classic car forum header
Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
Register     Posting Photographs     Privacy     F/book OCC Facebook     OCC on Patreon

My Triumph Spitfire 1500
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration. Forum Index -> All our old cars, vans, lorries etc
Author Message
Aar0sc



Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Posts: 98
Location: Surrey

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:01 pm    Post subject: My Triumph Spitfire 1500 Reply with quote

Hi, Aaron again Very Happy

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 Very Happy



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6YI6mHw7Pw



_________________
Aaron
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
papple



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 27
Location: Nottinghamshire UK

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rick
Site Admin


Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a Mk3 when I was 17, although it only hit the road when I was 19 I think - lots of fun!

R
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aar0sc



Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Posts: 98
Location: Surrey

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haha, no I filled the sills and chassis with Waxoyl Very Happy

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 Shocked
_________________
Aaron
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
nqtraderman



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 66
Location: Southport, Merseyside

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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. Smile

Had a '69 MK3 before that and thought that was brill too.
Enjoy
_________________
Owner of a 1953 Sunbeam Alpine
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aar0sc



Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Posts: 98
Location: Surrey

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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 Razz ).

Should hopefully be taking it up to the Lake District later on this year Very Happy
_________________
Aaron
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Aar0sc



Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Posts: 98
Location: Surrey

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
victor 101



Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 446
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aar0sc



Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Posts: 98
Location: Surrey

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That did the trick - although it didn't work on the next one :/
And it broke my good ratchet Embarassed Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad

Smelt... burnt :/

Look okay?

_________________
Aaron
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
pryantcc



Joined: 07 Sep 2009
Posts: 88

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aar0sc wrote:
That did the trick - although it didn't work on the next one :/
And it broke my good ratchet Embarassed Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad


If the bolt broke your ratchet, it wasn't a good one!! Smile

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aar0sc



Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Posts: 98
Location: Surrey

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I had a welder I wouldn't have a £10 ratchet set Razz

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 Sad 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
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Churchill Johnson



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 359
Location: Rayleigh Essex

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Aar0sc



Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Posts: 98
Location: Surrey

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Should have thought of that!
_________________
Aaron
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
papple



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 27
Location: Nottinghamshire UK

PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Peter_L



Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 2680
Location: New Brunswick. Canada.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration. Forum Index -> All our old cars, vans, lorries etc All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
OCC Merch link
Forum T&C


php BB powered © php BB Grp.