Radioactive Man Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Just thought I ought to say hi. Been 30 years since I last owned a Spitfire, happy to have changed that. A few jobs to do over the winter months. Bound to have questions Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Welcome Ian Bring on the pics..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Man Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 Ahh just worked out how to post pics. I am an IT dinosaur! _MG_6866.tif _MG_6857.tif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Man Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 That didnt work to well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Man Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 Think I have sorted it now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Very nice indeed Hello Ian Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Very red! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Tidy looking motor. welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwhite Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Hi There Very strange. I could have written the post by radioactive man.. 30 years since I owned a Spitfire and likewise I already have had/will have questions. Car looks great by the way. Wish i had those unpitted bumpers Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 On 10/10/2020 at 1:22 PM, Radioactive Man said: Think I have sorted it now... Is it just me or do the rear wheels sit at a strange angle? RR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Rear is sitting a bit high, probably on account of a new rear spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Man Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 I think the rear is a little high, I would love to know what sort of height it should be. When the car was restored it had a new spring from what i can tell going through the cars history. Its only done a few hundred miles over 10 years of previous ownership but it should have settled I would have thought. I have been thinking about trying a lowering block on it to drop the rear end down 3/4" or perhaps 1". When I look at the front and rear gaps between the top of the tyre and the arch the back looks big and the front looks to have a smaller gap. Opinions welcome as this is a perfect winter weekend project... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpbarrett Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 very nice car and a lovely colour, really suits the car Back does look high and the wheel arch gap looks large. I wonder what spring was fitted when it was rebuilt? Do you have any paperwork with it? mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Man Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 On 11/14/2020 at 8:09 AM, mpbarrett said: very nice car and a lovely colour, really suits the car Back does look high and the wheel arch gap looks large. I wonder what spring was fitted when it was rebuilt? Do you have any paperwork with it? mike I am sure I have a receipt from the PO that shows a new rear spring from GB Springs. Do you think I can find it now??? Looking under the car it does have TR001 painted in yellow on the underside of the spring. google shows that it could have come from GB Springs confirmign what I am sure I saw, they list TR001 as Spitfire Mk4 part no 159640Z. It does look like the back sits up by an inch or so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 1" is quite drastic, I'd start with 3/4" - the degree of camber change you want is more important than the ride height. It's not an awful job on a swing spring car and gives you a chance to inspect/renew the rear suspension bolts, and fit polybushes if you want, when you take the spring out. My car started off with about the same amount of positive camber and arch gap and handling was transformed after putting in a 1/2", it was like a revelation. I then luckily found someone on the CT forum to swap with and traded my 1/2" block for a 3/4", and think it's perfect. You can go too far with it (obviously), but lowering the rear and adding negative camber is one of the best safety / performance upgrades you can make to the car. It'll stop the car suddenly jumping across the road on a bumpy corner, and make it feel much more planted on the road and predictable. It's probably the best value modification you can make to a Spitfire IMO. http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/lowering_block.html Some reading for you. Don't be perturbed by having to modify the diff cover if you need longer studs, it's not much more than a light whack with a hammer for 3/4" IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Man Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hi Richard. Thanks for the advise. I will go with 3/4" and see how that works for now. I am about to ask a stupid question... sorry - I was just looking at the Moss Catalogue to get an idea of how the spring mounts to the diff. The spacer item 13, part number is 149189 does this go in the spring pack or underneath it. ? Its not a very good photo, looking at my spring it "looks" like the bottom leave is against the diff. Is that correct or should there already be some spacer in there? Sorry for the dumb question! On the positive, I am working my last week of notice in my old job and have a week off, starting a new job on the 1st Dec so have a free day to pull the spring off as it doesnt look a difficult job. Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hello Ian It is a GB spring I fitted about 2 years ago I think it sits about right now? Here is a photo from last year (somewhere in Spain or Portugal) so it will have luggage in the boot and probably a full ish tank of fuel It think mine did sit a bit high a first but I would rather have a touch high so when loaded its not to negative and still plenty of travel Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Ian Item 13 on that drawing is part of the spring assembly. You can see it between the bottom two leaves in this random picture I dug off the web. The spacer the guys are talking about is the shaped aluminium block you can see under the bottom leaf. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Man Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 32 minutes ago, rogerguzzi said: Hello Ian It is a GB spring I fitted about 2 years ago I think it sits about right now? Here is a photo from last year (somewhere in Spain or Portugal) so it will have luggage in the boot and probably a full ish tank of fuel It think mine did sit a bit high a first but I would rather have a touch high so when loaded its not to negative and still plenty of travel Roger I think yours is sitting a little more level than mine does. GB Springs have a good reputation in the world of Series Land Rovers. I have just ordered a 3/4" lowering block and studs so may fit that next week when I am between jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 To see how they sat originally go to http://www.motorgraphs.com/search/ If you type in "Triumph Spitfire" you'll find 80-odd photographs from the Triumph archives and a date on many of them. Until the late 70s they appear to have sat with quite a bit of negative camber in a 'sit up and beg' type position, slightly lower at the back. Perhaps that's because later cars have wider driveshafts which changes the camber angle, if the spring width remains the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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