1980 Spitfire Rehab - All Done

[kube1]

A guy I worked with asked me if I was interested in his old Spitfire. I have kinda always wanted a free air machine and my boy and I have talked about the Spitfire in particular so when the guy asked I said "Sure! How much?" . He responded with "I dunno. How bout a case of beer? I just want it to go to someone who will have fun with it." Done deal. I went out to his farm the other day to pick it up. Turns out he burned up a piston in it back in the day and then parked it. He had pulled the engine, taken it apart, and put all the parts in cupboard. The sled sat in the barn up on blocks so the track is in pretty nice shape. Other than a good cleaning and engine rebuild its a pretty easy one to get going again. My Scorpion is nearly finished except for the hood, so while I wait on that I'm going to clean this Spitfire.

[kube1]

Spent the whole afternoon cleaning this thing. Stripped it down, sprayed the whole thing with citrkleen and hit it with the pressure washer. The fuel tank was the worst. Ball bearings and citrikleen then the pressure washer took care of that. A little wax on the hood and new hardware for the windshield as well. New hi fax and wear bars tomorrow.

[SS440-80]

SWEET

[Steven]

Wow! It looks great!

[skoalmint]

Pretty amazing what a little TLC will do for a old sled. LOOKS GREAT. Brock

[sledhead16]

Thats a nice price for that gem!

[Matt]

Cleaned up very nice!

[cntracin]

great looking sled, I would like to find one for my boys someday

[kube1]

Thanks for all the positivity! I have spent the week cleaning out the engine. Turns out it has been sleeved with cast iron and bored 0.01" over. I did find some oversize pistons and they are on the way. Used muriatic acid to clean the bores and a light hone. They measure up well within spec and aren't oval. The o-rings on the crank bearings were all deteriorated so have new ones as well as new seals and gaskets. I polished all the carbon off the heads in the lathe as well. One of the rod bearings was seized and the pin worn really badly. New bearings and pins also. Maybe run by weekend. If my pistons show soon.

[snowkat79]

Looks just like my first sled! I love it!

[snowkat79]

Be careful, sleeved engines don't dissipate heat as well as OEM.

[kube1]

Be careful, sleeved engines don't dissipate heat as well as OEM.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep that in mind. This thing wont get run hard anyway.

[kube1]

I have been picking away that the engine all week. The crank and bearings are in very nice shape. Most everything needed a good soaking in the hot tank and a pressure wash. Here are the old pistons.



I can see why this engine failed. It was sucking air all over the place. The crank seals were both pooched. The intake sides of the jugs were really beat up. This part I don't understand. I looked like someone had been hitting them with something. I put them in the mill and faced 0.015" off the intake side and then 0.007" off the exhaust side to square everything up. The exhaust side loaded with carbon scale. It couldn't be scraped off. It would have taken me hours. I media blasted it instead.





The heads were really loaded up with carbon and junk. I mean loaded! It was like a thick scale! I put hem in the lathe and polished it all off.



The case halves cleaned up nice.



The stator looks like new. Nothing to worry about here. Except maybe age.



Lastly, the rubber dampeners. I have one. Can anyone hook me up with 3 more?

[buckeyetrailfire]

Nice find for a case of beer . I wonder what one could get for 2 cases ? Nice clean

[kube1]

Well, my pistons showed up yesterday and they are fine. The rings are a different story however. I was told they were chrome rings and they are not. I am a little pissed. Does anyone have any 0.01" over chrome rings to sell? I think 0.02" over could be made to fit maybe as well.