QuestionI am restoring a 73 spit 1500. The car sat for a number of years without being run. The engine has 35K miles. When I went to look at it before I bought it the seller started and it would run, rough and it smoked, which I would expect.
My question is should I spend the money to have the engine taken apart and do valve job, heads... or just change fluids, filters... Also on tranny is there anything to change other than the filter?
Any other special things I should consider that pertain to the engine and tranny.
AnswerChuck,
What you might consider is starting off with a good rebuild on the Stromberg carb. What's usual is that the rubber diaphram in the dashpot dries out and cracks... that can cause a real driveability headache.
As to the engine, two ways to go.
1) Do some basic checks (compression, oil pressure, etc) and run it as is. The Spitfire 1500 is a fairly simple straightforward engine. The usual problem is that on engines with many miles the thrust washers tend to wear and can drop out of their "holder" on the rear main cap.
2) Don't even consider running the old engine, go for a complete rebuild and make sure to use the 9:1 pistons and some of the other neat bits out there for the 1500.
Personally, I'd just do a compression test, look at the plugs to see if they're oiling up, etc and see if there are any ominous rattles or knocks from the crank case. If it's not trailing a heavy cloud of blue smoke the rings are probably still there. Drive it and concentrate on sorting the electrics.
As to the trans, there is no filter. If there is no overdrive unit, just drain the old oil and refill with fresh 90 wt.
If there is an overdrive fitted, I'll give you my address and you can rid yourself of that awful piece of hardware. ;)
Seriously, if there is an overdrive you might consider using either 40wt or 50wt engine oil instead. The old english o/d units don't always seem to like pumping the modern gear oils.
Cheers,
Jim
