So, this is what I've been working on recently :)

"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
05/29/2016 at 19:08 • Filed to: Spit6

The next step for the Spitfire is to strip the underside of the body and paint it, ready for welding to the chassis. I looked into the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for all of 5 seconds before thinking ‘sod that for a game of soldiers’ and ordered some box-section.

The a-frame itself was pretty simple, and to make it easier to turn the body over I bought a £16 winch from eBay and cannibalised bits from it. I also drilled holes in the gear through which a little pin fits to lock the body in place.

You can sort of see here and in the picture before that it’s got a box that’s welded to a pin which fits into the a-frame. The box is then bolted to a bracket which attaches to the car, and will allow us to mount different cars on the frame by just making up new brackets (and is also why it’s taller than it needs to be for the spit body). However, my favourite feature is this...

It folds!

A really useful feature for someone with an actual working space that’s smaller than Jack Olsen’s excellent !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (and certainly without the level of organisation and innovation that has gone into that place).

I’ve just got to shift the body forwards slightly so I can get to the back of it properly and make up a bracket to bolt to there and I can get cracking :)

DISCUSSION (18)

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/29/2016 at 19:29

More of this sort of thing.

You lunatic.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
05/29/2016 at 19:32

Heh :) reminded me of this

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/29/2016 at 19:33

Exactly mate, mad stuff. Is yours rounder at the top?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
05/29/2016 at 19:39

Well, I’m clearly sleep deprived because I couldn’t for the life of me work out the context of ‘is yours rounder at the top’.

Tried googling it to see if it was a Father Ted line but it came up with ‘Glute Workout: 6 Ways To Build Your Perfect Booty’...

Urambo Tauro > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/29/2016 at 20:04

Making your own tools is awsome enough, but that folding feature makes me all giddy inside. Well done!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Urambo Tauro
05/29/2016 at 20:10

Thanks :) I’m inordinately proud of how it’s turned out :)

'Wägen, EPA LOL > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/29/2016 at 20:30

This is amazing. Are you doing media blasting to strip or some different?

I’ve got a 124 spider I started resto on but am really torn on fully stripping the body...

KatzManDu > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/29/2016 at 21:02

That is fucking awesome.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/30/2016 at 05:57

It's in that clip above!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 'Wägen, EPA LOL
05/30/2016 at 06:29

Thanks a lot :) I’ll probably hit it with a wire wheel actually. I’ve got a media blaster and tried it on my chassis, but it’s slower going than you think and makes shitloads of mess (not good when you’ve got a garage as crowded as mine).

It is useful for getting into the little corners though.

Oh cool :) have you got any pics? I love those old Spiders.

It’s a big undertaking doing a full respray, but I hope it’ll be worth it once I’m done :) if you haven’t driven it yet I’d be tempted to do a rolling resto with a respray on the cards somewhere down the line. That was the original plan with mine, but the engine it came with needed a rebuild and the suspension needed a thorough going over so it made more sense to do a full body-off restoration and here I am 3 years later*!

*I have done tons of other things in-between so it probably wouldn’t take you quite that long if it’s your only project!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > KatzManDu
05/30/2016 at 06:35

Thanks a lot man :)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
05/30/2016 at 06:43

Yep. Definitely sleep deprived.

Moron ;)

'Wägen, EPA LOL > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/30/2016 at 11:25

I picked mine up last August and drove it the rest of the summer. It was fun to cruise in, but all the niggling things needed addressing.

Now the motor is out and heading for a builder. Planning on swiping in new cams and the dual carb intake manifold. Suspension will be refreshed and maybe brakes updated. Interior needs new carpet and seats recovered at the very least. Fronts are ripped up a bit. Chassis is pretty good but a couple spots to weld. All the usual stuff for this vintage (as evidenced by the work you’re doing).

I’ve got plans for some minor visual changes too. Ditch the bumpers for the Abarth bumperettes, chin spoiler, driving lights in the grill, powder coat a set of the turbo 14" wheels gold...

Kinja'd!!!

It’s starting to come along. :)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 'Wägen, EPA LOL
05/30/2016 at 12:18

Very nice :) ever thought of getting some head work done on the twincam? They open up very nicely according to Guy Croft (a bit of a guru with Fiat Twincams if you haven’t already found him).

Definitely do some posts about progress with it. Seeing what people are doing with projects cars is one of my favourite parts about oppo :)

'Wägen, EPA LOL > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/30/2016 at 15:35

Already planning a set of lightweight valves and race springs to keep that valve train from floating. Definitely have looked into Guy Croft. Definitely hate the mark up on “Guy Croft approved” parts.

As the project gets further past disassembly I’ll probably start posting about how I’m putting it back together. Seeing progress on other people’s bulls is one of my favorite oppo topics, as well.

Once I have the engine back and paid for I’ll post up what was done and what it cost to have someone do it (maybe even versus what I think I could have done it for). The guy doing the build was profiled in Hemmings for his work on 124 Spiders.

MM54 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/30/2016 at 18:12

I really liked it, then I saw that it folds up and now I need one. Have any drawings or such if someone were to make a copy of this down the line?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > MM54
05/30/2016 at 18:38

Thanks man :) I don’t have any drawings but I can definitely do some when I’m bored at work :)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 'Wägen, EPA LOL
05/30/2016 at 18:42

Oh cool, I’ll keep an eye out for updates :)