Chassis and body shell

New floors arrived today - lovely :-) ! Means I now have all the main panels I need to start repairing the body shell (at least for the passenger side anyway). To facilitate this work, I moved the bodyshell off te support frame I'd built from an old metal bed frame onto my spare Chassis. Did this on my own which was easier than I imagined actually :-) I've now bolted the body onto the chassis (which will act as a jig) and cut out the passenger side sill, floor and lower A post. I say cut out but in reality it was mostly drilling out the rivets that had been used to hold an aluminium floor panel in place and likewise the sill! Fortunately I have the door gap braced and a Steel hardtop bolted in to help keep the body together!

Whilst this has been going on I've also started to strip the original chassis. other than a duff outrigger on the passenger side she's in remarkably good condition I think! Here's a pic.

Told you I would wait so long till my next post! had a good week thsi week - lots done and some great buys too!

On the work front - a member of my local TSSC area who just happens to be an expert welder came to view the body shell with the intention of helping me get the welding sorted. I was really pleased that he didn't think the shell was basically just scrap! indeed he thought it certainly solid enough to get up to a good standard without any real problems! So with his advice still clear in my head I started cutting (after the body shell was braced with a door gap bar). Not too much though - basically i've removed the passenger side outer sill and carefully cut out the area where the lower A post meets the Upper A post (See Photo). This will be the first area for repair and will need a small area fabricated. You can also see the difference in the bulkhead with no angle for the bonnet roller.

My Welding expert also suggested that the body should be supported on a Chassis rather than a frame as this would allow us to properly mount the car and get the geometry reasonably good. I have two Spitfire4 chassis so, I've spent this afternoon removing the front suspension, steering rack, anti-roll bar, leaf spring and differential from the chassis I'm going to use as a jig. I'll mount the body on her over the weekend. This Chassis is from FC14255 (Chassis Number FC12902) an August 1963 car - It's in very good condition but alters marginally from the chassis for FC316 (which has no chassis number at all) in that it has an extra set of tie down eyes just behind the radiator mounts (see photo). The Red Chassis belongs to FC316.

On the new purchases front I've had 3 really good buys this week! Firstly a new old stock Standard Triumph Keyring in brown plastic - Lovely! :-) I now have two of this type for FC316.

Secondly I bout the 4th (and Last Eversure 4" Spotlamp - this was being new/old stock in it's original box with the correct pull switch! All for £2.50! Bargin!

lastly, and (probably most import for the restoration) was the purchase of two full length floor panels, these are heritage items and given Rimmer Brothers retail these at £130 plus per panel, I feel very fortunate to have bought the pair for £95.

Anyway that's all for now :-) Cheers all!

Jon

Back again!

Okay it's been a while since I last posted any progress on my 1962 Spitfire4 restoration. I have been making progress through the winter - mostly cataloguing what I have, buying new panels and parts for the restoration and chasing up rare/original items where I can.

This has included some Eversure 4" Spot / fog lamps which were the correct fitting for the Spitfire4 - they fit just in front of the grill as you can see in the photo - they're very nice :-)

As well as the lamps I've managed to find a mint 1st Edition Spitfire4 parts manual - with attached amendment sheets - this has proved to be incredibly useful (along with my later MK1 parts manual in understanding when certain parts changed. One item for example was the Rear trunnion dirt seals, these were never an option on the Spitfire4 - became an option on the MK2 and finally became standard on the MK3. Mine will be fitted without for the sake of originality!

Whilst were on the subject of the suspension - the drive shafts have now been rebuilt with new seals, bolts and poly bushes (a sensible modern replacement I think!). Likewise the brake drums have been rebuilt with new cylinders, adjusters, pins, springs and such. just need to blast the vertical links now and then rebuild the rear suspension components (front having already been completed). The plan is to get to rolling chassis this year with engine gearbox prop and diff in place. Fortunately I have a spare MK1 chassis that is going to be used as a Jig for the body shell repairs.

On the panels front I've really splurged, buying new floor pans; Floor strengthener supports; Lower A post repair panels, A post filler panels, cills, lower B post repair panels, battery box, radius arm mounting panels and bonnet strengthner panels. Along with a welder and a soem steel I now have pretty much everything I need to start work on the body shell.

On that note I have a member of the South Wales Area of the TSSC coming over on Saturday to have a look at the Shell and help me plan the work (he's also very kindly going to be helping with the welding too!). Really looking forward to starting this - Getting her ready for the 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2012 may now be a pipe dream but at least were moving forward ;-)

If anyone want to get in touch please do so - I'll help as much as I can with anything Triumph or Spitfire related (obviously I'm more au fait with the early cars though!). Anyway thats all for now - I'll not leave it so long next time - promise!