A short experience I've had with my restoration... I think you folks
will
find yourself in this tale. Enjoy!
It's 42F outside, the light is failing with rain dripping on the leaves
and branches of the pine trees. The warmth of the garage and its welcoming
pool of incadescent light thrown from the drop light becons me into its
embraces. The radio blares on about world events and the local weather
forecast. The air compressor kicks in now and then, adding its cacaphony
of sound and vibration to the otherwise still world. It's after work, some
time before dinner, and I've got a couple of hours to myself to enjoy.
The car awaits.
The 1966 Mk II Spitfire sits there in the second bay of the garage,
lurking like a spider enticing you to its web. A myriad of parts and
pieces from many years of cars, this beast begs to be worked on. Caress
that fender, inspect the dent that really needs attention. The bonnet is
already off and standing in the corner. The engine sits squat in its
cradle, a thing of metal pipes, wires, and some things that even Lucas
couldn't identify when they built it. We've been removing peripherals on
the car in preparation for a frame off restoration, but that engine sits
there reminding us that it really needs to be cared for first.
Tonight is the night.
We might as well get to it. Chuck a socket to the air wrench and dig in
at the radiator mounts. Hmm, they are loose. Previous owner wasn't
exactly knowledgable about mechanics, but they did mean well. More loose
bolts on the housing and the radiator support brackets back up this theory.
Turns out most of the bolts and studs on the car are loose in one way or
another. Guess we won't have to worry about frozen nuts on this one.
Time to pause and take a few pictures with the digital camera.
Documentation of any project is crucial, especially when you don't have
anything to go on for references later when you're trying to figure out
what wire went where and how the radiator brackets were mounted. Examine
the mountings on the intake manifold. More loose nuts. Surprised this car
didn't shake itself to pieces. Apparently the exhaust pipe and manifold
can stay as one unit when removing the engine. That will be handy.
Another mount supposedly for the exhaust pipe on the clutch housing
someplace. I don't see it, even from inside the car. We'll have to wait
for morning with more light and space to work on it to find out. Manuals
indicate there is one, but I can't seem to find it. The pipe is rather
rigid so something is holding it up.
More work with the air rachet and we're down to finding that missing
exhaust bracket and then preparations for removing the engine and
transmission as a unit. An overhead sling is the idea here. No engine
hoist available, but a good beam in the garage should do the trick. Again,
we'll have to wait until more light is handy.
Didn't really get much done, but the engine is isolated electrically,
fuel, and mechanically from the car, save for the mounts. That won't take
any time at all. It's already time for cleaning up and getting some
dinner. It's amazing how much gratification you can get in taking apart a
car that you've never had anything to do with before. I've worked on
countless GM models in the past, but this car is a completely new
experience for me. Very therapeutic for me after a day of driving a
Freightliner on the US highways.
Was there a reason or purpose to this posting? Only that you should
enjoy
your Triumph. Whether or not it's actually running, it's just the process
of working on or with your car that is important. That time is special,
and is a form of bonding that is hard to describe. Sometimes you might
want to do that bonding with the sole of your boot, but you'll resist in
the end. It's you, the surroundings, the atmosphere, and...... the car.
It's your friend and your nemesis, but always you'll come back to it.
Enjoy your time with your Spitfire. You'll never have another car like
it.
-Dan Canaan
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