2-26-2011

I fucked up a bit. When I installed the cockpit acoustic and thermal insulation I neglected to account for the removable center tunnel…which means I sealed it to the body tub with the butyl acoustic sheeting.

No I’m going to have to cut it off so that I can remove the tunnel to get to the clutch slave cylinder. I’ll lose the tunnel piece in the process. But I applied the butyl sheeting the way I did in the first place because the cardboard tunnel was disintegrating anyway so no great loss. Moss and VB both sell the replacement plastic tunnel covers for a somewhat reasonable price thought the shipping is what kills on big items like that.

Speaking of fucking up, the piston on my air compressor decided that it didn’t like the cylinder head so it pushed it right off, shattering the entire cylinder head in the process. It was covered under warranty at Northern Tools but when I took it back, I was told they no longer had that air compressor and was asked if I would like to buy the one that cost twice as much? I answered that I did not.

So I tried buying one from Sears but, sadly, that was a great illustration for me of why people don’t shop at Sears anymore. I’ll probably wind up getting a Craftsman anyway; it’s just a huge pain in the ass to deal with Sears anymore.

I cleaned up one of the tail light assemblies for the Spit. It turned out pretty nice and the chrome was surprisingly pit-free. I replaced the inner lens gasket with one I made myself from thin closed-cell black foam that I bought at a craft store. I’ll be replacing the lamps in the assemblies with the replacement LED units for 1157 and 1156 lamps. I’ll also have to swap out the flasher unit with an electronic flasher unit for the LED’s to work but that unit only costs a few dollars.

2-24-2011 Back to work...at least a bit

It is winter and I am notorious for not doing shit when it is cold. Maybe it is the SAD which hits me in the winter or maybe I just don't like freezing my ass off... either way, I do very little in the winter months.
Well it got warm here for a bit and that got me out and working. I cleaned up the garage and got the Spit down off the jack sands and back on her own wheels. I then moved her sideways into the back of the garage so my Wifey can finally get her Mini Cooper into the garage.
The Spit is small enough to fit in with the Mini and the MG roadster in there and still allow me to work on them.
THE BIG NEWS:
I picked up a 1967 MGB GT. I paid way to much for it and it has more rust than the Titanic but it looks good and it is drivable...if you don;t mind the Flintstone floorboards, leaking rear axle seals, intermittent brakes, bad starter and utterly inadequate charging system.
So I'm doing a rolling resto on that now...uggggggghhhh!












Back to the Spitfire.
I pulled the carb off and sent it off to get rebuilt. A local guy who is a NASCAR mechanic is doing the work...maybe the Spit will go fast when he's done...nah. I also have just about all the parts I need to finish the restoration so I may actually have the thing running in a week or two.

I started de-rusting the lower front apron area beneath the bumper. I'll also have to fab up some brackets to get the front bolt holes on the bumper to line up with the bumper brackets on the frame.
The Wifey says it will never run. I can't blame her, the damned car was supposed to be done last summer.
It WILL be on the road and finished by spring. The GT will also be finished in the next few weeks so I'll go from zero LBC's on the road at the begininning of the year to two finished ones. Then it's just the 74 MG roadster and 95 Corvette and all my cars will be done.

I think I may do an all-electric Spitfire or MG next...
:)