TNTbefree Posted June 3, 2019 Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 Hello all... I posted how I got this Spitfire in my intro post Hello From Jacksonville FL. If you missed that, basically this little beauty was given to me by my neighbor. He bought it in 78, drove it for twenty years, it broke down, and it has been sitting in his yard for the last twenty, till he gave it to me. I'm going to post the pics here that I posted there, so ya'll don't have to jump back and forth to see them. From here on out, this is going to be my build thread. Thanks for any interest and all the help I am sure to need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNTbefree Posted June 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2019 So this is my new build thread and today was the first day I had time to play with my new toy. My first mission was to see if I could turn the engine by hand. I pulled the spark plugs and took a look at them. #1 plug looked ok. #2 had a lot of build up on it. #3 looked like it burnt oddly. and #4 looked ok to me. Note: the PO used mix match plugs. After I had them pulled, I shot some PB Blaster into the spark plug holes. Grabbed my big a$$ wrench and attempted to turn the engine. She did not budge. I pushed, I pulled, I banged, and I cussed, but all to no avail. I then shot some ATF down the holes and moved on to the valve cover. When I first pulled off the cover, all I saw was rust. Not a good sign. This freaked me out a bit, but I took the air hose out and blew it off. The rust was from what fell off from the inside of the valve cover and not on the engine itself. Then I sprayed it down with a pound or two of PB Blaster as well. Just for the heck of it, I also poured ATF all over and in it as well. Seeing as I had the cover off, scrubbed it clean with a stainless steel brillow pad and hit it with a splash of paint to keep it from rusting again.. I also cleaned the the gasket area and put it back together. So all in all, I got little to nothing done. The engine will still not turn and when I sprayed a bolt I planned to remove tomorrow, I messed up the new paint on the valve cover due to overspray. One-step forward... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 Im sure your spitty will get under your skin and before lomg put a smile on when its driven Dont let any set backs put you off , its all fun , never disaster Steady progress will see her revived to former glory and a proud owner behind the wheel. Keep,us up to date with your project please Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted June 4, 2019 Report Share Posted June 4, 2019 That's a great improvement already. Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNTbefree Posted June 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 Another day, another surprise... Still trying to see if I can get the engine unstuck. Was trying to add some MM Oil to the cylinders but couldn't get the tube into One and Two. Come to find out, they had sleeves in them. The holes are much smaller. Guess at some point, the threads got stripped. Debating on getting a new head and replacing it. Also took out the radiator and ran it up to the radiator shop here in town to have it pressure tested and repaired if needed. Good pic of one and edge of two with sleeve inserts... 3 and 4 No Inserts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 How odd. They don't look like they're reducing the thread size particularly, more moving the plug out, but why? And if they are merely doing the job of a Helicoil, why is there a constriction at the bottom end? Can you remove them? You may be right that a head swap is the easy way out. And taking the head off should give you more visibility of possible causes of the seriously stuck bottom end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark powell Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 That metal ledge in the last photo should have the engine number stamped into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68vitesse Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 Have used diesel in the bores for a stuck engine but let it soak for days, check if the valves are stuck as will also stop an engine turning. Have freed stuck valves with careful use of a soft faced hammer and big screwdriver with liberal use of plus gas. All the best. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 there used to be adaptors made so you could fit long reach 3/4" plugs in a short reach 1/2" head as short reach became less available Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNTbefree Posted June 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2019 19 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: there used to be adaptors made so you could fit long reach 3/4" plugs in a short reach 1/2" head as short reach became less available Pete This could explain the mix-matched spark plugs I was talking about earlier... Spark plug 3 and 4 look a bit shorter than 1 and 2 that the sleeve things are in. Will try to remove sleeves and see if a 3 or 4 sparkplug will go in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 6, 2019 Report Share Posted June 6, 2019 there 1/4" between long and short reach its either 1/2" some 1200s or 3/4" everything else so the threaded length is very obvious between the two sizes , yours all look 1/2" short reach but why the adaptors ??? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNTbefree Posted June 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 Well, in an effort to keep ya'll posted, not much has taken place for the last couple of weeks. I took the radiator out and took it up to a shop. Needs a new core. For $300 bucks, I'll just put in a new one. The engine is still frozen, but I hear that it can take up to a month to break one free if it ever can be. Have picked up a few things to get started on working on it, but it's a hundred in the shade and I am holding off for a bit nicer weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted June 26, 2019 Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 There's aluminium rads on eBay at very reasonable prices which although copies seem to be pretty good apart from poor alignment on the top hose connection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted June 28, 2019 Report Share Posted June 28, 2019 On 05/06/2019 at 11:08, NonMember said: How odd. They don't look like they're reducing the thread size particularly, more moving the plug out, but why? And if they are merely doing the job of a Helicoil, why is there a constriction at the bottom end? Can you remove them? You may be right that a head swap is the easy way out. And taking the head off should give you more visibility of possible causes of the seriously stuck bottom end. Take the head off and see what those look like from the other side. There may be an easy explanation. My first thought was that a plug had fallen apart, and that's the outer shell remaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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