QuestionHi Jim,
I think you helped me before.
I have been doign a frame off restoration on 73 spitfire. I recently have been putting the rear suspension back together and I was surprised to have to burn out the old u-joints. I also had to press the new ones in. I honed the yokes some but didnt want to take off more meat than they were originally.
Is this normal? If not what should I do?
I will soon be moving to the electrical system and wanted to know if I can hardwire things to a toggle switch in the dash. I was thinking of scrapping the old original wood dash which is in poor condition and making a s/s or aluminum dash with custom locations for toggles for lights, heat, fan... Is this a good idea? I dont really care anything about keeping it original looking.
Next - Getting the heater out seems to be a real chore. it doesnt want to come out. Are there any tricks to getting it out? What should I do to check it to assure it works properly? I was not able to run it before starting the restoration.
I am sure I did some things incorrect when it comes to the suspension since I am a rookie at this. Looking at the frame with just the front suspension on it looks like the wheels toe-in is incorrect. It looks close but I am sure I probably cant tell by looking. Any suggestions? I would like to fix it before getting the body on.
Next - What carb and fuel pump arrangement would you recommend for maximum power with minimum investment. The guy I bought it from had an electric fuel pump hooked up to the gas tank because he said he put a new mechanical pump on but it wouldnt work. Anything to check on that mechanical that a novice may not have noticed?
Lots of questions. I hope not to many>
Thanks
Chuck
AnswerChuck,
Yup, a few questions. I'll try to cover them all, feel free to follow up if I miss something.
1) U-joints. It's not uncommon for the yokes to get distorted under hard use. When that happens it's almost impossible to get the cups out or back in.
It's ok if it's a light press to get the cups into the yoke. I've used my benchtop vise to gently press the new u-joint into place. If you need the 100 ton press then it may be time to look into a new set of axles/flanges.
2) As to a custom dash... keep in mind that the stock wood dash is about 3/8" thick, so if you go to a sheet metal dash the cushion pad around the lower edge may have to be tweaked.
The heater control will be interesting as there's both the slide for controlling the water flow and the electric switch for the heater fan. You could adapt a mechancial choke cable to work for the heater valve control... it'd be a different effect for sure.
As to the switches, make sure they're rated for a minimum of 15 amps. Also keep in mind that the emergency flashers, the headlight control and the wiper switch aren't simple "on-off" switches but multi-throw multi-pole devices so it'll take a bit of careful thinking before replacing them.
Then again, the switches in the dash are more than 30 years old and are probably at the end of their useful life. If they are still working, stick them in an envelope and send them to me! ;)
3) Heater. If I recall correctly the heater is held in by 4 bolts through the firewall and in addition the various openings are sealed to prevent water leakage into the car. Look at the flanges on either side from inside the car and make sure all the bolts are out before trying to force anything. Also, you'll need to disconnect the control wire to the heater valve (engine compartment side) and remove the control unit from the dashboard, and the heater hoses.
While you have the heater out you can test the motor by hooking it up to a car battery (12v!). While the unit is out it's a good idea to have the heater core cleaned and tested as it is such a chore to remove the heater box and it'd be a bummer to have it fail when the car is first started up.
4) Suspension. You need to have the car fully assembled before checking the suspension settings as they change depending upon how "high" the car is sitting. If you look at the steering rack and the tie-rods you can see that as the front end of the car is weighted down the wheels will tend to toe out. So if it's just a bare frame then toe-in is normal.
Once the car is together you can do a simple toe-in check by measuring the distance on the front edges of the front wheels and comparing to the distance on the back edges (tape measure under the car).
5) Carb and fuel pump. The simplest way to check the mechanical fuel pump is disable the ignition (pull the power leads from the coil) and disconnect the fuel line from the carb. Stick the fuel line into a can and crank the engine for a few seconds and see if any gas is pumped into the can.
I prefer using an electric pump as you can make sure the carb is full before starting to crank the engine. The downside is that the electric pump is something else electric that can fail.
Is there a fuel pressure regulator installed? If not, you'll need it with an electric pump. Set it at about 2 psi.
Carb swap? An SU HS4 (from 1962-1972ish MGB) makes a simple swap. Get the carb with the linkage on the correct side (same as the Stromberg). The mounting flange on the SU will need to be tweaked to make it fit on the stock manifold, make sure to file the mounting holes evenly to keep the carb throat centered on the manifold opening.
A simpler swap is to use the carb setup from the Spitfire Mk III (twin HS2 setup), it's a bolt on swap onto the 1500. If you go that route, just make sure you get the manifold with the 4 intake ports (on the head side), not the earlier 2 port manifold from the 1147cc engine.
A really neat swap is to get the UK spec twin HS4s that the rest of the world got on their 1500s. The only downside is that they were never available in the US so you need to find someone importing them from the UK... and it's a sellers market. I've seen them go for $200+ for a set needing a complete rebuild and repair.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Jim
'73 Spitfire 1500 (my first LBC)
and a few other toys
