Colin would be proud...

"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
11/10/2015 at 16:24 • Filed to: Spit6

I deemed some of the box section at the front of the Spitfire to be surplus to requirements so attacked it with a hole saw. So far we’re up to 425g cut out of the front end (so measured with bits placed in my ‘chapman’ box).

Also finished the last bit of welding on the floor. Now I’m drilling holes in the rear so high-pressure air at the back of the car will force itself into the boot, thus cooling the fuel pump that will be there eventually :)

DISCUSSION (11)

CalzoneGolem > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 16:30

You know, if you didn’t fix the floor it’d be even lighter.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > CalzoneGolem
11/10/2015 at 16:34

This I had considered. Would also allow for Flintstones-style maneuvering at slow speeds...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 16:36

Going to draw the holes with your swage tool, or leave these ones be?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/10/2015 at 16:44

These will stay as-is because I can’t get the other half of the tool behind them. I think those box-sections are only really of any use in shunts so the plan is not to drive into anything else and I’ll be fine :)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 16:47

The Giant Mad Barge (tm) I purchased has holes like that punched all along one of the sheets making up the rocker panel on the inside. I have to assume it was to let air breath through the thing, though, as I can’t imagine they thought a stray 3lb a side would have any effect on a 5200lb car...

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/10/2015 at 17:40

Yeah does seem a bit like a fart in a hurricane...

Unless you do it some more of course ;)

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 18:19

the plan is not to drive into anything else and I’ll be fine :)

This is the sort of advanced multi-layered strategic planning we can all be proud of.

twochevrons > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 22:20

Heh, using the original fuel pump then? I’m super excited to see this build progressing!

I remember my Dad’s 2.5PI conking out with vapour lock on hot summer days. I think we ended up sticking a small electric fan in the pump well to keep it cool.

By the way, I have Triumph news, too! I’m getting this:

Kinja'd!!!

My grandmother made the decision to move to something smaller and easier to drive, and wanted the old Triumph (that my late grandfather bought new) to stay in the family, so I’m having it shipped to me in the US, hopefully arriving in the spring. It’ll be an adventure, for sure, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the big Triumphs, and that car in particular, so I’m thrilled to be getting it. It’ll also be kind of neat to have a car that’s pretty much been around the world at this point!

I may have to call in a few favours in parts-sourcing. I know for a fact that there are a few estate-specific bits and pieces that are missing or damaged, and even for the more mundane stuff, it seems that Mk1 parts are pretty much unobtanium from the usual suppliers. If you know anybody who’s breaking one, give me a shout!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons
11/11/2015 at 04:54

Nice! I’m very jealous, I love the Triumph big saloons :) what engine is it? 2000? 2500 twincarb? Injection?

I’ll keep an eye out for any ones that are breaking on eBay (I’ve got them set up on my feed anyway). Let me know which parts are needed and I’ll have a look. I know there’s one rather large Triumph parts stockist that doesn’t sell via the internet, only in the adverts pages of classic car mags.

I don’t mind being a waypoint either if someone won’t ship to the States. I’ve done that for RamblinRover with some Cortina lights and Rover V8 rocker covers.

I had originally planned to use the stock Lucas pump (to the point of buying one off eBay), but later read that they’re not a fan of unleaded fuel. You can send them off to be rebuilt with unleaded seals and the like, but at that point (plus buying a filter) you’re only Ł10-Ł20 off a Bosch conversion which will run on unleaded fine.

I've still heard of issues with the Bosch pumps overheating and other problems like fuel starvation if they're higher than the fuel level, so I'm not entirely convinced that they're a huge upgrade over a slightly modified Lucas pump. So, the plan is to weld a little bit of steel mesh into the back panel of the Spit where hopefully I'll het a high-pressure recirculation of air and then find an area of low pressure possibly on the boot floor so that when in motion I'll get a circulation of air going past the pump (and probably some cooling coils for the fuel line). I'll probably also supplement that with a little electric fan from one of the junk desktop computers we have that's wired into the same circuit as the rad fan at the front so it'll cut in when the car's stationary :)

twochevrons > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/11/2015 at 22:24

It’s a 2000 (oh how I wish it was one of the handful of Mk1 2.5PI estates!). Having driven many many miles in a Mk2 2500, it’s interesting to see how the two cars compare – the short-stroke 2000 is much more willing to rev, and with the lower gearing of the Mk1, it feels much more lively. It’s got a top-notch stainless exhaust on it, too, and makes a truly lovely sound.

If the Bosch pumps don’t like being higher than the fuel level, that probably explains the insane fuel system of my Mk2 Scirocco. That has a small pump in the tank that feeds fuel into a small header tank that then gravity-feeds into the high-pressure pump. It works, I’ll give it that, but it makes for a huge mess of fuel lines, and the little plastic header tank is both prone to cracking, and remarkably expensive. It hadn’t occurred to me that you could use one with Lucas PI, but I suppose that the fuel pressures involved are in the same ballpark, after all.

In the warmer Australian and NZ climates, the hole-in-the-boot-floor trick was pretty common to try and get a modicum of reliability out of the original pump. Ours had the inlet line coiled around the pump motor in an attempt to cool it, but it didn’t do all that much. Back when we had ours, you could still get leaded petrol in NZ, but I remember that at one point, my father had somehow procured a quantity of 100-octane aviation fuel. Boy, did it like that, but the cost and questionable legality of using it meant that it was a one-off deal.

I’ll keep you posted on the parts situation; I probably won’t do anything until it arrives in the spring – after all, who knows what might fall off it while in transit – but I probably will take you up on your offer! Of course, the same thing goes if there’s anything that you need from the US.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons
11/12/2015 at 15:40

The Scirocco’s setup sounds like what I’ll be doing on the spitfire :) it’s a concession to the need to avoid fuel starvation in fuel injected cars (carbed cars have the dashpots to buffer fuelling in long sweepers). My little tank will be aluminium though...

Thanks man :) if there’s anything in the States I’ll let you know :)