The Spitfire that just needed a tidy up...

[alan.gilbert_6384]

17 hours ago, Josef said:

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!n

I think those holes were original, the triumph logo was never symmetrical to the boot handle, here is a picture from the original sale brochure.  The angle is deceptive but I think you can see it.

[Josef]

Miscellaneous jobs today and yesterday. I’ve stripped a starter motor, cleaned and painted the case etc and skimmed the commutator. I was thinking about dying and reusing the old hood cover, but on cleaning it I found broken stitching, holes etc. So I decided to target reducing it from being disgustingly filthy to just clean enough for me to cope with using if I have to. Replaced a couple of broken poppers too. 

[Josef]

4 hours ago, alan.gilbert_6384 said:

I think those holes were original, the triumph logo was never symmetrical to the boot handle, here is a picture from the original sale brochure.  The angle is deceptive but I think you can see it.

I’ve been looking at it again. The P is out of line and the T slightly rotated. So they must’ve been re drilled at some point. But whatever, waaaayyy too late now

[Josef]

Sat down to do something else, and happened to find my photographs for the agreed valuation from when I first got the Spitfire. Doesn't look too bad does it!? Though you can spot the state of the wiring in the engine bay shots which should've been A Clue to the quality of much of the previous work.

[Bordfunker]

I see what you mean about the wiring!

That’s a real rats nest behind the battery.

Still pretty much par for the course given the age of the car.

Karl

[Josef]

Just now, Mathew said:

I would be tempted to rip out and put a new or second hand loom in as having the same colours for different things is a nightmare. At least at work the wires are mostly numbered at each end!

The pictures of the car in green are from 2018. The ‘whatever was lying around’ wiring scheme was one of the first things I got rid of!

[Josef]

That’ll do for a hood right?

(Just using the old one to keep a minuscule amount of drizzle off the interior while I’m welding in the garage!)

[Piglet]

That's an amazing fit. How did you get it so right first time? 😃

Alex

[Josef]

Finally got around to swapping out the starter motor this morning. I was worried that the chewed up teeth on the old pinion would be due to incorrect spacing, but I’ve measured everything carefully and both the old and new with the existing spacer have 4/32” out of mesh clearance (well, except for the tooth wear on the old one!) which is smack in the middle of the tolerance range. The engine was noticeable quicker to catch, and the old starter had a lot of grit under the brush cover so it was a good move to change it on several fronts!

[Colin Lindsay]

On 04/06/2022 at 18:45, Josef said:

Miscellaneous jobs today and yesterday. I’ve stripped a starter motor, cleaned and painted the case etc and skimmed the commutator. 

I believe the original instructions were to 'clean with a fine, dry cloth and if especially dirty, moisten the cloth with petrol...'

[Josef]

I had intended to do this at the weekend, but the jigsaw blades I needed hadn’t turned up… My original plan was to build aluminium glove boxes, and then mount speakers partly hidden within them. However I figured out that the demister tubing protruded such that the passenger side glovebox had to bend around it, and that the clearance between the glovebox and a-post wasn’t going to let me get a speaker snuck in there. I really wanted them to be as invisible as possible as they’re going to be the only non-period style item in the interior. So I decided to use the aluminium sheet I’d already bought to build some mounts to fit on the front of the a-post at the back of the footwell. I’m sure the audio won’t be up to much, but it never will be in a Spitfire! The first one test fits quite neatly and doesn’t impinge on my right foot on the accelerator (handily, the speaker magnet held the whole thing in place to let me check)

[Josef]

With the hood still on order I’m a bit restricted on what I can do with the Spit, so with the weather being good it’s doing a bit of family ferry duty this morning. Taking my Dad to Lidl and my sister to work. The work drop off involves some steep cobbled streets, so it’s had in effect a pave test this morning! Generally running quite well, but still occasionally doesn’t want to go into first or second gear at very low speed. I’m still hoping this is the NOS shift hub needing a little one bit of wearing in. 

[Pete Lewis]

if the engagement is baulking it could be the clutch is not fully clearing ??

Pete

[Josef]

I'd guess in that case 3/4 would also feel similar? When this happens I can shift to 3 or 4 without lifting the clutch and then it'll go into 1 or 2 OK.

[Pete Lewis]

no 3/4th take less effort to sync 

remember the synchro has to spin the disc up/down to speed in the blink of an eye 

any drag and it will get baulked by the synchro that is unable sync.

is this just baulking or oyu get some crashings ???

simple test if you can engage 1/2nd with engine off but it baulks when  idling  its  a clutch problem 

does reverse grate a bit ???

 

Pete

[Josef]

There’s no crunching or grating on any gear at any time. The problem is infrequently intermittent (it happened twice in the first half mile or so test when I first put the box in and then maybe twice more overall in the 5 or 6 proper 5-10 mile runs I’ve done since the MoT. So it’s happened when the engine and box are hot and cold. Always on very slow road speed 3 -> 2 downchange. 
The whole clutch is new as well as the rod and pin that the clutch cylinder acts on. The clutch pedal has a new pivot rod and the hole for the master cylinder clevis pin has been welded and re drilled round. The master cylinder push rod is also not heavily worn, and I bleed the clutch cylinders with them removed from the bellhousing so the bleed nipple is as high as possible. So my confidence in the clutch behaving properly is reasonably high. But as I can’t reliably make the problem happen I can’t really do the engine on/off test you suggest Pete. One and two are relatively stiff to engage with the engine off though, but then there’s a lot more new parts in that 1/2 change than any I’ve ever driven before!

[alan.gilbert_6384]

17 minutes ago, Josef said:

There’s no crunching or grating on any gear at any time. The problem is infrequently intermittent (it happened twice in the first half mile or so test when I first put the box in and then maybe twice more overall in the 5 or 6 proper 5-10 mile runs I’ve done since the MoT. So it’s happened when the engine and box are hot and cold. Always on very slow road speed 3 -> 2 downchange. 
The whole clutch is new as well as the rod and pin that the clutch cylinder acts on. The clutch pedal has a new pivot rod and the hole for the master cylinder clevis pin has been welded and re drilled round. The master cylinder push rod is also not heavily worn, and I bleed the clutch cylinders with them removed from the bellhousing so the bleed nipple is as high as possible. So my confidence in the clutch behaving properly is reasonably high. But as I can’t reliably make the problem happen I can’t really do the engine on/off test you suggest Pete. One and two are relatively stiff to engage with the engine off though, but then there’s a lot more new parts in that 1/2 change than any I’ve ever driven before!

Hi Josef, which oil did you use for the box ?

[Josef]

20 minutes ago, alan.gilbert_6384 said:

Hi Josef, which oil did you use for the box ?

The cheapest GL4 spec Eurocarparts had! My intention is to run the box in for a hundred miles or so and then change the oil out for something better. I ended up fitting a lot of new parts when rebuilding the gearbox so figured there was some chance of there being wear from bedding in etc and wanted to drain off any resulting particulates.

[alan.gilbert_6384]

1 hour ago, Josef said:

The cheapest GL4 spec Eurocarparts had! My intention is to run the box in for a hundred miles or so and then change the oil out for something better. I ended up fitting a lot of new parts when rebuilding the gearbox so figured there was some chance of there being wear from bedding in etc and wanted to drain off any resulting particulates.

Sounds like a good plan.  The oil is critical to the synchro as the pressure build up in the cone to synchronise the two parts whilst ensuring no direct contact between the SNR brass ring and the cone.  You may find the feel will be better with a good quality GL4.

[Pete Lewis]

ideas of the oil doing this is very remote 

back to ideas 

when it resists engagement what does the gear stick do  does it feel like it wants to engage but something down stream of the stick is blocking selection

does the stick lock and mechanically obstruct selection 

there is little in the box to cause your problem   bedding in and running in  gearbox parts is a complete myth 

there are all the interlock balls and plungers in the top cover these could be missing and you end up trying to select two gears at once

and what are the remote and gear shift bushes like ...new or old ones ???

Pete

[Josef]

The stick moves a little but then the gear won’t engage. I did notice when assembling the gearbox that I could get the third gear synchro ring to stick on the gear and so stop me from being able to move the 1/2 hub properly. I assumed this was just cause it was dry but I wonder if this is the problem here. Sound plausible at all? The synchros were all used and looked and felt OK to me, but I’ve only done two gearbox rebuilds so don’t have a great deal of experience here. 
The top cover is a complete NOS unit from Fitchetts. I oiled where I could before fitting it but did not strip it completely. 
I rebuilt/re bushed the gear change linkages before installing the box. 

[Josef]

Since Yodel finally delivered my order of vinyl (nine days late for no readily apparent reason) I have been able to trim my speaker brackets and get them fitted. Wiring yet to complete. When that’s done I’ll be able to get the glove boxes in and the inside of the car will be officially done. 

[Colin Lindsay]

A tidy job, sir!

[Peter Truman]

like idea of angling the speaker box's into the cabin, must do that on the daughters Mk2 will give far better sound projection.

My Vitesse has the speakers mounted flush in the A Post forward cheek trims, will look to see if I can mount them at an angle too, whilst clearing the hardware behind so projecting sound forward.

[Badwolf]

Josef - Looks great. Did you cover the metalwork with any sort of foam or padding before adding the vinyl, and which adhesive did you find to be the best?