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Spitfire Save another Spitfire from who knows what

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T

tomgt6

Jedi Warrior
Offline
This weekend I saved an early 63-65 spitfire mk1 or mk2 from what I hope will be the crusher or from the type of car that sits in a garage for years and never sees daylight again. The car was re registered in Iowa with a new vin number so I can't tell for sure what year the frame and tub are from but I am pretty sure it is a mk1. But the PO also put in mk1 GT6 seats and a small steering wheel.

I picked up this spitfire down in Iowa. It will never be a show car. I think the last person tried to paint it with a roller. It will need some work. Also the PO replaced the rockers and did a pretty good job but then just put in his own metal for the floors. I guess this will stay. I am also concerned that the steering column is not correct it seems to be longer then other ones, I will need to do some measuring.

Some of the good, the engine started right up and sounds great. But now I have to clean up the gas tank. Also it looks like the brakes and clutch are good. Came with door trim and carpet set. So this time it will be some what I hope light body work, a paint job, put the car back together so it is drivable and move it one to a new owner.

My goal seems to be to save an old spitfire, gt6 or herald every summer and move it on to a new owner. The big issue is I will need a few parts for this car and will be looking to see if someone is willing to do some trading or some very cheap pricing on these parts. Being that I don't make money (other then to pay for the parts and the next car) on these cars and my goal is to save them from the scrap heap I hope some of you with lots of parts laying around will help contribute to the save a Spitfire fund.

Here is what I know I am looking for.

----Front lower valance
----stock steering wheel
----Key Ignition switch with keys(will not turn the car over but I haven't spent much time trouble shooting this yet, could be a bad wire. )
----windshield rubber
----trunk rubber


What do I have to trade,
+I have 3 single rail spitfire transmissions and I think 2 herald transmissions
+I 948cc Herald intake with carb
+1147 block
+1147 head
+starter
+other misc engine parts (pistons, push rods etc)
+I may even have a set of mk4 spitfire seats with good covers but the foam is braking down.
+extra bits and bobs for lighting.
+if your in the Cedar Rapids Iowa area I can also get you a 948 engine and head.
+soft top (the windows are yellowed and cracked so if you have one that is usable that would be great)

Any help you can give would be great. This will never be a show car but it may be the one car that someone starts with that gets them interested in Triumphs. It still has many years of life left in it for the right person.
 
This thread useless with out friggin pictures!
 
OK I will get some pictures tonight.
 
DNK said:
useless with out friggin pictures!
Click to expand...
Don, if you don't know how, I'm sure not going to explain it to you!
 
How to what Randall??



Oh , and nice snag ,Tom
 
So, I have a question. How does a vehicle where the engine fires right up and sounds great, new sills, later seats, brakes and clutch good, with a new carpet kit, end up in a scrapper's yard awaiting the crusher?
 
Oh, your using it as a verb and I'm using it as a adjective

Actually now that I think of it . Your using it s a noun

Oh Never the friggin mind
 
DNK said:
Oh Never the friggin mind
Click to expand...
Just a small joke, Don, not intended to be taken internally.

My software doesn't work, I don't know why, and sometimes I make bad jokes to compensate. I think I'll quit pounding keys and go to a Triumph club meeting instead!
 
Not ingested at all.
Gotr the reference and tried to figger something to say but nothing worked
 
I am sorry if I made it sound like the car was going to the crusher, it wasn't. What I meant was that I could tell this was the type of car that was bought with the thought of doing something with it and after 2 years of sitting nothing was done. I see this type of car all the time sitting in a garage for years with the intent for someone to restore it but it never happens and then someday it is to far gone or the family most deal with it and they will call the crusher.

Also some of the hub caps in the trunk are from my other car.

What was the progress last night.

We started to sand off the white paint. This has to have been a rolled on rustoleum job. I could hardly get it off with 80 grit sandpaper it was so thick. I also tried paint remover and it wouldn't touch it. The only thing I found was a paint remover pad for an angle grinder that would remove it.

I can tell this is parts of several cars. The trunk had primer, green, primer, blue, primer, white and then other parts of the car were primer, green, primer white. The one good or bad thing is that the person who did some of the body work on this car got to the bare metal before using body filler to fix some small dents. I don't see any filler over rust at this point, but the stripping has just begone.

I will try and keep you up to date on progress and also post more pictures as we work.

Thanks everyone for the help.
 
Thanks for the comment. I tried that and it didn't seem to work real well. It would take one layer of the white paint off and even then it was hit and miss. II was generous with the amount and time used and even then it just didn't seem to want to cut through. What I found was the paint removal pads you put on an angle grinder took it right off in seconds.

Once I get past the white paint, aircraft or paint remover works like a champ. It bubbles in minutes. The white paint is tuff as nails.

It is a fun project for my sons and I. It teaches them that old stuff is worth saving and that getting an old car back on the road is rewarding.

I also hope that they will feel this way in a couple of years when they have to take care of me.
 
SPITFIRES FOREVER!
Theres Sooo many excellent BIG TR's & of course MG's to choose from.THATS WHY SPITFIRES are so endearing to the everyday blue collar restorer.
You have MY VOTE. Good Luck restoring that Mk1(or2)
Ken&Whitelightning
My beautifully restored 1500 1980(mfg date Nov 79)Spitfire #19 white. :winner1:
 
UPDATE!

I just thought I would tell you were we are at on the spitfire after a weekend of work.

The car is now 80% stripped on the outside body. I am not sure how I will strip the inside of the trunk and bonnet. A car painter came over last night and confirmed that someone painted this car with a latex paint. He tells me that is why the aircraft stripper wouldn't work very well.

The good is I have only found a few pieces of rust. Everything else is good metal and there is some bondo to take out dents or waves in the metal. This will make a good daily driver when done.

I also found that the disks that you put on an angle grinder meant to strip paint work very well. I was buying some from the local big box lumber yard for about $10 each. They would get me through one fender. I was at harbor freight this weekend and bought some of there disks and found that I have done a fender, hood, door, and rocker panel with the disk and it still has enough to do another fender or two.

Body work is a new item for me. With the help from the car painting friend I hope to learn and do a good job on this car so the next owner will get some enjoyment out of it.

I will post some more pictures in a couple days when I get the car fully stripped of paint.

Any ideas on what to do with the boot and bonnet inside would be helpful.
 
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