Pete Lewis Posted March 10, 2022 Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 copule of tips on the OD on the planet gears there is a small etched marker on just one tooth of each gear these must be lined up with the marks etched on the carrier before you assy to the gearbox, these ensure tooth contach is equal on each of the three gears as best running position , get it wron and one gear takes all the load and generates vibration and wear. when refitting to the mainshaft ( dont forget the woodruff key in the pump cam ) use two good levers/scredrivers and prise the piston plates open a small amout ,this releases the drive and everything aligns up easily forget the clues about poking down the hubs to line the splines up ( thats a right faf) lever the plates and it will drop quickly watch your pinkies Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 Thanks Pete. I did start to strip the overdrive myself, and then decided it was feeling more like a chore than something I was enjoying (too many small fiddly parts I was worried I’d drop/forget to replace). So it’s currently with Overdrive Spares in Sheffield. Still no sign of the replacement main shaft for the gearbox… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DVD3500 Posted March 10, 2022 Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 Is it midnight blue or black...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 1 minute ago, DVD3500 said: Is it midnight blue or black...? Royal Blue, though I can see why you’d think black from the photos! It’s the factory colour, but I feel that barely matters as there’s little about this car anyone could legitimately call ‘original’ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted March 12, 2022 Report Share Posted March 12, 2022 The paintwork looks gorgeous. That’s got to feel like progress. Karl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanT Posted March 12, 2022 Report Share Posted March 12, 2022 What’s the ‘deadline?’ Josef? In time for Summer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2022 18 minutes ago, AlanT said: What’s the ‘deadline?’ Josef? In time for Summer? Well, once it’s back in my garage I will be getting on with reassembly with all speed! But until I actually have it back I’m not going to give myself a target cause there’s still a part of the process out of my hands (and I caused myself a lot of stress really wanting to get it done when the first lot of restorers had it and there were seemingly endless delays…) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanT Posted March 12, 2022 Report Share Posted March 12, 2022 Good plan. I got mine back from paint end of May and am still at it. The messing about is one of the great reasons to own a Spit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted March 13, 2022 Report Share Posted March 13, 2022 Yes, I spend more time messing about than driving the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2022 Well, it’s back in my garage! I’ve had a go round with the cavity wax this afternoon, but need to get a gearbox reassembled to clear some space before I get more stuck in to the Reassembly. First aim will be to get it wired up enough to start it so I can move it about as needed. My sloping drive is not friendly to pushing cars about! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted March 16, 2022 Report Share Posted March 16, 2022 17 hours ago, Josef said: First aim will be to get it wired up enough to start it so I can move it about as needed. My sloping drive is not friendly to pushing cars about! Lovely work and a lovely colour. If your drive slopes then just attach a chain winch to the rear towing eye on the chassis; you can roll the car out, work on it in daylight, then winch it back in again afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2022 3 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said: Lovely work and a lovely colour. If your drive slopes then just attach a chain winch to the rear towing eye on the chassis; you can roll the car out, work on it in daylight, then winch it back in again afterwards. Thanks Sensible suggestion, however I have neither a winch, nor at the moment any sunshine! It’s only the loom, coil and dash need popping back in and then it’ll be startable though, and that won’t take that long (I’ve fitted a loom to it twice, and then had to remove it, over the past few years so I’ve had practice…) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 Baby steps. I’ve got my spare non O/D gearbox mostly reassembled (missing some tail shaft bolts as it’s from a 1500 RWD and had an extra bracket and corresponding longer bolts fitted). So I’m not going to have to worry about getting the internals mucky again and can do a bit of Spitfire assembly. Managed to pull the tunnel, get some insulation in to the passenger footwell and get the press studs where the carpet attaches to the bulkhead fitted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2022 My plan to get the loom fitted today was foiled when I found some bits of the bulkhead on the engine side still had primer showing through. Dug out the tin of Valencia, realised it was the wrong colour just before putting a brush in it! Found the tin of Royal Blue, it had gone a bit thick, tried thinning it, my new thinners turned out to be coach enamel thinners rather than cellulose so I’d ruined the end of that tin. Cleared out the whole shelf of paint and luckily found a spray can of Royal Blue! Don’t blame the painters for missing this really as I had to do most of it left handed with the spray can… With the paint drying I finished off the sound deadening, fitted the battery box drain, and pulled the rear loom through the sill / inner rear wing and sat it all roughly in place. Then moved on to fitting up the n/s door. Unbelievably the worst bit of that was getting the door lock in, fitting the window runner clips went surprisingly smoothly. To finish off, I popped the dash switchgear in. This reminded me the original garage it went to managed to lose the ‘Air’ label and damage the wiper switch, so I’ll be off to post in Parts Wanted! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanT Posted March 19, 2022 Report Share Posted March 19, 2022 Great progress. Getting the electrics in is a milestone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 Dashboard in and everything wired up enough that the engine turns over. Starting will require more than the dribble of fuel remaining in the tank! Then, once the Spitfire is mobile, I’ll be swapping the gearbox out in the Herald. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted March 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 Well, that’s all the electrics in. Everything worked first time barring one dead indicator bulb, and the new loom having been supplied with the flasher unit plug with two of the terminals switched. Luckily it was just a case of unclipping the spade connectors from the plug block and reconfiguring them. So with the wiring done I was pop a seat in and move it outside! Having a not completely knackered seat unsurprisingly makes the car much nicer to sit in… Anyway, with the Spitfire out the way it was on to the Herald. I’ve got the gearbox out and am now completely knackered myself. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 I spotted after fitting the passenger side drop glass that I’d failed to properly protect it at some point and had caught it with grinder sparks… So that needed re-replacement. Fitted the glass to the channel yesterday afternoon and got it back on the car this morning. Then began the fight with the weather stripping. Three of them went on pretty easily, but the drivers side inner section wouldn’t stay put. I’d just pulled the car outside for a bit better light, when it started to drizzle, and then sleet! Fortunately I had just enough time pre-precipitation to get the weatherstrip on. So that’s the doors done, ish, I’m still going to have to do some more adjustments to make sure the drivers side window will clear the windscreen properly when fully raised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 More electrical fettling this afternoon. The new loom came with a mix of push fit and screw fit fittings for the dash lights. I wasn’t super keen on the push fits, but decided it wasn’t worth making extra work for myself. However, on fitting the bulbs the light colours of the push and screw fit bulbs were slightly different, despite being described as the same colour… I figured the easiest way to solve this problem was to graft in some of the original style bulb holders for the fuel / temp gauge lights which would allow me to fit the exact same bulbs to all four gauges. With that done: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 It's good to see that the best lighting is in the rev counter 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DVD3500 Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted April 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 hour ago, NonMember said: It's good to see that the best lighting is in the rev counter 😀 That’s actually an artefact of the non-standard innards. The rev counter is electronic, I built it with parts from a Honda bike tacho and a custom circuit board. This resulted in the face sitting about 0.5mm further back in the case than it did originally, which consequently lets just that little bit more light through. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piglet Posted April 5, 2022 Report Share Posted April 5, 2022 Superb stuff indeed! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted April 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2022 Operation gearbox switch II has commenced. I’d been going back and forth on whether to put a completely fresh box in the Spitfire or to pull the old one, refresh the seals and put it back. Eventually I decided to take it out and have a look. This turned out to be the right move. The quality of previous workmanship was of a standard with the state of the bodywork! One of the gear change extension studs had a nut one size too small on it somehow, the clutch pivot pin was a long bolt just sat in there loose, the copious leaks from the box were probably due to the lower bell housing bolt being some sort of stacked nut and bolt arrangement. On top of that there was a lot of swarf on the magnetic drain plug, and metallic bits visible in the oil. Oh and the clutch looks pretty worn but I was planning to change that anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piglet Posted April 8, 2022 Report Share Posted April 8, 2022 I have never seen a sump bolt like that before! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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