In article <000f01c13403$9787f320$e32e893e@k7d3g5>, James Carruthers
<jcarruthers@freenet.co.uk> writes
>ok im going to take the plunge - im going to buy a spitfire
>
>seeing as you lot have collectivley seen more spitfires than ive had hot
>dinners - what are the big things i should look out for when buying one. im
>pretty much ok on the general mechanical side of things (im guessing im going
>to need to be!) - and obviously i know to avoid rust on the chassis/body etc
>etc - but what are the specific "spitfirey" things to look out for? mechanical
>and chassis/body wise...
>
I'd second the recommendation to check out the VTR Buyer's Guide. In
addition to the items listed there, the biggest headaches I've had with
my Spit are related to missing or damaged parts that are not of
themselves critical to the running of the car, but are a pain to
replace. Most parts on a Spit are still available new, at reasonable
prices, but some are hellish expensive, and some have to be obtained
from scrapyards. Items that have caused me grief are:
Horns (check that both are present, and that both are working)
Seat upholstery (incredibly expensive to replace, and not easy to fit)
Chrome windscreen trim (the new replacements are plastic, and old ones
are impossible to fit, as they will be bent...)
Door handle/lock assemblies (you'd be amazed at the number of different
components there are in these things, and few are available new on their
own)
And, if you are a stickler for originality, it can prove very difficult
to track down the correct gear-knob and steering wheel (both of which
seem to have been routinely replaced with after-market products by boy-
racers).
One other thing, if you decide you want a hardtop, don't do what I did,
and buy a stripped shell, with the intention of replacing the seals and
the headlining. A complete set of seals for a hardtop costs more than
a new hardtop - or nearly - and fitting a headlining is the fiddliest
job imaginable. It took me six months to find a set of the headlining
support struts in a skip, and I still haven't found a source for the
rear trim, either.
>
>(oh btw im in the UK - if anyone is selling theirs or knows of any being sold
>near London..... im looking to pay ~#1500 - long shot I know.... )
Shouldn't be that long a shot. OK, you won't get a perfect example
(for which you would have to shell out the best part of GBP3,500), but
you can get a good runner with reasonable bodywork for around GBP1250 -
I did...
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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