This 1971 Triumph Spitfire is leaking, a lot. We reseal the timing cover and oil pan. Send us a postcard: Watch Wes Work P.O. Box 106 Fulton, IL 61252 Send us an email: mail@watchweswork.com
Wes - you jest about 1970 production with 1870 design, but my 1973 Series 3 Land Rover has four BA#2 bolts in the steering relay - that spec literally dates from 1884 and is still used to thread a dart body to the flight/tail.
Let me explain... All the "faults" were actually features. Back in the day men would like to repair their cars on a Sunday to avoid having to deal with the wife while, you had a hangover from Saturday nights drinking and to avoid lending a hand cooking the Sunday dinner. Because nothing was open on a Sunday you couldn't buy parts, so you would then have to cycle to work on Monday, which undid some of the health costs of the drinking on Saturday. Hopefully you can see the genius of all this now. It was also nice to hear your apologies and correct terms for a change ;)
The smile on your face whilst driving the car gave it away, our British vintage cars are the bees knees. All you required in the 60's and 70's was an adjustable spanner (sorry wrench) and a hammer, and you were a mechanic. Also thank you for correcting your pronunciation of key words, remember it's called English for a reason. Keep up the marvelous work dear chap.😀
There were two models, the Dembreigh Chauvinist, and the Dembreigh Super Chauvinist. The only difference was the Super Chauvinist was made in the morning before the workers went to the pub for a pint or two at lunch. Which is why I always paid attention to the time stamp on every car and truck I have acquired over the years. Never buying a Ford made on Friday it's just not nearly good enough.
Wes with your sarcasm, dry sense of humour and your new found talent with language you could pass for a English man ( I’m a Scot a totally different animal altogether)
My father was a mechanic who specialized in foreign autos…Triumphs (most English cars) made the family lots of money! The oil leaks were his favorite thing to tease owners about (dad hated oil leaks), he would explain to them the rust prevention system was factory installed…
One modification was a oblong washer plates or a long strip drilled with the same holes as the Sump pan along the front and back also down the sides Triumph motorcycles had a drip tray as mandatory 😂.👍👍
Ahh memories of sitting on the parcel shelf, flipping open the fuel cap and getting a good whiff of leaded petrol VOCs. Back in the day when you could cram 2 kids on the parcel shelf and nobody cared!
You may find this interesting. I had a 1977 GS750 Suzuki motorcycle. The valve adjustment required special tools I didn't have. Took it to a shop to get the valves adjusted. Twice they put a new gasket in the cam cover but it would always suck in and leak. After the second failure I told them to not use RTV. Just use the gasket. They got mad and said do it yourself and handed me a new gasket. So I did, in the parking lot. It never leaked after that. There are times, maybe many, when just the gasket dry works best.
Don't forget Marty T, NZ's mechanical and electrical - hydro (washing machine) plant, electric four wheeler, etc. Wizard. Because you like this content, all three are mandatory! Marty T is not an every 4 day kind of contributor, but when he posts you know it will be a goodie!
As a former resident of England and someone who owned one of these back in the day...this brought back a lot of memories and gave me a good laugh. Well done Wes, carry on !
@@paulleeson1218 Had a 76 Midget 35 years ago, fun car to drive. So I surprised my wife 3 weeks ago with a 77 Midget. Made her very happy. Me....I thought so too at the time but I forgot I'm 30 years OLDER, and not as nimble as I was at 38 ! Forgot how hard it is to be a contortionist to tinker on these!
Wes, I am one of the unfortunate Americans that fell in love with British sports cars. My advice, love them in spite of what they are. I spend countless hours fixing, rebuilding, re-rebuilding and cursing in the most creative ways known to man. (I once did a grammatical correct 7 word sentence using nothing but strong references to unspeakable acts between family members) while rebuilding lever arm shocks. It’s is all worth it when the planets align and I get that perfect ride in a low slung convertible on a brisk fall day. Power on my friend
I drove a ‘68 triumph spitfire across Canada in 1975..With my new bride. Other than a water pump and resulting warped head and replacing the clutch, the trip went rather smoothly. I Filed down the head, parked on the side of the road, bolted it back down. With the same gasket. Drove to Calgary picked up a head gasket and water pump installed it and drove to almost Golden when the clutch packed it in. Hitchhiked back to Calgary picked up a clutch. Put it in the next day. Drove it for another 50,000 miles. Had a blast. Best sports car ever. Edit. The best part was the trip cost $68.00 in fuel.
Wes, I have to admit, I was very surprised that you could get the oil pan off without lifting the engine a bit, but it makes you wonder if it was designed on purpose due to the leaking like a sieve design criteria. The scene where you cut to the kettle blowing steam apparently out of the side of your head is cinematic genius! Keep cracking on with these videos you're making me split a gut laughing.
Same thing with an MGA. First step in pulling the pan is to pull the engine. I made some special wrenches to get to inaccessible bolts so I could pull the pan without removing the engine, or even having to take the engine mounts loose. Saved me a heck of a lot of time and effort over the years.
Same I saw that I beam of a front crossmember and thought good luck. I can only assume the engineer responsible was given a stern speaking to about not making mechanic's lives easier.
Another terrific video Wes! I can't believe you actually got that thing to seal. I bet it took a lot more time than you showed getting that pan trued up. I laughed so hard when you found the correct helicoil as you are putting everything away. I related to that in a very intense, personal way.
As a Brit born in 73 i have seen many old British cars like this become classis cars. I have worked on a lot of them, although mostly minis of that era. I was laughing my head off watching this. I like the spitfire but prefer the MG's and Mini. Great video as always. Great to see the smile on your face at the end during the test drive. Great video Wes.
Wes as a fellow mechanic, I learned a lot of manufacturers started using RTV more because they can have robots apply just the right amount with precision.
I spent a weekend bingeing, firstly on Wes' recommendation of Snowball Engineering from a tiny town Brandsby in North Yorkshire UK. A rather dour young man but a real talent and everything that leaves his workshop looks better than the original that came in. Then there was Marty T from NZ who with surprising ease took a petrol fuelled ATV and converted it to electric power of scary performance. And finally Wes who got more fun than he almost cared to admit from the resurrection of that Spitfire. For this ancient at least, it gives me a real buzz to see the high quality problem solving, and workmanship quality shown by these young men. Great stuff and that grin on Wes' face was 100% pure enjoyment.
I am impressed. Not only are you bi-lingual, you speak both English and American, but you also make tea using actual boiling water. As a Brit who has been to the USA many many times (and not just the coast) this is a rare thing in deed. Bravo!
That last part - watching them gather the crops, was great and you're spot-on about the tech farmers have helping them vs your grandpa's time. I bet he'd kill to have a machine even half as efficient as that one you showed. Although I'm not in a good place location-wise or education-wise (30, bus driver, hermit), I always loved farming and the machinery that goes with it. Great vidya, Wes.
27:52 As a Yorkshireman, I can tell you with authority that that is not a cap. It's a wooly hat. Thanks for the heads-up on the Snowball Engineering channel last week. Great channel 👍 Edit: forgot to say: Great video Wes 👍👍
After all the talk intended to PO the Anglophiles in the crowd (nothing but good humour intended, I'm certain), I caught you cracking a deep down to the core smile several times as you were headed down the highway (like when you found fourth gear) - even though you could not see! 😆 Just couldn't suppress the sheer joy of motoring along in a classic British automobile. Wonderful episode. Very British humour ♥
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 I had rebuilt mine 100% The floor pans was a big one. When I saw the fixed up floor pans from the underside in the video it all came flooding back. I bought a 71 that had been rolled. (Should have been a warning) I Cut the floor pans out and welded them into the 68. He did call out the rear suspension correctly. Which almost killed me because I rolled it shortly after the rebuild. Luckily landed upside down in a swamp. Just a scratch lol Smh It was a death trap..
Wes your videos just keep getting better and you are definitely smiling more. Against my Dad's protests and advice my first two cars in High School were 60's British sports cars. He decided replacing motorcycles with British sports cars was the lesser of two evils. As you acknowledge in my mind the fun factor far outweighed the quirky designs and odd nut sizes. My first was a 1963 AH 3000 that I never should have sold....had college tuition to pay. It taught me how to work on cars.....constantly, Fifty years ago in a small rural PA town people wondered what was wrong with me to have one of those things when I could be driving a reliable Ford Falcon? As you discovered it is a Sisyphean effort to keep it going. I am in my 70's it remains my favorite car by a wide margin.
You weren’t the only person not able to see, I was crying with laughter all the way through. Turn signals ? Indicators, old boy 😁. British cars are meant to leak oil
@@jakleo337we always knew if a truck had a Detroit in it without looking when it came in for a PM cause we'd just go back to our parts department, get the stuff real quick, and come back to find an oil slick in the bay
As a British ex-pat of nearly 25 years, I DO appreciate your British translation. The only one you missed was the accelerator, sorry I mean "Gas" pedal. Cheers!
Gotta love the use of the UNDERused Permatex #3 Aviation sealer. That’s been my go to for last couple of decades. Thank you Johnny Barnett for teaching an young buck an old school tip!
Grew up helping my dad work on cars like this. He was the go to guy for anything old, imported, or had a 2 stroke engine that nobody else would touch around here in Nebraska. Triumph, BSA, Fiat, Piaggio (yes they made cars), DKW, Trabant, Renault, Peugeot, SAAB, VW, Ctiroen, Whippet, even a few Morgans and BMW Isettas. He'd even work on old itialian scooters that the bike shops turned away and refered the owners to my dad. He had 2 loose leaf binders full of phone numbers to salvage yards all over europe and the UK that he'd collected by calling long distance and asking the operators at various telephone exchanges for numbers to the yards in their area and if the yard didn't have the part they say try in this town or village and he'd call there. Thanks Wes
What a splendid episode 😉! That gig with the tea kettle had me laughing hysterically 🤣😅😂 Thanks Wes for another this time very British episode! Jolly good fun it was!
Some youtube channels try to enhance their videos with cutsie video scenes that dont work, but for you it comes off so natural it works perfectly. Bravo 👏 you have really elevated your videos.
It wouldn't be a Triumph if it didn't have an oil leak. I rebuilt a Spitfire from the chassis up for a friend, with extensive machining on the engine to true up some bloody horrible tolerances. That was forty years ago and that car is still running today . . . yeah, it still has a few tiny oil leaks too but according to my friend, that's what stops it from rusting. Just be eternally grateful it wasn't a Triumph Stag . . . or the Dolomite Sprint, either one of those actually reduced me to tears! When Triumph was absorbed into British Leyland it all got infinitely worse! Every surface needed double gaskets and RTV to stop leaks! Great vidio sir thank you.
Cool and fun vid! As owner of the "MG equivalent" of this monster i have to say that everything Wes says about British Sports Cars of this era is 100% true!
Not a gasket-engineer, but a mechanical engineer with aircooled VW backround. There is always the right gasket for a job, but never one gasket for all jobs. Your work ist really brilliant.
Having owned and restored multiple Spitfires and currently restoring a TR6 I can empathize with you on this one! Vendors now make a new steel replacement block for the aluminum block where you had to install the Heli coil. Had you removed the aluminum block to repair it you would have had to find a couple of small wood shims to seal the sides of the block. Old school technology at it's finest :) One other comment. The turn signals actually do self cancel IF the inner steering column is installed right and the switch itself isn't broken. It's easy to install incorrectly. Great video.
Not only do we have millions in equipment in the field..we're still at the mercy of moisture and generally have a narrow window in which we can harvest and get it off to the plants we contract with.
My brother's English vehicle story. I live in Canberra, Australia which among other things is the residence of the Governor General. During the 60's + 70's his official car was a V8 Bentley . It was maintained by a massive group of Government owned workshops that cared for the commuter bus fleet, truck fleet, cars fleet and all emergency vehicles. Hated was the Bentley due to difficulty in doing repairs. The spark plugs were impossible to access. The motor was so tight in the engine bay that you could not remove the plug leads let alone unscrew the spark plugs. To change the plugs it was necessary to remove the inner guards. They was held in place place by many, many bolts with 1/2 inch heads. The bolts were about 4 inches apart and mostly inaccessible. Most could only be removed with an opened ended spanner as sockets could not fit. Removal usually took about 12 hours. Needless to say, the plugs were only changed when the car was almost impossible to start.
One of your most entertaining videos to date. Been watching for couple of years now, and they keep getting better and better. The comedic timing of the us to british terminology is priceless. Thanks
Those small sports cars suited us well enough here in the UK where we have narrow winding roads that are fun to drive along rather than the roads in the US which seem to be dead straight and go on for ever. You're right, they did usually leak oil and coolant but that was 70 years ago. Nowadays all cars seem alike and you wouldn't know where you are just looking at the traffic. At least with these old survivors you can work on them and not have to dismantle half the car to get at something.
As an Englishman myself, your review on those cars was spot on. They were 30 years out of date at the time of production! Great work Wes, keep the content coming!
Did you know Philip Glass worked as a taxi driver in Manhattan? He needs money to live. Philip also earned money installing dishwashers. The music was great, inspired by Glass.
Would that be the 1st hoarders curse? You never find the one you have until you buy a new one. Goes with the 2nd hoarders curse, you never need it until the day after you throw it away.
Wes, owning an old British sports car is like having kids -- you love them, spend a ton of money on them, support them through good and bad. Sometimes they make you angry, sometimes you're super proud of them, sometimes you just want them out of the house. But at the end of your time with them, when you come home and they're not in the garage, you feel really sad. That poor car has been hacked up with the Weber and aftermarket FPR and the hot mess of a fan, but I could still see you enjoying taking her out on the open road. Just remember to carry plenty of spares, a fire extinguisher, and a poncho.
Great video Wes takes me back many years as a young lad aged around 14 watching my mates Dad working on these cars. I only lived about 8 miles from the Triumph factory and 10 miles from the Massey Ferguson factory in Coventry. I later did my apprenticeship as a Truck and Machinery mechanic but started out working on a lot of what now were old cars. I worked on many different makes and models of mainly British cars but with the odd German and French ones just for good measure. Your very right about the simplicity of these cars especially for the young lad I was back then to learn on. The Triumph Spitfire holds a special place in my memory as it was the first blown head gasket I replaced under supervision. So easy to do looking back but I was so proud when I turned the key and it started and drove perfectly. Later on my first clutch change was on a Triumph 2000 and again so easy looking back now but it was a great way to learn and a fantastic opportunity to help me step up to Truck and Machinery mechanics. Thank you for the trip down memory lane 👍👍
I had one of these, an earlier model. Had transverse leaf spring across rear wheels and driven hard could hop sideways, the rear spring would tighten up and inside wheel coming back on the ground was 2 inches narrower than the front. Very prone to going thro hedges. That's the small trees we have on the sides of our bendy roads. Your recommendation of Snowball engineering is welcomed. Fantastic skill with some big kit... Recent favourite of mine is Ants Pants.. Lithuania I think. Real bodger on mini digger and your type kit, but it works after. Builder as well! Thanks for your channel and a view of you're family life. Enjoyed the squirrel casserole...
As a transplanted Brit and a former owner of a '64 Spitfire, the term 'Couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding' comes to mind. The guy I sold it to, junked the little 1147 cc and put in a Ford 1600 Twin Cam and gearbox. I did the welding on the converted prop shaft and the thing would do 120 mph..At least it DID until he put into a ditch!!! The rear end suspension on those things were similar to that of a Corvair-unsafe at ANY speed.
I'm married to a Brit and I lived "over there" for years. For a Midwesterner, the British are endlessly fascinating. My theory of the British and thier attraction to little sports cars is this: To the British, 100 miles is a long, long way. On the rare occasion that the weather is fine, you want you spread joy out over those 100 miles as thickly as possible while(sorry, "whilst") driving a little British sports car. Somebody send Wes a flat cap and a whippet. He joined the club.
Hello Wes: I am a long time viewer. In this video you seem to have really delivered a great presentation. I hope you are able to coninue to entertain us viewers with more of simmilar quality. It may be difficult as you will not always have the british qwirk's and oil leaks to expropriate. I am sure you will find a way for your dry sence of humor to shine through. Keep the great videos coming. PS. The young chap is getting bigger (Good to see he likes spending time with Dad).
Hello from England glad to see you had fun doing this Triumph Spitfire ,which was built to a scale to suit the country it was built in , but as always I love your channel and the variety of projects you do ,keep up the good works .
*If* you do end up working on unobtainium ignition components, consider retrofitting EDIS. You can gut the distributor and 3D print a mount for the crank sensor... put two trigger notches 180° apart and it'll count the crank revolutions.
I redrilled my distributer plate to fit Delco points on my GT6. instead of having to file and adjust the Lukas and replace them every month I never had to touch them again until I got rid of the car.
Definitely the best 32 minutes and 22 seconds of my day so far. I got a service call on a food vending machine being used as a cigarette machine bill acceptor issue so watching a Watch Wes Work episode is definitely going to be the best part of my day. I'll try to be like Wes and hold off on cussing out the engineers who designed that slightly obsolete FSI brand machine I'm attempting to get selling cigarettes again at a "gentleman's club". Ooh, I actually owned and drove a 68 and a 69 MG-B GT cars. Loved them but working on them required Zen Buddist preist level patience and the calmness of a saint to work on. Wes is right, driving little British sports cars are fun. Highly unsafe but a blast anyways. Thanks Wes for making my day much more calm.
Here we go, another damned upstart colonial! LOL I remember doing an engine swap on one. On the upside, sitting on the tyres (not tires) while working on the engine. On the downside, one of the heaviest 4 cylinders I ever man-handled out of an engine bay! Great content, keep up the good work, Wes!
Twinings, you're welcome. Man, that car takes me back. That's the level of "technology" I grew up with - completely over-designed and under-engineered. That test drive reminds me of those valets on Ferris Bueller
At long last, a car I can relate to! You are now a fully fledged British Classic Car Restorer. God help you when you get Italian Classic Cars from the same era. I was restoring these Classic Cars 40 years ago and it is refreshing to know that they still exhibit every bit of 19th century engineering traits you refer to. Seriously though, well done. Love what you do and how you do it. PS The bonnets on Triumphs like this need to be lifted from the centre - only problem is the sheet metal lip wants to shred the skin from your hands. Yet another quaint Classic Car quirk. Don't you just love Classic Cars!
Love the ‘structural floor mat’ observation. I was told that British cars only had oil caps to foster false confidence. If you want to add oil you just pour it over the valve cover and let it leak in.
I ventured into the Diesel Technician trade a year ago (I know, poor career decision) and even after wrenching all week I still enjoy watching Wes work. I’ve been watching for years now. 👍
My father was a heavy machine mechanic (field jobs) for 35 years and denied me to become one. He later switched to a plumber and enjoyed it. I became a metal fabricator instead 😊
For me it was sadly the opposite, after having worked in the electronics recycling biz for a few years, my electronics hobby more or less died, and i've only sporadically done short few hour projects here and there ever since.
My buddy had one of these cars. My mom's 1991 Miata with a 1.6L was a racing beast comparatively, and that's one of the slowest cars I have ever had the pleasure of piloting. The Triumph met it's end when someone backed into the hood in the Whataburger drivethrough at less than 1 mph, and the insurance agent had no idea where to find parts for it, so he had to call and ask my buddy where to look. 😂 Buddy ended up taking a $7K check for a total out and fixing his Triumph problem permanently. For a damaged hood. He paid $500 for it, so it was a win. That car was terrible in every way, but lovable at the same time.
Well done, Wes. You got most of the vocabulary correct. Indicators, was one you missed. But that really needs to be driven on something narrow and twisty, not flat and straight. Then it's fun. Spitfire was built, if I remember correctly, on a Triumph Herald chassis. A much more sedate car. That that rear suspension had a reputation for folding under if you became airborne over a hump-backed bridge. Like a real Spitfire, it retracted it's undercarriage!
The British humor was the best! In the beginning I thought for sure the repairs were going to be electrical, but next best repair is oil leaks as you revealed for a Triumph along with natural weight reduction strategies (aka rust). Great job with making me laugh this morning. Built in 1970, but designed in the 1870's!!! Ha,ha.
Nice video. Not all British cars are simple from that era. I have worked on some XJ6 and E-type, very challenging sometimes, but nice looking and very well handling cars! You’re so right about modern farming. Mind blowing. I’m also surrounded by corn fields (Denmark) and they have just harvested around 300 acres (110 hectares) in around 14 hours. My neighbor who has all the fields, told me the harvester needed a new engine. Price: 100 grand (John Deere)
The last pictures (combine) remind me of a company in which I once worked (1992). When we have prepared a show (cars) for Sunday, so ALL new and used cars in the parking lot washed and blow-dried; came the blockhead from our neighbor, a stubborn farmer, and has mowed his field next door, plowed, fertilized, no matter ... the main thing was that it made dust, a lot of dust.
I own a '66 austin healey sprite. It is by far the slowest and yet most fun vehicle I've ever driven. It's also a lot of fun to work on too. Pretty simple and easy to get to things. I get a kick out of all of the quirky design decisions they made at the time as well. Best impulse buy ever
A brilliantly entertaining video, thanks for allowing us to join you. 1 tiny error, a lorry is not necessarily a semi, it's a rigid, an Artic (articulated lorry) is a semi.
I had a '67 Spitfire that had zero rust. I never thought it was possible but nevertheless.... I was working for a foreign car shop at the time and was getting a rapid exposure to the eccentricities of the British automobile. My Spitfire was sky blue with a white hardtop. It also had plenty of oil stains under it. The oil pan had seen much better days and someone had hacked the proper British plug out of it and brazed in a chunk of small block Chevy pan to replace it. With the help of a British car expert i was able to find a new old stock pan. Of all places it came from Russia, Saint Petersburg to be precise. Which was ironic because I was in Saint Petersburg Florida. The old Brit brought it in and also brought a piece of flat steel. He showed me how a brand new pan was warped from the factory and had me make plates to bolt down the pan to help flatten it out. It took several weekends but it was finally finished and ready to install. I asked what sealant to use and he said none. It never leaked from the oil pan again. Factory rustproofing indeed..... Cheers from South Carolina Terry
From an entertainment point of view, this might be your best video ever Wes and I can see you've been greatly enjoying driving it too, looking forward to seeing more British cars! :)
Wes your videos are so entertaining to watch probably my favorite automotive content on youtube i think i might even enjoy your vids more than VGG at this point your sense of humor and editing and the detail which you show your repair process is 10/10 i look forward to watching everything you make keep it up 👌
Just landed at the start of this vid. As a Brit, I can only apologise for what you're about to get into. Now I'm going to watch it. A Spit. Grief. Rear diff. Famous. Edit: Love your mickey taking of us, keep 'em coming, Wes! We deserve it putting things like this into the world... 🤣👍
great video Wes, yes we British have gone down the line of overkill in the past which is why a lot of engineering has lasted well over 100 years and still doing its purpose today. However you forgot one thing ...... you did not warm your cup up 1st to have your tea! lol, thanks Wes again for posting
The smile on your face while driving it and your closing statement explain exactly why I love my Land Rover Series 3. Simple, dead reliable, easy to work on, and a blast to drive. Perfect for people who understand how to keep and maintain vehicles.
Hi Wes, from the UK and really appreciated the USA-UK translations, many other peoples videos can be so confusing 😂 On another note I always thought that aluminium and aluminum were two different metals 🤔 Keep up the with the videos, always watch as soon as posted. Now time for tea and scones 😋
The title shocked me. I have owned and worked on a few Brit cars and found them very easy once you wrap your head around how they do things. I figured something of the vintage of that Spitfire would be a snap for a sharp guy like you. The factory torque spec for the timing cover is exactly .65 ugga duggas using your calibrated elbow.
