Listers,
Greetings from sunny Ohio! After a season of research and looking at many
cars I have have joined the lucky ranks of Spitfire owners for the first
time since the early 70's (a MK III then). It is a black 65 or 67 MK II
depending on whether you read the commission number or the title. Apart
from a few dings in the driver's door and a missing plastic tab on the turn
signal lever (where can you get one of these?) it looks pretty clean. The
previous owner did a frame up restoration in the mid 80's and kept it up
nicely after.
After driving it (and a few vanloads of engines, transmissions and other
spares) home, I gave it a cleaning of my own, changed the oil, checked the
tires and proceeded to take it on short drives, never more than 15 miles
from home. It runs well, if maybe a little rich. During these shakedown
drives (never over 65 mph) other issues started popping up.
One of the tires bubbled... maybe some broken cords? These are new looking
Pirelli P3s, but from the mid 80s. I stuck the spare on and the bubble
wobble went away. But these should all probably be replaced eh?
The horn started going off when I turned hard left. The quick fix was to
pull the wire from the relay. I was prepared to start rewiring. The PO said
that this could be adjusted away by adjusting the steering column. Is this
too easy to be true?
My box of tune-up parts arrived from one of the catalog houses. It looked
as if they were all right apart from the air filters which I think may be
for a GT6 (maybe I gave the wrong part number in my glee to actually be
ordering parts for the Spit). The plugs were Bosch 7597. The book calls
for Champion L87Y. I hope that these are equivalent. My concern is that
the book calls for the Champions to be gapped at .64mm/.025 in. The Bosch
box calls for a gap of .9mm. Which of these would be right? I am leaning
toward the book.
The reason I have not ventured more than 15 miles from home is a whining
/sizzling sound coming from somewhere. The thought of bringing my new prize
home on a hook seems way too embarrassing. But I would sure like to drive
it on club outings, etc. (joined Miami Valley Triumphs) I thought maybe
wheel bearings so I gave these the old shake test and they seem solid. The
PO said that it might be the brakes as the rotors are cross-drilled. But I
hear the sound also at power, maybe a little more when coasting. The OD
works crisply and diff and trans oil level seems OK but I have not changed
these yet. Where to look next? Maybe the speedometer cable or gear? While
I realize that diagnosis via e-mail is not possible any advice on how to go
about identifying this sound would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Tim Benner
1965 Spitfire MKII
tbenner@woh.rr.com
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