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Re: Got it home, it needs help!

To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Got it home, it needs help!
From: Michael Hargreave Mawson <OC@46thFoot.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 06:39:13 +0100
In article <000f01c126bc$c66501a0$e6ec4ed8@f3j3v6>, John and Chris
<peacox1@bellsouth.net> writes
>Well I picked it up today at 5pm then made my way home through rush hour
>traffic.
>
>First thing I noticed was a miss every once in a while.  It is a bad miss
>but after a while it went away.  Then when trying to accelerate it is
>extremely slugish.  More than I remember any other ones being.  I think the
>carbs need help.  It has the dual SU HS-4s.  It will not go over 60 mph with
>the pedal to the floor in top gear.  And it stalled several times at the
>lights.  Seems like it is using a lot of gas too.

Sounds like Carly when I first picked her up.   All she needed was
tuning - she went from a sluggish, balky, car doing 14 mpg to a nippy,
responsive car doing 35-40 mpg, with a top speed of 93 mph.
>
>Either second gear is not syncro or the syncros are trashed.  I cant
>downshift and it clips on upshift sometimes.  I am thinking that the tranny
>was not rebuilt like the guy said it was.

So am I. :-(
>
>The touneau(sp) cover is for something larger, because it does not fit.

If you're lucky, it will turn out to be for a TR - they cost more than
Spitfire tonneaus, and you should be able to do a straight swap for a
second-hand Spitfire one.

>  The
>tires are severely flatspotted and none of the running lights or brake
>lights work.
>
>I have fixed the light issue.
>
>What weight oil is everyone running in theirs.  I am going to change it as
>soon as I can.

I have been running with Castrol Merit 20W50 ever since I blew a piston
ring, but prior to that she was perfectly happy with 15W40.
>
>The suspension is a bit hairy too.  I gotta get under there and look around.
>Feels like some worn out parts.  Shocks seemed tight though.

Check the rear spring.   Carly's was dead as a doornail (and held
together with gaffer tape!).   I have improved the ride quality
immeasurably by (a) replacing the rear spring, and (b) replacing the
driver's seat cushions.   Even so, the suspension on a Spit is pretty
hard, and sleeping policemen and pot-holes are to be avoided...
>
>Anyway it is finally home.  Now the fun begins.

Enjoy!

ATB
-- 
Mike
Michael Hargreave Mawson, author of "Eyewitness in the Crimea"
http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/eyewitness_in_the_crimea.html

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