Spitfire Total Rebuild!

Spitty was flying high, but she's been brought back to earth


Tried a rear spring from a Starlet on an old Spitfire shock and the fit was good! Trimmed off a slight angle at the tail end of the spring to help it sit better and offered them up.



^ Trial fit of starlet rear spring in old Spitfire shock. Look grubby here but both were cleaned up before fitting.



^ Going airborne! Before the spring swap...


^ Brought down to earth! WHAT a difference it makes, its amazing. There hasnt been another job, since the paint of course, that has made such an impact on the car!! Whats more the drive is far more comfortable and a little quieter.


^ Sits in the arch just nice!

Cheers guys, I've left them off to be powder coated last week so I'll see how the look when I get 'em back. It was the DB5 which gave me the idea for bumper bulges; after realiing my rear light design was somewhat similar to the DB I noticed their novel idea for mounting reflectors. I was struggling to find a spot so figured the bumper was as good a place as any





The interior is coming together really well! Done some major tidy up work with the plan being to get the inside presentable so I can take the car for a spin or two over the Christmas period.....think I earned it this year!! Last Christmas I was fitting the gearbox to the engine on Christmas eve and modding the fuel tank on Stephens day!!

Special thanks to OscarBravo who was good enough to send me a dimmer for my LED back lights, it worked an absolute treat and allows the intensity to be adjusted right down to a soft glow......just perfect! Thanks again Oscar.


So, some pictures.....





The rev counter is actually an early MG electronic counter that I've fitted the dial face from the Spitfire mechanical rev counter to, hence the different needles.....still a work in progress.



The dials will be taken out eventually one by one, stripped down and cleaned, but for now...



Still using the Starlet ignition and a light stalk that hidden under the dash that controls the power to the lights and high beam/low beam, that will be seperated out to the centre switch on the switch panel and the left hand stalk eventually.



Glove box door sticks out like a sore thumb now. That'll be covered with vinyl soon and have a lock fitted.



Fitted a panel covered with a bit of carpet in by the gearbox tunnel on both sides, cleaned it up no end and hides all the wires!



Looks great at night! Camera just doesnt do it justice.









Hooked up the interior lights also, one on the driver side and one of the passenger side.



Until next time! Hope to have the rear bumpers fitted by then

Wow! Its been a while, hoping none of ye were hanging on the edge of your seats waiting! :P


Been busy enough the past while; got more of the electrics sorted, I now have:

- A working horn (uh er)
- Fuel guage and temp guage working (for future reference, a Triumph water temp sensor will screw into a Toyota water pump housing....fluke?!)
- Tried the battery meter guage, but it isnt funtioning properly.
- Clock wired up, it works and surprisingly keeps correct time!
- Ignition wiring sorted and transferred from Toyota ignition on the column to period Lucas switch under the dash on H frame.
- Overdrive wired up and working (makes some difference to be able to switch into over drive on 4th!!)
- Purchased a cheap Chinese amp, and now have a pretty decent sound system! :cool:
- As well as assorted other odds and ends of interior trim.


Anyway, a few pics...


Took her on a couple of runs too and from work; not a bother!



Working under lights getting more wiring sorted. You can see the rev counter on the scuttle, we tried to get it working but had no joy, the innards are prob too old and not compatible with the 'modern' Toyota ignition. I have a rev counter from a 98 Corolla in the post, so, that should do the job!



Over drive hooked up and works a treat! Unfortunately before this the speedo cable decided to snap! Have since ordered a new one, but the effort of fitting it...ugh.


More to follow.....

Then you end up with something like this.



Glued to the panel, speaker hole cut and ready to go! Couple of little creases stitched into the rear to give it a slight curve.



In place! To be honest when the rest of the matts go in the edge binding I did prob wont even be seen, but, its nice to know its done.


With that done I cut out a couple of template for radiator valances, they should help with cooling. These will eventually be cut from steel.





With that you are squarely up to date again!

.....Continued.




Looking really good now!




Seat runner back in. Here you can see the inner sill piece also fitted.




Seat fitted. Carpet makes a heck of a difference to the appearance.




Cut and fit a piece for the inner A post.




As well as the bulkhead and with that the jobs a good'un! Waiting on a grill to cover the speaker.



I dont know whether to try stick in a rubber matt to the footwell carpet or not, either way I might make up some seperate matts for some extra protection.








Attention turned to the boot then. Made up a panel and covered it with carpet. For this too I want to pick up some black slip on edging to take the raw edge off and eventually a crpet cover for the spare too.

Ah, 3 years! Would have been this week three years back that it all began, from two junkers something beautiful (I hope?) has been made....

Or is still being made?!




So had last week off, giot a fair bit done, but at the same time would have liked to have gotten more done.

Week started off with the car revving very fast on start up! Couldnt figure it out, thought it might have been the coolant temp sensor so I replaced that. Still the same. So I took off the throttle body, cleaned it out and cut a new gasket where it joins to the air intake so thankfully that seems to have sorted the issue.


After that they I got out the carpet again and cut & edged a piece for the driver side footwell...





Took a few tucks and pleats but I got a nice shape on it and it fit well.




Turned the attention to the boot then and made up a cover for the spare wheel from some carpet....









The underside of the bonnet had always bugged me. It was a mish mash of the original magenta color, over spray, fibreglass and general ugliness. Its also a very rough, humpy bumpy surface so I was reluctant to waste the celly spray on it. I picked up a tin of black gloss and brush applied it which cleaned it up no end.

Nothing much to report I'm afraid.

Cleaned her up and stuck her in the Carlow St Patricks Day Parade; dismal, wet and spent more time sitting waiting or riding the clutch.....not a nice evening :rolleyes:


Picked up an action camera then for the craic, make a few vids. It's a bit of a headache to use really.



The sound is music is dodgy and the pic quality not great in the video; I could do better But I'm still getting the hang of it.


Was fixing the camera bracket up inside the car when I could smell cooland and seen the needle start to rise quickly only for this to happen...



Bugger! Bottom hose had popped off the radiator and dumped all the coolant. Human error, I obviously didnt push the pipe up far enough onto a fitting


Got it sorted and took her for a good spin; all good. Weathers been really nice so decided to take her out for a 30 min drive to work today, bit cold in the morning, but enjoyable! Evening drive home will be fun :)

.....continued from earlier post.


Then, it was the weekend!! The weather was fantastic, so time for a drive




Found a cherry blossom three then and decided it'd be rude to not take a picture or two





Chamber is startimng to settle in nicely on the rear wheels.



Next dilemma, do you reckon I should mount a couple of these under the bonnet, or side mount them?? :p

Sitting comfortably? I am now

Decided to tackle the seats as they were one of the major bad points of the car to date. Being about 45 year old theyve been knocked about, used, abused, sweated on, rained on, stood on and god knows what else

The foam, particularly in the side bolsters had literally turned to dust leaving a rather sad look flat appearance and a lot of mess on the carpet after going for a drive.

So, I got stuck into the passenger seat first and decided a temporary fix would suffice for now to get me through the upcoming shows/summer and then come winter I can do a full and proper strip down and repaint of the frames.


Heres a little comparision of the passenger seat with the old driver seat, both did look similar at one point....






Passenger seat turned out really well, so then it was time to tackle the driver seat....



https://scontent-frt3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18193670_10158536708265591_7664586431011273522_n.jpg?oh=0fa2c8f4174600b66633128b6f4b02eb&oe=598A2502

You can see the driver seat is looking the worst for wear, has a few split seams, hole in seat, bolsters gone and color lacking.



Off with the cover and you can see what reamins of the bolsters! It smelt really old, and dusty....bleugh.



Remains of bolsters brushed away and surprisingly the rest of the foam is pretty sound! So, using an old foam mattress I've been hanging onto it was time to get reconstructing.



Marking out the shape of the new bolster.



Bolster cut out on a bandsaw.



And then roughly rounded over.



Two bolsters cut and fitted with spray adhesive. You might notice that both sides have slightly different profiles; the side nearest the door is slightly flatter.



Thin foam capping stuck in place.



New block stuck to the seat of the base before the bolsters were refitted.



Coming back together nicely.



Plastic applied to allow the cover slide over the foam with ease.

Nothing much to report I'm afraid guys, her first show is looming ever closer so its just a case now of buffing and polishing, tidying up the little odds and ends and generally making her presentable














Twas this time last year she moved proper under her own steam for a short spin Lot of work been done in that year.....

Nowt much to report really, took it easy on my days off and to be honest there's little that needs doing now and I'm feeling at a bit of a loss to be honest (that doesnt mean I'll be taking on a new project any time soon, not a chance of it!!! :P).

Guess I'll just have to drive and enjoy her....





Just a little idea of how things were looking this time last year:


Compared to the same day this year ....

Hal1 wrote: »

Were you out near lough key yesterday afternoon by any chance? I seen one exactly like her, same colour, roof etc.

Hey, sorry for not getting back sooner. No, I dont believe that was me, I'll have to keep an eye out so!


Been a while guys and as I'm at the final stages of the project really the work as such has almost come to a halt and now that summer is here its just a case of driving and enjoying her



Cant think of a caption for this one?! :P



Bit of maintenence then on the rear; topped up the diff, regreased the trunnions and made sure everything was where it needed to be and was secure. All good.



Gave her a good wash then and decided she wasnt shiney enough so went and picked up a number of Meguier products. Also, at about this stage I was somewhat persuaded to lose the front licence plate; which I promptly did.

It was also around this time that I was in touch with a contributor to the Irish Retro Classics mag whom was very interested in the car and wanted to have it featured. So, a photoshoot was arranged, a top to bottom polishing was initiated and off she went to the Curragh for lots of snaps (the below pics are my ameteur phone camera shots :P)




















Hoping to have it featured later in the year, but, I'll be sure to let you know.


That about sums it up guys, just one more tip! If you are driving in this really hot weather with black vinyl seats you defo need one of these guys; they really do prevent a sweaty back!! :P