That simple task of removing the fan belt on the Spitfire, is such a chore on my TR4A. In stock form, the front of the engine needs to be jacked up to allow enough clearance between the crank pulley and the steering rack to remove the belt! Just what you need when you’re on the side of the road!😬 So I inserted some large washers on the motor mount studs to lift the engine just enough to get the belt off/on.👍
I know exactly what you mean with the TR4, it's the same issue with the TR6. Although the belt is slimmer so there is some chance of trying to get it in place. But with TR2-3 and 4 with the fatter belts they can be a pain 👍
The smaller pulley will presumably spin faster, I was a bit worried that the new fan wouldn't have the same cooling as the "wrong" one. Nice work Steve.
Cheers Richard, yes, with the round tail Spitfires the crank pulley and water pump the diameters are smaller meaning they turn faster. I surpose they changed them to wider diameter so the belt turned less, reducing the risk of it snapping 👍
Interesting to see how much smaller the radiator is on UK cars as opposed to my Australian 12/50. Mine still runs hot though... It could probably do with the bigger fan that you took off yours! The style of this video was also really good. Much easier to follow along and learn something new. Keep up the good work!
Well I surpose in our wet cold climate country the rad and fan are good enough, but of course in Auz with the lovely sunshine you'd need something a bit more mainly to do the job 👍
I always use collected rainwater in the cooling systems of my classic cars as the tap water in my area is extremely hard. This prevents any further build up of limescale deposits in the water passages.
Nice video Steve I enjoyed the step by step explanation of how to do the job but it would have been interesting to see the 2 different adjuster brackets shown together for comparison
Yes, I too considered it until I looked further into it. A friend of mine used it, his head blew, and you guessed it, over £100 of waterless coolant all over the road. I think it's good stuff for large collectors like Jay Leno, who cars only do a few miles each year, spending most of the time sitting in the collection. But for the average guy on the street with one, or two classics in the the garrage, it's not worth it 👍
Loving your vids Steve. Had 3 Dollies from age 18-25. Rebuilt the engine and had it all apart as you do when young! Now at 53 just got a MkIV Spit - so re-living all the joys and pains! Why aren't you spraying all those rusty bolts with WD or a rust release spray before taking things off ! 😀
Cheers Roger. With penetrating spray its like this, if I show people what I use, some will say that's not penetrating fluid, or what thy like using, some will say use this, or use that, and it's an argument I'll never win. So I've stopped saying what I use, but it's also down to experience with nuts and bolts and seeing if something really needs it too, although it is good practice to use it 👍
I'll have to do the same job soon, my waterpump is leaking. BTW. i can see your MKIII has originally been delivered in colour code 19 (White) but just like mine, an idiot (previous owner) decided to paint it red. Dont know how it is in the UK, but here in DK to many Spitfires are painted red. Thanks for the video.
There were a lot of E-types originally ordered in white and of course most of them got ‘restored’ in red ! Triumph and Jaguar both did a Primrose Yellow colour in the late 60s… that would be an interesting choice for a respray - it would suit the black interior IMO.
Yes, it's another prime example of respray red to make money. It happened alot in the 1980s and 90's in the UK. At somepoint I will have the car resprayed, it won't be the white it came out the factory as, nor will it be red. It's a case of watch this space 👍
Thanks for sharing Steve..,Gr8 advice and video as always. To provide additional cooling could a kenlow fan be fitted too? I owned a MGB GT with that fitted and it kept everything very cool 😎. Not sure if they are still available anymore?
Cheers Stephen, on my TR6 I run both a Kenlowe and an engine fan, and that's soon the path the Spitfire will be taking. I think it's good to have the engine fan running as it should, but in heavy modern traffic I have noticed that having an additional electric fan helps keeing things cool. Revotec fans, are what most people buy those days 👍
A graphic and easy explaination Steve . However , l was more concerned about the bonnet decapitating you than falling on the floor !! And what's hiding under the tarpulin Steve ? Thanks .
The mk3 is one of them cars that had a number of changes throughout production. Very late mk3s may of had alternators. It's a funny old ones as they built the last mk3's for a number of months while building and selling the mk4's at the same time. But as for mine having an alternator, it's more to do with being practical over being orignal. An alternator is cheap, and reliable. Dynamo, are just too unrelable and too expensive, and the stelth dynamos on the market are again just too expensive to justify buying one, just for the look 👍
In all honestly I’ve noticed no difference in cooling, but that said I would agree with you on the logic. More blades will keep things cooler. I just like the look, and am trying to keep things somewhat period 👍
@@SteveDentonClassics my herald was fitted with an aftermarket variable pitch metal fan which ran finer when it went faster. But it ran fairly hot and was much heavier than the plastic fan.
Now a cool Car, and a cool video. Thanks Steve. You make repairs look easy👍
Cheers Ole, glade you enjoy watching my videos 👍
Great to see you back Steve. Great video, love the access you get with your spitfire bonnet.
Cheers mate, it's one of my favorite features of the small chassis Triumphs. They are so easy to work on 👍
Good job Steve. Just the right balance of talk and work. And your Spit sounded pretty good when it started.
Cheers John, glade you enjoyed it 👍
That simple task of removing the fan belt on the Spitfire, is such a chore on my TR4A. In stock form, the front of the engine needs to be jacked up to allow enough clearance between the crank pulley and the steering rack to remove the belt! Just what you need when you’re on the side of the road!😬 So I inserted some large washers on the motor mount studs to lift the engine just enough to get the belt off/on.👍
I know exactly what you mean with the TR4, it's the same issue with the TR6. Although the belt is slimmer so there is some chance of trying to get it in place. But with TR2-3 and 4 with the fatter belts they can be a pain 👍
Love the look of the yellow fan Steve
Cheers mate 👍
Steve, enjoy your videos. I'm in process to hopefully have a 66 Spit in my garage next month, your videos have been helpful.
Cheers Dennis, glade they are helping you 👍
The smaller pulley will presumably spin faster, I was a bit worried that the new fan wouldn't have the same cooling as the "wrong" one. Nice work Steve.
Cheers Richard, yes, with the round tail Spitfires the crank pulley and water pump the diameters are smaller meaning they turn faster. I surpose they changed them to wider diameter so the belt turned less, reducing the risk of it snapping 👍
Interesting to see how much smaller the radiator is on UK cars as opposed to my Australian 12/50. Mine still runs hot though... It could probably do with the bigger fan that you took off yours!
The style of this video was also really good. Much easier to follow along and learn something new. Keep up the good work!
Well I surpose in our wet cold climate country the rad and fan are good enough, but of course in Auz with the lovely sunshine you'd need something a bit more mainly to do the job 👍
I always use collected rainwater in the cooling systems of my classic cars as the tap water in my area is extremely hard. This prevents any further build up of limescale deposits in the water passages.
I've heared of people using deionised water as well in the coolant just to keep things in shape 👍
Nice video Steve I enjoyed the step by step explanation of how to do the job but it would have been interesting to see the 2 different adjuster brackets shown together for comparison
Cheers mate 👍
That's interesting about the waterless coolant, I was considering using it on mine but I'm glad I didn't now.
Yes, I too considered it until I looked further into it. A friend of mine used it, his head blew, and you guessed it, over £100 of waterless coolant all over the road. I think it's good stuff for large collectors like Jay Leno, who cars only do a few miles each year, spending most of the time sitting in the collection. But for the average guy on the street with one, or two classics in the the garrage, it's not worth it 👍
Loving your vids Steve. Had 3 Dollies from age 18-25. Rebuilt the engine and had it all apart as you do when young! Now at 53 just got a MkIV Spit - so re-living all the joys and pains! Why aren't you spraying all those rusty bolts with WD or a rust release spray before taking things off ! 😀
Cheers Roger. With penetrating spray its like this, if I show people what I use, some will say that's not penetrating fluid, or what thy like using, some will say use this, or use that, and it's an argument I'll never win. So I've stopped saying what I use, but it's also down to experience with nuts and bolts and seeing if something really needs it too, although it is good practice to use it 👍
Great to see you Steve. Job well done. I’m wondering if your new original fan will cool as well as the one that was on it.
Cheers Tush, on testing it was more than capable. It's surprised me, but I guess as it was turing faster it makes sence 👍
I'll have to do the same job soon, my waterpump is leaking.
BTW. i can see your MKIII has originally been delivered in colour code 19 (White) but just like mine, an idiot (previous owner)
decided to paint it red.
Dont know how it is in the UK, but here in DK to many Spitfires are painted red.
Thanks for the video.
There were a lot of E-types originally ordered in white and of course most of them got ‘restored’ in red !
Triumph and Jaguar both did a Primrose Yellow colour in the late 60s… that would be an interesting choice for a respray - it would suit the black interior IMO.
Yes, it's another prime example of respray red to make money. It happened alot in the 1980s and 90's in the UK. At somepoint I will have the car resprayed, it won't be the white it came out the factory as, nor will it be red. It's a case of watch this space 👍
Thanks for sharing Steve..,Gr8 advice and video as always. To provide additional cooling could a kenlow fan be fitted too? I owned a MGB GT with that fitted and it kept everything very cool 😎. Not sure if they are still available anymore?
Cheers Stephen, on my TR6 I run both a Kenlowe and an engine fan, and that's soon the path the Spitfire will be taking. I think it's good to have the engine fan running as it should, but in heavy modern traffic I have noticed that having an additional electric fan helps keeing things cool. Revotec fans, are what most people buy those days 👍
A graphic and easy explaination Steve . However , l was more concerned about the bonnet decapitating you than falling on the floor !! And what's hiding under the tarpulin Steve ? Thanks .
Cheers John, it's the MGB Project under the tarpulin. Unfortunately I don't have a garage for it, so it has to live outside for now 👍
Presumably the alternator is non-standard for a Mk3 ?
The mk3 is one of them cars that had a number of changes throughout production. Very late mk3s may of had alternators. It's a funny old ones as they built the last mk3's for a number of months while building and selling the mk4's at the same time. But as for mine having an alternator, it's more to do with being practical over being orignal. An alternator is cheap, and reliable. Dynamo, are just too unrelable and too expensive, and the stelth dynamos on the market are again just too expensive to justify buying one, just for the look 👍
yikes! Coach bolts?!
Yeah, not ideal. It's like a lot of things on the car I'm slowly putting right 👍
The seven blade plastic fan is miles better than the four bladed anchor but it's your car.
In all honestly I’ve noticed no difference in cooling, but that said I would agree with you on the logic. More blades will keep things cooler. I just like the look, and am trying to keep things somewhat period 👍
@@SteveDentonClassics my herald was fitted with an aftermarket variable pitch metal fan which ran finer when it went faster. But it ran fairly hot and was much heavier than the plastic fan.