Curriculum Vitae

| | Home Page | | Personal Projects | |

1973
Part 1 - Teardown

November 2014 - December 2014

Here is my Spitfire...Though it is tired and weak, this screamer is a fighter and does drive.. Floor panel work done by previous owner(s). Sheet metal glued with silicone and screwed. Will have to be redone.. Dial guages and dash removed. Love how everything is mechanical here..Even the oil pressure sensor has a tube running from the block to the guage on the dash!

Passenger side had similar floor/sheet metal work done. Interior removed..Must say the tub has a very "machine shop" smell that is typical of British cars of that era.

Engine seems to look better than the body. This engine isn't stock indicating this car went through an engine swap. Typical sheet metal rust around the brake master cylinder. Poor radiator..

I intend to fabricate a poly piece as a replacement for this expired cardboard. Front frame starting to rot on the welds..Yikes. Took this pic to see if I can get the door check strap out without taking off the exterior rivet. You can't.

Surprisingly the doors are in excellent shape..No rust at all. Stock lucas wiring was always messy but what made it worse was all the subsequent modifications with all the jumped connections..figured out as much as i can and labelled/bundled accordingly.. Unbelievable how clean this 40 yr old door is.

The "bonnet" as its called in Britain has been removed..So much room..So DIY My worst nightmare coming true. Never seen metal rot in such a way. If mice ate metal instead of cheese it would look like this..

Passenger side bonnet mount sagging due to the rot on the rebar. More rebar rot..I am starting to get a bad feeling about this tub..

Passenger side outrigger broke as I pressed on the passenger side.. Steering was wobbling.. Cuz the coupler on the rack had play..pins worn.

Tried taking the engine out from the side so that I would not have to open the garage door and freeze to death. Had to freeze to death to take this engine out.. How cute is that? Can't believe how small this engine is.

Heartless. Getting ready to take the transmission out.. I I wish I had taken a better picture here but just refer to the previous pics where I am in the process of taking the engine out for what I am going to say here.. I am planning on building a tack welded jig out of tubing to hold the bonnet mounts at its required precise position. Then grind the rebar welds and replace the rebar..Any ideas? Email or facebook please..

While I am deciding on what to do with the heavily rotten tub and chassis. A guy contacted me wanting to buy the engine if I rebuild it. Afterall, I always wanted to put an inline six GT6 engine in the spit so I think I will head in that direction for now.. You might be wondering why I am taking pics at every corner. Thats because alot of these pics are for my reference when I will be rebuilding the engine. In this case, the hoses..

And the cylinder head.. Rockers removed. Head bolts are visible. You do not need to remove the valve cover studs to remove the head.

Gettitng the cylinder head off was a mission. The 40 year old gasket was holding it well. Couldn't lift it up let alonge give it a wedge. II got a wrench that could go on the two valve cover studs. I retained it using nuts and extra large washers then lifted the hoist..The block got lifted with it as well! Gave it a little wedgy between the block and the head and it popped off..The block was still on the engine stand though. Exhaust valves are fried and that is because the seats are leaking. The reason for that is the engine was designed to run on leaded fuel. The lead particles would "cushion" the impact of the valves on the seats but this effect wasn't happening once unleaded fuel was introduced which resulted in the seats being damaged. The head will have to go to a machine shop in order to machine out the old seats and press in hardened ones.

Block looks good. A bit dirty due to the incomplete combustion as a result of the leaking valves. Petro washed all the parts..my alternative to expensive degreaser. There is a reason why petrol is not used in the industry for degreasing. Other than being flammable it is very corrosive. Ate through the rubber of my screw driver in a 5 minute dip. Always wear safety goggles and thick rubber gloves. Wear a respirator so that you don't get high on fumes. Taking the crank pulley off was another mission. Impact gun was out and torch out of gas..

Threw a mallet into the crank case to jam the crankshaft, used the leg of the engine hoist as a torque bar on the wrench...breeze Cylinders look nice and glazed. Should be fine, going to check with a cylinder bore gauge still. Main bearings are off..No signs of scarring.

Pistons look great after petro wash. No signs of contact with the bore.

Camshaft is partially scold. Some pitting is visible. From what I understand; The recessed valve seats allowed the valve stems to be displaced further into the cylinder head. This increase in displacement was transfered to the push rods by the rockers which in turn caused the cam followers to press onto the cam lobes harder that designed specs causing the pitting. I should do something about this but lets see..

Cam followers pitted as well understandably..I will replace these. Cheap fix. Crankshaft looks good. Just gonna clean these oil stains off with dishwashing wire.

All stowed away until the parts arrive.ve I've got an extra passenger side door if you want..Contact me..


Here is my Spitfire...Though it is tired and weak, this screamer is a fighter and does drive..	Floor panel work done by previous owner(s). Sheet metal glued with silicone and screwed. Will have to be redone..	Dial guages and dash removed. Love how everything is mechanical here..Even the oil pressure sensor has a tube running from the block to the guage on the dash!

Passenger side had similar floor/sheet metal work done.		Interior removed..Must say the tub has a very "machine shop" smell that is typical of British cars of that era.

Engine seems to look better than the body. This engine isn't stock indicating this car went through an engine swap.	Typical sheet metal rust around the brake master cylinder.	Poor radiator..

I intend to fabricate a poly piece as a replacement for this expired cardboard.	Front frame starting to rot on the welds..Yikes.	Took this pic to see if I can get the door check strap out without taking off the exterior rivet. You can't.

Surprisingly the doors are in excellent shape..No rust at all.	Stock lucas wiring was always messy but what made it worse was all the subsequent modifications with all the jumped connections..figured out as much as i can and labelled/bundled accordingly..	Unbelievable how clean this 40 yr old door is.

	The "bonnet" as its called in Britain has been removed..So much room..So DIY	My worst nightmare coming true. Never seen metal rot in such a way. If mice ate metal instead of cheese it would look like this..

Passenger side bonnet mount sagging due to the rot on the rebar.		More rebar rot..I am starting to get a bad feeling about this tub..

Passenger side outrigger broke as I pressed on the passenger side..	Steering was wobbling..	Cuz the coupler on the rack had play..pins worn.

Tried taking the engine out from the side so that I would not have to open the garage door and freeze to death.	Had to freeze to death to take this engine out..	How cute is that? Can't believe how small this engine is.

Heartless.	Getting ready to take the transmission out..	I I wish I had taken a better picture here but just refer to the previous pics where I am in the process of taking the engine out for what I am going to say here.. I am planning on building a tack welded jig out of tubing to hold the bonnet mounts at its required precise position. Then grind the rebar welds and replace the rebar..Any ideas? Email or facebook please..

While I am deciding on what to do with the heavily rotten tub and chassis. A guy contacted me wanting to buy the engine if I rebuild it. Afterall, I always wanted to put an inline six GT6 engine in the spit so I think I will head in that direction for now..		You might be wondering why I am taking pics at every corner. Thats because alot of these pics are for my reference when I will be rebuilding the engine. In this case, the hoses..

	And the cylinder head..	Rockers removed. Head bolts are visible. You do not need to remove the valve cover studs to remove the head.

Gettitng the cylinder head off was a mission. The 40 year old gasket was holding it well. Couldn't lift it up let alonge give it a wedge.	II got a wrench that could go on the two valve cover studs. I retained it using nuts and extra large washers then lifted the hoist..The block got lifted with it as well! Gave it a little wedgy between the block and the head and it popped off..The block was still on the engine stand though.	Exhaust valves are fried and that is because the seats are leaking. The reason for that is the engine was designed to run on leaded fuel. The lead particles would "cushion" the impact of the valves on the seats but this effect wasn't happening once unleaded fuel was introduced which resulted in the seats being damaged. The head will have to go to a machine shop in order to machine out the old seats and press in hardened ones.

Block looks good. A bit dirty due to the incomplete combustion as a result of the leaking valves.	Petro washed all the parts..my alternative to expensive degreaser. There is a reason why petrol is not used in the industry for degreasing. Other than being flammable it is very corrosive. Ate through the rubber of my screw driver in a 5 minute dip. Always wear safety goggles and thick rubber gloves. Wear a respirator so that you don't get high on fumes.	Taking the crank pulley off was another mission. Impact gun was out and torch out of gas..

Threw a mallet into the crank case to jam the crankshaft, used the leg of the engine hoist as a torque bar on the wrench...breeze	Cylinders look nice and glazed. Should be fine, going to check with a cylinder bore gauge still.	Main bearings are off..No signs of scarring.

		Pistons look great after petro wash. No signs of contact with the bore.

Camshaft is partially scold.	Some pitting is visible. From what I understand; The recessed valve seats allowed the valve stems to be displaced further into the cylinder head. This increase in displacement was transfered to the push rods by the rockers which in turn caused the cam followers to press onto the cam lobes harder that designed specs causing the pitting.	I should do something about this but lets see..

Cam followers pitted as well understandably..I will replace these. Cheap fix.	Crankshaft looks good.	Just gonna clean these oil stains off with dishwashing wire.

All stowed away until the parts arrive.ve	I've got an extra passenger side door if you want..Contact me..