1973 Triumph Spitfire - Done - Collected

Engine bay first - I have a full service kit on order along with a rocker cover gasket, the twin SU carbs are both leaking so I also have a full service kit on order for them too, the header tank on the radiator is leaking but the core is good so that will be a in house repair along with a new hose kit for the coolant system & fan belt - like all cars that have been stood everything made of rubber is badly perished - everything of this nature will be replaced and this includes the several small rubber petrol pipes that are under bonnet located - these shall be replaced with the ethanol resistant type in order to cope with modern pump fuels 


 

The front of the chassis bears the marks of a previous MOT inspector with the yellow chalk clearly still visible - its also highlighted as a failure point in the cars MOT history - its been repaired but not really - the snotty welds have little penetration and have physically broken away from the chassis leaving the anti roll bar mounting plate clearly vulnerable - this needs cleaning back and rewelding properly 



The offside is worse - the cracks against the mounting plate to the chassis have simply been covered up with a urethane sealer type product - again this requires cleaning back and a proper welded repair effected 



No idea what people are on undertaking bodges of this nature 



General under side of the car is pretty clean - plenty of flaking underseal that requires cleaning off and the drive train would benefit from good soak with a degreaser prior to a wash off 



There's a little play in the track rod ends but the dust covers have both failed and its cheaper to replace the TRE's than what it is mess about replacing the covers - the steering rack gaiters are also split and these shall get replaced at the same time - the steering rack & column all check out fine though with minimum play in the column to rack UJ and the rack mountings are good - the lower suspension wishbone rubbers are perished and these will get replaced - minimal play in the wheel bearings and the shock absorbers are all good - no obvious play in the front swivels either 

 

Both of the front chassis outriggers have taken a bashing / impact damage 



However with the exception of flaking underseal and a little surface rust they are quite sound - so I'm reluctant to start chopping them out and replacing them - there's enough room to access the damage and I'll have a go at straightening them up insitu 



I found a suspect area on the offside sill and sure enough it's suffered at the hands of bona fide bodger - fiberglass & chicken wire on a structural body member - words continue to fail me 



The bottom of the rear wing on the same side fairs not much better with the same urethane sealer product smeared over the top of rust perforations and undoubtedly very dubious quality welding - so that's a sill panel & rear lower wing repair on order for the offside - no idea what shape the inner sills / inner support panels are in until I remove the outer sill - for now I'm assuming that they repairable rather than requiring replacement 

  

Nearside sill then - the floor pan is split & holed close to the flange edge of the sill but this is repairable with a fresh metal repair let into it 



The sill however is virtually unattached to the inner sill & floor pan - just a bead of snot weld with next to 0 strength - the sill will have to come off to resolve this issue & likewise with the forward section of the rear wing which effectively forms the continuation of the sill to the rear wheelarch 



More on my findings & assessment later 
 

What ? The chicken wire, fibreglass &  urethane sealer is common to all Triumphs then  

Unfortunately this is pretty much standard fare with small chassis Triumphs.

I bought my Herald from a dealer, complete with an MoT, however having run it for a year found that the chassis was rotten, with holes covered in under seal, 3 of the chassis body to mounting bolts missing!

Looking forward to seeing this one sorted.

Karl

Such is life - I'm thinking having the slogan 'Whilst you're here can you Just' printed on my next set of business cards 

I was thinking along similar lines, in light of your recent health scare and an appreciation of your own mortality, perhaps it's time to take on an apprentice? (Or at least a gofer / dogsbody).

Front discs are scored & the calipers semi seized - Rimmers do a front brake kit - 2  discs, 2 calipers, 2 brake hoses, set of pads & pad fitting kit for about half the price of what it would cost me to referb the calipers & clean the discs up 




Likewise the rear shoes, cylinders & drums - hence they are all on order 



Rear transverse leaf spring is in good order along with the bushing - axle links will require rebushing though 



Despite the loads of tread on the tyres 



They are way past life cycle dates - one pair is 18 years old 



And the other pair are 19 years old - side walls look good but there's cracking to the tread groves - I'll order a fresh set of rubber boots for it 

More to follow tomorrow 
 

I have had similar thoughts about getting someone to do more of the engine work for me so I went to a few car clubs and asked who does the work for them and found most of the real experts were actually guys who had retired and spent most of their time doing not a lot.
I went to a few of them and offered them some cash to do work and I had 2 jump out at me.
1 was a retired teacher of mechanics old school he has turned out to be a blessing. What this guy doesn’t know about old British engines proberbly does matter.
start there they are hard working and their skill goes far beyond the parts replacers mechanics are these days.
the other guy went grey nomad on me and went caravanning around OZ

Watching this, my mate had a Spitfire when we were but kids, I have many unhappy memories of being terrorised in it as a passenger. The good news was as a result of his unsympathetic driving it was frequently broken so I got to know my way around the mechanics really well. Really good of Triumph to provide a convenient seat when working under the Bonnet :-)

This is starting to look a bit of a rotter.

In fact I'd say it probably wants blasting or dipping