"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
12/01/2016 at 17:56 • Filed to: Spit6
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"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
12/01/2016 at 17:56 • Filed to: Spit6 | 4
| 9 |
Finished the majority of the welding on the roof (or at least enough for it to keep its strength when lifted). Now I’ll box in the chassis to the floorpan, hopefully giving it quite a bit of structural rigidity in the process :) pics of the welding on the roof after the jump :)
Repaired the leading edge of the roof which was very frilly. Rather than buy a replacement panel for £180 you can pick up OG Mini rear valence for ~£20 which has a load of curved panels that you can chop up and get some complex curves for repair panels :)
Also patched up the sides which looked good on the outside but were very crusty behind the seams.
Lastly, patched up the little sections under the rear quarter windows and boxed it into the bodyshell :)
CaptDale - is secretly British
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/01/2016 at 18:05 |
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Looking great!
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> CaptDale - is secretly British
12/01/2016 at 18:11 |
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Thanks man :)
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CaptDale - is secretly British
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/01/2016 at 18:21 |
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You’re quite welcome. Gonna have it done for summer? ;)
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> CaptDale - is secretly British
12/01/2016 at 18:30 |
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Hah! Lord no ;)
Loads to do left on it, although now that I’m single again I do have a lot more time to work on it.
After the welding on the underside, I’ve got to re-do my custom rear suspension, paint it, fit the front suspension, big brakes, sort a custom prop, repair the fibreglass bonnet, fabricate a 6-3-1 manifold, see if I can sort out a long-tube intake system, re-upholster the seats, make door trim, electrics, fuel lines, brake lines and probably a host of other things I’ve forgotten!
Definitely the long game with this one :S
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CaptDale - is secretly British
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/01/2016 at 18:34 |
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Oh my god! That sounds like a ton of work! Definitely more than I need to do on my AH Sprite. Sorry to hear about becoming single, but at least there is an upside for you. Well good luck with all that, I can’t way to see lots of progression.
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> CaptDale - is secretly British
12/01/2016 at 18:46 |
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Thanks man :) yeah it is a ton of work. Classic case of project creep. Started out as a rolling resto on a 1300 mkIV, and snowballed into a 2.5l injected unibody monster!
Should be great fun when it’s finally done :)
Love AH Sprites! Which one have you got?
Have you posted up about it? I don’t get as much time at work to browse oppo anymore, but i love reading about other people’s projects, grand or small ;)
What’s the plan with it?
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CaptDale - is secretly British
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/01/2016 at 19:33 |
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I have done one post about it. Sad post , but I think I can keep her now, so that is good. I’ve had the car for 6 years now. My plan is to fully restore her with some canyon carving modifications. Try to keep her as original or period correct as I can except the wheels. I dislike the steels with center cap and I loathe Mini Maglites, so I had an automotive friend make me adapters from the 4x101.6 to 5x120 so I could fit some used BMW wheels I bought because I wanted more meat on the ground.
Then I had the wheels repaired and powdercoated in anthracite.
But right now and for the last couple of years she has been sitting in my storage unit due to lack of garage. I would love to work on her again, but I just can’t afford a house with a garage around where i live cause rent is stupid, but that’ll change eventually.
Oh right your first question: 1969 Austin Healey Sprite MKIV (1275cc)
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> CaptDale - is secretly British
12/01/2016 at 19:44 |
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Well that is a sad post, but I’m glad you’ve found a way to keep her :) love the name ‘Wanda’ as well. Brilliant film :)
I’m with you on the dislike of minilite-style wheels. Not a fan. I’m going for MG F 6-spokes for mine (Spitfire bolt pattern), although some of those nifty spacers you’ve got would be very nice :)
It sucks to not have a place to work on her, or money to buy bits, but those are temporary setbacks ;) is there anything you can get on with that doesn’t need a garage? Something like sorting out some of the interior, or rebuilding carbs or something physically small enough to do at home just to keep the ball rolling?
Feels nice to be progressing with things :)
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CaptDale - is secretly British
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/01/2016 at 20:13 |
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Right? All my cars have had clever names, or ones that just fit them.
I think it is due to the minilite being the only widely available aftermarket wheel for silly British cars. Yeah it took a while to figure out what size I could get away with. These wheels with the size tire I got are no bigger than the original wheel with stock sized tires on it if you put them next to each other. Though they are like 4 inches wider and with the spacing added by the adapter and the offset of the wheel they just fit. It was a bitch making them fit. I had to custom order the adapter because they needed to be as thin as they could make them for everything to fit under the fender.
I wish. I mean I guess i could, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that type of stuff in the apartment I have with a flatmate. Kind of an odd arrangement. So I’d love to, but I won’t. Plus what I really need to do is just start pieing her, running wires, and then interior and drivetrain install. I have everything I took off her and like the 80% of replaced parts to just install.
If you do ever want a set of those adapters and you know what sizes I could see what it’d cost. They are hubcentric and everything.