You guys are great! Having assembled all the advice and parts obtained from
this list and elsewhere, I cranked up the 65 MKII Spit with its new 1500
modified motor. Works quite impressive. Even the single rail transmission,
which I bought from a club member who "assembled it from spare pieces left
over" .
Still getting stuff sorted out. Kind of a flat spot on take-off. Still have
to figure out the correct ignition timing. Need to install the electric fan,
since I took the fan off the water pump. (Always afraid of those things,
since I do so much tinkering by the brail method).
Driving the three miles to the muffler shop was an experience. No pipe past
the header. No Transmission tunnel cover. Kind of like riding in a New York
cab.
I was a little worried because when I first test fired the motor in the
morning, the local busybody down the street called the police (who dutifully
drove by). She was gone, though, by the afternoon when I took the car to
the muffler shop. Wheww!
The muffler job was a dissapointment. Not that the workmanship was off.
They are real craftsmen, there at Lightening. But the car is to darn quiet!
I had them install a pipe from the header back under the center of the frame
where it zigs sharp left and then a 180 connecting to a 15" glass pack
directly under the boot, and then a 90 degree bend to a short chome tail pipe
near the right side bumper. But the thing sounds like a Q45. Where did I go
wrong! What's power without noise? Aren't I violating the basic rules I
learned in physics: Locomotion is the cumulative result of excessive heat,
noise, and vibration? Isn't that what a Spitfire is supposed to be all
about? I feel emasculated. Am I on a slippery slope? Is there a Miata in
my future? Helppppp.......
Brian N
79 Spitfire
65 Spitfire (Puerquito)
63 Consul Capri
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