1970 Spitfire resurrection

[Howard81]

It's not really noticeable at all. The only time you can see a difference is when looking at the back of the brake cylinders to bleed them - one is much closer to the vertical links than the other.

[matienzo]

It's not really noticeable at all. The only time you can see a difference is when looking at the back of the brake cylinders to bleed them - one is much closer to the vertical links than the other.

How odd! Mixing up the half shafts over time is a common reason for "My Spit has an odd camber at the back end and twitches like a twitchy mad thing on bumps"..but if doesn't lets just forget I mentioned this! Sorry.."Carry on Pike"

Suspension looks lovely btw! Bet you can't wait to get out and about in it. The handling will be vastly improved.

Steve

[cliftyhanger]

Howard, need any more long driveshafts?? I have a few I keep tripping over probably some brackets/tierods too.....

[Howard81]

Well, it's finally all back together again. Hurrah!



Front ARB was a bit of a faff to get bolted in place (you need about 6 arms) but eventually slotted in nicely.



On taking it out for a short test-drive it was like a completely different car A heck of a lot of the shakes, knocks, squeaks and rattles that the car had have gone completely. It can also go over speedbumps with grace, unlike before where if you took it at any more than 10mph the ARB clamps would dig into the ground with a shower of sparks and it would knock your teeth out on every little bump

Don't get me wrong, it's still massively rattly and clonky (it is a Spitfire after all), but this suspension rebuild has improved things beyond belief.

This brings me back to matienzo's point:

How odd! Mixing up the half shafts over time is a common reason for "My Spit has an odd camber at the back end and twitches like a twitchy mad thing on bumps"..but if doesn't lets just forget I mentioned this! Sorry.."Carry on Pike"

Having never driven another Spitfire, I have no idea what they are supposed to be like to drive. My car was so worn out in every area that I haven't noticed it being twitchy. It will be interesting to see how much things improve after the rear suspension is sorted out..

[matienzo]

Hi Howard,

Well I'm pleased to hear that the car handles well. Job well done then.
The twitching, if you feel it is called bump steer. It manifests itself as a serious back end shimmy if you hit a bump.
Its often caused by having an incorrect rear wheel alignment which in effect steers the back end as the half shaft and wheel arc upwards as the bump is passed.
The toe in/out (alignment) is controlled by shims at the body end of the radius rod.
With two different half shaft lengths you will get a slightly different arc radius between sides which may add some interesting effects particularly as you now have stiffer suspension at the front. My comments were just a heads up as bump steer is a horrible feeling...you'd know if it was doing it!
However...if you aren't getting this effect now then just be aware when you rebuild the back end.
Spitfires do tend to shake and rattle but one with sorted suspension will out corner most other cars.....go have some fun!

[Howard81]

Ahh right! I haven't experienced that yet. But then again, I'm still not confident to chuck it around the corners yet

Howard, need any more long driveshafts?? I have a few I keep tripping over probably some brackets/tierods too.....

Thanks, I may do, it will depend what turns up once I start the rear suspension rebuild! I should be okay with what I have, but you never know..

[tinweevil]

Well done Howard, again

Found this while scouring the lockup today:

Any use?

[Howard81]

Thanks Julian! I know I have two or three somewhere, but so far they've not surfaced. I'll tell you what, keep hold of it until you see me next, if I haven't found mine by then I'll never find them!

A bit of a disaster yesterday, and entirely my fault. I bolted the airbox back on, and totally forgot to reconnect the fuel pipe to the rear carb. Actually, I was certain I put it back on, but this side has the original "crimp" style clips rather than the Jubilee type. This duly fell off and resulted in a massive amount of fuel pouring over the bulkhead and dripping everywhere.. it stank!! Lots of scrubbing with washing up liquid and the smell has mostly gone. Carpets are outside drying/airing out. Main downside is that I also got soaked, and my washing machine now has a strange whiff of petrol about it I now have a little forest of pine tree air fresheners hanging from the mirror and various locations under the dashboard!!

Today saw a couple more things ticked off the list, firstly my non-functioning temperature gauge. It only barely registered on the scale, I've changed the sender (for a used one I had) along with two different voltage stabilisers. Still the same. I finally remembered to add a new sender to my shopping cart during my last parts order, and guess what? It now works perfectly! It sits just over the half-way mark, which seems about right.





Next up was the incredibly inaccurate fuel gauge. Pretty sure this is the sender, the one that came out of the tank look bent as if someone had forced it in there, and when I removed it the "arm" fell off! New sender ordered..

Finally, the passenger-side handle for locking the hood into position snapped off I didn't realise until I was putting the car away, but I eventually found it under the seat. The screw holding it in place is missing and I can't find it anywhere. Brilliant.

Spent the rest of the day zooming about East London, clocking up 40 miles. The car ran superbly The speedo also passed the 500-mile mark. Here's to the next 500 being a little bit less adventurous

I still have the holed floorpan and rear suspension to sort out, but they should be easy enough

[Howard81]

Fuel sender arrived today.. broken it's all fallen apart inside so has been sent back. Also received a locking fuel filler cap as I'm pretty certain someone has helped themselves to my petrol a couple of times Sadly the locking caps are not as nice as the flip-up originals, but they are at least secure!!



I've also scored a single-rail overdrive gearbox

Anyone got a Spitfire 1500 Overdrive propshaft spare? It should be 37" long, the current 1500 non-overdrive is an inch too long..

[Aar0sc]

Guess which red Spitfire Mk IV with a 1500 engine that's owned by Howard I saw last night?

Yeah; you guessed; it was this one!

(sorry for the awful photo by the way )

Also we found that we'd both just bought parts that the other needed and sold them on/put them in the car

Aaron

[Howard81]

Nice to meet you Aaron, hope you get your Spitfire back on the road soon

[Howard81]

Fuel filler cap fitted, took a couple of attempts to get it leak free as I also replaced the filler neck tubing.

Also fitted my rear wheels, I hadn't put these on as someone has cut the studs down for the wire wheel hubs. However, I noticed the rears hadn't been cut down as much, so there's plenty of stud poking through the wheel for the nuts to grab.

Hopefully I can get the new rear driveshaft fitted in the week, that has full-length studs and I have a new set to go in the other side

For now, here's a photo from Greenwich Park..

[Howard81]

I've been enjoying the sun over the last few days, but now it's time to tackle the rear suspension..

I've mentioned it previously in this thread, but thanks to a long distant previous owner, my Spitfire has an early MKIV rear driveshaft on the passenger side, and a 1500 rear driveshaft on the drivers side. The 1500 item is about an inch longer (they changed in 1973 for the MKIV refresh). I picked up a secondhand early MKIV item a while back, repainted it and stuck on a new universal joint.

I was a bit apprehensive about changing this over, but it was actually very easy! Unbolt the driveshaft from the diff (4 bolts) and unbolt the shock absorber from the vertical link. Then you simply remove the brake pipe, the bolt to the spring and the tie rod. The whole unit then lifts out! Nice and simple.

You can see the mis-matched driveshafts next to each other here:



All bolted back in again:



Annoyingly, the rear tie rod has rusted to the bolt, so needs to be hacksawed out. The bushes were literally falling apart, so my hopes to reuse them for the time being were smashed! The bolts that came out too were incredibly worn or threaded. I've ordered a new nut and polybush kit for the rear, the front was excellent, so with the rear matching I'll be all set. Rear trunnions and bearings will be left alone, they seem okay as they are.

On quick inspection the rear tie rods are both the same length, so I can only assume the original MKIV ones were kept on either side! Once I separate the tie rod from the link I can be certain.

Does anyone have any tie rod to hand they could measure for me please? Either 1500 or MKIV would be perfect

On a good note, the rear shocks look fairly new (dated 22/05), and the rear spring doesn't look that old either!

Finally, the drum was given a nice fresh coat of paint:



While I wait for the suspension bushes my plans are to properly stonechip under the 'arches.

[Howard81]

A slight setback, as I think the tie bar was indeed a 1500 one.. Apparently the difference is that the 1500 tie bars are slightly longer and have angled ends. It measures 14 from end to end, I don't suppose anyone has one they could measure for me to make a comparison?

[JPB]

Young Aaron probably has his binoculars trained on your house as I write this , so he'll probably be along soon with the name of someone who has the required.