The Spitfire that just needed a tidy up...

[Piglet]

Beautiful,

Alex

[alan.gilbert_6384]

You could always cheat on the bolt thingy, use a chrome nut cap ?

[Josef]

2 minutes ago, alan.gilbert_6384 said:

You could always cheat on the bolt thingy, use a chrome nut cap ?

Yeah I have actually just e-mailed a local Harley Davidson specialist who might be able to supply something like that.

[NonMember]

I re-cut the threads in my chassis to make sure they were good, but the (brand new) chrome bolts still stripped on fitting. I think it's just that chromed bolts are not very good. I had some new stainless ones that did me fine.

[Josef]

Trying to get some final bits done on Monday was horrendous. Everything was wrong or didn’t fit. I was nearly ready to give up with the car completely at one point…

However, today it has gained a fresh MoT. And I only got rained on a little bit (still don’t have a hood!) Still plenty to do, but that’s a major hurdle out of the way. 
 

Strange to drive it and it be so quiet though. The sound insulation really is doing it’s job. 

[Josef]

Oh, and declaring the minilite wheels and leather seats to the insurance (Peter James) was free! 

[NonMember]

Peter James are pretty good at just coping with minor alterations. I'm fairly sure my 1500 engine, 4-branch manifold, GT6 brakes, swing spring etc. didn't cause any increase in premium. Of course, the valuation did...

[Clive]

27 minutes ago, NonMember said:

Peter James are pretty good at just coping with minor alterations. I'm fairly sure my 1500 engine, 4-branch manifold, GT6 brakes, swing spring etc. didn't cause any increase in premium. Of course, the valuation did...

My toledo went from 1300, to 1500 to 2litre TR7. And no premium change as they understood that a dolomite was essentially the same car. 

My spitfire DOES get a loading. but with 150% power increase it is understandable. And the cost was not excessive. 

[Josef]

When I moved up to Durham, I was moving tone day after my renewal was due. So I phoned Lancaster, explained, and asked to insure based on the new address. They refused. When I called back after moving to make the change they then tried to charge me £25 for the privilege (which I refused to pay given it was entirely on them I was having to do this in the first place). So I was expecting to at least have to pay an admin fee as has always been my experience with modern insurance. 

[alan.gilbert_6384]

I got a renewal for £150 from Lancaster, thought this high so shopped around, got it for £95 with classic line with agreed valuation, result.  It pays to shop around every for classics.

[Colin Lindsay]

On 26/05/2022 at 21:16, Josef said:

That’s the H frame and seats in. Turns out the threads in the chassis are too damaged for the shiny, £2 a go chrome bolts to bite, so I needed something longer. 

I had the same problem with my GT6 so used threaded bolt; clean up the chassis threads, measure the length you need, cut four then Araldite them into the chassis. A nice domed nut on the top and a chromed washer if required tidied everything up. 

[Josef]

1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said:

I had the same problem with my GT6 so used threaded bolt; clean up the chassis threads, measure the length you need, cut four then Araldite them into the chassis. A nice domed nut on the top and a chromed washer if required tidied everything up. 

I was planning something along those lines, but was going to do it the other way around and try and fix the nut to the studding so I’d have a ‘bolt’. How did you get your h frame in and out on the GT6 there? My method is shove it against the dash, wiggle over the gearstick boot, push along the floor till the holes line up which wouldn’t work with studs poking out the floor. 

[NonMember]

13 minutes ago, Josef said:

How did you get your h frame in and out on the GT6 there?

That's a good question, as my GT6 looks like your "top in first then push along floor" method is the only one that will work. On the Spitfire (Mk3, with a different H-frame design) I line up the feet first then push the top under the dash, which would work with Colin's studs.

[Colin Lindsay]

In the GT6 Mk1 I was able to fit the bottom of the h-frame roughly over the studs, at an angle, press the top against the lower edge of the dash, then the dash will prise up enough to allow it to tilt forward and drop into place. This was on top of the carpet, so there is enough room.

[NonMember]

Hmm... OK. Mine is a Mk3 and has been without the H-frame as long as I've known it - some 30+ years. It's possible the bottom of the dash has dropped, or has a deeper surround, or won't lift as much, or... Anyway, I'm hoping to get the gearbox cover and carpet back in tomorrow, so I'll see whether the H-frame goes in either your way or Josef's

[Josef]

When I got the car it was nearly impossible to fit the H-frame. I later figured out this was due to how much the bulkhead had dropped. The metal under the lip of the dash (where the top of the H-frame sits) was also pushed up / heavily dented - that was a pain to hammer back flat ish. The only way to get it in was with a lot of brute force via the method I described. Colin’s method may we’ll be possible now, and sounds less likely to damage the dash, so I’ll keep it in mind for next time. Which hopefully won’t be all that soon!

[Josef]

I spent a lot of time over the past few days getting the new to me rechromed bumper on and sitting straight. The old one was wonky too so something must be wrong with the chassis / brackets / rebuilt bonnet. So I ended up taking a die grinder and selection of files to the attachment holes… It’s on now, straight and shiny.

Todays job was badges. I felt like it should be an easy job. The bonnet went fine, new letter set, new clips, all looked good. The boot however was a pain.  I got TRI on, then picked up M by mistake but decided to do that one anyway. I stepped back to have a look and it looked like it was rotated slightly clockwise. So I fished out the bag of original letters and compared the M’s. The posts on the repro one we’re not in the same place as the original. To make things worse, holding the new and repro ones side by side it was clear this set was a poor copy as the letters were slightly smaller and less sharply defined. I had bought two sets from different sources (though have forgotten where exactly), the ones I’d fitted on the bonnet held up well side by side with the originals fortunately. 

So, back to the bag of originals. I found, luckily, I had a full TRIUMPH set with  intact posts. They’ve polished up OK except for the U which is really quite pitted. Still, better than the crappy repro set that looked like someone had put the letters on with fridge magnets…

Aaaand, so it continued. The holes for the rest of the boot badges have been re-drilled, and the spacing wasn’t 100% correct. It also turns out the repair to the rear lip is a joddled overlap joint. Neither of these things were done by me, but I should’ve checked. With the double thickness of metal the pins don’t protrude enough for clips. I ended up being a terrible person and putting a dab of silicone on them, we’ll see how that holds up. Might have to hunt down whatever is used to stick badges on modern cars.

[Badwolf]

Don't tell anyone, but when the posts broke of a couple of my badges, I fixed them on with number plate tape. Now can't shift the bu**er's

[NonMember]

I see what you mean about the re-drilled holes not being accurate. I think that 'U' not being aligned with the handle would bug me. Which is why I've still not even tried to fit the boot badges on mine.

[alan.gilbert_6384]

13 minutes ago, NonMember said:

I see what you mean about the re-drilled holes not being accurate. I think that 'U' not being aligned with the handle would bug me. Which is why I've still not even tried to fit the boot badges on mine.

Seriouslee I think only the pedantic would even notice that given how beautiful rest of this car is. Don’t get caught up in the perfectionist trap, it’s a wicked spiral.  The car looks great.

[Josef]

52 minutes ago, NonMember said:

I see what you mean about the re-drilled holes not being accurate. I think that 'U' not being aligned with the handle would bug me. Which is why I've still not even tried to fit the boot badges on mine.

Well, I thought those particular holes were original… Guess not. I hadn’t spotted the lack of centralisation. They are well aligned other than that though. 

[AlanT]

Hi @JosefWhere did you get your sound stuff? Adding more is on my Autumn list.

thanks

[Josef]

1 hour ago, alan.gilbert_6384 said:

Seriouslee I think only the pedantic would even notice that given how beautiful rest of this car is. Don’t get caught up in the perfectionist trap, it’s a wicked spiral.  The car looks great.

Thanks  And no I’m not going to get upset by the lettering being off centre. I’m certainly not having the boot painted again given how many times this car has been painted over the last four years!

[Josef]

33 minutes ago, AlanT said:

Hi @JosefWhere did you get your sound stuff? Adding more is on my Autumn list.

thanks

I used a mixture of Silent Coat and Dodomat. Pretty sure the Silent Coat came from Amazon as I get a birthday Amazon voucher from work and remember spending part of it on the sound insulation. Dodomat, probably got that via eBay. I have only driven the car a little bit now with this sound insulation in, but it’s definitely noticeably quieter. Especially when compared with my Herald which only has a single limp bit of original sound deadening on the drivers side bulkhead!

[Badwolf]

Got my SilentCoat here.....https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161282941044