdriver in that gap to start with no luck mind you I wasn't using much force as I did want to risk breaking the glass will give it another go. Thanks for the tip on sealing them in with an inner tube didn't think of that think I have 1 spare somewhere if not I'll have to raid my dads cycle spares.

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Bit of an update following on from my last post after a short break from the door glass I built up the courage to go outside and have another look. Following Colins advice I managed to insert my small lever bar from work into the small gap at the front of the glass retaining channel and carefully prise the glass out without any fuss. With that hurdle out of the I managed to find a spare inner tube, cut it down to size, and tigerseal it all into the replacement channels as shown below

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Just need to trim a bit of excess rubber off which can be done at a later date. With this done I thought It would be best to fit the windows back into the doors to make sure everything was all well and good after all of the serious welding work along with new rain gutters, pleased to report that after some fettling and slight adjustment all is ok and the windows go up and down as they should, phew.

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Also preparation work has started on the body tub finally getting ready for some paint so hopefully now it wont be too long before I can have it back home which will tie in nicely as ive just been put back on furlough again and I'm running out of things to tinker with also pleased to report that I have finished the heater box which I'll cover in the next update. 

Conor

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  • Conor L changed the title to The Restoration of an early 1975 Spitfire 1500. Door Glass... Again
  • 1 month later...

Its been a little while since my last update mainly because nothing much has really happened in the past month or so however I have got some progress id like to share. Following on from previous updates you may remember I was giving the original heater unit a bit of a refresh unfortunately I forgot to take pictures during reassembly as I got a bit carried away so here is the finished item

 

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Its not perfect but a vast improvement which im happy with. Progress with the body tub has also been moving forward unfortunately at a slower pace than I'd like but progress is still progress. Quite a big change has happened since we last saw it.

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Its now all in 1 colour! Which is nice to see after years of it being yellow, brown, black and a bit of red. Its currently only in a base primer coat to highlight any imperfections in the bodywork which have now been sorted and the restorer assures me that 2k primer will be applied next week so fingers crossed. Seeing as we are getting closer to this actually being red I've recently been thinking about Wheels. I've got to be honest im not a fan of the original Dunlop steels in my opinion they look a bit like the drum of a washing machine maybe because I'm young. Id quite like the car to have a nice set of alloy wheels on it however they need to be period correct this is a 1975 car after all. I had my heart set on Dunlop D1s for a while now but there is another wheel I quite like too the Cosmic Mk2. After many weeks/months of trawling the Internet i found these.

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A set of five 13x5j Cosmic Mk2s in need of a refurb which the seller assured me came off a Spitfire. However when I came to test fit them this afternoon they didn't fit :( turns out the stud pattern is wrong 4x108mm which i think may be Ford? Gutted as you can imagine as I don't think I'll find another set anytime soon so I was wondering if anybody else has fitted wheels with a different stud pattern to their car using adaptors if so I'd be interested to know.

Unfortunately that's all I've got for now,

Conor

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34 minutes ago, Conor L said:

Its been a little while since my last update mainly because nothing much has really happened in the past month or so however I have got some progress id like to share. Following on from previous updates you may remember I was giving the original heater unit a bit of a refresh unfortunately I forgot to take pictures during reassembly as I got a bit carried away so here is the finished item

[img]https://i.imgur.com/jY5OvL6.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/0YV0MWt.jpg[/img]

Its not perfect but a vast improvement which im happy with. Progress with the body tub has also been moving forward unfortunately at a slower pace than I'd like but progress is still progress. Quite a big change has happened since we last saw it.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/qZV8J26.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/pabXGiJ.jpg[/img]

Its now all in 1 colour! Which is nice to see after years of it being yellow, brown, black and a bit of red. Its currently only in a base primer coat to highlight any imperfections in the bodywork which have now been sorted and the restorer assures me that 2k primer will be applied next week so fingers crossed. Seeing as we are getting closer to this actually being red I've recently been thinking about Wheels. I've got to be honest im not a fan of the original Dunlop steels in my opinion they look a bit like the drum of a washing machine maybe because I'm young. Id quite like the car to have a nice set of alloy wheels on it however they need to be period correct this is a 1975 car after all. I had my heart set on Dunlop D1s for a while now but there is another wheel I quite like too the Cosmic Mk2. After many weeks/months of trawling the Internet i found these.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/4tktbz8.jpg[/img]

A set of five 13x5j Cosmic Mk2s in need of a refurb which the seller assured me came off a Spitfire. However when I came to test fit them this afternoon they didn't fit :( turns out the stud pattern is wrong 4x108mm which i think may be Ford? Gutted as you can imagine as I don't think I'll find another set anytime soon so I was wondering if anybody else has fitted wheels with a different stud pattern to their car using adaptors if so I'd be interested to know.

Unfortunately that's all I've got for now,

Conor

No images came through for me

Paul 

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2 hours ago, Paul H said:

No images came through for me

Paul 

There is something odd about embedding images from an external website into the forum since the last Invision software upgrade.

If Conor could explain the EXACT process he uses, I'll see if it differs from mine.

Posting one of Conor's pictures, I embed it as follows  :

Paste the URL of the picture without the "[IMG]" tags and then continue typing - and the picture magically appears 

jY5OvL6.jpg 

 

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Just about managed to upload the pictures and make sure the post is correct somehow I managed to duplicate the text and pictures 3 times in the same post. Anyway the way I normally upload pictures is via Imgur, only hosting site I get on with, just click on the picture, copy BBCode and paste into the forum post as I go along. Didnt work this time so I just dragged and dropped the files into the dedicated section. I will try @KevinR advice on the next update.

Conor 

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On 26/09/2020 at 07:17, Pete Lewis said:

well you said the wheels looked as if they were ford , so you have the wheels just need a car to match them up with 

hope you sort some ok 

pete

Oh I get you know Pete haha just been 1 of those weeks. I still have the wheels as unsure whether to return, refurbish and sell on or if stud adapters might be a way forward as the Cosmics do suit the car very well, decisions decisions 🤔 

Conor 

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  • Conor L changed the title to The Restoration of an early 1975 Spitfire 1500. Primer and New Wheels
  • 4 weeks later...

I think its safe to say that things have moved on quite a bit since the last update.

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Yes that correct the shell has finally been painted and I hope you agree that it looks completely unrecognisable to the what I started out with over 4 years ago the pictures really don't do the depth/gloss of the paint it really is a glass like finish and I'm over the moon with the result! Here's a quick reminder of what this very car looked like when I 1st purchased it in June 2016

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Quite hard to take in that its the same car really. So what's the plan now? Well next Friday the restorer will be collecting the chassis from mine so we can reattach the tub, fit the steering column and get the handbrake going he has also agreed to help me fit the windscreen before dropping back at mine the next day which brings me nicely to my 1st question, as I understand before we refit the windscreen there is supposed to be some vinyl trim that goes around the inside of the frame, unfortunately the original broke apart when removing it and went in the bin and I cannot seem to find a supplier that sells this trim so I'm wondering what others have done to remake this trim help and advice is much appreciated as always. On another note I have recently ordered a complete leather interior kit from Owen at Park Lane Classics, a brand new wiring loom is on order and I have also just placed an order with James Paddock for all the essential items to start the rebuild process. I Know this project has been a long time in the making and I appreciate your patience but I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Conor

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  • Conor L changed the title to The Restoration of a 1975 Spitfire 1500. Finally Red

The vinyl trim round the windscreen frame is available as a kit from Paddocks and probably others. The kit, however, is simply four pieces of flat vinyl that you glue on and trim to shape. If you (or your restorer) has access to a stock of the right pattern of vinyl then it's just as easy to cut the pieces off a roll. I don't think this is quite what the factory used but once the screen and door seals are fitted you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference.

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10 minutes ago, NonMember said:

The vinyl trim round the windscreen frame is available as a kit from Paddocks and probably others. The kit, however, is simply four pieces of flat vinyl that you glue on and trim to shape. If you (or your restorer) has access to a stock of the right pattern of vinyl then it's just as easy to cut the pieces off a roll. I don't think this is quite what the factory used but once the screen and door seals are fitted you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference.

Thanks for the advice Rob I did see the kit on the paddocks website but wasn't sure on what it included. I'll have to have a look around not too fussed is the grain of the vinyl isn't 100% accurate as long as its there I'll be happy.

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Amazing the difference having the car in one colour makes, even when it’s primer grey, but the red looks stunning!

Given the passion for 70’s Fords at the moment I wouldn’t imagine you’d have much difficulty shifting those Cosmics.

I’m pretty sure they were used on Gilbern’s, as well as a number of other Ford based specials from the period.

Karl

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1 hour ago, Bordfunker said:

Amazing the difference having the car in one colour makes, even when it’s primer grey, but the red looks stunning!

Given the passion for 70’s Fords at the moment I wouldn’t imagine you’d have much difficulty shifting those Cosmics.

I’m pretty sure they were used on Gilbern’s, as well as a number of other Ford based specials from the period.

Karl

Thanks Karl pictures really don't do the paint any justice. Funnily enough I've just put the Cosmics for sale on Ebay like you say being ford fitment hopefully they'll sell pretty quick so I can get something else. According to my friend that owns 1 they were also used in the early Clan Crusaders.

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Following on from the previous update the chassis was collected from my house and trailered over to the workshop to be mated back with the body for the 1st time in 16 months.

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We hatched a plan to get the body back on the chassis using an engine crane, rope and a few sets of eyes to make sure we didn't scratch the fresh paint job and after 15 nervous minutes,

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Touchdown! Actually starting to look more like a car again. We had a bit of a fight getting some of the body bolts back in but after a bit of thought we got them in and tightened down. We then pushed the car back into the middle of the workshop and I set about fitting the steering column and handbrake lever,

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When I brought the car the steering used to clunk when rocking it left to right, when refitting the column I replaced the old rubber type coupling with a UJ which has resulted in no more clunking and there seems to be less free movement between the steering and road wheels... Result. Next up Handbrake. Jacked the back of the car up and was greeted with this,

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NICE! loving the contrast between the red and the black. Stop admiring Con get back to the job in hand! Fitted the radius arms remembering to put the same amount of shims in each side as removed of course I will complete a full laser alignment when the cars back on the road. After this I refitted the handbrake mechanism (forgot to take a picture) bit of a fiddle with my large hands trying to work on my back around a propshaft but got there in the end, adjusted it up following the workshop bible and all working as it should for the 1st time in my ownership. 

Wheel arch shot because why not.

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Looks a bit darker than the tub but I can assure you it all matches. When we 1st fitted the tub I thought the rear end was sitting a bit too high considering I've fitted a 1 inch lowering block, so with the wheels off I just slackened the springs bolts off a bit dropped it down rolled back and forth a few times which has helped a bit but I still think its a bit higher than it should be, hopefully it'll come down as I start bolting more back on.

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That's all I've got folks.

Conor

 

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  • Conor L changed the title to The Restoration of a 1975 Spitfire 1500. Touchdown

Small update, The big day finally arrived on Wednesday (4/11/20) 

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That's right its back at home for the 1st time in over 2 years! After pushing it off the trailer I wasted no time at all and started putting a couple of bits back on to make it look a bit more like a car again starting with the rear lights, the chrome on the originals was no good quite badly pitted thankfully I managed to pick up these NOS units off of Ebay a couple of years ago fitted with new gaskets,

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Nice, next up washer jets and wiper linkage so nice to be working with new/refurbished parts,

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little things make the biggest difference in my eyes, after this I fitted the heater valve and coil on to a new stainless bracket, also fitted the little rubber drain flap that cost £5.50!

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As mentioned previously the Cosmic Mk2s I brought didn't fit (still for sale if anyone is interested) and looking at the car the original wheels were really letting it down quick order later and we have my 2nd wheel choice

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A set of JBW Dunlop D1 reps wrapped in Yokohama Blue Earth tyres and they have completely changed the look of the car Well Chuffed. Been really busy making progress today too starting with the inner windscreen trim. Thanks to @NonMemberfor advising that James Paddock sell a kit to do this I promptly ordered this comes as 3 pieces of vinyl 2 shorter pieces for the A posts and 1 long piece for across the top unfortunately I got a a bit carried away and forgot to take progress pictures but heres the finished result

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Not too bad for a 1st attempt at doing something like this not too fussed about the very top edge as the windscreen capping will cover this. Following this success I fitted a brand new wiper motor as the old 1 smoked when trying to power it up and also fitted my refurbished heater box

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That's it for this 1 folks more to follow soon.

Conor

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  • Conor L changed the title to The Restoration of a 1975 Spitfire 1500. Rebuild has started
9 hours ago, Mark B said:

Looking really great Conor! All the hard work and dedication has paid off. Total transformation. Just keep looking forward to the day you will finally be able to drive up the road!

Thanks Mark really appreciate the feedback! I can't wait for that day even if its just driving round the close half finished haha 

57 minutes ago, alan.gilbert_6384 said:

Brilliant, looks really good, love the detailed updates.  Pity it has no doors :D  Are you going to fit a chrome strip on the windscreen ?  love to see some pictures if you of doing it, cheers.

Cheers Alan shame it is only the shell back mainly because I wanted it back knowing we might go into lockdown and the remaining metal still needs work before painting. Well I have purchased the plastic chrome trim piece heard its not the nicest of jobs to fit easier before fitting the screen to the car though we will have to see of course I will document it either way.

5 minutes ago, Radiation Man said:

Those new wheels look pretty decent, nice to see something other than minilights!

My thoughts exactly wanted something a bit different to the norm think these wheels fit that criteria!

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