hardhatharry Posted January 14, 2022 Author Share Posted January 14, 2022 and I am back and still not painted the spit!!! I have problems stopping progress one is the swage line on the passenger side isn't lining up correctly. Lots of head scratching over a couple of weeks led me to grab a tape measure, mmm 13mm difference in the door aperture size between the driver and passenger side. More scratching of head but in a rather alarmed fashion. Time to get the big ram out and "make" the passenger side the same size as the drivers side and see ehat happens. Talk about stress as the pressure is ramped up and the car you have been working on for over 12 months of blood, sweat and quite alot of tear makes strange groaning and creaking noises. The result was the outer sill had a rather large hole which a previous owner had bogged over (quite convincingly). It also wouldn't surprise me if the inner strengthener was missing or rotted away so order 6000 went into paddocks for an outer sill, strengthener and end piece. Unfortunately it will be a couple of days work on the ramp so I will need to find a couple of days of work to do it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardhatharry Posted January 14, 2022 Author Share Posted January 14, 2022 So while I find time to do the sills I decided to rebuild the gearbox and overdrive of unknown history I bought years ago and has been hanging around my workshop. Luckily (or unluckily) I was bought an plastic gearbox tunnel from Moss as an Xmas present which never turned up and after much negotiation money was refunded which I spent on a full gearbox rebuild kit from Paddocks. Tapping with hammer and brass drifts failed to release the main bearings so raiding my mates garage I found a bearing puller that should work, what could possibly go wrong..... After more jiggling and worry success (yes I know its a bit messy at the moment but you try storing a whole spitfire in a workshop). Success!! Paint!! Cleanup ( who is R.B?) Got a bit stuck with end float so I have posted stuff in help section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 A stripped down car takes up far more space than contained in re volume of a complete car. And there is always another job to be done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardhatharry Posted January 14, 2022 Author Share Posted January 14, 2022 Did fit a bit of bling though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Did you notice any change in the door gap Harry? I'm at the stage of measuring mine (although the outer sills have already come up) and surprisingly the door fit is worse on the side that measures the longest in the plane you've braced. I think for my car the bulkhead has sagged either when the lower A post was repaired, or the new floor was fitted. I'd check the bulkhead for cracks when using the ram, I've noticed the first place to give way when using one or door gap adjusters is the gearbox tunnel cover attachment holes in the engine bay. The metal cracks around the holes with the twist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardhatharry Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 I pushed the gap out to 23mm to allow bounce back of the metal and it all settled back into place with the same measurements on both sides. I also made diagonal and cross ways measurements too to ensure there was no twisting. Seems to be successful. Its now braced ready for the sill to be replaced... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 well done Harry, that's great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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