Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
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Aar0sc
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Surrey
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:01 pm Post subject: My Triumph Spitfire 1500 |
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Hi, Aaron again
I'm 17, and last year I bought a 1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500, from a guy who worked on an abandoned WWII RAF airfield - (the airfield police chased us thinking we were doing wheelies! (it wasn't TOO abandoned)) It was right opposite the Tangmere aviation museam too, so maybe they bought it thinking it was a very cheap RAF fighter...? Anyway, I've done some work on it; new seats (£15 off ebay), flushed the radiator and engine out, repainted the radiator, filled it with waxoyl, fitted new carpets (was given them free by a nice chap with a GT6), gave it a full service, cleaned it a lot, polished it a lot, fitted different roofs, taken off different roofs, replaced blown bulbs and fused, mended rubbish windscreen wipers and got it's through an MoT with only 4 advisories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6YI6mHw7Pw
_________________ Aaron |
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papple
Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 27 Location: Nottinghamshire UK
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | flushed the radiator and engine out, repainted the radiator, filled it with waxoyl, fitted new carpets |
I hope you dont mean you filled the radiator with Waxoyl????
Great looking car and very classy for a 17 year old.
When I was your age (I'm 43 now) these were very popular with young drivers along with MG Midgets..
I had a Midget but I always craved a spitfire. I did have one a few years ago but it was a MK2 (1960's model).
They are so easy to work on as you can sit on the front wheel to work on the engine.
I'm sure you will enjoy it. |
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Rick Site Admin
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22454 Location: UK
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Aar0sc
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Surrey
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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Haha, no I filled the sills and chassis with Waxoyl
They radiator's full of blue antifreeze - when I emptied it it was just rusty water :/
Love using the wheel trick though - though when it's windy I do get slightly worried by the bonnet wobbling around above me _________________ Aaron |
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nqtraderman
Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 66 Location: Southport, Merseyside
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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As a 21 yo I drove my 1972 MK4 to Nice, France and back. Put the top down at Calais and only put it back up 4 weeks later waiting for the ferry back. Brilliant cars, loved every minute of them. It only broke down once on that holiday at a junction .. completely dead .. no electrics .. so jumped out found a brick and hit the round battery terminal with it and jumped back in without holding the traffic up .. it ran perfectly all the way home.
Had a '69 MK3 before that and thought that was brill too.
Enjoy _________________ Owner of a 1953 Sunbeam Alpine |
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Aar0sc
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Surrey
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds great fun!
I was talking to a chap in Newcastle who runs Sports Car Supplies; he used to go with a couple of mates down to France and back, all in Spitfires - my mum looked very unhappy about that (she'd asked him hoping he'd say that long journeys weren't possible ).
Should hopefully be taking it up to the Lake District later on this year _________________ Aaron |
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Aar0sc
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Surrey
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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Sooooo.... on the advice of a Triumph-Spitfire-owning-friend I'm taking off the Trunnions at the front, cleaning them out and then giving them new bushes, seals and oil, then putting it all back together again. Sounds easy enough, eh?
Sadly, I've been thwarted at the first hillock by a very tight bolt holding the caliper on - and my question is: do I just try hard to get it off (with a bit of WD40), or is it LHT or something odd like that?
Ta
TOAD! _________________ Aaron |
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victor 101
Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 446 Location: East Yorkshire
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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Bit of WD40 and tap the bolt head a couple of times with a hammer, might have to leave the WD a few hours to soak in. |
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Aar0sc
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Surrey
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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That did the trick - although it didn't work on the next one :/
And it broke my good ratchet
Smelt... burnt :/
Look okay?
_________________ Aaron |
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pryantcc
Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 88
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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Aar0sc wrote: | That did the trick - although it didn't work on the next one :/
And it broke my good ratchet
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If the bolt broke your ratchet, it wasn't a good one!!
Looking on the bright side, at least your ratchet didn't break the bolt!
Have you got a welder? If so, you can sometimes shift stuck stuff by heating the be-jeepers out of it with a big blob of weld. |
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Aar0sc
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Surrey
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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If I had a welder I wouldn't have a £10 ratchet set
I had a big breaker bar on the end - which worked on the other ones - and it just slipped - the bolt and socket didn't turn, just the ratchet handle. Shame, since it's kinda new My other, much bigger one doesn't have six sided sockets, so I can't use it for this kind of thing, and I wanted to replace it since half the teeth have gone - so it keeps jamming and missing.
Still, nothing wrong with an adjustable spanner eh? _________________ Aaron |
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Churchill Johnson
Joined: 11 Jan 2011 Posts: 359 Location: Rayleigh Essex
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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I learned many years ago it's a waste of time buying cheap tools i know they are expensive but buy it once, my ratchet and long breaker bar is s--p-n, and don't use a ratchet to undo a tight bolt no matter how good a make, it will ruin it, use a breaker bar to loosen then a ratchet,and if it's a rusty bolt or nut get a flank drive socket [fit's the flat's of a nut or bolt] if you use an ordinary socket it may round off the corner's and make it much harder to remove. |
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Aar0sc
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Surrey
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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Should have thought of that! _________________ Aaron |
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papple
Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 27 Location: Nottinghamshire UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:16 am Post subject: |
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Just a quick one
I am a big fan of WD40 and use it for cleaning, degreasng, removing tar spots and loads of other jobs but be aware it is NOT much good for easing stuck bolts. A proper penetrating fluid is the best thing. |
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Peter_L
Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 2680 Location: New Brunswick. Canada.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 3:06 pm Post subject: |
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I don't use the 3/8 or 1/2" ratchet on anything that doesn't give in fairly easy. Except for the 7/16". 1/2" 12 and 13mm, which I replaced a few years back, most of the sockets and spanners go back to the 1960's when I spent what was then a huge fortune on a huge set of Britool.
I acquired a 1" drive 24" at a yard sale for $8 CDN and have a range of breaker bars up to the 1" x 4ft whose sole purpose is to scare the front hub nuts off the truck. After years of going without, I recently invested in some air tools, the small 90' gun is like the answer to a maiden's prayer.
All I need now is something to use them on. ahhh, but spring is here and next month the summer car gets rolled out and "little" (SUV) will be rested, so I get will get to play with them. |
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