Trimph Spitfire first car!

[Agrispeed]

So, The next job to do on the spit' is the head gasket...I think...

I need a new rocker cover at least as its been over tightened at some point so it leaks oil, and the rocker gaskets gone. However Im mostly doing short journeys and getting huge amounts of mayo, and water droplets. The car is also using a lot of water, but after fitting a new (22") rad, i cant get the hoses to stop leaking, especially as in one the thermostat for the extra rad goes in between it, so i cannot be sure that its the head

So, do I do the head gasket myself? i have all the necessary tools, and spare time, but how hard is it?

the car is also feeling rather down on power, and i know these things have only slightly less power than a sparrow... but would a head gasket effect it? also, how do i get my hands on a compression tool, and how much moola?

yes, I am an Idiot, but I do like tinkering


Will have pics of all these developments soon

[Agrispeed]

Here are the Pics from the new wiring loom, which was outstandingly easy to fit. took longer to put the crap back in the car, about 20 mins tops!



First I labeled the old wiring loom, which was unusual for me, and certainly made things a bit easier, I also drew a diagram... the old loom had a new spur coming off it, so not surprisingly it was rubbish!

Next, I had to get a new loom, as i couldnt find one of Rimmer bros or others, I had to go to ebay (or I could've made my own, and we have all the kit, but that was far too much hassle..


Putting the loom in was easy, and it just threaded through the floor, although I did have to cut the old loom to fit, and pulled it through the rear wing with the remains of it.
here is the old one;


I then crammed all the rubbish back in the car (must treat it to some new carpets and insulation at some point...)

Of course, the Test drive had to follow, where I managed to grab this picture and yes it is that small (fnarr), at 114cm high...




Bonus points for guessing the car in the corner of the upper pic

Edited by Agrispeed on Monday 2nd July 01:26

[Sf_Manta]

Pulling the head off isn't too hard, given it's a A or B series, you won't even nudge the timing i'd have thought.
Get a haynes at least to give yourself a rough guide, and buy all the gaskets you need for the top end. Whilst you're there it's worth doing the valve guide seals, and have the head skimmed by a local machine shop to be sure it's square.
Once the heads off, be sure to scrape any reminants off the block before installing the new gasket and use a thin smear of blue hylomar on the new gaskets when reapplying them, or exhaust assembly paste for the exhaust manifold.

Just take your time and ask for help from anyone who you know who's had a head off themselves.

Edited by Sf_Manta on Monday 2nd July 01:31

[Pixel-Snapper]

Excellent first choice chap... I keep getting drawn to spits on ebay but need to finish my mini van first!

[S2Mike]

How refreshing, a real car as a first motor !!
I will get my son to look into this, then he can sell his Citroen Saxo, that is gonna cost him £1500 to insure!!
He can have some real driving experience in one of these,
Thanks for Posting This !!!

[SomeMinorTrouble]

Very jealous of you; you utter sod!

[N Dentressangle]

Agrispeed said:

So, The next job to do on the spit' is the head gasket...I think...

I need a new rocker cover at least as its been over tightened at some point so it leaks oil, and the rocker gaskets gone. However Im mostly doing short journeys and getting huge amounts of mayo, and water droplets. The car is also using a lot of water, but after fitting a new (22") rad, i cant get the hoses to stop leaking, especially as in one the thermostat for the extra rad goes in between it, so i cannot be sure that its the head

So, do I do the head gasket myself? i have all the necessary tools, and spare time, but how hard is it?

the car is also feeling rather down on power, and i know these things have only slightly less power than a sparrow... but would a head gasket effect it? also, how do i get my hands on a compression tool, and how much moola?

yes, I am an Idiot, but I do like tinkering


Will have pics of all these developments soon

By coincidence I've just found a new old stock head gasket set from my own Triumph tinkering days in my parent's garage, which ought to fit your car if it's still a 1300cc:



Yours for the cost of the postage (£4ish probably) if you'd like it.

[FerrousOxide]

Good on you fella. My first car was a Spitfire MkIV too. Big end bearings went 7 miles after picking it up(!), but after that she did me proud. I put 20,000miles a year on her for the next few years. There's nothing like first love!

[Agrispeed]

N Dentressangle said:

Agrispeed said:

So, The next job to do on the spit' is the head gasket...I think...

I need a new rocker cover at least as its been over tightened at some point so it leaks oil, and the rocker gaskets gone. However Im mostly doing short journeys and getting huge amounts of mayo, and water droplets. The car is also using a lot of water, but after fitting a new (22") rad, i cant get the hoses to stop leaking, especially as in one the thermostat for the extra rad goes in between it, so i cannot be sure that its the head

So, do I do the head gasket myself? i have all the necessary tools, and spare time, but how hard is it?

the car is also feeling rather down on power, and i know these things have only slightly less power than a sparrow... but would a head gasket effect it? also, how do i get my hands on a compression tool, and how much moola?

yes, I am an Idiot, but I do like tinkering


Will have pics of all these developments soon

By coincidence I've just found a new old stock head gasket set from my own Triumph tinkering days in my parent's garage, which ought to fit your car if it's still a 1300cc:



Yours for the cost of the postage (£4ish probably) if you'd like it.

Yes! fantastic. PM'ed

[N Dentressangle]

There are some really cheap compression testers on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw...

or Halfords sell the Gunsons one for about £25, I think. I'd buy an Ebay cheapie, if I were you. They're useful to have, even if you'll rarely get it out of the box.

I'd do the head gasket myself. It's about the easiest you'll ever do, and you can lap the valves in whilst you're there. You'll need this, if you don't already have one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHEMICO-VALVE-GRINDING-P...

[Agrispeed]

Well, bad news and good news today...

I managed to fix the leak in the radator finally, and it was running ok

on the down side.. this finally arrived, many thanks for the advice;

N Dentressangle said:

There are some really cheap compression testers on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw...

TOOL-/140728278906?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20c40f1f7a

and it showed a compression pressure of;

60(PSI)
40
50
62

which is not within 10% as they should, and very low, as i was told figures of 130 were reasonable (although anyone with their own ones would be welcome to share )

so, now It is time to rip the engine apart and put the new gasket in, probably a reconditioned head (does anyone know where to get one? i think canley do them but Im not sure); maybe an unleaded one, but funds depending... I'm also going to get a new rocker cover and breather pipe, as one has been overtightened by a previous owner, and the pipe is weeping oil onto the carbs, which isn't great...

On the plus side, I now have an excuse to mess around with the engine

[Munter]

Agrispeed said:

and it showed a compression pressure of;

60(PSI)
40
50
62

which is not within 10% as they should, and very low, as i was told figures of 130 were reasonable (although anyone with their own ones would be welcome to share )

so, now It is time to rip the engine apart and put the new gasket in, probably a reconditioned head (does anyone know where to get one? i think canley do them but Im not sure); maybe an unleaded one, but funds depending... I'm also going to get a new rocker cover and breather pipe, as one has been overtightened by a previous owner, and the pipe is weeping oil onto the carbs, which isn't great...

On the plus side, I now have an excuse to mess around with the engine

Did you do a wet test?

If that sounds like I know what I'm talking about...I don't. But I understand you can try putting a drop or two of oil in the cylinder and then test to see if the reading increases. I think this can tell you if the problem is piston rings (readings increase) or in the head/gasket (no change). Might be worth a shot before taking the head off and make sure you're not fixing something that's not there.

[S2Mike]

Munter said:

Did you do a wet test?

If that sounds like I know what I'm talking about...I don't. But I understand you can try putting a drop or two of oil in the cylinder and then test to see if the reading increases. I think this can tell you if the problem is piston rings (readings increase) or in the head/gasket (no change). Might be worth a shot before taking the head off and make sure you're not fixing something that's not there.

That's a very good piece of advice, not heard that before!
Got to be worth checking before pulling it all apart.

[V8Triumph]

Nice car OP I own a GT6 Mk.1 (yes the one with 'suicide' suspension) ....

Hoppo - please send me more info about your BMW engined Spit

[Agrispeed]

Munter said:

Did you do a wet test?

Great advice! well, I did the following and I got 15-20PSI more over all the cylinders (warm engine) however, I still feel it his the HG as it isnt a great increase, compared to the 130 psi it should be.

also, the reverse light bulb holders have BOTH broken , although one sort of works, but i will need both for the MOT. so i will order new ones, along with a new rocker cover, breather pipe and Y piece, followed shortly by a recon'ed head from canley... Gonna be a bit painful on the wallet... but hey-ho, as i suspect i would still get more from the car than I will put into it with this, even though i never intend to sell...

may put pictures up later, depending on how moreish this cider is

[N Dentressangle]

You don't need reversing lights for the MoT, so that's some good news.

Unless your head is cracked, it will probably respond to a rebuild involving much more labour than anything else. I'd save the £285 for a new head until I'd had a go at diagnosing and rebuilding the one you have, if it were me.

You'll be able to spot whether the gasket was leaking or not, and it's worth having the head skimmed. Someone like these guys:

http://www.cornwallengine.co.uk/

or

http://www.westcornwallengineservices.co.uk/

will be able to help and give you an idea of cost. <£50 would be my guess. Lapping your valves in properly using the gubbins you've got off Ebay will make a big difference.

The £285 is actually a good deal, I'd say - certainly saves a lot of time and trouble. Just depends how you value your time, and how much you enjoy playing about!

[Agrispeed]

N Dentressangle said:

You don't need reversing lights for the MoT, so that's some good news.

Unless your head is cracked, it will probably respond to a rebuild involving much more labour than anything else. I'd save the £285 for a new head until I'd had a go at diagnosing and rebuilding the one you have, if it were me.

You'll be able to spot whether the gasket was leaking or not, and it's worth having the head skimmed. Someone like these guys:

http://www.cornwallengine.co.uk/

or

http://www.westcornwallengineservices.co.uk/

will be able to help and give you an idea of cost. <£50 would be my guess. Lapping your valves in properly using the gubbins you've got off Ebay will make a big difference.

The £285 is actually a good deal, I'd say - certainly saves a lot of time and trouble. Just depends how you value your time, and how much you enjoy playing about!

once Again, many thanks for the advice! I was guessing that the head was possibly damaged through fuel use, and that forking out for an unleaded head would possibly be a good idea... however, if it isnt I would love the idea of saving £285 ... I looked on ebay at lapping valves, and it looks fairly easy- as a lot of engine things do, as long as you take your time!

I thought the lights you had, must work, but they don't need to if you don't have them.

Again, thanks for the advice

[Agrispeed]

Well another update folks, I tried to start the car yesterday after doing the test, and had to readjust the points... Today, tried to start it, and nothing. Checked fuel, completely stripped and rebuilt the dizzy, still nothing... Will check HT leads & sparks tomorrow.

Cock. Was a sunny day too

[bakerstreet]

Steffan said:

I found the best bit was scraping my head on the hood irons as I flew up from the rebound of the pothole/whetever.

Moral: drive with Hood down whenever possible.

Enjoy the car, this should be a great buy.

Mechanically they are like Meccano to maintain. Should give 30+ MPG and cruise comfortably at Motorway speeds.

Hood will be noisy. Speedwell and others did very good hardtops for winter use the later ones even had plug in heated rear windscreen. Which worked. I found the hardtops very worthwhile from November until April. More secure a lot quieter and much warmer. There will be ones about on the Bay and so on.

I regret to say insurance is becoming seriously prohibitive for young drivers

I would expect more of this as the realisation of insurance costs sinks in.

Classic Mini could be much better than a modern box in overall costs terms. Virtually no depreciation, rock bottom insurance and cheap to maintain.

Happy Motoring.

Edited by Steffan on Thursday 16th February 16:29

I would question a classic Mini being cheap to manitain and run. Tax is now £220+ a year for the older Minis and my 1000 struggled to hit 30mpg.

They are easy to maintain though. Oil changes are dead easy as are spark plus and air filters ect ect. They need servicnig more often than a modern car though. Quick release bonnet on my old Mini made it much easier to work on and you didn't bang your head on the bonnet catch either

OP: Great looking car. The colour suits it too. The TR6 is my personal favourite. My lottery garage would feature a TR6 witha modern V8 underthe bonnet

[Agrispeed]

finished stripping the car down this evening, will get the head delt with, strip down the valves, and check for broken valves tomorrow

here be some pictures;
before


after;


and a picture of sexy sexy ROCKERSHAFT


oddly a couple of the rockers were not properly aligned on the conrods, which was worrying...

and unlike how i would normally approach something, i was very organized and took pictures of every stage and labelled everything

Edited by Agrispeed on Friday 13th July 19:20