1971 Spitfire MKIV - An Adventure
We've enjoyed some nice runs in the Spitfire, always being very cautious and listening for noises and such. Over the weekend we did a 30 mile run on Saturday morning and a 40 mile run on Sunday morning. No problems. While I got used to the difficult gear shifting, my wife didn't and it took away from the fun of driving the car for her. Therefore this is one of the jobs I tackled this week.
Upon reading about a similar problem someone else had on the forum I decided to disassemble the gear shift assembly. It quickly became quite apparent that the bushing (2-2102) that is supposed to be at the bottom of the gear stick had disentegrated. In fact I found little smashed bits of it resting on the rear transmission mount. Other nylon washers and bushings were also heavily worn so I ordered a gear shift kit from VicBrit....should be here in a week or so, and should solve the shifting problem....3rd to 2nd was impossible.
With the carpet/throw rug that the previous owner put in cut back to expose the screws to take off the transmission hood, I've decided to get a new carpet kit...which I need to order. The seats are also shot so I need to do something about them too.
When driving the car I felt that it had some get up in the lower gears, but once in 4th there wasn't much power. After seeing a British TV show called "Wheeler Dealers" where they restored a 1500 spitfire and did a compression test to see if each of the valves were sound, I decided to do the same. I had 170, 145, 150, & 185. These are good numbers right? Shouldn't be effecting power, right?
Last night my 11 year old daughter did a great job of cleaning the vinyl cover and door trim with 409, and I replaced all the plastic and broken snaps with new stainless steel ones. Beginning to look better....even though the interior is scattered in heaps around the garage.
Upon reading about a similar problem someone else had on the forum I decided to disassemble the gear shift assembly. It quickly became quite apparent that the bushing (2-2102) that is supposed to be at the bottom of the gear stick had disentegrated. In fact I found little smashed bits of it resting on the rear transmission mount. Other nylon washers and bushings were also heavily worn so I ordered a gear shift kit from VicBrit....should be here in a week or so, and should solve the shifting problem....3rd to 2nd was impossible.
With the carpet/throw rug that the previous owner put in cut back to expose the screws to take off the transmission hood, I've decided to get a new carpet kit...which I need to order. The seats are also shot so I need to do something about them too.
When driving the car I felt that it had some get up in the lower gears, but once in 4th there wasn't much power. After seeing a British TV show called "Wheeler Dealers" where they restored a 1500 spitfire and did a compression test to see if each of the valves were sound, I decided to do the same. I had 170, 145, 150, & 185. These are good numbers right? Shouldn't be effecting power, right?
Last night my 11 year old daughter did a great job of cleaning the vinyl cover and door trim with 409, and I replaced all the plastic and broken snaps with new stainless steel ones. Beginning to look better....even though the interior is scattered in heaps around the garage.
As long as it's running good and sounds ok I'd drive it. Like mine, I'm going to do a compression test soon. I take it easy, keeping the rpm's below 3k. I hope to get the rest of the drive train rebuilt and enjoy the car for a couple years before pulling the motor and then ultimately taking the car apart and repainting.
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