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Noob Spitfire Owner

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php411

php411

Freshman Member
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Hello to all,

I'm new here. I've lusted after LBC's for over 30 years and finally got one. Bought a 1978 Spitfire just over a week ago and it's already proving to be a hobby, not just a car.

She burned out a coil on the drive back home and left me at a rest area in the middle of Illinois. Well, I forced it to go over 500 miles on that drive so maybe I had it coming to me.

All's well that end's well, though, and we made it the rest of the way the next day. But last Saturday while checking for fouled sparkplugs I found one had it's electrode mashed and the ceramic nose was gone, presumably out the exhaust manifold somehow. I had been driving on 3 cylinders for perhaps a good bit of that 500 miles! Tough little bird. But now rewarded with a new set of sparkplugs.

Anyway, this is my first LBC and I'm looking forward to filling up whatever free time I have with tinkering and improving it.

By the way, does anybody know where the reset button is for the trip odometer???? I've groped around everywhere and pushed and twisted everything and can't find it!

Best Regards,
Kevin Builta
Moline, Illinois, USA
 
Welcome Kevin!

Your 1500 Spitfire is a great little car.....I know you'll really enjoy it. As it happens, the 1500 engine in your car is the same as the enigne in the later 1500 "rubber bumper" MG Midgets: an engine I am pretty familiar with.

One thing to do when you get a chance is to check "crankshaft thrust". This can be an issue with the 1500 engine (indeed, ALL Triumph engines). Fortunately, it's not an expensive or complicated job to deal with.

To get an idea of the crank thrust, park the car in neutral, engine OFF (use wheel chocks to prevent it from rolling). Grab the front crankshaft pulley and pull it forward and backward. There should be almost NO noticable "play". The maximum play (or "thrust") is about 0.012" (or about 3 or 4 thicknesses of normal paper).

If you feel that there is noticable play, you may need to buy or borrow a dial gage and investigate further. Get onto the Triumph forum and search for "thrust washers". There are many threads in that area dealing with this issue.

As I say, the repair is fairly simple and, will add many miles of life to your engine (but if you ignore it, the damage can be very serious).

G'luck and post some pictures of your car if you can!
 
Hi Kevin,

Welcome to the Forum and Spitfire ownership.

On my Spit the reset is on the right side of the column just under the dash. Its a shaal black know that is a twist to reset.

My 73 Spit is my first LBC and it is a blast to drive. The Triumph forum is a great place to get your questions answered. Lots of great people with a lot of knowledge there.
 
:savewave: Hi Kevin, and welcome to the Forum!!
 
Hey, Kevin - welcome..I don't know too much anbout Spits...but I do know where you can get your parts cheap!
 
Howdy Kevin,

"Welcome" to the Wonderful World of LBCs on "THEE" best Brit Car Site called the "BCF".

Best Wishes with your "New/Old" toy.

Regards, Russ
 
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