nathanh Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Hello all! I bought my spitfire 1500 when I was 20, almost 4 years ago now! I joined the club after meeting them at the Classic Car show at the NEC in November. Since getting the car I've leant a lot about how to look after it properly. I've undertaken quite a lot of tasks including: rebuilding the alternator, replacing the hood, replacing the brake and clutch cylinders, getting the radiator refurbished, and lots of painting (under seats, the entire boot area, and underneath the master cylinders) My most recent project is a full engine rebuild! As with everything I've done so far, this is the first time doing such a task. I've learnt a lot so far, and I'm sure I've got a lot more to learn! I was hoping to find out if any other members of the club knew of anywhere in the Gloucestershire area where I could get my Crankshaft reground, and the valves hardened so I can run it on unleaded fuel. Any advice on the engine rebuild, and anything else for that matter would be warmly welcomed! Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qu1ckn1ck Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Hi and welcome, Nathan ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Nice colour! wrong side of the country for me with respect to engineering workshops. What lead up to you needing to rebuild the engine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyman Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Hi Nathan, Yes welcome to the forum. I am sure someone will sort a place out for you Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Nathan stamped on the top of the head is a number .iike TKC1155 or similar as yours is looking liken a 1500 it may just already have hardend seats on the exhaust valves if you find the nunber we can make a better answer. But for gloucester have you managed to make an area meeting with Janes area, in the area directory Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Hi Nathan, Lovely car, i am the Area Organiser for the Gloucestershire Area....... I have done a quick check with a couple of our local members & they have had work done by: South Cerney Engineering - North End, Aston Keynes, Wiltshire, SN6 6QR or Country Engineering - Oldbury Lane Unit 1, Bristol BS35 1RF The Gloucester Area meets at the Aviator Inn on Staverton Airport on the third Monday of every month (next one 21st January), you are most welcome to join us, whether the car is on the road or not. You will get first hand recommendations from members who are tackling these jobs regularly. Keep up the good work, the Spitfire looks great. Jane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Nice looking car - is that Java Green? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Faulds Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 welcome, looks a belter, nice to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanh Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 16 hours ago, thescrapman said: Nice colour! wrong side of the country for me with respect to engineering workshops. What lead up to you needing to rebuild the engine? There was a knocking sound when starting the engine from cold, so I figured the big end bearing may need changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanh Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 5 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: Nathan stamped on the top of the head is a number .iike TKC1155 or similar as yours is looking liken a 1500 it may just already have hardend seats on the exhaust valves if you find the nunber we can make a better answer. But for gloucester have you managed to make an area meeting with Janes area, in the area directory Pete Hi Pete, The number in the head is RKC0589, it would be brilliant if you could find that out for me! Thank you very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanh Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 4 hours ago, Jane said: Hi Nathan, Lovely car, i am the Area Organiser for the Gloucestershire Area....... I have done a quick check with a couple of our local members & they have had work done by: South Cerney Engineering - North End, Aston Keynes, Wiltshire, SN6 6QR or Country Engineering - Oldbury Lane Unit 1, Bristol BS35 1RF The Gloucester Area meets at the Aviator Inn on Staverton Airport on the third Monday of every month (next one 21st January), you are most welcome to join us, whether the car is on the road or not. You will get first hand recommendations from members who are tackling these jobs regularly. Keep up the good work, the Spitfire looks great. Jane Hi Jane, I’ll looking into those, thank you! And maybe see you on the 21st! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanh Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 2 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said: Nice looking car - is that Java Green? It is indeed Java green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Hello Nathen I use these people for crank grinds, rebores and Valve seats and cutting Bromsgrove Engine Services 35 Sherwood Road, Aston Fields Industrial Estate, Bromsgrove Phone : 01527 559333These people for crank balancing (it is worth having done for about £90/100) https://andrewsprecision.co.uk/ Roger ps I rebuilt a 1500 engine last winter with fully balanced crank, rods and pistons plus an uprated cam (Newman PH2) plus a lot of other work cylinder head, oil pump, thrust washers (Aluminium Bronze) oil gallery cleaned and enlarged to centre mains, duplex chain and quality chain( Irwis not Indian rubbish) Plus I run fuel injection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Hi i reckon RKC0589 is the casting number, you need to look for a hand stamped it should be TCK1155 its will be stamped on a machined flat surface might even be hiding under the rocker cover . an example canley classics do a refurbed tkc1155 to unleaded spec fpr around £285 as a guide to £££s pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpingFrog Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Very nice Spitfire, I'm a fellow young (24) member, nowhere near Gloucestershire so can't help you there. Good luck with your engine rebuild, are you planning any improvements in the process? 3 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said: you need to look for a hand stamped it should be TCK1155 FWIW, there are some factory unleaded heads, mine is marked "TKC3239", I think it came from a California car. They're a bit strange as they have inserts on inlet valves too. Although, pretty sure they weren't fitted to UK models. I used it on a 1300 to lower the compression (down to ~8:1) and run bad petrol (< 90 RON), but that's another story! P.S. This site is helpful for stuff like this: http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/performance_enhancements.htm#heads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave.vitesse Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Welcome to the forum Nathan, great looking Spit. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanh Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 7 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: Hi i reckon RKC0589 is the casting number, you need to look for a hand stamped it should be TCK1155 its will be stamped on a machined flat surface might even be hiding under the rocker cover . an example canley classics do a refurbed tkc1155 to unleaded spec fpr around £285 as a guide to £££s pete Yeah, its TCK1155, so I'm guessing I'll need to get it hardened valves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 well there you go , if and when you take the head off have a clean and careful look at the exhaust seats it may just be already have them do you,have an engine number ??? Not sure but it Might give more clues and lead memory lasts for years in these heads, so adding inserts is not required to run UL fuels but if you cut the seats the memory is partially lost amd adding seats to the exhaust is the then a good idea. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 When I had my old engine replaced, the replacement was stripped and balanced, bits reground etc. That was in 1986. It was run on leaded (about 1,500 miles/year) 'til 1996 when the car went into storage. I assume that on the rebuild, grinding in the valves (don't remember if new ones were fitted) would destroy the lead memory, but would it have been run for long enough on leaded for the memory effect to build up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 I had the seats cut on the Vi6 and drove her hard for 14 years without any recession, so who knows how deep or long the memory is sustained i drink unleaded tea and the memory is still sort of working Ha ! the springs plumbing and filtration is another story , emmisions go up as you age !!! pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 Just wondering if a crank regrind/new shells are actually needed?, as it is pretty common for these engines to knock/rattle for a couple of seconds on start up. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 Dave is quite right, but the reason is the nature and anatomy of the oil filter that allows the oil in it to drain back into the sump, so that on starting, no oil is deliverd for the first few seconds until the thefilter is refulled by the pump. This true for six cylinder cars, and the cure for that is a spin-on fliter conversion, and the use of fileters with an internal one-way valve. can a Spitfire be helped in the same way? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 I agree. Its better to go by the noise made when running ideally comparing it with another car with the same engine in known good condition. How many miles is your car showing Nathan? If you are convinced that the bearings are worn you could just change them for standard size replacements possibly doing it with the engine still in place. Regrinds are usually only necessary after high milages (and one or more std bearing changes), if the std bearings arent changed in time and have failed completely, lubrication failure for whatever reason.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 1 hour ago, JohnD said: can a Spitfire be helped in the same way? John The Spitfire had a screw-on filter from new, so it all depends on the filter; you need an anti-drain version or it's the same as the old canister filters on the GT6. Sometimes something as simple as an oil and filter change can work wonders. Nathan - watch how quickly the green oil light extinguishes on startup, it should go out very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 A 1500 Spitfire has a canister filter, who would fit a non drain back one?!! Other reasons for knackered bearings include excessive end float, con rods moving back and forth did for mine. Engine had only done 28k. Also running without oil is pretty successful, this has to be coupled with a wife who doesn't know why the little light lit up and the gauge says ZERO! Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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