1966 Triumph Spitfire - Spring Maintenance 

Nicely done … she deserved the attention … a happy Spit 😊

It's great to see a green screen bar chart - it reminds me of my youth!

Hey @elin I'm a first-time owner of a 1965 MK2, and what a beauty! I call her Malibu Blue for the unique paint she wears. I'm the same age as she is, and I bought her cause I always wanted to drive one and to work on cars. I've had a great fall of learning/doing under the bonnet and had my First Start the other day after she stopped running last October. She had a LOT of old/original parts and a LOT of rust and yuk under there. To start, pulled everything on the firewall and took that down to the metal and repainted. Then I did some basics: Removed and replaced solenoid, coil, starter motor, complete distributor (someone had put an electronic one in years ago, and I think that might have been the culprit, and I replaced it with a Delco points dizzy instead). The wiring, as you can guess, is old, frayed, and lots of changes and updates over the years. But once I figured out what was what, I got First Start fast and strong, with an idle at about 800-850. Anyway, two reasons for my note: I noticed in your vid above that you put a breather hose on the rocker cover's nipple. I want to do that as well. I am curious where yours goes (I can really see where it leads to, how far back or down or if it goes to a filter like I've seen some guys do). Any recommendations about that? Also, my next project is to pull all the wiring and install a new electrical harness. I'm assuming you've done that, so just mentioning it in case you have any words of wisdom! Love your vids, thank you for those. JD (Walnut Creek, California)

You make me feel so old... It was the late 80s when I was playing with cars... and this diagnostic machine wasn't even manufactured until mid 90s?!? I feel SO old now... thank you so much.... lol.

Excellent series. Job(s) well done!!

oh - seasonal maintenance! Leaf spring #nothingtoseehere lol

Your comment about a seven year gap since you had chance to fix and fully service the car reminds me of the old saying about cobblers having holes in their shoes as there too busy fixing everyone else's.. The car is looking really nice and it's proof of what an excellent restoration you did..

Looking good.

Heard about you from Saige's Garage...was cool to see you in her latest video. 1966...my favourite year!

If you take it apart and clean it, you should make a detailed process video series of it! It will help me in my restoration process of my 65 mark 2

I love the early spitfires

Buying one this weekend

She looks beautiful Elin. You never forget your first.

If you have to spin the adjusters all the way up to lean it out, that may be an indication that the jets and/or needles are worn. You might want to check that you have the correct needles for your engine.

Great information! I am looking to buy a 66 Spit soon.

Nice that you can spend some time on your first love of Rust.

A beautiful car. 😍You can lean out the carbs more by lowering the needles in the damper pistons. You have to remove the dash pots to get access to the pistons. And the needles are held in place by a grub screw that you can get access to through the bottom sides of the pistons. The mistake people make is when assembling, they push the needle into the piston till it stops, then tighten the grub screws. But you are supposed to line up the shoulder on the needle to the bottom of the piston. Obviously wherever you position it for one, it needs to be the same on the other. Good luck.

Talk about time. There is never enough. I don’t know how you do everything that you do and still reply to the comments. I did notice that the speedo wasn’t working.

Good Springtime project. It sure sounds like it is running smoother.

Great to see the OG getting some love.

Yakov... you lucky doooog!

I've not worked on an engine like that for about 30 years Very interesting 👍🏻

Nice Elan. Making me wish I still had my 1970 GT6+. But that was a long time ago.

She sounds really nice Elin, especially on the road. My guess on the carbs- when someone fitted the pancake air filters it leaned out so maybe someone fitted richer needles- and went a bit too rich? Other thing is you mention engine vibration- if you still have that, try running it briefly with the metal fan off. This turned out to be the cause of a surprising amount of vibration on my MGB GT even through the fan looked OK spinning.

FYI At time 38:15 those fittings are called "olives" in the UK. You used a "brass olive" on the fuel line.

Love this episode! Learned a ton!

thanks Elin. I appreciated the detail on this one. But regarding setting mixture, the factory manual for our '54 TR2 with H4s says to lift the piston 1/32 inch and there should be no change in rpm if the mixture is correct (no lifting pins on the H4). Instructions for the HS4s on our '67 MGB are like you used. It didn't used to be a major sin to drop the needle slightly to compensate for rich mixture if the jet nut was already turned up all the way. But a carb rebuild was called for.

I seem to remember that a BPR6ES = a champion N9Y Regards Sandy🔧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Hi Elin, after all your work it sounds so much better, I guess that's why it's called tuning!! The thing I loved about these cars is the access, and the built in seats on each side for adjustments, they often left a tyre mark on my overalls!! I remember using a special spark plug with a window in order to check mixture. I guess these days you would use a gas analyser but they sound expensive. I like the look of that green lady in the background ..... we need an introduction 😅😅😅 Have a great weekend and good luck from Spain!!

Spit six awaits 😁

Elin two things to check with the SUs: -verify that both carbs are using the same jets (there’s a number stamped on them) -verify that the SU pistons operate the same. This is done by doing a “drop test”, (there are several videos online for this procedure). The piston and the chamber are matched sets. Over the years the jets and pistons may have been swapped around many times, so knowing you have a correct baseline makes your diagnostics easier!👍 Oh, I couldn’t find the link to your merch😕

She’s a lovely lady in red 🥰

When you lift the piston only raise it 1/32"

Elan if you spray your entire engine compartment down with tire cleaner leave it over night the next day you have complet refreshed eng compartment

what part of canada are you in????

Nice video. Got inspired to make some spring tuning. Why don’t you have any supports for the radiator?

Home Zinc plating is difficult and time consuming. Not as easy as the diy videos suggest... Bit of light oil on everything and just use it. Still enjoying the vintage snap on scope diag.... 👍

A lot of information for my pea brain😏. I see a green gt6 in the back of your shop,is this a new rusty beauty for the future?

I spy a green gt6 in the background. Next project?

Patina ……When you drive’em they wear. I had an MGB once upon a time that after 100,000 miles ( at a 140 mile a day commute) had, according to a movie producer, patina. The car can be seen in the movie “Sherman’s Way” and yes, it is the one that has patina. The producer, now the new owner, said it was the only car that drove under its own power in every scene. For some of us some patina is OK.

Elin, Its been years since I touched a SU carb, so I may be confusing it with some motorcycle carbs, but is the needle adjustable where it mounts to the piston? You may be able to get some more length so the jet adjustment isn't all the way to the top. Also noticed the green GT6 in the background. Is this the next customers car?

What's the green gt6 doing hiding in the corner Elin

Whose GT6+ is that? Next Project?

Oh yeah, what's the story on the green GT6?

Now redo the seats, looks like they need some new padding

Well I watched it for 47 minutes and he didn’t do any maintenance on the springs…..