A40 - saggy bottom firmed

[Matty]

12 minutes ago, morrisoxide said:

Nice Spitty! I too like the back end of the early ones but the front of the later ones. Looks like a lovely example nice reg too.

How did I manage to miss that Countryman? Bloody cool that.

I've bad thoughts about building a nice A60 or Oxford next with an Oselli spec B and overdrive box. Better suspension, better front brakes... Thanks pal you've sent me down the rabbit hole again 😄

I was on to my Dad and uncle about yours(the history of it) when we saw that Countryman. Now theyre both gutted as well we didnt meet it in the flesh!

[Matty]

49 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Wires on the Mk3 look a bit weedy. They look more muscular on steels.

It's in the planning. I can see it on the mildly banded steels and caps I've got on mine.

[morrisoxide]

55 minutes ago, Matty said:

I've bad thoughts about building a nice A60 or Oxford next with an Oselli spec B and overdrive box. Better suspension, better front brakes... Thanks pal you've sent me down the rabbit hole again 😄

I was on to my Dad and uncle about yours(the history of it) when we saw that Countryman. Now theyre both gutted as well we didnt meet it in the flesh!

That would be well cool.  I always wanted to put a C series engine like the Austin Freeway.

The Beardmore Brothers built a MGB powered Oxford for their parents to tow a caravan. It had a big overbore to 2 litres. I met them a few times an they loved it.   http://www.beardmorebros.co.uk/website pages/Dads_Oxford.html

I will always remember seeing the Beardmore lowlite Minor abosultly blistering along an unadopted road, when I was about 11yo on my push iron.

[Matty]

24 minutes ago, morrisoxide said:

That would be well cool.  I always wanted to put a C series engine like the Austin Freeway.

The Beardmore Brothers built a MGB powered Oxford for their parents to tow a caravan. It had a big overbore to 2 litres. I met them a few times an they loved it.   http://www.beardmorebros.co.uk/website pages/Dads_Oxford.html

I will always remember seeing the Beardmore lowlite Minor abosultly blistering along an unadopted road, when I was about 11yo on my push iron.

It's the motivation (as well as the funds) to be bothered. I'm still very much at the test destruct and rebuild stage at the one I'm on with. Don't get me wrong it's good fun but wearing at times.

[Matty]

Driven the Spitfire today. It needs a proper setup session over at the unit. Choke assy doesn't operate the chokes, it's a tad lean so suffers a low rpm stutter at small throttle openings. Drives really nicely though and pulls well.

The child in me is relieved that it isn't as quick as my a series powered A40. My 1310 is getting a second wind when this is out of puff. Won't be telling my Dad though.

Had the hard top off to try the soft top

And after literally 5 seconds of gentle pusuasion I was allowed to remove the fucking awful wing mirrors and launch them over the wall into the field. Hateful things.

I've fit a couple of grommets for the minute but the holes will be welded up properly and the wings sprayed in due course.

Aside from that there's a hundred small jobs to make it better. Little cosmetic jobs and stuff like the stainless exhaust is swatting off the chassis leg so needs adjusting. But overall he's spent well. It's a lovely solid honest old thing which is just shabby enough to be usable without worry.

[Matty]

Do our resident BMC settlers @Mr Pastry @SiC @Tommyboy12 @BeEP and so on know if spitfire hubs have the same pcd as other bmc shite like my Austin? The fake wires the spit currently wears are nasty. John Brown wheels do the deep dished steel with cap same as i have on mine for it so im going to chuck two of mine on one side of it to see how they look. Any ideas?

[Matty]

Finally have a couple of videos. As per I'm the camera man.

 

[Mr Pastry]

Spitfire is 3.75" pcd.  Austin is 4."

[Matty]

19 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Spitfire is 3.75" pcd.  Austin is 4."

Bah boo hiss etc etc 😆

(Thanks pal as usual)

[Matty]

Bit of a mixed bag at the mo (like my gearbox but we will get back to that).

Box is buggered. I set about stripping the spare midget box but he who must be obeyed (uncle) said we don't know what it needs till it been driven. Which makes sense. I'm skilled enough to measure accurately and have access to the proper gear. I know how to assess gear wear as I do it for a job. But I've no fucking clue what a healthy sychromesh looks like. Amongst other things.

So I took the remote off and lubricated it, wire wheeled the blue hammerite off and in it went.

The results were (again) a mixed bag. The change quality is ace. The change speed is bullet quick, even better than my old box. The synchros are perfect up and down the box.

On the other hand the mains bearings and needle rollers are tired. And first gear sounds like a posh coffee machine grinding beans with an over lying shriek that sends very old people to the nearest air raid shelter. Which probably means the corresponding lay gear is shagged as well. This could be expensive. And it has to come out again. Le sigh 😕 

[Matty]

On the other hand whilst this has been happening my ace Dad threw the family courtesy car at me last weekend in time for the good weather. Used it all weekend as an car. May be a little bit in love. In terms of outright pace it wouldn't see where mine went but when them twin carbs are warbling and your sat 2 inch off the ground who cares.

[JMotor]

Yay for Spitty action.

Gearbag on the other hand....

Y U DO DIS GEARBAG. 

 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, JMotor said:

Yay for Spitty action.

Gearbag on the other hand....

Y U DO DIS GEARBAG. 

 

It'll be reet. At least it's not a powershift or the like 😆 

[Tommyboy12]

I dread the day the gearbox in my turbo Mini craps itself. These A-series can make good power but the gearboxes they are connected to aren't designed for it

[comfortablynumb]

Cough Jack knight? Cough

If you win the lottery 🥺

[Matty]

11 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

I dread the day the gearbox in my turbo Mini craps itself. These A-series can make good power but the gearboxes they are connected to aren't designed for it

 

6 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

Cough Jack knight? Cough

If you win the lottery 🥺

Indeed. There's one or two off the shelf 5 speed conversions for rwd a series. Early days when I got this car @tooSavvy and @SiC linked me into Barret Engineering. Very nice conversion kit that uses the original cross member and comes with a billet flywheel, clutch kit, cable conversion, propshaft and everything bar the suzuki jimney gearbox. And they'll even supply a recon box. But the cost is about 2 and a half grand for the kit and another 800 for the box on exchange. Sound on a mint 5 figure midget or Sprite but not happening on a 3 grand A40.

It's a shame really. Someone's put a later full synchro box in the Spitfire with o/d. Having synchromesh first is a joy and overdrive is a revelation. But the shift quality is akin to changing points in a victorian signal box. The B type box as fitted to rear drive a series stuff is a lovely quick changing box, brilliant shift quality. But it's lacking in durability.

I'll do a proper job on the Midget box as its got better ratios than the a40 one I've blown up. Then it'll be fine for a long time if I don't abuse it.

[Matty]

I have now stripped the old gearbox. Surprisingly I haven't found anything really wrong. All bearings are mint, all gears are good. Layshaft is starting to go on the surface and the end float of the laygear is too much. What I did find is the selector fork for 3rd and 4th was no longer held on the rod by it's set screw and lock nut which had wound loose. So maybe all this was a gear selection issue??

At the end of October the new midget box is coming out as well. I will strip it and assess which is the most viable to rebuild. Needs to be the Midget one really for the better ratios but we will see.

[Matty]

In the meantime on Tuesday night whilst idly browsing eBay I turned up what looked like a very good condition set of late midget 1500 seats. Even better they were only hundred quid. Even better they were in my home town. Couldn't hit BIN fast enough 🫡

Good scrub up and a lick of paint on the rails is all they need. Should make their way into the car in the next few weeks. Gets rid finally of the one thing I hate about the car.

Otherwise just driving it. Even with the air raid siren first gear 

[Matty]

And in other news, another family addition. My Uncle Tony finally pulled the trigger.

Genuine milage car. Been off the road 17 years or so. Needs sills and a door skin. Plan is to make it solid and use it, not a shiny resto. 

Work looks like garage from the past these days 🤣

[Noel Tidybeard]

ooh birminghamshire reg on the chavalier ascona

[Matty]

It's come down from Motherwell to Lancs. So it's got about a bit.

1 hour ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

ooh birminghamshire reg on the chavalier ascona

 

[Matty]

Banging hang over this morning.

So with that in mind why not spend the afternoon in work fitting my new Midget seats?

Assume the position (again)

Current state of affairs

I've custom frames that use the original mounting points for the cars original seats. These are now too wide for the hole centres on the new runners. Never mind, cut the old tabs off and weld new on 

Paint, bolt back in the car, drill and fit the seat.

How much better does that look. Usefully smaller than the Rover seats and properly period looking. Dead comfy and all.

[plasticvandan]

Can of blue vinyl dye for full stealth mode

[Matty]

And then the punchline. Thank god I'm just about bright enough to do the passenger seat first. With the seat at full adjustment back it's not far enough. So I'll have to make new frames again in order to mount the seats far enough back. Fuck my life. To be continued when I feel like fighting the ungrateful little bastard again 😆

[Matty]

3 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

Can of blue vinyl dye for full stealth mode

I mean you're not wrong but the interior is such a miss match I'm going to leave them black. At some point in its life the car was stripped and all the interior bar the dash lost. So the PO got together what he could. It now has blue door cards down one side and green the other. And a half blue half green back seat. So black seats is the least of its worries 🤣

[JMotor]

I agreed with dying them blue.

But now you mentioned it's a bitsa anyway. It kinda suits the mismatch now.

Besides you'll not notice it when you're hooning about giving that A-Series what for!

[Matty]

52 minutes ago, JMotor said:

I agreed with dying them blue.

But now you mentioned it's a bitsa anyway. It kinda suits the mismatch now.

Besides you'll not notice it when you're hooning about giving that A-Series what for!

Still an option (the hooning bit) as I left the driving seat alone. Otherwise I'd have been sat there trying to drive it like a pg tips monkey 😆 

[N Dentressangle]

Those seats look great, and a local bargain even better.

If you wanted matching colours I'd vinyl dye the back seats black rather than trying to match the blue.

[Matty]

4 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

Those seats look great, and a local bargain even better.

If you wanted matching colours I'd vinyl dye the back seats black rather than trying to match the blue.

Cheers pal. Nearly done now. Just the gearbox rebuild. The dual circuit master cylinder. Thicker anti roll bar. Maybe a little drop on the front end.....

[2flags]

Ah, the gearbox. They have a graphite thrust bearing that can go bang and leave you unable to change gear. At least mine did many, many years ago. I do remember that the box was cast iron and fucking heavy. Had to change it on the drive, [as you did in those days, and just grateful that you had a drive, and not at the side of a busy main road!] I was 19 at the time. [I'm not nay more had haven't been for many, many years.] 😁