Yesterday, the Spitfire went for it's MOT, having been off the road since it's return from France last September following it's breakdown near Grenoble on the 10 Countries Run. I now have two Endeavor Awards for this event - must do better next year!
Since then, over the Winter, well Spring really it was too cold during the winter, I have taken the head off, de-coked it, put a new Payen head gasket on, fitted new tubular manifold and new jets to the carbs - got rid of those waxstats at long last. I took the car around to my local classic friendly mechanic, explaining the work I'd done and that she may be running a bit rich as sometimes the jets don't go back fully when the choke is pushed in, followed by those immortal words, 'if anything needs doing to pass the test, please do it!'.
As she was going to be done during the morning, I waited at home for the inevitable phone call, when none arrived by 11.45 I rang Clive the mechanic who gave me the good news, she passed with no formal advisories at all, so I must be doing something right after all!
He did however point out that the sill edges are getting a bit crumbly suggesting the inner sills may need some attention in the future but were not significant enough to warrant a formal advisory. Don't you just love 'old style' classic friendly MOT testers!
So today, I taxed her and gave her a good thrashing as a special treat up the M20 to Halfrauds for a bulb for my modern car - the second headlight bulb to fail in the space of 2 months. I have a theory that these full time driving lamps on modern cars wear out the bulbs quicker. I am tempted to buy a pair of Osram UltraLife H7's for £18.99 a pair as they come with a 3 year guarantee, but Halfrauds don't stock them, so settled for Bosch at £10.99 a bulb!
No real Stag news at the moment other than I had a phone call last week to say the rebuilt engine is ready and that they (Favershams) should be extracting the old one by Friday.
Currently mulling over whether to put the Aley Roll Bar back on the Spitfire for the Round Britain Reliability Run, I took it off for the 10CR to afford us a bit more recline on the seats, but I'm a bit wary of night driving around the Scottish Highlands and Wales in potentially wet weather and feel it may be prudent to have the extra safety, I must be getting old! I'll see what my co-driver thinks.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Friday, 18 June 2010
The Spitfire Lives!!
At last, the Spitfire lives again following it's last outing on the 10CR. I didn't do too much to it over the winter, largely due to the cold weather.
As spring came, I finally sprung into action (??), off came the head to show very coked up combustion chambers and pistons which I duly cleaned, the bores seemed fine, as did the valves, but the headgasket did show some signs of leakage, which may have been the problem for the breakdown near Grenoble and the resultant low compression on the cylinders.
A new Payen head gasket was sought courtesy of Wins, together with other assorted gaskets needed for the various ancilliaries. The sports manifold was fitted, the head and valves cleaned and reassembled.
I then had a brainwave, why not refill the block cooling system through the thermostat housing before I sealed it up, so all went well on that score until I stupidly decided to fill the rad as well, the result?----- water flowed out of the thermostat housing over the head, down the push rods and into the sump!! Oh well, the oil needed changing anyway!
Whilst reassembling the HS4's I noticed one of the waxstats had cracked, so decided to change the jets with a conversion , again courtesy of Wins, all assembled correctly (eventually- bloody springs!!!) and the carbs were refitted. One oddity that needs sorting is very stiff chokes on both carbs which seem to be caused by the fuel pipe to the float chambers, disconnect it and they run very free!
Tonight was the first time it really fired up in 9 months, a bit tappety and rich but she goes! And the new exhaust is rattling against the chassis - a small but annoying job to be done on the ramps methinks. Also just need to get the tune right and then it'll be off for the MOT and retaxing in time for the RBRR.
Also a bit of news on the Stag front - I have a date to take her to Favershams for the rebuilt engine early next month - things are looking up in my world of Triumphs at last!
As spring came, I finally sprung into action (??), off came the head to show very coked up combustion chambers and pistons which I duly cleaned, the bores seemed fine, as did the valves, but the headgasket did show some signs of leakage, which may have been the problem for the breakdown near Grenoble and the resultant low compression on the cylinders.
A new Payen head gasket was sought courtesy of Wins, together with other assorted gaskets needed for the various ancilliaries. The sports manifold was fitted, the head and valves cleaned and reassembled.
I then had a brainwave, why not refill the block cooling system through the thermostat housing before I sealed it up, so all went well on that score until I stupidly decided to fill the rad as well, the result?----- water flowed out of the thermostat housing over the head, down the push rods and into the sump!! Oh well, the oil needed changing anyway!
Whilst reassembling the HS4's I noticed one of the waxstats had cracked, so decided to change the jets with a conversion , again courtesy of Wins, all assembled correctly (eventually- bloody springs!!!) and the carbs were refitted. One oddity that needs sorting is very stiff chokes on both carbs which seem to be caused by the fuel pipe to the float chambers, disconnect it and they run very free!
Tonight was the first time it really fired up in 9 months, a bit tappety and rich but she goes! And the new exhaust is rattling against the chassis - a small but annoying job to be done on the ramps methinks. Also just need to get the tune right and then it'll be off for the MOT and retaxing in time for the RBRR.
Also a bit of news on the Stag front - I have a date to take her to Favershams for the rebuilt engine early next month - things are looking up in my world of Triumphs at last!
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Late Christmas Presents!
A couple of new late Christmas presents arrived this week. The first was a compression test kit, initially to be used on the Spitfire before I spend some time fitting the new sports manifold I won off Ebay just before Christmas. Thought it may be prudent to test each cylinder before I fit it just in case I have to take the head off. I could have borrowed one, but this kit seemed a good buy
at £9.95 postage free! Hope its accurate!
The other pressy was a bit of an impulse buy last week and I picked it up yesterday - a 6 month old Skoda Superb Greenline - the one that has very low emissions and unbelievable fuel economy. We've (or rather I!) have been thinking of changing our 5 year old Mk1 Superb for a while, and had persuaded my wife to look at Octavia's as they were VAT free during January, so off we went to the showroom to look at them. As she often sits in the back of the car when ferrying her aged father around - he always sits in the front - the Octavia didn't pass muster as compared to the 'old' Superb it simply is too small !
After a week of searching I found this ex demo car in East London and having had a good test drive up the M11 negotiated a fair price (given the dents and scratches)for my old one settled on a good deal.
Picked it up yesterday - Candy White - not the best colour for this time of year - and drove it home - average economy for the 65 mile journey - 68mpg!!!! and its only £120 Tax for the year as well. It achieves this economy by lowering the suspension, different front and rear spoiler, remapped 1.9TDI and revised ratio's in the 5 (yes 5!!) speed box. I estimate that 4th is like the old 5th and 5th is a true overdrive, pulling only 1800 rev's at 70mph.
Have to say, the ride is incredibly smooth and quiet and I don't notice the slightly slower acceleration time against my old car
The only problem with this purchase is that his dented the money I had set aside to have the heads done on the Stag, so these will have to wait a while until funds have recovered!
at £9.95 postage free! Hope its accurate!The other pressy was a bit of an impulse buy last week and I picked it up yesterday - a 6 month old Skoda Superb Greenline - the one that has very low emissions and unbelievable fuel economy. We've (or rather I!) have been thinking of changing our 5 year old Mk1 Superb for a while, and had persuaded my wife to look at Octavia's as they were VAT free during January, so off we went to the showroom to look at them. As she often sits in the back of the car when ferrying her aged father around - he always sits in the front - the Octavia didn't pass muster as compared to the 'old' Superb it simply is too small !
After a week of searching I found this ex demo car in East London and having had a good test drive up the M11 negotiated a fair price (given the dents and scratches)for my old one settled on a good deal.
Picked it up yesterday - Candy White - not the best colour for this time of year - and drove it home - average economy for the 65 mile journey - 68mpg!!!! and its only £120 Tax for the year as well. It achieves this economy by lowering the suspension, different front and rear spoiler, remapped 1.9TDI and revised ratio's in the 5 (yes 5!!) speed box. I estimate that 4th is like the old 5th and 5th is a true overdrive, pulling only 1800 rev's at 70mph.
Have to say, the ride is incredibly smooth and quiet and I don't notice the slightly slower acceleration time against my old car
The only problem with this purchase is that his dented the money I had set aside to have the heads done on the Stag, so these will have to wait a while until funds have recovered!
Monday, 14 December 2009
Stag & Spitfire Adventures
Well, I thought it time to do an update on both cars, so let's start with the positive bits first.
Last night I joined members of the Stag Forum on their yearly Christmas run through London. I had arranged to meet some others from Kent and London at a convenient point (McDonalds, Billingsgate) prior to travelling to The Ace Cafe for the start at 4pm. Having safely got to Billingsgatefor 2pm, and having had a coffee the local members suggested using the A406 North Circular to get to the Ace Cafe, this was fine for a short while, then we hit horrendous traffic queues, resulting in us arriving at 4pm - 1.5 hrs to do 18 miles!
After a quick loo visit and coffee to sustain us we chased after the main pack that had left before us (29 Stags in total). The deigned route was to take us down the Westway, Shaftesbury Avenue, Regent Street, Picadilly, Trafalgar Square and across to the London Eye for the first stop. Unfortunately again due to traffic I lost the tail of the pack and missed Shaftesbury Avenue, so I went around Park Lane, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Birdcage Walk, Trafalgar Square and ended up at The London Eye before everyone else!
Luckily, some others had similar problems and there was a small group of us waiting the arrival of the main pack. By this time, some had fallen by the wayside for various reasons!
After a short break, we left for the City aiming to end up at Canary Wharf, I followed a Stag that suddenly darted up a side turning off The Aldwych, assuming he knew a shortcut around the raffic - no such luck it was a dead end - he simply turned off to adjust his sat-nav! After a 4 point turn as the road was very narrow, we resumed our course into The City. This is where my problems with the car started - the steering was getting very heavy, so I assumed that the power steering pump either needed fluid, or was knackered, having stopped by the roadside in Southwark Bridge Road to investigate further I noticed the front left tyre was very low on pressure - not wishing to grope around changing the wheel in the middle of roadworks, I used the Holts Liquid Tyre repair I had and abandoned the run and headed home.
Having investigated this morning - theres a nail in the rim so a tyre swap is need. The car also needed 2.5 litres of water adding to the system - further evidence that one of the heads needs a new gasket - it is booked into Favershams next month for this and its annual MOT/Service.
Spitfire - still not running - but there is a reason - I have a tubular exhaust manifold recently acquired from Ebay to fit - finally, I am getting rid of that pesky exhaust joint!
watch this space for further news!
Last night I joined members of the Stag Forum on their yearly Christmas run through London. I had arranged to meet some others from Kent and London at a convenient point (McDonalds, Billingsgate) prior to travelling to The Ace Cafe for the start at 4pm. Having safely got to Billingsgatefor 2pm, and having had a coffee the local members suggested using the A406 North Circular to get to the Ace Cafe, this was fine for a short while, then we hit horrendous traffic queues, resulting in us arriving at 4pm - 1.5 hrs to do 18 miles!
After a quick loo visit and coffee to sustain us we chased after the main pack that had left before us (29 Stags in total). The deigned route was to take us down the Westway, Shaftesbury Avenue, Regent Street, Picadilly, Trafalgar Square and across to the London Eye for the first stop. Unfortunately again due to traffic I lost the tail of the pack and missed Shaftesbury Avenue, so I went around Park Lane, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Birdcage Walk, Trafalgar Square and ended up at The London Eye before everyone else!
Luckily, some others had similar problems and there was a small group of us waiting the arrival of the main pack. By this time, some had fallen by the wayside for various reasons!
After a short break, we left for the City aiming to end up at Canary Wharf, I followed a Stag that suddenly darted up a side turning off The Aldwych, assuming he knew a shortcut around the raffic - no such luck it was a dead end - he simply turned off to adjust his sat-nav! After a 4 point turn as the road was very narrow, we resumed our course into The City. This is where my problems with the car started - the steering was getting very heavy, so I assumed that the power steering pump either needed fluid, or was knackered, having stopped by the roadside in Southwark Bridge Road to investigate further I noticed the front left tyre was very low on pressure - not wishing to grope around changing the wheel in the middle of roadworks, I used the Holts Liquid Tyre repair I had and abandoned the run and headed home.
Having investigated this morning - theres a nail in the rim so a tyre swap is need. The car also needed 2.5 litres of water adding to the system - further evidence that one of the heads needs a new gasket - it is booked into Favershams next month for this and its annual MOT/Service.
Spitfire - still not running - but there is a reason - I have a tubular exhaust manifold recently acquired from Ebay to fit - finally, I am getting rid of that pesky exhaust joint!
watch this space for further news!
Friday, 16 October 2009
Spitfire in pieces
Well, got the Spitfire back at last, new fuel pump fitted, fuel lines cleared and a tank of fresh Super Unleaded. Took her out for a good spin around the country lanes Monday evening - all seemed well with no recurrence of the problems encountered on the 10CR. So...... come Tuesday morning decided to take her into town, got about half a mile down the road and everything went wrong - misfiring, wouldn't accelerate and could only limp home with full choke.
Checked timing, changed coil and condenser, checked points and plugs - all OK - put it in garage and left there until last night when I finally got around to looking at the carbs. First thing I noticed was a lot of gunge in the float chambers so I whipped the carbs off and gave them a clean, then checked the fuel jet O'ring seals - one had perished and seemed to be leaking, so a couple of fresh ones together with new float chamber gaskets are on order with Canley's. May replace the waxstats with the penny mod while I've got them off. See here for explanation: http://www.nireland.com/gd.triumph/waxstats.htm
Whilst checking all the inlet and exhaust manifold nuts noticed one of the large clamps and nuts was missing - presumably left somewhere in the continent! - another order on Canleys! This may be the cause of the lack of acceleration and poor running - will have to see when everything is reassembled. Watch this space!
Checked timing, changed coil and condenser, checked points and plugs - all OK - put it in garage and left there until last night when I finally got around to looking at the carbs. First thing I noticed was a lot of gunge in the float chambers so I whipped the carbs off and gave them a clean, then checked the fuel jet O'ring seals - one had perished and seemed to be leaking, so a couple of fresh ones together with new float chamber gaskets are on order with Canley's. May replace the waxstats with the penny mod while I've got them off. See here for explanation: http://www.nireland.com/gd.triumph/waxstats.htm
Whilst checking all the inlet and exhaust manifold nuts noticed one of the large clamps and nuts was missing - presumably left somewhere in the continent! - another order on Canleys! This may be the cause of the lack of acceleration and poor running - will have to see when everything is reassembled. Watch this space!
Monday, 28 September 2009
Car 9 Update!
Just come back from a nice break on the Spanish Costa Tropical expecting to see my stricken Spitfire in the local garage following its recovery from Grenoble. No such luck!
Rang the yellow van man this morning, nice chap in France called Alain - said he'd ring the recovery people and get back to me to see where the car is. 15 mins later came the call back - apologising most profusely, seems the paperwork to the recovery people had gone astray and they knew nothing about it and the car is still in the garage near Grenoble!! It is now being treated as a priority recovery case. I just want it back!!!!
Whilst this inaction was going on I and my wife and daughters had a very relaxing time in a villa near Alumnecar with lots of sun and wine! It was so nice lazing around that we only managed one trip out which was to Granada to see the Alhambra, having booked the tickets before we went. A very impressive and extensive collection of buildings.
The drive back was even more impressive, I decided against using the autoroute to travel back and took the 'old' route along the A4050 - this was an excellent choice somewhat reminiscent of some 10CR routes whereby the road started out as a good tw
o line highway for about 20kms, then became a contour hugging 1.5 lane hairpin route for about another 30 kms before returning to a 2 lane route just before Almunecar. It was great fun for the driver (me) - not so much fun for the passengers - well I was driving a Renault Scenic and it did roll a bit, and those seats are a bit unsupportive!
Does make me think about driving the Spitfire (or Stag) down here next September instead of flying
Rang the yellow van man this morning, nice chap in France called Alain - said he'd ring the recovery people and get back to me to see where the car is. 15 mins later came the call back - apologising most profusely, seems the paperwork to the recovery people had gone astray and they knew nothing about it and the car is still in the garage near Grenoble!! It is now being treated as a priority recovery case. I just want it back!!!!
Whilst this inaction was going on I and my wife and daughters had a very relaxing time in a villa near Alumnecar with lots of sun and wine! It was so nice lazing around that we only managed one trip out which was to Granada to see the Alhambra, having booked the tickets before we went. A very impressive and extensive collection of buildings.
The drive back was even more impressive, I decided against using the autoroute to travel back and took the 'old' route along the A4050 - this was an excellent choice somewhat reminiscent of some 10CR routes whereby the road started out as a good tw
o line highway for about 20kms, then became a contour hugging 1.5 lane hairpin route for about another 30 kms before returning to a 2 lane route just before Almunecar. It was great fun for the driver (me) - not so much fun for the passengers - well I was driving a Renault Scenic and it did roll a bit, and those seats are a bit unsupportive!Does make me think about driving the Spitfire (or Stag) down here next September instead of flying
Friday, 18 September 2009
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