Nearly there...

So, the replacement gearbox is in, fully bolted up and ready to go. I've put new wiring in for the o/d switch, and refitted the speedo cable, o/d harness and clutch save cylinder. I then put the fibreglass tunnel back in and bolted it into place. Then I realised I hadn't yet filled the gearbox with oil! As this is a near impossible job without a hydraulic ramp with the tunnel in place, I then spent another 15 minutes removing the tunnel again, so that I can fill the gearbox oil! Seriously considering cutting an access hole in the side of the tunnel for future access to the filler plug. I would then need to make a cover plate and cut a flap in the carpet with some velcro to keep it in place... Probably worth the effort?

Hoping to have the car all back together in time for Drive it Day on Sunday, which should be easily possible if all goes smoothly...

Update on gearbox woes...

Having removed the gearbox and taken it to specialists K&N Transmissions in Longridge (thoroughly recommended btw!) I now know what the score is with the old gearbox: One knackered mainshaft and 2 knackered synbchro's (it also seems the egarbox had been cobbled together from 2 knackered old ones, as some of the parts were no correct - if you want to know which supplier to avoid send me a PM!)
Having investigated a few suppliers' prices for recon/rebuilt gearboxes (to varying degrees of rebuild, it seems!) I have today received a shint new 'box from Canley Classics (Mik Davies says the one on his racecar came from Canley's and has been thrashed to hell with no problems, so I'm fairly confident I've made the right choice). Dave even threw in a few old copies of Practical Classics, Classic Car, etc. as bed-time reading... thanks Dave!
I whizzed the new gearbox over to K&N to get the o/d and remote swapped over (OK, I could have probably done this myself, but he has the time and all my old bits...), so hopefully I'll have the old girl back on the road this weekend. I'm treating myself to a new Kenwood CD/radio with iPod input too, which I'll install at the same time as refitting the gearbox!

It's out!

After today I am going to add "Contortionist" to my CV. Undoing nuts and bolts around the bellhousing ideally requires long bendy arms like Mr Tickle, so that you can hold one spanner inside the cabin and another in the engine bay (or a spare grease monkey to hold one of the spanners!). After much fiddling I finally managed to remove them all, along with the clutch slave cylinder, gearbox mounting and starter motor. Then all I had to do was lift the gearbox, complete with overdrive and remote, out of the car. I called on the assistance of Martin "Raider" Randle, and after a bit of persuasion out it came (he had a 10 minute pass from Mrs Raider, but I think he was secretly glad to escape for a while as the inlaws were visiting!) Tomorrow I will nip over to the transmission specialist in Longridge to whom I have been recommended and see what gives...

Gearbox removal...

I still haven't sent my entry form in for the Club Triumph "Historic Counties Run", which this year is a coast-to-coast affair. The reason for this is that I've been too busy to get the gearbox problem sorted. i've found a place that can repair it locally, but I need to remove it first, so yesterday I took advantage of the lighter evenings and good weather to make a start on it. First jobs are to remove the "H" panel below the dash (and stereo), disconnect the battery, remove the footrest from the side of the tunnel, seats, seatbelt anchoring points, carpets and gearbox tunnel:


You can also see where the tunnel part of the floorpan has been modified to accept the overdrive unit - useful if anyone reading this is planning an overdrive conversion. I have a small curved plate that covers this and joins on to the back of the fibreglass tunnel, effectively giving access to the propshaft bolts.
Today I will disconnect all the electrics for the overdrive, unbolt the propshaft, mountings and bellhousing, then seek some assistance to lift out the gearbox and overdrive in one piece. Before starting I followed the advice in the Haynes manual, which allows the overdrive to be separated from the gearbox if necessary: jack up the back of the car so the rear wheels are in the air, get it up to 3rd with overdrive engaged, then disengage overdrive with the clutch fully depressed. Hopefully I'll be able to drop the gearbox off for repairs tomorrow...

Gearbox woes: update

After some investigation into the costs of reconditioned gearboxes, I've decided to see if I can get the gearbox looked at to see if it is repairable, expecially as it was rebuilt less than 4000 miles ago during the restoration. I've been recommended to try a chap in Longridge (near Preston, so not too far away), who's been rebuilding transmissions for over 30 years. I spoke to him and he says he'll take a look at it and give me a quote. He won't charge me a penny for taking the top off and dignosing the fault, so all sounds good! Just need to find time in my busy schedule to whip out the gearbox and get it over to him now!

The Blog is Back!

After a long lapse I have decided to resurrect my blog, seeing as the Spring is here and I'm starting to use the Spitfire again.

I ordered a few minor parts earlier this week, which I have been fitting this morning: New wiper blades (stainless steel), as the rubber blades on the old ones had started to disintegrate, new tube for the expansion bottle as the old one was completely perished, and new top and bottom hoses. These were necessarybecause last year I fitted an in-line thermoswitch for the electric fan into the bottom hose, but this was not activating the fan until the temperature guage was nearly at maximum. The solution: move the thermoswitch to the top hose, which is where the water enters the radiator, and therefore will activate the fan at a lower engine temperature. However, the T-piece adapter for the switch is too big to fit between the top spiggot on the rad and the spiggot on the thermostat housing, so I hacsawed off about 1/2" from the rad spiggot, then used butchered sections of the old bottom hose to fit it:






Several other projects are on the list, but two of them are more urgent and bigger (i.e. costlier!) Firstly, the car needs to go back on a rolling road to be set-up again. Last year I had this done by R.E.Engineering in Bury, following a recommendation from a fellow club member, but they don't carry SU needles, and simply reprofiled my existing needles in a pillar drill with some wet and dry - not exactly scientific! There was a good improvement, but nowhere near enough considering all the tuning mods on the car. This time I shall go to Minisport in Padiham, who have a very good reputation and carry a full rangs of SU needles. I suspect that the 1-2-3 Ignition may need it's advance curve adjusting too. The car has been a pig to get started for several months and then won't idle properly until it's warm, needing "feathering" of the throttle to keep the engine running. Getting it set-up on the rolling road should fix all this.

The other major job to do is to change the gearbox. Just before putting the car away for Winter I found that I couldn't change down from 3rd to 2nd (although it was OK if I went down to 1st then back up to 2nd). Double-declutching doesn't make any difference, so it looks like I can rule out a worn synchromesh. Rather than go through the potentially very expensive process of hving it rebuilt, the simplest thing is to get a rebuilt unit on exchange. Following discussions with other club members it seems that the 3 rail 'box is superior to the single rail (although I'll need an adapter plate for the J-type overdrive), so I will start looking for a supplier who is willing to trade my single-rail for a rebuilt 3-rail. Aiming to get this done before the end of April.

Other than these things, there really isn't much else to do. There are a few rust spots breaking through, and a couple of scratches in the paintwork, which is depressing when you've spent so much having a car restored, but that's what happens when you use a car regularly and drive it hard. It was never intended to be a "trailer queen", and if I need to have another respray in a few years, then so be it! I'dlike to replace the stereo too at some point. The one I fitted was an Aldi cheapo, and the CD player has stopped working, and radio reception is rubbish!

Good job I've given up smoking!

otherwise I'd be a serious H&S risk. I've been draining the fuel tank in order to try and get rid of any water contamination once and for all. This entails collecting together as many empty fuel cans as possible from friends and neighbours, and lying underneath the car (with the back wheels on ramps) directing the fuel hose from the tank into the pouring spouts fill them all up. Naturally, in the transition from one can to the next, there is a certain amount of spillage. I reckon my clothes have soaked up about 1 litre of Texaco's finest unleaded! Tip: The fuel comes out a lot quicker if you remove the filler cap!

The aim is now to gently "warm" the fuel tank (I'm talking hairdrier, not welding torch!) from underneath, so that anything remaining in the tank (be it fuel or water) evaporates through the open filler.

Hopefully this will avoid having to remove the rear axle and the tank itself. The theory is good, but will it work in practice? Wish me luck! I've lost nothing if it doesn't work, as the tank would have needed to be emptied in order to remove it anyway.

A bit of tarting up!

I decided, after advice from various corners, to remove the windscreen base trim panel in order to tidy it up. Good job I did, as the underside was a lot rustier than the top! All repaired and painted now. I just need to buy new retaining nuts for the wiper arms (whose idea was it in BL to use 8-sided brass nuts!?)

I've also removed and painted the expansion tank, and cleaned up the pressure cap (see, Martin, you're not the only one with a tarted-up expansion tank!)