Sunday, May 14, 2006

Battlesbridge show and other work

I went along to the Battlesbridge classic car show today with Club Triumph Eastern. There was a great turnout of cars, the most I have seen. Although we didn't have a club stand we did manage to park together in the classic car parking area. On the way into the show the spitfire started to idle roughly and there was a strong smell of petrol, it could only be one thing the float chambers had overflowed again. I lifted the bonnet and as expected there was petrol coming from the overflow hole on the float chamber lid. I took the lid off and cleaned the needle valve, when I put the lid back the gasket had stretched and I couldn't get it to fit, so it was a quick look around the autojumble to see if I could find a spare and luckily I found a overhaul kit for a £1. After fitting the new gasket it was all running fine again. I'm still suffering from letting the tank run too low, I'll have to get around to fitting the petrol filter I bought last week. I also picked up a couple of carb overhaul kits for afriendd in work who had asked me keep an eye out for a couple of float chamber gaskets.
I also got some gearbox oil for the TR4A as I had taken the interior topiecess yesterday to get the gearbox tunnel off in search of the reason the overdrive had stopped working, I found a wire disconnected to the overdrive solenoid but while I had the gearbox cover off I topped up the oil as well. I managed to put the car back together this afternoon and took it for a test drive and the overdrive is back working.
I also run into a friend who happened to have a pair of re-conditioned brake calipers for a Spitfire for £20 each and as I was planning to overhaul the front end of the Spitfire this year they were just the ticket.
I also got some good news that my friends wife had a baby boy yesterday and both mother and baby are doing well. So congratulations to Jon and Heather and their new baby.
A couple of Spitfires at Battlesbridge show

The re-conditioned calipers I bought at Battlesbridge

The gearbox cover off the TR4A - looking for the overdrive problem

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