Yet another project....The uncrashed spitfire

I like the orange, its growing on me, its gonna look so damn wild in the green car.

quite happy with the cam movement now, its bedded in nice after rotating numerous times, the cam lube is making it stickier which is why it was sticking.
Crank should spin freely with minimal effort otherwise i have a problem or so i was told.
 
Cupped it is then.

Turned the block upside down today and gave the outside another two coates of paint, and gave the inside a couple of coats, really dont want to paint anymore, the paint is far too runny and causing so many runs which are a pain to clear up.

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Also came back down to the shed to find the worst had happened, runs into the bores arrggggg, hopefully will clean out ok with some thinners tomorrow.

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Well the engine is fitted with its nice shiny new core plugs, wee bit of touch up needed to the paintwork though as i got a bit heavy handed with the hammer.

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So next up i figure its time to test fit the crank, so its in with bearings but not tightened down yet as i need to fit thrust washers.

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Need to read up the manual on fitting the crank first though. Not quite too sure how the thrusts goes in.
 
The painting inside the block has proved contraversial in most forums as people dont seem to understand the reasoning behind it is not to make it look good. Far from it, it is purely practical.

Actually the old triumph race engines were painted inside, dave vizard the engine guru recomends painting the inside of all engines with engine enamel, i seem to remember aswell that kas kastner also recomends it. The oil doesnt go that dirty cause of the wear and tear, it goes dirty mainly cause of the crap which is in the porus metal of the block, this crap doesnt do the oil any good and potentially damages the engine itself due to making the oil abbrasive.
Next the flow to the sump is drastically improved speeding up oil flow and lubrication of the engine and also keeps the oil temperature down.
All these factors enable the engine to run smoother and also in most cases increases performance.

hence the reasons for painting it.
 
Everybody seems to think that, but why would it need to be? the only thing it needs to be is temp resistant to 100degrees, and oil resistant, appart from that nothing should ever be in contact with it in the engine otherwise you have other problems.

mind you it does take 5 days to dry fully.
 
The engine is gonna be in bits next year anyway so will find out if it does anything.

Lack of progress recently as im struggling to find better quality arp bolts which are the same size.
 
Lashout: Mains and rods, i know the rods are the same as a yb cosworth, but im struggling to find reasonable prices for both, my flywheel bolts were 6 quid a set of arp dont understand how they can charge 40 quid for mains!!!

Sic: The car is going for a top coat respray a bit later on, the work i did im not happy with but by doing the base work i have saved myself a grand on the respray so it will only cost a grand to do the topcoat and 5 coates of laquer. Best way to learn is to take it to bits! buy a manual or two and get going. I have six big folders in front of me at the moment scouring for part numbers.
 
The car is gonna be raced and trackdayed, so im taking all precautions with the bolts in it. Triumph originally used damn good bolts so if i cant get them im not too fussed just rather have arp.

Been measuring crank end float today,

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And the result, oucha! need some more shims me thinks

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manual states, between 4 and 6 thou, im aiming for 5. I have 26! lol
 
DOH!

Stupid me helps if you put both in doesnt it, bit of sanding down one of them to get a thousanths of an inch off using some wet and dry on a mirror.


Got it up to 4.5thou, which is pretty much spot on.

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and finally they are in:

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unfortunatly they need to go back to the machine shop as they protrude the block by between 10-25 thou.
 
Well i've measured it now twice, just waiting for the shed to warm up and i'll check again.

So far the measurements have been exactly the same a few times.

1: 13 thou
2: 16 thou
3. 13 thou
4. 21 thou

Few more pics cause it looks so cool and shiny.

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The question is do i get the pistons skimmed to the amounts measured or go a thou under for expansion? Hopefully take them to the shop tomorrow.
 
Pistons just dropped off, he said that he reaconed i could get away with it, being that my gasket is 40thou, problem is no 1 is 30 thou with the heat factored in, and if the engine were to be really hot that is just too much, so although i could probably get away with just no 1 skimmed im not gonna im gonna play safe and get them all done to be flush. Im probably a tad highly compressed anyway.

Apparently red top engines run with pistons cold 20 thou protruding, with a 40 thou gasket. Im too much of a wimp to do that.

But the guy felt sorry for me having to wait so long for his machines to be fixed last time and so is doing it all for free. should have them back for monday.
 
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Well finally a nice day, and for the first time this year the covers come off the car.

Decided seeing as its a nice day i would sand the paint down and cut it in and polish it. Took me all day and my arms are completely gone, but it looks well tasty.

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Sorry for the darkness the time got away from me to take decent pics.
 
nice colour to go with the rest of the car though.

Finally got my decent camera back from being repaired, and seeing as im unsurprisingly not in the mood for doing anything today being a condemed man for tomorrow thought id tidy it up. and take a few pics.

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oooohh i like new toys???

how cool is the orange gonna look with the green though!!!

Im tempted to paint the wing cappings in orange too?
 
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