Hi Saige, good job getting the cylinder head off. Number 3 piston looks like it has been hitting the cylinder head. The head should go to a machine shop to check for cracks, also they will check for any bent valves. It appears the piston took the brunt of the damage, it will need replacement. The engine should come out next to remove the crankshaft and camshaft for inspection/repair then reinstall the main caps. Then the engine block can be sent for inspection. The cylinder walls appear to not have any scoring so if all goes well the engine should be repairable. Start looking for a source for a new piston, wrist pin, connecting rod, rings, all bearings, timing chain and gasket set. Don't order anything until the machine shop inspects and tells you what size (overbore) piston and bearings you need. Before you send the cylinder block and head out to the machine shop, be sure to remove all bolts, nuts, brackets etc so they don't get lost during the process. Carefully inspect the camshaft for any flat or damaged lobes. You will have a great running car when this is all done, good luck!
@@saigesgarage - These crap engines and transmissions come apart at around 25K miles at USA driving speeds... rods start knocking, valve springs break and drop valves into the engine... another used engine would be a pig in a poke... best to restore the engine you have properly and then get another 25K miles out of it... or drop a Buick/Olds/Rover aluminum V8 in with a Borg Warner T50 5 speed tranny... or some other reliable engine...
@@BuzzLOLOL ----> PURE BS!!!!!!!!! ....... Go buy yourself a miata ...turbo charge it and leave the Spit alone. Spitfire lovers don't need more silly butchering of a very sweet REAL BRITISH CLASSIC SPORTS CAR!
Bonjour Saige! :) Great job. Head is off! Piston n°3 is dead. it's probably out of shape/been distorted by the Bang.. and by continuously hitting the head too.. This can occur at the advanced stage of a crankshaft bearing failure and can be heard as a light tapping noise. Your engine failure was either the terminal result of such a problem or was caused by a rod bolt or rod thread failure (reuse of old bolts / overtightening / undertightening / rod thread stripping). Several options are possible in order to get more pep for highway use : You can fit European type "Flat Top" piston to regain a little more compression ratio and tweak the Stromberg carb with a thinner metering needle and an adjustable jet conversion. American/emission version of the Stromberg carb are not allowing much adjustment. Fitting a pair of SUs is also possible via the european version. American Spitfires are also geared "short" and need a better 3.63 diff ratio for cruising (also used on european Spits), unfortunately they are scarce in America but an alternative could be the fitment of an overdrive gearbox kit (a fifth gear on the flick of the gearlever switch!), but $$$.. I don't know if engine swapping is legal in Canada? but if a bit more ooomph is required you can build a "Sixfire".. = basically fitting a 6cyl Triumph 2L engine in it . The conversion is popular & pretty straightforward as it was used by the factory for the GT6 coupé, but you need to upgrade the front uprights/towers and brakes alround + gearbox/propshaft + radiator with GT6 parts and its bonnet too! (or fitting a bulge). Most of the Spitfire parts are kept (full rear suspension, front wishbones, anti-roll bar and differential, being the same as the GT6 one) Not so many parts required and the fit is plug&play except the radiator brackets.. and you get one of the most beautiful music an engine can make. 😃 Good Luck for the next stage
The broken bracket on the inlet manifold is a very common fault and most people do not worry about it. In fact, aftermarket exhaust headers are not even made with that bracket to connect the inlet manifold to so probably not worth the expense of finding a new one if you want to save a few dollars.
Hi, Looks like a set of imperial spanners, hydrolic jack and axel stands should be on your Birthday/Xmas list, the water on your pistons was probably the remains of what was in the system when you removed the head and broke the gasket seal, your doing a gr8 job keep it up, ive had my spit for 24 years just look at it as if that every job you do on it is a job you have done right! and not an unknown issue :) you wont regret loving this little car good fun and times lie ahead lol, good luck from the UK :)
looks like you guys had a blown head gasket with all the engine coolant in the cylinders. it's great the cylinder walls are free of scratches that saved a real headache. the piston on number three the problem cylinder looks like the piston has scars on the piston top. hard to say what that could be from.... possibly from crashing into the valves when the connecting rod broke. imo i think the piston can be used so long as the scarring is on top only which looks to be the case. pay high attention the book when putting everything back together particularly washers and torque settings. when you do reinstall the cylinder head you have to retorque the cylinder head down again after an hour or two of driving.... it's possible to blow a head gasket if you don't retorque the head. kudos to your you and your dad it's a fun project. --- keep mice away from the car at all costs. they like to burrow into the seat backs near the bottom and chew on wires.
I really enjoyed your video and you and your dad took me right back to when I was around your age. I used to help my dad to repair his and my mum's cars. I decided I wanted to race Motocross and my dad showed me how to rebuild the top end of my bike in our kitchen 😁 My mum was unimpressed. I'm guessing around 35 years on and I have my own engineering company restoring vintage motorcycles. Be warned, it can be addictive 😁
There was no need to remove the inlet manifold or exhaust manifold, after disconnecting the throttle cable and choke cable and removing the exhaust pipe from the manifold they would stayed attached and lifted off with the cylinder head and you could have removed then on the bench later. And there is an engine coolant drain on the side of the engine block.
there looks to be two ppl selling spitfire engines on kijiji if all else fails. while down there mention to your dad to check thrust washers. plenty of literature on the interweb about them and how to check them..... but they are vital.... and worn thurst washers can cause these problems. easy to change with the oil pan out,,,, but again it's a vital piece to a healthy spitfire engine.
I'm rather late but interestingly (and possibly rather worryingly) it seems like someone's been in the engine before, recently, and had the cylinder head off. The missing washer on the number 7 head bolt and the fact that the head gasket seems brand new (on mine it was super deteriorated like your trunk seal rubber was haha), so someone's definitely had the engine apart recently, but the question is, why? Could the engine have been having problems beforehand which they kept quiet about or couldn't figure out?
@@saigesgarage French blue, I have had her since the day after I joined the RCN as a junior officer in 1977. I have 5 stock rims if you want them, if not there going to recycling. Not sure where you live, no doubt near Wasaga, but have you thought of joining the Toronto triumph club. They do regular drives throughout the year. Looking forward to your progress, on side note. Do you think your going to strip the engine down.
@@shanecrawford6023 wow so cool! I really appreciate the offer I’d love for you to contact me with details to pick them up! My email is saige.bezener@gmail.com:)
Your car has been fitted with an aftermarket Auxiliary oil feed to the cyl head. That was the bolt at the rear corner that you removed. These parts are VERY controversial, and it is likely that this device starved your crankshaft of oil and caused, or helped to cause the #3 con rod failier (#3 always seems to be the most likely to fail) I would not worry about the broken tab on the exhaust manifold. It is not important or indeed needed. leave it be or cut it off the inlet manifold. You will never miss it.
Please do get a proper hydraulic jack and jack stands. These scissor jacks are not meant to lift that high, are unstable, and can collapse and cause serious injury.
I saw you had the distributor cap off. You appear to have the original (mechanical) ignition system. Now is a good time to replace it with an electronic system. Many good options out there. Look it up at Moss Motors or Rimmer Bros. If you want the best, you should get MegaJolt. That is a semi do it yourself system, but you can eliminate the distributor altogether using a crank position sensor wheel attached to the fly wheel. An easier system is Pertronix, which replaces the distributor innards yet still looks like original.
Subscriber 194 - I've got a spitfire out in the family farm/forest that has been there, maybe longer than you've been alive. I've wanted to getting it running since I was a child, and my father said it wasn't worth it. But every year, I want to rebuild it more and more. This summer, I found some special pistons my uncle bought for it YEARS ago, but never installed them....I look forward to seeing your progress. Have you seen this epic video from back in the day? th-cam.com/video/Sxfj6jcrVz8/w-d-xo.html
Hi Saige, good job getting the cylinder head off. Number 3 piston looks like it has been hitting the cylinder head. The head should go to a machine shop to check for cracks, also they will check for any bent valves. It appears the piston took the brunt of the damage, it will need replacement. The engine should come out next to remove the crankshaft and camshaft for inspection/repair then reinstall the main caps. Then the engine block can be sent for inspection. The cylinder walls appear to not have any scoring so if all goes well the engine should be repairable. Start looking for a source for a new piston, wrist pin, connecting rod, rings, all bearings, timing chain and gasket set. Don't order anything until the machine shop inspects and tells you what size (overbore) piston and bearings you need. Before you send the cylinder block and head out to the machine shop, be sure to remove all bolts, nuts, brackets etc so they don't get lost during the process. Carefully inspect the camshaft for any flat or damaged lobes. You will have a great running car when this is all done, good luck!
I’ll be sure to look for all of those and I’m sure the block will be sent out soon!
@@saigesgarage - These crap engines and transmissions come apart at around 25K miles at USA driving speeds... rods start knocking, valve springs break and drop valves into the engine... another used engine would be a pig in a poke... best to restore the engine you have properly and then get another 25K miles out of it... or drop a Buick/Olds/Rover aluminum V8 in with a Borg Warner T50 5 speed tranny... or some other reliable engine...
@@BuzzLOLOL ----> PURE BS!!!!!!!!! ....... Go buy yourself a miata ...turbo charge it and leave the Spit alone. Spitfire lovers don't need more silly butchering of a very sweet REAL BRITISH CLASSIC SPORTS CAR!
Bonjour Saige! :) Great job. Head is off!
Piston n°3 is dead. it's probably out of shape/been distorted by the Bang.. and by continuously hitting the head too.. This can occur at the advanced stage of a crankshaft bearing failure and can be heard as a light tapping noise.
Your engine failure was either the terminal result of such a problem or was caused by a rod bolt or rod thread failure (reuse of old bolts / overtightening / undertightening / rod thread stripping).
Several options are possible in order to get more pep for highway use :
You can fit European type "Flat Top" piston to regain a little more compression ratio and tweak the Stromberg carb with a thinner metering needle and an adjustable jet conversion. American/emission version of the Stromberg carb are not allowing much adjustment.
Fitting a pair of SUs is also possible via the european version.
American Spitfires are also geared "short" and need a better 3.63 diff ratio for cruising (also used on european Spits), unfortunately they are scarce in America but an alternative could be the fitment of an overdrive gearbox kit (a fifth gear on the flick of the gearlever switch!), but $$$..
I don't know if engine swapping is legal in Canada? but if a bit more ooomph is required you can build a "Sixfire".. = basically fitting a 6cyl Triumph 2L engine in it . The conversion is popular & pretty straightforward as it was used by the factory for the GT6 coupé, but you need to upgrade the front uprights/towers and brakes alround + gearbox/propshaft + radiator with GT6 parts and its bonnet too! (or fitting a bulge).
Most of the Spitfire parts are kept (full rear suspension, front wishbones, anti-roll bar and differential, being the same as the GT6 one)
Not so many parts required and the fit is plug&play except the radiator brackets.. and you get one of the most beautiful music an engine can make. 😃
Good Luck for the next stage
Good to know what might’ve caused the failure, and all the options I have for upgrades!
Great video. Clearly you’re learning a lot as you go through tearing down the engine. I’ll be following along!
Yes and I’m learning more every day! Thanks for following along :)
The broken bracket on the inlet manifold is a very common fault and most people do not worry about it. In fact, aftermarket exhaust headers are not even made with that bracket to connect the inlet manifold to so probably not worth the expense of finding a new one if you want to save a few dollars.
Great to know thanks!
Hi, Looks like a set of imperial spanners, hydrolic jack and axel stands should be on your Birthday/Xmas list, the water on your pistons was probably the remains of what was in the system when you removed the head and broke the gasket seal, your doing a gr8 job keep it up, ive had my spit for 24 years just look at it as if that every job you do on it is a job you have done right! and not an unknown issue :) you wont regret loving this little car good fun and times lie ahead lol, good luck from the UK :)
Haha I agree! That’s a great way to look at it :)
You guys are doing great! Lots of folks here to help with any questions...
looks like you guys had a blown head gasket with all the engine coolant in the cylinders. it's great the cylinder walls are free of scratches that saved a real headache. the piston on number three the problem cylinder looks like the piston has scars on the piston top. hard to say what that could be from.... possibly from crashing into the valves when the connecting rod broke. imo i think the piston can be used so long as the scarring is on top only which looks to be the case. pay high attention the book when putting everything back together particularly washers and torque settings. when you do reinstall the cylinder head you have to retorque the cylinder head down again after an hour or two of driving.... it's possible to blow a head gasket if you don't retorque the head. kudos to your you and your dad it's a fun project. --- keep mice away from the car at all costs. they like to burrow into the seat backs near the bottom and chew on wires.
Good to know, thanks!
Exactly, shouldn't be antifreeze in cylinders, only oil and combusted gasoline.
I really enjoyed your video and you and your dad took me right back to when I was around your age. I used to help my dad to repair his and my mum's cars. I decided I wanted to race Motocross and my dad showed me how to rebuild the top end of my bike in our kitchen 😁 My mum was unimpressed.
I'm guessing around 35 years on and I have my own engineering company restoring vintage motorcycles.
Be warned, it can be addictive 😁
Wow very cool!
Looks like you've got a bent con rod on number 3. Keep going girl.
You are doing a great job with your spitfire and a great video and keep doing what you are doing 😀.
There was no need to remove the inlet manifold or exhaust manifold, after disconnecting the throttle cable and choke cable and removing the exhaust pipe from the manifold they would stayed attached and lifted off with the cylinder head and you could have removed then on the bench later. And there is an engine coolant drain on the side of the engine block.
Awesome thank you for the info!!
there looks to be two ppl selling spitfire engines on kijiji if all else fails. while down there mention to your dad to check thrust washers. plenty of literature on the interweb about them and how to check them..... but they are vital.... and worn thurst washers can cause these problems. easy to change with the oil pan out,,,, but again it's a vital piece to a healthy spitfire engine.
Wow thanks for looking into the engines for sale! We’ll be sure to check out the thrust washers
I'm rather late but interestingly (and possibly rather worryingly) it seems like someone's been in the engine before, recently, and had the cylinder head off.
The missing washer on the number 7 head bolt and the fact that the head gasket seems brand new (on mine it was super deteriorated like your trunk seal rubber was haha), so someone's definitely had the engine apart recently, but the question is, why? Could the engine have been having problems beforehand which they kept quiet about or couldn't figure out?
Good point, the engine is apart now so we’re going to find out what the full extent of what the damage was
Well done, I have a 1976 triumph spitfire in Burlington.
Thank you! Very cool what colour?
@@saigesgarage French blue, I have had her since the day after I joined the RCN as a junior officer in 1977. I have 5 stock rims if you want them, if not there going to recycling. Not sure where you live, no doubt near Wasaga, but have you thought of joining the Toronto triumph club. They do regular drives throughout the year. Looking forward to your progress, on side note. Do you think your going to strip the engine down.
@@shanecrawford6023 wow so cool! I really appreciate the offer I’d love for you to contact me with details to pick them up! My email is saige.bezener@gmail.com:)
Your car has been fitted with an aftermarket Auxiliary oil feed to the cyl head. That was the bolt at the rear corner that you removed. These parts are VERY controversial, and it is likely that this device starved your crankshaft of oil and caused, or helped to cause the #3 con rod failier (#3 always seems to be the most likely to fail)
I would not worry about the broken tab on the exhaust manifold. It is not important or indeed needed. leave it be or cut it off the inlet manifold. You will never miss it.
Oh wow very interesting and good to know!
Please do get a proper hydraulic jack and jack stands. These scissor jacks are not meant to lift that high, are unstable, and can collapse and cause serious injury.
I’ll look into getting one, thanks!
@@saigesgarage praetorious is right. Those things are really dangerous.
I saw you had the distributor cap off. You appear to have the original (mechanical) ignition system. Now is a good time to replace it with an electronic system. Many good options out there. Look it up at Moss Motors or Rimmer Bros. If you want the best, you should get MegaJolt. That is a semi do it yourself system, but you can eliminate the distributor altogether using a crank position sensor wheel attached to the fly wheel. An easier system is Pertronix, which replaces the distributor innards yet still looks like original.
I’ll look into replacing it, thanks!
With my mechanical knowledge. I think the mouse spunked on your exhaust manifold
Jokes aside. Good video. 10 points for not hurting the mouse
Haha thanks!
Yea that third piston looked cocked a little bit and then you said broken connecting rod. So that explained that lol
Haha yeah there was certainly a big issue!!
a piece of cardboard numbered 1 to 8 with 8 holes
Ok got it thank you
Subscriber 194 - I've got a spitfire out in the family farm/forest that has been there, maybe longer than you've been alive. I've wanted to getting it running since I was a child, and my father said it wasn't worth it. But every year, I want to rebuild it more and more. This summer, I found some special pistons my uncle bought for it YEARS ago, but never installed them....I look forward to seeing your progress. Have you seen this epic video from back in the day? th-cam.com/video/Sxfj6jcrVz8/w-d-xo.html
Wow I hope you get it running!! I’ll check out the video soon thanks for sending :)