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Good progress. Looks like some fiberglass work is in your future. If everything is basically correct, I'd just add or shave the bonnet where needed . I hear you on working and not filming. I've a got a video I shot in February I'm just finishing finally, but I've done quite a few things since then I'll just need to recap.

I'd have lowered the block down onto something solid to stop it swinging around all over the place. I didn't use a centre punch, instead used the bearing holes as a drill guide. If the centre punch is a bit off it will guide the drill off centre.

Good luck with your project,l will look forward to seeing your progress.lm restyling my mk3 spitfire and your work (although completely different)involves similar alterations.

I filled the two bore holes but I was wondering if it actually helped you prevent your head gasket to fail?

I have the same set of Pace Setter headers and they are pretty bad like that as well. I found that the outer parts of the main plate that the headers weld into was warped. I am trying to figure that out currently.

I have a 1980 Spitfire and I am pretty sure the head gasket blew as I had serious overheating issues. I am soooooo hoping this is what the issue is for me (and I didn't get the head cracked in the process) . Thank you for sharing!

nice.... god where'd you get the fiberglass hood?

What is the combination you have in front? Spring TT4302? With standard shocks or what model of shocks?

Looks good but I would be worried about all the water hitting your ignition parts.

this is a great video showing how to pin the thrust washers and the trials and tribulations. things i may have done differently than you is a slower drill speed and using cutting oil and possibly using an alignment tool to ensure the hole you're drilling is exactly straight. that may have been the problem with the thrust washer springing inwards. at the end of the day i don't think it will matter at all. even if if does it's soft metal you can easily grind away if there is interference. which again... i don't think there will be. why triumph never pinned these things no one will ever know. looking forward to the next video.

Umm so Umm you really talk Umm so like this

Why are you working on a Spitfire when you have a GT6b

Clamping force is on the cylinder liner, shouldnt blow unless there's an issue at that spot, pretty weird though

fantastic work mate!

Hey I have a 1974 triumph spit fire with a believed blown head gasket like it will crank but won’t turn over

Looks good. Great idea using a grill from another triumph model. Oh, that Facebook group, for anyone interested. Triumph Spitfire Restoration and Support. There's many other Spitfire and/or GT6 ones too.

My 76' was my favorite car. Burgundy with tan interior. As a single 20 something that was a cooter gett'n machine.

Looks great. Ive got a red 79. Did the vents help with the bonnet pressure? How does it work when driving? Any difference in heat?

Thats a good look!

The good thing about spits is the head can come off easily without disturbing the valve timing,yes the rockers need re adjusting but that's no big deal,anyway,i'm going to be doing the same thing to my engine,one thing i noticed is the water ways to and from the block are gnarly and not well lined up,use the head gasket to get better coolant flow. There is also the drilling of the oil gallery feed in the rear of the distributor ,there's a vid on youtube giving details. Use a rocker feed kit,some say it lowers oil pressure but that's nonsense,it lowers pressure on a GT6 as the GT6 uses the same oil pump as a spit,which is at the max on a GT6,but a spit block can easily use the rocker oil feed kits and keep good oil pressure. I also have an oil cooler kit with a thermostat,the oil rad is from a van(bedford) or a ford,i'm in Scotland in the UK so the model really is not important the important bit is not to buy an oil rad from a triumph dealer$$$$$$$$££££££££$$$$$$$$$$$$$££££££££££££,the fittings are the same on most rads and they go by length and rows of cooler tubes for width. I'll clear up the flow issue,make the intake tract rough texture,that's where the little dimples would be,like a sharks skin the rough texture creates what's called a boundary layer that acts like an air bearing,secondly you need to match the intake port to the manifold gasket,just the first 1/8 to 1/4 inch or so to make a small funnel shape,removing too much material will lower air flow velocity and the fuel air mixture will fall out of suspension. Opening the intake tracts is for high reving racing cars that need max airflow but do so at max rev all the time with no low rev power at all. Polish to a mirror the combustion chamber to stop or minimise carbon fouling a shiny surface has little for the carbon to hold on to,also the shiny surface reflects infra-red energy(heat) into the cylinder and out of the exhaust port. polish the exhaust port and tracts,gasket matching the exhaust is not needed,and in fact a small step from port to exhaust pipe,from a small hole to a larger pipe creates a bit of turbulance that stops an effect called "REVERSION" where exhaust gases get sucked back into the cylinder,the step creates turbulence making the effective exhaust port look smaller to the exhaust gass trying to get back inside the combustion chamber,the polar opposite of the intake wher we use trumpets and gasket match to minimise turbulence to allow as much air flow as is possible but keeping the tract the same overall size to maximise air velocity. There is a guide to tract size based on the inlet valve size,but i would just smooth out the cast flashing and sharp edges ,make the transition from manifold to head smooth without opening up the tract,also make sure the gasket to manifold is clear,the gasket may need work too,ther may be a need to make a very short area to match manifold-gasket-head inlet that is a weird outward bulge,from a side view cut away it would be very short possibly a few mm long to allow the transition to be as smooth as possible. I have seen port to gasket match done that the funnel shape goes in way too far,the tract diameter is pretty much bang on,just a little rough,and in need of slightly better flow,which is easy,just as i went into length to describe just don't over do it. the corners inside the combustion chamber just need to be given a small radii to take of the angle,after that i would/will cc the chambers and raise three chambers to the largest chamber volume by using fine emery of around 800 to 100 grit on the flat area, a cc or so between chambers won't kill it,anal and fastidiousness is not needed,re-polish. then a light skim after working out the CR. kp-gasket.blogspot.com/2012/06/skimming-your-head-for-higher.html www.205gtidrivers.com/forums/topic/137630-working-out-my-compression-ratio-after-head-skim/ here's the second link text copied and pasted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have the combustion chamber volume then that's the hardest part done! What you need to do next is work out the rest of your volumes: Step 1a: (3.142 * Bore^2) / 4 = Piston Area Step 1b: Piston Area * Stroke = Swept Volume Step 2: Piston Volume = measured cc's of any piston dish or cut-outs Step 3: Gasket Thickness * Piston Area = Gasket Volume (approximate, but close enough) Then you work out the ratio of the total internal volume to the comressed volume i.e compression ratio. Step 4: Swept Volume + Piston Volume + Combusion Chamber Volume + Gasket Volume = Total Volume Step 5: Piston Volume + Combustion Chamber Volume + Gasket Volume = Compressed Volume Step 6: Total Volume / Compressed Volume = Compression Ratio So for example.. Stroke = 73mm, Bore = 83mm (divide by 10 for cm) Step 1a: Piston Area = (3.142 * 8.3^2) / 4 = 54.1cm^2 Step 1b: Swept Volume = 54.1 * 7.3 = 395cm^3 (On a side note, this is your cylinder displacement - multiply this by number of cylinders gives your engine displacement so 395 * 4 = 1580cc) Step 2: Piston Volume measured to be = 6cm^3 Step 3: Gasket Volume = 54.1 * 0.2 (say it's 2mm thick) = 10.8cm^3 Then say you measured your Combustion Chamber to be 28cm^3.. Step 4: Total Volume = 395 + 6 + 28 + 10.8 = 439.8cm^3 Step 5: Compressed Volume = 6 + 28 + 10.8 = 44.8cm^3 Step 6: Compression Ratio = 439.8 / 44.8 = 9.8 : 1 Obviously you need to substitute your values for my made up ones! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I will add another text for finding CR skim, Going back to my engine building days I seem to remember the formula for calculating this is :- swept volume of cylinder / (required) CR - 1 for example :- on a 4 litre engine 3950cc / 8 = 493.75 493.75 / 10-1 = 54.861 so the total chamber volume must be 54.861 cc to get a 10:1 compression ratio From this subtract all the volumes that do not reside in the cylinder head, eg gasket wolume, dish in piston, volume above piston at TDC (due to piston not coming even with the block deck)you will then be left with the combustion chamber volume required to give you a 10:1 compression ratio. When you have this, put the spark plug in, set the cylinder head up on a level surface (must be level) then take a burette graduated in cc using paraffin put the ammount into the cylider head combustion chamber. Then measure with a vernier (or depth micrometer)from the head surface to the liquid and that is the ammount to skim off to get a 10:1 compression ratio. If your not into this, I would suggest calling one of the specialists like V8 Dev. (they will have a lot of experience in this type of stuff) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I see you did what i did and get rid of the exposed seams,just a water trap in the rain directing water into the door aperture ,rot the doors and make a footwell swimming pool,i also changed out the door hing hanger plates to 10mm plate the original is like 5mm or so,not very good and the threads strip too easily,i also used stainless button head screws on the door hinges. All the best.

likr how you found a toledo aftermarket grill to fit. keeps it looking proper.

Great job and it looks good!!

Great Job! I've been wanting to put GT6 top and side vents in my bonnet.

I was wondering if anyone has ever cut off the seams on a spitfire?! Such a gorgeous body but those seams have always bugged me. You’re going to have the most unique and beautiful spitfire in the world. Lol The way Triumph should have done it.

how'd the head gasket work out?

There are head gaskets that incorporate an o ring that go in the recess around the cylinders. You need one of those gaskets or have the top of block decked to eliminate o ring of course that will increase compression dramatically

This will sound like a mean comment, but you really should take some time to practice welding before working on the car. Since you already have started on the car, now that you've seen some of the difficult parts and angles to weld, you should try to recreate those situations on spare sheet metal and get to practicing. As you mentioned in the video, you need to work on the gaps between the panel and your patch piece. I also recommend practicing to get the the patch piece level with the panel because there are some long dead worms there. I'm only saying this because in the future when your skills have improved (through practice), when you see these videos or look at your car, there's a good chance that you will be a little less than excited about the work you did. It seems that you've watched some car restoration videos, but I highly recommend a channel called Make It Kustom. The guy is a master of metal. 21 people have viewed this video and I'm the first to hit the like button.

Couple of things: not only does it blow out to that aligning dowel but it has blown between the same 2 cylinders on at least two of the gaskets. Is the head dead flat? Have you looked at using head studs instead of headbolts? Definately be re-torquing the head after at least one good heat cycle Plus I dont know if you use coolant in the cooling system but we always run older engines with just plain water in the system for 500 odd kms before adding coolant. Allows anything in the block to get flushed out when drained and with certain composite gaskets like yours we have found anti-freeze can and does soften the gasket material on certain gaskets up making it easier to fail. Put oil or assembly lube under the head of the head bolt or the nut if using studs. It increases the clamping pressure on the gasket rather than if the fastener gets torqued up dry.

Just seen your channel for the first time, great to see an old Triumph Spitfire again, I had a dark maroun red one in the late 70's anyway i digress. An old trick I use - I think it was an essenntial on the Ford Kent motors if I recall correctly, is to spray paint the head gasket with Chrome Paint, or paint with a high Chromme content - let it dry and then fit - works really well - obviously in your case there are side issues as well.

Had you considered matching the ports to the manifolds using the gasket as a guide ?

Rangers are great trucks. I've had 4, but my current daily is an 83 Dodge. You may be thinking of Elin Yakov, Rusty Beauties. He recently did a TR4 head.

yup i'm watching you're not just talking to yourself. liked the info on the two restrictor lines in the fuel return lines. my tank also has a vacuum when i open the cap. hopefully that's my issue too. ----- so after all this you HAVE to drive the car and tell the viewer what difference it all made.

Thank you for posting, and keep up the good work. I hope you are able to get it back on the road soon, Be well

Hi, great video but in my opinion the result has more to do with replacing a poor old exhausted Strombie by a revised fresh pair of SUs and the removal of all the emission gear and associated air leaks + air pump big power robing. Stromberg are maligned carbs and are often misunderstood.. but in fact they are great ! , particularly in their non-emission adjustable version. In their emission version the problems are mainly caused by a worn out jet : the jet is pressed on the carb body so is there since about 50 years.. Worn jet = very rich mixture! while the carb emission add ons promote air leaks when getting old but can be bypassed easily (plugging air valve passages with a plain gasket and screwing down the temp compensator nut behind the long yellow cover) The metering needle is not widely adjustable and is very thick.. but a change to an early carb version air piston combined to the fitment of an adjustable jet conversion now available in every triumph shop (or from Joe Curto) can greatly help ! The "emission" version was chosen by a lot of car makers because it was so precisely built and was the only one able to meet the emission level requested at the time. SUs never were on the same level. There are engine differences between USA & Europe models, and all affect power: compression ratio is far down (head is taller & piston tops are concave) and also the camshaft profile is softer. As an example, the Herald 1300 with its single Strombie puts out 60 bhp 😃 Basically if you want more power, this can in fact be very cheap.. forget big carb throats and focus on the metering needle: bigger is rarely better but thinner definitely is..👍 Try AAQ needles on your HS4s and tell us.. 👍👍👍

Looking great!

Good video! A glimpse into my future. Keep it up Aaron!

I've had 4 Rangers over the years. Fun little trucks. On the studs, Land Rover Freelander. I've heard some people say to freeze them prior to installing (makes the metal shrink a little). $20 here and there eventually adds up--that's the only way I can make it work, usually. Doing fine my freind!

Suspension is fun. I hate those suicidal spring compressors. I shot a nut across the garage once. Lucky nothing got hurt or broken. My compressors were too large for the GT6 springs, so I made a bench compressor with a couple pieces of plate, appropriately located holes, and some all thread. Goes pretty quick with a ratcheting wrench. I should do a video on it. Btw, your video just cuts off at the end.

Nice. Throw them in evaporust or rust911. Vinegar works well too, but is acidic and may affect machined surfaces like bearing races, ECT. Plus it flash rusts like crazy when you clean it off and needs to be neutralized

Good video! I am not looking forward to the suspension work on my car for all the reasons you showed here!

Interesting approach. I agree, save the original metal if you can... Just like Wray Schelin says, metal is clay. 😉

Looking forward to your builds. Not sure if your skill levels, but here are a couple of channels you may want to check out. Make it Kustom, Proshaper Workshop, and Carter's Auto Restyling. Excellent explanantions on all kinds of metal work and shaking.

Any guess to the size of the EGR valve threads? Don’t have access to a welder and I’d like to plug those threads on the header.

Awesome work! Thanks for the update.

Thank you for posting it was very helpful.

Where did the bonnet come from?

Super excited to see this EV conversion! I said that if the engine in my Spit bites the dust, or when you can no longer buy gas I’ll convert to EV. Though about buying a wrecked Tesla, taking what I need and parting the rest out to pay for it.