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Spitfire I'm soon to be a Spitfire owner again!

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jdubois said:
Only mechanical issues are a non-functioning horn and a starter which doesn't disengage cleanly. The horn isn't a big deal, I'm sure. I'm figuring the starter just needs to be taken apart and cleaned up, because it doesn't have any trouble starting the car, just sounds like heck for a second or two after the engine fires up. Anyway, I wanna get that sorted out soon, on the chance it's chewing up the ring gear.
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For the horns, check to make sure connections are present and tight, and check to see if there's still a ground strap across the steering column coupling down near the rack. If they're original horns, and you're getting current to them, hopefully they're of the adjustable type and a slight turn of that adjustment screw will bring them back.

As for the starter, could just be that you need to pull it out and wash down the starter drive...then put it back in. Some people like to put a bit of dry graphite lubricant on it, but basically it just all needs to be clean of grease and other foreign matter.

jdubois said:
Andrew, thanks for the heads up on the rocker cover color. I asked the seller about it and he had painted it that orange color himself and confirmed it was more of a copper color before he did that.
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jdubois said:
Feels good to have a Spit in the garage again!
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So long as it doesn't spend all its time there...and I suspect it won't! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif
 
Well, I had the car for a day, but I'm afraid it's already been stolen! Here are a few shots of the thief trying to make his get away.

boyncar2.jpg

boyncar.jpg


I think I might be safe in the end though, he seems to have decided he still likes dad's other car better. I'll have to work on his taste a little /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

twocars.jpg
 
Fiat I can take. At least you didn't say, "That's a Fiero" /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
 
Hey Hey, I owned a 1986 Fiero GT. That couldn't be a Fiero, It still has a license plate on it. I only lost $9,000 in 3 years when I traded that Fiero in.
 
Well, see? You should have slapped some 308 body panels on it and sold it as a collectors car.
 
It looks like a nice piece to be sure! The panel fit looks great. The door bottoms look like they are flush with the rockers, unlike some Spits I have seen where they seem to sit out. Enjoy!
 
Well, I guess the car is welcoming me back to Spitfire ownership in style. I loosened the starter from the engine and took a look at the drive gear. Once again Andrew was dead on, it was all gunked up and just moving it with my hand I could see it wasn't disengaging properly. Awesome, this is gonna be easy! Cleaned up all the gunk on the drive gear, confirmed it now functioned correctly, and put it back. Turned the key, and a crank or two and then nothing. Dead.

Hmm, battery charged, and connection tight, solenoid clicking over ok, 12VDC at starter when solenoid is engaged. Soo... took the starter completely out of the car and double checked it directly hooked to the battery. Nada. I guess my earlier manhandling was enough to put what was left of its life over the edge. I took it apart and stared at it for a bit, contemplating a rebuild. But then I remembered the time I tried to rebuild the starter on my MGB and decided I'd be much better off exchanging it.

I guess I'll work on the horn while I wait for the new starter to come in...
 
Yeah, this was a fine time for the starter to give out. It's caused me no problems at all, really. It's gonna take a few days to get the thing registered anyway, so it wasn't like it was going on the road yet. And it gave me some up close and personal time with the car. It feels very different than the 1500 sitting in the cockpit, but feels amazingly similar when wrenching on the mechanicals.
 
Andrew Mace said:
Just curious as to whether it might have been THE original starter. What was the date code?
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Good question, not sure if it's the actually one that started life with the car. It's a model 25083J and the coding underneath is "M35G 1 11 6[?]" The question mark is what looks to me like the bottom half of a one that didn't get stamped correctly, but maybe some other marking code, like possibly a comma.
 
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