RobPearce

Is it a steel Jerry can? That looks like watery rust - one of the big problems of ethanol fuel if left to stand for a while. I don't intend to carry a big steel Jerry can - just a one gallon plastic one, which won't suffer that problem.

I've just replaced my top hose because there was coolant leaking from somewhere around there. It may have been the end of the hose (the pipe on my radiator is a bit dented) but I'd have had to dismantle it all to check so a new hose went on. In the process I removed the thermostat housing (rusty bolts, of course) and noticed the stat was the type without the bleed hole for prevention of air locks. Given how often this car needs topping up (perhaps less so now - let's hope) that seemed a good reason to drill a tiny hole in it. I really hope the only thing left still to do on mine is put the driver's footwell carpet back in. Oh, and fit the sun visors - I keep forgetting them. And swap the passenger seat for the GT6's recliner.

I got the new gearbox mount in. The old one was definitely failed - not visibly but the upper part slides around in the rubber, and the new one puts the gearbox a quarter inch higher up. Then I had a look at the gearbox remote, and fettled the bushes a bit. Then I tried to install a remote clutch bleed nipple but didn't manage to get the pipe connected in place of the existing one before dinner time. I also noticed when I got home last night that I've lost a tail light - possibly a blown bulb but could be a wire fallen out - so I need to check that once I've got the gearbox cover back in.

What fuel do you use? Are you still on the original steel fuel pipes or has it got copper ones? There were reports a few years back that unleaded fuel combined with copper pipes and occasional use can result in the formation of a varnish-like goo that will stick things shut. The advice then was to avoid supermarket fuels and only run high octane stuff from recognised brands like Shell or Esso.

Yep. Gearbox mounts too. Any recommendations for a J-type OD mount for a Spitfire that will last more than just the RBRR? 🤔

I hope so. To be honest, it wasn't bad enough to stop me - I did drive the car home (3 hours of boring dual carriageway) with no problem - and if it had happened on the RBRR I might well have opted to just push on. But the roads we were planning to use in the Lakes and Dales would have bashed the overdrive repeatedly against the chassis, and I figured losing two days of fun in favour of two days in the garage removing all the interior and getting access to stuff would give much better odds of being able to fix a failed mounting than I'd have of fixing a cracked overdrive casing!

In 2008 I did the RBRR in a 1300 Toledo (admittedly not in ideal condition) and got 26MPG, which was poorer that its usual daily figures round here in flatland. In 2010 I used a PI estate that never gave more than 22MPG in normal use. RBRR figure was 26MPG - same as the Toledo! I can only conclude that not only are the 2500s the best choice for RBRR but the RBRR is the best journey for a 2500. 😛

Bah! I was supposed to be driving round the Lake District today, on day 2 of the Cambridge area's three-day Peaks-Lakes-Dales run. It was a shake-down test for the RBRR car. I had to bail last night because the gearbox mounting's failed.

This week I replaced the RH engine mount, as it was looking past its best: Still, not nearly as bad as the LH one was when I replaced it with 0 miles on it (I hadn't even assembled the carbs onto the engine by that point!).

That looks like quite a challenging project. Best of luck with it!

That sounds entirely reasonable and sensible. It can't possibly be what the rules actually are 😝

That definitely sounds like a knackered starter. It could be some of the insulation has failed internally, causing shorts between turns of the winding. This makes the motor less efficient and more power-hungry. It also makes it get hot, which can cause the shorting to get worse, at which point it gives up. However, it could also be that the cables to it are failing and have high resistance spots. Reduced current to the starter because much of the power is wasted heating the cable, which then gets to be even higher resistance and the motor stops. You say it's a new loom but the heavy duty starter cable isn't usually considered part of the loom - has it also been renewed? Try swapping the motor, but for the cost of decent starter cable I'd just replace the whole circuit.

I think my Spitfire gave about 39mpg in Yorkshire last month, including the journeys there and back. That was being driven a bit more gently than it sometimes gets (SWMBO was with me and she's not a speed freak). It will be interesting to see what it gives on the Cambridge group's Peaks-Lakes-Dales run next week.

I would have expected the brake master to have a large reservoir as you have disc brakes, but it may be the type 12s didn't. As Dave says, your clutch master is not original. The rust looks to have been developing for a long time. How long have you owned the car? If the paint was intact and only beginning to bubble then it's not cause by brake fluid. Any recent spill would have stripped the paint but not caused rust yet. A spill long enough ago to explain that rust would have removed all the paint by now. My suspicion would be a PO had spilled brake fluid, stripped the paint, attempted to clean it up and painted over the developing rust. Your recent paint bubbling would then be the rust working its way back through.

I still need to replace an engine mount (they seem to be a regular service consumable these days) and have another go at stopping the footwell carpet from riding up under the clutch pedal. Then for the run I should swap the passenger seat out for the GT6's reclinable one.

I'm probably going to fit my GoClone somewhere. Unfortunately the kit only included two sticky pads and they're fitted (rather permanently, it seems) to the other two cars. I might do a bit of fabrication like I did for the mobile phone / GPS holder.

I think Floyd's probably spot on in his logic. I'm intending not to get hung up on it. I know the Spitfire runs OK on E10 but I hadn't driven it enough before to get a feel for whether the fuel economy is any different from E5/95.

Oh yes, they noticed! I was sat in the car operating the controls, the tester said "no brake lights", I looked back and confirmed. A bit later, I got out, had a look in the footwell, saw half the switch hanging off the wiring and said "I know why there's no brake lights". When the test was complete, since that broken switch was the only fail, the tester said "you'll fix that, won't you" and marked it as a pass. I could have fixed it there and then if they'd had the right switch on the shelf.

Spitfire went for an MOT this afternoon. Only one issue (which they ignored as they know I'll fix it) - no brake lights! The switch has fallen apart. I was toying with replacing it anyway as I've got what I believe to be a suitable much better quality switch in my collection of electronic components.

If you re-read ferny's post you'll find that he said exactly the same as you regarding what it means. If you don't want to set out early enough to be there by 10:30 then you don't need to! That's when the doors open and, given the number of people expected and the admin that must be done, it's reasonable to expect it to take an hour to get through that. It would be (marginally) faster if everyone turns up at 10:30 on the dot but it would also be stressful for those doing the admin and cause very long queues. The meeting isn't likely to start before 11:30 even in that scenario, and it's likely to be the same time if we all stagger our arrival times evenly between, say 10:25 and 11:25 I'm sure that will be explained but, as the organisers frequently point out, you don't actually need technology to do RBRR. There's a road book, just like there was in 1966, and you get a free atlas to plot on. That's all you really need.

This is the fourth time Toby has been entered but the first time he's likely to actually start, having had some mileage put on him since the rebuild. Here pictured in Yorkshire.

Hurrah! That's even longer than my Spitfire took (was taken off the road in 1988 and almost made it back for the 2018 RBRR but had a fuel tank problem).

It's unusual for them to whine in 4th as that's a direct drive so the gears aren't actually working much. That said, some boxes do just whine a little, and maybe it's a case of hearing it because everything's spinning a bit faster in 3rd or 4th. Try to put some miles on it this week. If it doesn't exhibit any other problems, or get noticeably worse, then just "suck it and see" as Sam says.

That rather suggests the slave cylinder throw is not the issue, possibly never was. I assume you've checked you put the driven plate in the right way round? Was the clutch cover replaced?