Possible PO installed new tranny with overdrive and this is the switch?

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Tom


Thomas Nelson
Bettendorf, IA

1970 Spitfire Mk III

Quote.
And 50% antifreeze? Big yes, for Duncan in BC, but you're in North Carolina - do you know what frost is? 
You need an antifreeze, as these days it's an anticorrosion agent as well, but 20-25% is quite sufficient for that. Strong concentrations of antifreeze are WORSE at heat transfer than water! 


Buying Antifreeze is not assimple as it used to be.
I bought some this last week from our local Crappy Tire (that name is a registerd trademark, honestly!)

Most bottles are pre-mixed 50%-50% (they must use Perrier for the water!) Long life antifreeze (that caused my gaskets to leak) and many brands of OEM antifreeze (My wifes VW threw a check engine light when I filled it with cheap antifreeze. the dealer laughed, and sold me a $40 bottle of VW Antifreeze :-( to fixit)

Rust! How far do you want to go? Wire brush and Tremclad paint, Or, Wire brush, sand it, POR rust treatment then top coat with paint. OR Clean and sand remove the rust with rust converter, etch prime and apply top coat.

The options go on...

Thanks again for the information, it's a massive help.
I will investigate the torque specifications for the oil pan before tightening; hopefully working on them will stop the (slow) leak.
I should be able to investigate the splices by the steering column on Friday, I wasn't aware any of them followed them all the way through!
I may also be able to remove the heater valve to rebuild it with a new O-ring on Friday. My understanding is that the car cannot be driven with the valve removed. Is that correct?
I hadn't considered the fact that an overdrive may be/have been installed at some point. Given the state of some of my vehicle's wiring and other components, it would not be a surprise if an electrical mishap prevented it from engaging when the switch is thrown. I just investigated and found images showing the difference between OD and non-OD transmissions, I will have a look the next time I see the car. It presently starts shaking moderately at exactly 45mph, so not sure how much good an overdrive would do unless it gets rid of the shakes...
Also, the car emits a light amount of smoke at idle, but only when it is cool outside. I would assume this is nothing to worry about, but just wanted to confirm?
Is the rust converter method the best option for preventing the return of rust? One of my parents had a similar vehicle growing up that was lost to rust (by the end of its life, they reinforced the body panels with tin foil!), so I am interested in avoiding a similar fate for this car.

Some members will have other ideas. But.

When I bought my car 28 years ago the undersides were not as good as yours, some areas in the floor pans needed welding. I had no idea just where I was going or how long I would have it. I wanted to hold the rust at bay, but knew I would need money to spend on other things (Plus, I'm cheap!)

My answer was to hand wire brush thoroughly all the undersides and areas that were not readily visable, and brush paint everything with a Hardware store rust paint mixed to my cars body colour (more or less)

I do use my car in bad weather, but not on salted roads. There is still no rust under the car (or elswhere for that matter)

Thismay not be the BEST answer to your problem. But in my case it was good enough.

My guess on the switch is secondary driving lights.

(It just looks like one of those switch mounts.)

As far as removing rust, a wire wheel in an electric drill works.



Use a plug in drill, not a cordless. This takes time.

Hand wire brushing rust builds fortitude and Character, and helps you bond with your car :-)

Also a good karate school exercise right up there with "paint the fence".

Gotcha--placed an order for a wire brush. I also found a tire shop that will let me use their lift for the project. However, having something accessible at home would be extremely nice. What kinds of lifts/jacks do you use?
Unfortunately, I won't have time to mess with the heater valve this weekend. Is the car usable with the valve removed?
Also, I drove the car twice today. The first time, the temperature was in the 40s, and the car did fantastic. Got to my destination, stopped for a couple of hours, and drove home. Then, about 45 minutes later, I went for another drive. The temperature was in the low 50s. This time, the car would rarely hold an idle. But, instead of the engine stopping abruptly, it could take from 15-45 seconds for the engine to fall from its typical idle of 1500rpms to a halt. I visited a gas station in case it was running low (malfunctioning fuel gauge), and after adding 5 gallons, the behavior still existed. Any recommendations are welcome; I'd love to have it running well again.

Bypassing the heater core is seasonal for some of us.

BUT, it should be by passed, you can't just remove the heater valve and drive away.

You must either by-pass it or plug the hoses.

You can also put in an inline secondary valve to shut off the water through the heater core.

If the idle is staying high and the car is running rough when the air temp is higher I suspect the choke isn't disengaging. Do you have a manual choke on the car? If so, confirm when you push it in the jet (red tube under each carb) moves back up and the idle screw comes off the high idle cam (little 1/4 circle with a few notches in it). Sometimes there's either drag in the cable or the clamp holding the choke cable is lose or missing making it easy to get on choke but hard to go off.

If you have an automatic choke (black 1" cylinder on the left side of the carb) it's not uncommon for it to to need adjustment. There are 3 screws holding a clamp around the black plastic housing. There's a coil spring inside that expands and contracts with the engine heat making the choke actuate. Loosen, don't remove, the 3 screws and the black cylinder can rotate changing the preload on the spring.

mike h

BTW: I have four of the cheap jackstands from Harbor Freight.

They are more than adequate for the Spitfire. I use a trolley jack with a 2x4 and a 4x4 to raise the car a bit at a time, a corner at a time. It's a long procedure especially when you are trying for the last pin.

Thanks! I'll keep researching jacks and stands.
Today, I had a new issue with the car. It had been stalling, and I figured it was due to the newly chilly weather, so I adjusted the carburetor. Now, the car runs well, but stalls whenever I apply the brakes. Could this be a fuel pump issue? Or is it likely due to the carburetor tuning?

Lots of people use a combination of ramps and stands but I like the stability of four stands.