Ep.18 | Restoring my '73 Triumph Spitfire 1500
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Hi everyone!
In today's episode I clean out the engine bay :)
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OK Saige, if I'm being honest then I must admit that at this point I am drawing inspiration from you. After spending the past 45 years working on my own cars and motorcycles, I can't always manage to find the same amount of motivation to do the sort of things needed now that I am older and dealing with other dilemmas that life can throw at us. (And I've never even had to pull an engine before.) Watching videos like this one serves as a reminder that there is no substitute for sheer determination. The knowledge and wisdom that you gain along the way through this experience will serve you well for the rest of your life. You continue to impress, please keep up the good fight!
Wow thank you for your kind words that’s so sweet :)
Very well done Saige, Your enthusiasm should be bottled and sold to people who need inspiration. You do by doing, and its refreshing to see someone as young as you getting on with it..!! Keep it up, you doing great.
That is so sweet thank you Neil :)
Hello! I just bought a 73 Spitfire 1500 for my wife (40th anniversary). You have to be rich to buy any other car that is as pretty! We are having fun driving around the neighborhood. Thanks for the channel. I will be watching for pointers.
Aw that is so sweet I hope you both enjoy it lots!
Hi Saige on your Spitfire the firewall is the vertical panel below the windshield down to where the floor starts under the pedal area and footwells.. A firewall is a physical devider between the engine and the passerger compartment. I had an old Spitfire for a short time. But it was too far gone body wise for me to bring back to life So i an looking forward to you getting to enjoy your car. Tom in the Maritimes at the NB-NS border
Hi Tom, ok got it thanks for letting me know!
Nice vid, But it has Triumph Stag wheels on it. Just need to put the spitfire wheels back on it.
Nicely done! Once you get it clean it's much easier to keep it that way. I've found those Mr. Clean magic erasers work well for cleaning under the bonnets on my Triumphs.
Thank you! Yeah it’ll be nice to have a clean starting point!
"Some water got inside." LOL. No truer words have been spoken about every Spitfire.
See you at British Car Day in Sept. There at usually at least a dozen Spitfires to see there.
Haha at least mines no different! Sounds good, I can’t wait :)
I am really enjoying your content Saige. This was great fun.
Thank you so much!
Good start! I don't know if you can tell but most of that black stuff on the firewall is a spray-on undercoating. The entire engine bay except for the radiator frame, splash shields, steering system and suspension system are supposed to be the same color as the car. You are at a time when you can really make your car look extremely nicer by taking off most of the stuff that is still on the inside the engine bay and cleaning and re-painting the engine bay back like it came from the factory. You really don't have that much to do. My best results for cleaning up an area like this is to put a drop cloth down to catch the drippings and use kerosine and a wire brush to get more of the grease off. Next I then go back over the entire area with dawn dishwashing soap to further de-grease it. Lastly, I would use SOS pads all of everything to further clean and also to scuff up the painted surface for painting. The areas up front that have the surface rust, you might want to use a a product called POR-15. It will treat the area with a special paint that stops any further rust. Then, you will scuff that it preparation to paint the engine bay. I would encourage you to really watch out for getting red paint on any of the parts I mentioned above as it will take away from the appeal once you have completed this. I would recommend that you get with Elin regarding rebuilding the front end suspension with new ball joints and shocks. That way you can strip the engine bay down to the frame and end up with a really nice job. Also, the battery box has a drain that goes through the firewall , into the cockpit and then through the floor to drain out on the ground. That is likely clogged. I believe I have mentioned in the past that I would also recommend purging you brake clutch master cylinders, piping and slave cylinders and going to DOT 5 silicone brake fluid in both. That way, should you ever have a leak in either of these systems the brake fluid will not ruin your hard work of painting the engine bay like DOT 3 does. Its not very hard just open up a bleed valve, one at a time, and spray brake cleaner through until the brake cleaner comes out. Close off that bleed valve and repeat process on the other 4 bleed valves (there is a bleed valve on the clutch slave cylinder). lastly, open up all bleed valves spray in brake cleaner and then blow it out with air pressure. Then refill both systems with DOT 5. Also, the EASIEST way to bleed these 2 systems is to just crack open each bleed valve and let the brake fluid flow out. Just make sure that you don't allow the master cylinder to run out of fluid when you are doing this or you'll have to start over. When you do this method its best to bleed the front brake lines first then the back ones. Good luck with everything and congrats on figuring out the pressure washer. How empowering it is to figure things out for yourself? kd
This is awesome thanks KD! I really want it to look amazing so I’ll follow all of this advice :)
As I mentioned, you'll need to pull nearly everything off of the firewall and the frame. This will give you a chance to "freshen" up the front suspension and make flushing the front brake lines that much easier. One thing I'm a big fan of when doing this is powdercoating the suspension parts. Believe it or not but you can do this yourself! It would require the purchase of a powdercoating gun and a used kitchen oven. A small sandblasting cabinet would finish the ensemble. You then sandblast the particular part to bare metal, spray the powdercoat on the part and then put it in the oven at 425° for 15 minutes and presto, your part has a super tough finish on it. You can buy heat resistant tape to cover areas that do not need powdercoating. Of course, you can just have each piece done by a powdercoater but that might get cost prohibitive. The great thing about doing it yourself is that you can do it relatively inexpensively and keep the equipment to powdercoat other things such as brackets that go on the motor itself. A large enough oven and you could powdercoat that radiator bracket! Believe it or not but you can even powdercoat glass objects as well! So you can be crafty with it. The other cool thing about powdercoating is that once the object and coating cool down its ready for handling with no fear of affecting the finish. Also, the powdercoat is ready for use in a moment vs any prep needed for regular paint. The main drawback is the loss of powdercoat beads to overspray but even that can be overcome with a booth. One other suggestion that my stepfather recommended was to take one part off, strip and clean, re-finish and then set it up on a self until that whole section is ready for re-installation with new bearings and seals. With regards to the front suspension, that means you'll still have the other assembled side to use to help with assembly. Once the re- furbished side it completed you can use it as you model for the other side. I know I said you need to remove everything from the frame rails so you can properly paint them but you can paint one frame rail at a time once you have that side completely stripped. Sorry for how long-winded I am......I'm semi-retired so I have no life!
@@kevindiel1717 wow this is really interesting stuff and would be super cool to do, thanks for letting me know!
Looks great and will just keep getting better as you work on the car and fix things. Fir example, the steering rack and front suspension will be much easier to clean if and when they are removed for any work.
A "problem" with a thorough cleaning like this is that all that built up grease and oil was preventing rust. Once cleaned, any bare metal will begin to rust faster unless it's coated with primer and paint or something else to protect it.
It is MUCH more fun to work on a clean car free from years of grease, oil, gunk build up!
Thank you! I have been a bit worried about it started to rust more, fingers crossed I can get it all done quickly before that happens
Bonjour Saige :), I understand you are a bit in a hurry to put it back on the road & begin driving it..😃
but considering the great job you already achieved so far and given the engine is now out, you could have a top condition looking engine bay (chassis, suspension) in one or two week's time of hard work max.. (hiring Dad!).😊
The front end of these cars is built like a meccano and is very simple to take apart as side units, leaving a bare chassis far more easier to work on for power wire brushing/derusting, etc..
The suspension turrets are themselves bolted up to the main frame.
You could send all those bare suspension parts (turrets, upper & lower wishbones, brake backplates, damper springs, anti-roll bar) to a sandblaster prior to painting..
You could take opportunity to replace several worn bushes.
In case you'd wish doing it, anti-roll bar needs to be removed first from lower wishbones and chassis with both wheels lifted.
Then brake calipers need to be unbolted and supported so that brake pipe tubing wouldn't be bent.
Both steering rack tie-rod end ball-joints need to be removed with a ball joint universal extractor tool.
Then unblock the lower wishbone damper bolt and inner rubber bush bolts.
Now it is possible to separate the upper wishbone to outer ball-joint bolts.
Next you remove the three smaller damper unit nuts at the top of the turret.
Beware! don't remove the central bigger nut as this actually holds the suspension spring!
Now push complete suspension unit down to clear the damper unit studs from the frame turret.
Remove the two lower wishbone mounting nuts that are located on the inner face of the chassis frame (where engine stands), Then by pulling evenly the lower wishbone outwards, full suspension unit will be separated from the chassis. Well, take care noting respective position of the flat split shim packs behind each wishbone brackets as they will fall down (they are setting suspension angles).
Now you can remove upper wishbone bolts inwards.
Damper&spring unit can be sent to local garage to be taken apart. Rusty parts of the chassis can be treated by phosphoric acid before painting, it can easily be found in big diy stores and is very effective (wear gloves & full protection goggles) . Keep it up! 😉😉
Bonjour! This is a great idea I think next time I clean it I will take a bunch of parts out for a better clean so doing what you suggested would be great!
Well done Saige. 😃
Tedious work, but therapeutic:D
Yes!
Hi Saige good application of "elbow grease". The 2 "firewalls" that you removed are actually the inner fender liners. They are there to keep tire splash away from the engine bay.. Have a great day. You will enjoy your car much more after all the work to get it back to running condition. Tom in the Maritimes at the NB-NS border
Thanks for letting me know this Tom, there’s so much to learn :)
Great job, Saige. The bottle at the front of the chassis is the overflow bottle for the radiator. The raw, rusted spots revealed beneath the tar based undercoating can be converted to a black coloured, paintable surface with rust converter like the Rust Check Rust Converter. And don't worry too much about the black coloured seam covers on the rear fenders. They are OEM factory painted black not some mistake by a previous owner. The spots in the paint can be removed with a paint correction by a detail shop or by using electric buffers but must be done carefully to avoid burning or cutting through the paint. Perhaps get professional advice on that once the car is re-assembled and running.
I’ll look into getting the rust converter thanks!
I tip I was taught a while back was when painting you can quickly cover wires and such with tin foil (make sure batt is disconnected). You just quickly grab the wires with the tin foil and it conforms around the wires and wraps them. Lot faster and easier than taping everything off. If it works for painting it should do the same with cleaning. For heavy grease I use the purple stuff from Carquest parts stores (not a sponsor) just have to be careful as it can take paint off if left too long...it's pretty strong stuff, wear gloves. I've gotten it on my hands and no big deal but best to be safe. Agitate with a stiff brush and will work wonders. Someone below mentioned Simple Green...that's also a similar product, you can also thin out with water. Good luck...the car is looking better with each thing you do.
That’s a good idea with the tin foil and I’ll look into that product, thanks Jon!
Very good! A metal scraper and wire brush are a bit too harsh as they will really damage the paint. When I redid my TR6 engine bay (which wasn’t bad to begin with admittedly) I used a full round toilet brush with the handle cut to fit in a drill chuck. Simple Green works well, Incredible Pink is good, but a thicker mixture of Dawn and water makes a pretty good degreaser in a pinch. Your patience is admirable, keep moving forward you’ll be very happy in the end!
Sounds good I’ll try not to use metal tools on the paint and look into those products, thanks!
All that gunk, grease, & oil has been your LBC's best friends ... rust inhibitors! ... but yes, now time to clean up its act ;)
Very true!
Wire brush will scratch your paint. Use a stiff paint brush instead. Remove the dirt and grease not the paint.
Ok got it thank you!
everytime i get disappointed with gen Z, vids like this pop up. in reality i think gen Z are better at working and more self starters than millenials. impressed. for me when i degrease i use plastic paint scraper, cloths, plastic wool like you use for dishes, green dish scrubber and i typically use varsol. you're gonna have a cool looking neat car.
Haha I appreciate that I’m helping my generation a tiny bit :) I’ll get some of those for next time thanks!
Love the videos but I would be making the titles about what the video is about it will help you in search and youtube will push your video's to who ever is looking for this type of video. But keep the episode numbers. The car is coming along great! Keep up the great work!
This is a great recommendation thanks! Maybe for Episode 20 I’ll switch it up!
@@saigesgarage Can't wait to see it!! Hope to see you diving it soon!!
❤
Nice going! I think I would have gone about it the same way.
Thanks!
Simple Green does a good job and won't kill you
I’ll check it out thanks :)
Great job 👏❤
Thank you!
good job, brake cleaner works great, but expensive, or petrol
petrol, paraffin, and to remove the stubborn underseal white spirit or some proper thinners from a car paint supplier. That should also clear the black tar spots down the side of the car.
You could get a decorators "hook" scraper to get in where the flat one can't reach, you shouldn't really need a wire brush but stiff old paintbrushes are fine for working cleaners and solvents into the gunky corners.
I’ll look into both thanks!
Hello I want to buy and renovate a Spitfire I would like to know how long it took you to do everything.
Hi there! If you want to get a Spitfire I say do it! I purchased mine in March of 2022, and had the engine blown in May of 2022. I’ve been working on it ever since and still don’t have it running, however I’m often out of town and unable to work on it so I’m usually only doing a bit of work each month. If you have the time to consistently work on it you could have it ready much sooner than I will!
👍🏼👍🏼
Paige a couple of comments. I had a number of Spitfires when I was young. You are loosing nothing replacing you 1500 with a 1300. The single carb 1500 was a smog engine. A twin carb 1300 has a good bit more horsepower. Wiki has a good list by year. If the compression is good on the 1300. Clean. Install, tune, and enjoy. Depending on the year of the 1300 it can have almost 50% greater hp.
That’s great to know thank you David!
Brake cleaner is your friend it will get anything off no problem
Only use it in the engine bay though
Ok got it I wasn’t sure if I should use it because it said it can’t touch rubber so I’ll just be careful
I found as others mention Simple Greenworks great especially the concentrated stuff, it can be used as is or watered down Dawn dish soap works great as you get the bulk of the mess gone. I found stiff plastic brushes worked very well ( Canadian tire housewares for kitchen cleaning). Fine wire brushes as well. Take pictures of each area of the engine compartment then take things out, so you can clean where they were and them by themselves,and you can look back to see where it goes. Wiring can be moved the same way and put back correctly if you have the pictures. The bottle up front is the radiator overflow and it can be removed by pulling up and unscrewing the bracket. Your doing a great job.
@@barry6274 I'll look into Simple Greenworks and you're right moving things out if the way/taking them out would result in a much better clean!