06x01 & 06x02 - Triumph Spitfire Mk.IV (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler Dealers
the show that takes classic cars

a little past their prime and
we make them shine once more

I find the motors and I fix them up

We've got budget of just five
thousand pounds to buy and restore a

car and hopefully we'll
make a little bit of a

profit when we sell It on
well, that's the aim now

We're on the hunt for a great British rag
top with a little bit of fun in the Sun.

Yes, we're looking for
the triumph Spitfire while

the flying Spitfire ruled
the skies over Britain

This Spitfire went on to
rule the road and just like its

namesake. It's a showcase
of classic British engineering.

Codenamed the b*mb it
exploded into the 60s and

carrying on swinging
right through to the 80s.

Sweeping low slung lines a
long bonnet short tail and a

snug c*ck the stylish Spitfire delivers
affordable fun and reliable mechanics.

Now the Spitfire is a world sought-after

Budget classic and it's
well served by all those

classic car clubs. It means
that the parts are available

They're cheap and they're
easy to source. I reckon

it's the best car to cut your
classic car teeth on now

I've decided to buy
one and I reckon the

Internet is the best
place to start me search

You can choose from a
production range that lasted nearly


of rust buckets on the market

So I've decided to go for a much later
car like the 1500 that way it might be

Relatively rust free and we
could get the benefit of overdrive.

You can buy a Spitfire
for under a grand but you'll

probably find cars at this
price cost a fortune to restore

We need something
better. I found two cars a


some point both seals have been replaced

Which is a real bonus because
then the tourists for rust in here.

Is there anything needs doing to it mo tea?
All right. Well, it sounds great

whereabouts are you and an interesting car
that might be worth taking a chance on the

GT6 is the speedier rarer a more valuable
brother of the 1500 with two in our sights

Hopefully one of these
triumphs will be on target.

Thank you very much.
Cheers then. Bye. Bye.

The guys I'm gonna see
a restoration specialist and

they're just about to start
work on a triumph GT6

So I'm gonna nip down there and hopefully
buy it before they start any work.

Fingers crossed. It's a great car.

You must be Scott you must be my I
am to look at the GT6 I have yeah core

This is someplace in it.
Is that the car? Yep.

This looks nothing
like its picture when I sit

on the tinterweb. It was
almost a complete car

In fact, it was a complete car. You actually
strip them all the way back yourself.

Yep, and then do a
restoration to be honest with you

I was hoping to get in
here before you started

to do the restoration
and then I could buy it

You know and take it back
and do the work ourselves.

But that's way way way too far
gone there to k*ll me. Listen Scott

I do appreciate you taking time to
show me mate, but it's not one for me. Oh

Well, I really hope the next one
on my list is closer to the Mark.

I Been telling you lot for years never
buy a car in the rain and what am I doing?

It's raining and I'm gonna go and buy a car

But I bought my trusted
friend the chamois lever

and here she is. This
is a triumph Spitfire.

Wow, the reason I bought my leather
is so I can rub away some of the water.

I look at that glossy paintwork underneath
this car's got the only sprung suspension

Although it's bouncy like an
old car thought it doesn't look

too bad. All right, let's meet
the owner Michael. Yeah, Mike

Hey, Mike, I'm very
well, mate. Very well.

Look at that underneath
this wet rainy exterior

Is there a beautiful car
underneath definitely there

is definitely well looked
after well maintained.

Been brilliant mechanically
though. Is it sound? I mean, it's


needs stuff doing it occasionally

But no overall brilliant fantastic.
Now. Why are you selling it to kids?

Right, not enough space.
Okay, you've been a busy

man. You just squeeze
them in the back. Surely.

In there somewhere.
You've got a soft top for it

That's one who cover soft
tops actually fixed inside

and there's a tornado in
the boots as well inside

All right to have a look.
Yeah sure up yourself

Wow. I mean it
looks it looks fantastic

Didn't it? The seats
were redone, but about

similar time actually had it resprayed
as well All right to fire up the engine.

Oh.

Yes, oh yes now we're
cooking and tell me what you're

using in terms of fuel
using a lead additive yes

Yeah, you are is there
plenty of petrol in it? Yeah.

Enough for me to say
you were a nice test drive.

Of course. You don't
mind. No, that's superb.

Right, I'll be about ten minutes.
Okay work now when I was 17

It felt like a cathedral in
here now, it feels like a

wetsuit. Oh, I've got to do
something about my diet. Oh

I feel so English.
I just want to stop the team.

This car's a real drivers car, you know The
steering wheel is connected to the front

wheels the clutch pedal is
connected to the gearbox

The accelerator has got a bit of wire
and it goes to the carburetors no computers

It's as simple as that. You
have to learn how to drive

again to appreciate a good
old-fashioned car like this one.

But that's a wine coming from the
rear of the car could be a wheel bearing.

I'll tell you what that is.
That's a wine coming from the diff.

Oh.

Now that Could be a big
job could be a small job. Let's

just so it's something
simple and it can fix it.

After a few miles I get
my next disappointment

the spit has a nasty engine
misfire a common fault

It should be cheap to fix Fingers
crossed. It's nothing serious.

I More worried about the suspension
actually when you push it into a bend

It's all a bit well squidgy
over the rear wheels, but

this car's got traditional sort
of cart sprung suspension.

And I'm sure that Ed once
he looks at the rear shock

absorbers there find
something wrong replace them

And they'd be nice and
tight and it's handling.

I'm sort of made up my mind.
I'm gonna buy it

I'm gonna put in an offer for
the little triumph Spitfire now

He wants to 750 for it,
but you know has got these

problems to misfire that
wine coming from the rear

axle So I'm gonna bid
him two grand for this car

I don't know if he's
gonna take it but I think

two grand is where I
want to be wish me luck

Do you know what I actually like
that little car on the road it drove quite

Well oven and
suspension is all a little bit

at the back plus. It's
got the Spitfire misfire

So that is gonna need doing on
the engine how much advertising for.


I'm not gonna be too hard with

you got cash in me pocket
I'm willing to pay for it and go.

Two grand come on come on.

two grand.

Come on.


on. You've got to be sweet

that 2300 quid. I'll pay up. I'm out of
here come on Let's do it. No about about


can take all that you're in

two thousand four hundred.
Yes, I got me some a girl.

Now they say the Sun
only shines on the righteous

and now I bought a
little dry and Spitfire

The Sun is out in
walls. I almost feel I want

to get the blimmin
our top off and enjoy it.

You know the more I'm
driving this little Spitfire the

more I'm realizing just how
happy I am with the purchase.

It's six foot seven and then
chances of him sitting in here none.

Still it's got the tattoo
on top get the roof off.

He can drive it these
head out like a giraffe.

And although that misfire
the more I drive it the more

annoying it gets but truthfully.
I know it's a simple job

It's not gonna be hard to fix me a
morning's work for a man like my head.

Please love.

You know what?

the more I'm driving that car
back the more I'll get a little

bit worried about that
misfire and the wine coming

from the Diff at the back,
but I know it can do that

the good news is that I
bought the car in the winter

when it's nice and cold
and I think I've got it for

A song and once we turn that
car around and do it up in the spring

So probably it was summer car
with a roof off and we're in the profits.

And you can see.

Squeeze myself out the
car and look what I've bought.

I bought a Spitfire. It's the
Tomy toys of sports cars

This is the beginners
sports car. If anyone can work

on it you can sunshine.
Hey, what do you reckon?

Well, it's pretty cool

But I am worried a little bit because
they're quite renowned for rust

What tends to happen is they rushed away in
any sort of fracture and they've fallen off

Don't you think I've
done my checks Edward if

you looked underneath
I didn't look underneath

But this car's had two new
seals and I'll check the door gaps.

Now that could be
because it's quite an old car

it could be just something
like a dodgy HT lead.

But it could be something
much more serious. And of course

typically that's the kind of thing
we're gonna have to put up with.

It's an old car it's a bit of a chesty
cough hopefully I'm being too serious

But I mean these things
handle beautifully don't they

so I guess it was it quite
a nice time on the road.

No.

Right, you know at the back they
got like leaf spring suspension,

haven't they? Yeah. Well, it's
not flopping around the corners

It's more like flipping around
the corners. So it's maybe

the shocks are gone or maybe
something wrong with the car

Whatever it is, you'll
be great at doing it. Of

course. What is more of a
concern is the cars at speed.

It starts whining, but
that's not bad. Is it? Well,

it's actually it's a
relatively complicated job

But actually it's really
easy to get parts for these

things. That's so well
catered for really popular.

It's great but something else
we're gonna need is crying

Look, I mean the bumpers
need attention the crime

on the air because on
the rubber that's missing.


a look inside. That is a

lovely tidy interior. Let
me wood dashboard as well

It's really nice, but I'm never
ever gonna fit in here though

I think the idea with this
car that I've got is to not

muck around with it and
put stupid aftermarket bits on

Or different alloy wheels.
I think the key word for

this car is originality.
That's right. Yeah, absolutely

Anyway, I'll get it in a workshop for
you. No worries a tea, please Okay.

So it seems happy with his stylish soft top

Let's hope that smile stays
on his face when he starts work

a spitfire in tip-top condition
could fetch five grand plus

That would mean a juicy
profit for us when we sell it on

Now it's down to head to turn around
without spending too much cash.

Our challenge is to buy
restore and sell on classic

cars and we've got a
budget of just five grand.

I bought a tiny Spitfire
for a pocket-pleasing.


up in the depths of winter

and the plan is to sell it
when spring is in the air

But our Spitfire does have a
few problems That's a wine.

Coming from the rear of the car.

The Miss fire still hasn't gone away

More worried about the suspension actually.
It's all a bit well squidgy.

Edward it's over to you.

Now we've got this car in the workshop

I can see that Mike has
done a fantastic job in

getting such a brilliant
example of a triumph Spitfire

Normally these cars are
renowned for their rust. But

actually this one has got no
rust at all. The chassis is fine

There's no bodywork
needs to be done either. All

I have to do is worry
about getting my hands dirty

So the first thing I want to do
is try and sort out that Miss fire.

The most obvious culprit for this
problem is going to be the ignition system

I want to make sure that
we've actually got a spark on

each of the cylinders now.
That is a clever little device

There's a little light bulb.
I'll show you in here the light

bulb in there, which is going
to light up when there's a spark.

Hey, look at that straight away. We can
see a light flashing. So that's one down.

There we go again. I was kind of
counting on an easy fix with this.

I figure that probably all I
have to do is change the HT

leads maybe change the
points or condenser or something.

Because if it isn't this then it's
going to be something much worse

Well, that's good and bad news. The good
news is that the ignition system is fine

This little gizmo is telling
me the distributor the

HT leads and the spark
plugs are all working perfectly

So the next test I have to do is check out
the compression in each of the cylinders.

If engine compression is low it
won't run as smoothly as it should.

The spark plugs are out. So now we need
a compression tester, which I've got here.

Notepad and paper which I've got here and I
need an assistant. So Paul give us a hand.

When doing the test it's best
to have the throttle wide open.

So you've got maximum air
going into the combustion chamber.

This compression tester will then
register pressure in each chamber.

I'm looking for an
average reading of 170 bar.

Okay, that's pretty good.
I guess we call that 170.

Ah.

Well, that's actually a lot worse
that's probably 130 if we're lucky.

Okay, that's even worse
again that's down to 120

so it's not looking good
got 170 130 125 and 120

Which means that three of the
cylinders are down on compression

There are two main reasons
for that or possible reasons

one could be that the piston
rings themselves are worn

The other could be that the valve
seats are worn now on a car of this age.

The valve seats are more likely
to be the problem because it's

designed to run on leaded fuel
if it's been run on unleaded fuel

Then those valve seats
can actually be worn away.

You can still run engines
made for leaded petrol

on unleaded but only if
you use a lead additive.

If not, the valve seats
could wear and like our

car will end up losing
compression and run rough.

So the next thing to do
is get inside the engine.

Is This last stud being a bit
tricky. Okay, there it is. So here is.

well inlet manifold and
now we have the exhaust

manifold, which just
probably needs a bit of a.

tug.

So this is the rocker cover.
There'll be a gasket.

Underneath there and probably a little bit
of oil might come out when we open it off.

Cool so the gasket is actually still intact

So now we've got our rocker
shaft there here all the rockers.

You've got the Springs here
and you've got the valves are

just inside that you can't
really see them at the moment.

And on this side, you've got the
cam followings or the following rods.

Which go down onto the
camshaft inside. So now our

next thing is going to
be to actually take off.

This bar here and then we can
get at the head studs or head bolts.

Underneath there and
all the ones on the back

here as well. So
shouldn't take too long.

It's best to keep these push
rods in the correct order a.

Top tip is to put them
in a piece of marked

cardboard this way
when they're ready to go

back in You'll know
what order to refit them.

Now with a car of this
age it's pretty typical

We have cast iron heads rather
than the more modern aluminium head

But still it's quite
important that you actually

undo the head bolts
in the correct order.

Now as a rule of thumb
you actually do them up in a

sort of a spiral starting
at the center and working

Your way out. So of
course to undo it you do the

opposite of that, but I do
have a manual for this vehicle

So I can be absolutely sure
I've got a little order there

So normally when you start
to tighten up you go there there

and then there and there so
I'll just do exactly the opposite

Of that.
So the first one to undo isn't that one?

It is important to do this because
undoing them in the right order.

Minimizes the stress in the block
and therefore the risk of distortion.

There we go.

What is a cylinder
head for? Well, let's

first of all imagine
where it is in the engine

You've got your block here,
which of course you've got

your bores and your pistons
whizzing up and down here

You've got your inlet
manifold and your exhaust

manifold there. You've got
rocker and a rocker cover

So essentially this is just a
big lump of metal with valves

in now the valves control the fuel air
mixture going in Through the inlet valve there

And of course you've got the exhaust
gases going out through the exhaust valve

These valves or the motion of that is
controlled essentially by the camshaft

But when the valves are shut
they're held shut by these Springs

and when they're held shut
they should be completely airtight.

Now what happens when
you've got a leaded engine like this

running on unleaded fuel is
basically these soft valve seats

Which are really just bits
of metal they get worn away

They get beaten up by the valves
going backwards and forwards

and eventually what happens
is you get in the gap with an air.

Gap, and of course that means you lose
compression now. There's a really simple test

I can do to find out which
one of these are damaged.

So this is the test
basically if these valves

are airtight they'll
also be petrol tight

So what I'm going to do is put
some petrol into each of these Wells

Leave it for a few minutes
and then when I come back

if that fuel level has gone
down. We found our problem.

Well, it didn't even take a
few minutes for that fuel to leak

through those damaged valve
seats. So there's our problem.

That's why our engines running rough.

Reworking the valve seats means sending
them off to a specialist engineering company

You've got all the right tooling This is a
bit of a blow because we won't know the

exact cost until they've
completed the repair.

Fingers crossed this can be fixed cheaply.

This bright work was
designed as the finishing touch

on what really is a
fantastic little sports car.

Unfortunately, it seemed much better days
and I can't just Polish out this corrosion

I need something a bit more drastic.

But to buy a new front
or rear bumper is going

to cost us at least 200
pounds for each end

And we just can't afford that
there is however a way out of this

What we can do is get it repaired
and re-chromed and that should

only cost us about half of
that amount, which is fantastic.

We're just gonna pop out these lights
here you can't send them to the groomers.

Before I can get to the front
bumper. I need to remove

the front grille the number
plate and overriders.

Here's a tip use a prop or get
someone to hold the bonnet at half tilt

This will make it a lot easier to
get at those hard-to-reach bolts.

Mustn't forget the fuel cap.

Re-chroming the filler cap at the
same time as the bumpers makes sense

But before I can get it
off, I have to remove the

roof to give me room to
knock out the retaining pin.

Oh.

There we go Well, there we go Two bumpers
and a filler cap ready to be re-chromed and

this way it's gonna save
us a few quid and the

car is gonna Look
fantastic when it's finished.

What have you done to the
engine I dropped it off I said

you had a misfire on the
engine in its plugs its points

It's the HT Lee what have you done
as it turns out the ignition system is fine

But I had to do a
little bit of rooting

around to find out what
the real problem was.

Turns out the valve seats were damaged
because you've been run on unleaded fuel.

And I had to send that off to an
engineering company and they're

now gonna put hardened valve
seats in which means our engine

Will now work but also run on
unleaded fuel which would be

much more sellable exactly.
Where's the bumpers on the car?

Well, that's why we're gonna
save some money. Basically.

I couldn't Polish out the
corrosion on the bumpers

It was just too far gone, but rather than
buying new ones at 200 quid for each end

I'm gonna save us probably half
that money by getting them re-chromed

I think we're getting
in the right direction.

We're getting in
the right direction

Understatement of the year
Edward look at the state of the car

I think we've got quite a bit of work to
do before we can turn this puppy round.

From our five grand budget.
We've still got.



But the engine problem could
see a big chunk of it disappearing

and there's still that one in
differential and bright work to get sorted.

But I can already see the green
shoots of recovery with this car

So let's just hope there's
a big profit in it for us.

It's our mission to buy a
classic car for under five

thousand pounds restore
it and sell it on for a profit.

I picked up this tiny example for just
two thousand four hundred pounds.

These motors can fetch
well over five grand in good

condition. So I think we've struck gold
with ours Our Spitfire may have been cheap

But it certainly wasn't
cheerful when I bought the car

the engine was a bit rough
and the suspension was soft

The head soon got stuck
in first discovering the

cylinder head needed specialist
work to cure the problem.

Then stripping off the
bright work to be re-chromed.

There are still plenty of jobs
to do to a little classic Spitfire

We've got the noisy
different area the shock

absorbers and let's
not forget the engine

The head is now back from
the engineers and that's got to be

reinstalled and that is all got to
be done before I can hopefully

Sell it on for a profit.

Mike was complaining
about it's kind of really soggy

back end and this car has
got a really simple suspension

It's got one leaf spring that
goes from one side to the other

Essentially as a
loads of sort of bars of

metal sprung metal
held together with bolts.

There's really very little
that can be wrong with that

The only thing that can be
probably is the shock absorbers now

What you're normally looking
for is one and a half bounces

when you kind of give it
some so let's have a look.

Well, it's kind of nearly.

Going on and on so I think
basically it's very very fair

to say that the shock
absorbers are gone on this

vehicle It's gonna be
very easy thing to take off

What to do is get the car up on
the ramp and take the wheel off.

Now problem I'm gonna come
across in a minute is basically this shock

absorbers under tension because it's
actually supporting some of the weight.

Of the outside of this
axle this wheel basically.

So what I'm gonna have
to do is get a trolley Jack

under here just to make
a little bit of the strain

Because obviously forget
too much pressure under there

It's gonna get a little
bit dangerous now the

next thing I have to
do is try and get this.

shock off.

Okay, so.

There's the offending article
looking pretty ropey pretty unpleasant,

especially when you compare it
to the new one. Of course. I've also.

Got some new rubber.

Mounts to go in there as
well. So it should take away all

of that horrible squidginess
that Mike was talking about a.

Little bit fiddly, but then
I've got really big hands

So what do I expect
but it's nice a nice simple

job like this on a car
cuz it's cheap simple.

One of the reasons these
cars are so popular is they aren't

that expensive to buy
parts for our new rear

shocks came in at


Oh There we go, you see the shock absorbers
are doing what they're supposed to do

The handling is now gonna be
lovely and Mike should be happy.

Mike mentioned there was a
horrible whine coming from the back of

this car and it turns out that that
one was actually getting higher

In pitch the faster we
drove which to my mind

means it can only be the differential
now If I look at this new one here

It makes it a bit easier
to see what's going on

Got the drive shafts are going
to go on to these bits either side

Got the prop shaft here
and you can see these

are where the bolts go
for the front of the diff.

And this is a bolt across at the back.
There's some rubber bushes in there as well

But also you can see very simply here.

There's four threaded holes
because this is actually attached

to the spring or the leaf
spring that goes across the car.

To get at that I could see just from inside

There's some kind of
observation panel to get at

that I need to get into
the top of the vehicle.

The differential transmits
power to each of the rear wheels

A reconditioned
diff for this car is as

cheap to buy as ours would be to get repaired
So we've saved time and bought one in.

I was worried that I might have to
remove the petrol tank to get at the bolts

But the cool thing is they've
actually put a cut out into the fuel tank

Clearly they knew their
differentials were going to be failing.

And there is the observation panel there
Got four screws is it I think yeah maybe

Maybe even just two holding
an observation panel down

And I think hopefully
once that's off I

should be able to get
at the bolt underneath.

Hooray look at that So those are
our bolts well actually they're studs

So we're going to have to take those out of
the old diff and put them into our new diff

And as long as I can
get those nuts off the top

We should be alright everything
will just drop straight out of the bottom

Cool okay well that's those four undone So
now everything else is underneath the car.

This is a heavy job so I've got
my mate Paul to give me a hand.

There we go brilliant.

Going to undo the last nut
here Paul's taking the strain.

Right how are you doing?

It's too good

Okay it's kind of released somewhat.

Basically because the suspension
isn't being supported by anything

Because the diff effectively
is holding it in place.

The whole thing is sagging The spring is
coming down the wheels are coming down

Which essentially is meaning it's
putting all this pressure onto the diff

But also it means that we can't
get the studs out of the spring

What we're going to
do is we're going to lift

these wheels right up
out of the way if we can

With the ratchet strap
over the top of the body

And then that way the spring when we lift
it up should free off our differential.

Oh that's good that's very good.

That's the puppy there we go.

Our old leaky differential.

We're going to have
to take a few bits off it

Got some bushes off the back
there and some on the front to remove

And of course these guys on the
top with studs But basically that's it.

What a job.

The reconditioned
differential cost me £295.

But it didn't come with any of the fixings.

Luckily the old bushes
are in good condition

Which is why I'm using
some studding, some nuts and

some sockets to draw
them out so I can reuse them.

That just goes to show it's always
worth checking and double checking

And then probably triple
checking to see what

you're getting when
you're buying the parts.

And if you can always allow enough time
before you have to get on with the job.

You know what Mike's like, I've got
loads to do and little time to do it in.

When you refit the bushes make
sure the bevelled edge goes in first.

Now I'm going to
have to try and transfer

these studs from the old diff into the
new diff And there's two ways of doing this

You can get a nut on here, whizz it
down, put another nut on top of that.

Crank them together and then spin them out

I've also got a really cool little
tool, it's a proper stud extractor.

There's lots of little leaves of
metal or these kind of rollers

Basically what happens works
rather like a one way clutch.

I just wind it round, they just grab the
stud and make it really really easy work.

Now the next thing before we forget
is to actually fill up with gearbox oil

Essentially what we're
doing is just making a

little bath of oil for the
bottom half of the diff

And so what's going to happen is the
cogs will be spinning around in that oil

And as they whip round they're
going to bring the oil back out

It also helps get rid of some of
the noise of course which is why.

When you run out of oil you
get a really really whiny diff.

This is where the fun begins.

We need to go back
in just a little bit more.

This is the last bit pretty much.

Well now we've got our
shiny new diff in position

The winding from the
back end is going to

stop which hopefully
will stop Mike's whining.

Time to pick up that bright work

I've been invited along to
watch hours being re-chromed

So I'm here to meet John
who's going to talk me through it.

This is cracking this place Chrome bits
and aluminium bits absolutely everywhere

What are these off?

Well they're off a very
early e-type They came

in looking like that
They're off an Alvis.

No way And when we've finished our magic
it comes out like that I'd love to see it

Yes well you can and we do
it out here in our devil's kitchen

Devil's kitchen? I like the sound of
that Come on This is the first tank here

That is a soap degreaser
That's just like washing up liquid

You do your dishes in but it gets heavy
oil and soil off This is the second stage

This is an electrolytic cleaner Which
is actually working anodically here

It produces oxygen on
the surface of the work

Which scrubs all the dirt and
muck off it Oh you can smell it Lovely

And this is just a rinse water These
are rinse waters again And then this stuff?

This is hydrochloric
acid I beg your pardon?

Hydrochloric acid
That's nasty stuff isn't it?

That is very very strong It
actually used to be in that tank there

But it burnt a hole
through it Really?

It did so we had to move it
over here I'll keep my hands in

This looks nasty this stuff
up here What is this all about?

Yeah this is the
business end of the plating

This is three different nickels
that we use These ones

are the undercoats up here
Which are dull, semi bright

And then this is the bright nickel
that goes on top to make it shiny

Right let's get my
bumper out Yeah lovely.

That is absolutely amazing Could
you gift wrap it for me please?

We certainly can
Send it out to my car.

Thanks to simple
engineering on the Spitfire

There's not been too many
surprises for our budget

But Ed still has some way to
go in fixing up our winter bargain

And with repair cost to our
cylinder head still unknown

Will we still be on target
to make a springtime profit?

I bought this Spitfire in the
depths of winter for just £2,400

And hope to sell it on in
the spring for a huge profit.

So far we've spent around £35 on new shocks
And £295 on a reconditioned differential

But our budget is about
to take another knock

The cylinder head with
the damaged valves that we

sent away to be repaired
is back It cost me £272.

But the work means it will
now run on unleaded fuel.

Has it cured the rough running engine?

Look at this, it's fantastic
This reconditioned head

Basically we've got now
new hardened valve seats

Which means this car is going
to run beautifully on unleaded fuel.

He's actually put a bit of a skim on
the head as well just to clean all that up

He's got new valves he's
put in and also new valve

guides So this thing
is definitely ready to go

Only thing is, I now need
to get the engine to look as

good as this Before I can
actually bolt this into place.

There we go, that's the old
head gasket Get rid of that.

I'm just trying to remove
any sign at all of any old

gasket Because this has
got to be perfectly clean.

Otherwise if the new gasket
goes on and doesn't seal properly

We're going to end up with
leaks and we don't want that.

Now I said getting parts for this car was
dead easy And here's a classic example

Out of £15 you've got an
entire gasket set for the engine.

Now as important as it is to make
sure everything is perfectly clean

And everything is in order
before I put this head into position.

That actually was the
easy bit Now the work starts.

There are some bolts
on an engine that really

must be tightened
to the correct torque

That means a specific turning
force must be applied to them.

And a torque wrench allows you to set
that force accurately and then apply it.

There we go So that click
means it's got to the right torque.

That's the last one So now I have to
put the push rods in and the rockers.

Now this is going to
get a little bit fiddly.

Because all I have
to do is try and line up

all the little ba*ls on
the end of the rockers.

With the little sockets
on the end of the lifters.

Bear with me.

Just checking we've got
the right feeder Gauge

for this next job Which
is the valve clearances

And that is so important when
it comes to our engine rebuild

We've got a skimmed head, we've got
new valves, we've got new valve seats

So all of the original factory
settings and tolerances

All been knocked out of kilter
and I need to sort that out.

Engines are designed to run
with tight tolerances between all

the moving parts But because
metal expands when it gets hot

An exact amount of slack or clearance needs
to be built into the engine when it's cold.

So there's our rocker cover

Of course we've got a nice
new cork gasket from our pack.

Pop that on there.

Well with that done.

Really isn't there much more to do?

I'm on the home straight, just all the
ancillaries And then moment of truth time.

I got quite a bit of water into
the oil when I undid the head

So of course I need to
change the oil and the oil filter

Which is why I'm under
here to undo the drain plug.

And as always with the new oil filter

Just smear a bit of oil around
the top on the rubber seal

That way you get a perfect
seal and it's easy to get on.

With everything fitted
back on I can now fill up the

radiator with coolant And
get fresh oil into the engine.

Perfect.

Well that's it.

Let's see if she runs.

Here we go.

Ooh it sounds like it's wanting to go

It's very exciting.

Hey!

Oh yes.

Job done I reckon Awesome.

When Mike bought this car

It was missing the chrome trim
that goes around the rear rubber seal.

I've managed to get hold of some
reproduction plastic chrome beading

Unfortunately it's a little
bit unwieldy when it's cold

So I'm going to put it
in a bucket of hot water

That should soften it up so I can
get it round those tricky corners.

Now even with the warmed up beading And
of course a little bit of lubricant as well

It's still proving really quite tough
I'm going to try using an insertion tool.

The end of this digs into the rubber.

And you've got a little roller.

And it kind of parts the rubber
And then helps push the beading in.

Isn't it amazing how just a little bit
of chrome Could completely lift a car.

I think we're on a roll here.

I love it when Mike brings me
presents But if he wants to surprise me

He's going to have to
conceal them a lot better

This is almost certainly a front
bumper From a 1980s Mark IV Spitfire

Well I'll be dealing with
that a little bit later on

Because the filler cap has also
come back from the chromers.

And look at that shine
That is just fantastic.

Look at that That is
absolutely brilliant It looks in

fact as good as new And
yet it costs only half the price.

Look at that The front is looking very
good That bumper just looks so lovely.

But it would be a real
shame To put on this old tatty

number plate When I can
put on a lovely shiny new one.

When Mike first bought
our Triumph Spitfire I have to

agree with him It's a pretty
good example of its type.

On the outside.

But it did take a fair chunk of money

And a load of mechanical work
To get it back into tip top condition.

But look at it now It is a fine
example of a great British sports car

I've thoroughly enjoyed working on it

And I know Mike will be
well chuffed with the result.

At long last our sporty Spitfire Is
complete And what a transformation it is too

We had our sights set On a
classic rag top winter bargain

And I think we come up
trumps With this shining example.

I trolled the Internet And after an
initial search Found our little gem

As good as it was It needed some
work That rough running engine

Turned out to be more
than Just a dodgy spark plug

The lump was stripped And
the cylinder head sent away

For the valve seats to be replaced
Which means it now runs On unleaded fuel.

Our whining diff was Sorted
with a reconditioned unit

Also the bouncy back end Was
soon secured With some new shocks.

Finally our pitted bright work
Was given a brand new shine.

The car cost us 2,400 pounds
The cylinder head was 272.

Rear shocks were 35 pounds to pair The
reconditioned differential Was a total 295.

Recroaming was 300
And additional spares 130.

This means we spent
A total of 3,432 pounds.

Ed, fantastic mate I said
get it ready for the spring

And you delivered on
your promise It looks

fantastic Basically it
runs as good as it looks

So it handles right It looks right
You can run it on unleaded fuel

Ed, we've got such a.

You've got a really good
deal When you bought this car

You've now got an even better deal
When you sell it The market is hot

For little British sports
cars Like this at the moment

But before we do
sell it A bit later on

I reckon me and you
Deserve a good day out.

It feels like stepping back in
time In fact it feels a little bit like me

You know it's got Characterful style
And it's full of charm And unlike you

It's got no whining from the back
And no misfiring from the rear.

I'll k*ll you mate.

We are literally Sitting on the ground
Oh isn't it I can actually feel some slight

Rubbage on my bottom It is a nice little
car It's a cute little thing I kind of

I think I need the bigger version
This is a bit naughty car for me

Now we're coming into a series of
Betons here Ed And almost instantaneously.

I can see that you've Sorted out
the problem With the rear shock

It's not that kind of wallowy Feeling
anymore It's just a lovely little car

In fact it feels quite modern I think It
does feel modern And talking about modern

We can now put Some modern
frugal fuel Inside the car Indeed we can

We can run this on unleaded fuel Which I
think makes it also More of an everyday car

With those two options With the roof as
well Why not have this as your daily driver.

Now we need to talk about The
serious business We need to talk about

Flogging the old girl Ah yes Now I got
a funny feeling Whoever comes to see it

Will flop that wallet
Out on the table And I'm

gonna buy it What do
you reckon we should ask?

How about We'll definitely get
four grand All done Four grand?

Watch your mouth out sunshine
No the car's British racing green

Walnut dash leather interior And don't
forget we got The detachable hard top

That's true So I think We can add
another grand to that Five grand

And the first person who comes
round I reckon I'll have it That'd be great

If you can get that, that'd
be fantastic. Ed trust me

I've got a good feeling about this one.
You always does.

Well I said spring Was the time to
be Selling a rag top And I wasn't wrong

We had a good response
From potential buyers

When I put the car up for sale
But will anyone be prepared

To part with the right amount of
cash For this fantastic little sports car.

It's probably a bit over my budget
You don't want to do a deal today?

Maybe decide tomorrow or
something OK Well don't hang around

Because when they're in this Nick
They don't hang around for long.

Two down One to go.

I think he likes what he sees
so far But wish me luck As I

try to close him down And
finally get rid of this spitfire.

How you getting on with it?

Oh it's in lovely condition isn't it?

It is yeah I mean when I got
the car I'll be honest with you

We'd done no paint work to it Until
the bloke I bought it off He'd repainted it

When I got the car It had this annoying
little misfire So I got my mechanic Ed

To have a look at it And he's
not one for doing things by half.

He stripped the whole engine down.

And he changed what they
call The hard seated valves

We replaced the rear shock absorbers

And now you can see It handles nice and
tight out on the road In fact the suspension

Should raise and fall one and a half
times And that's exactly what it does

But the real work is done on
the bumpers Just look at them

Look at that how shiny they are.

So great little car

I'm very pleased with it

All it needs Joe.

Is a new owner I've got
it advertised for £5,000

I think at fair price With
such a tidy little motor

You interested?

Well I would be more than happy

To spend four and a
half on this How much?

Four and a half grand?

No mate.

No after all the work we put
into this It's worth a lot more

Tell me what I'll do for you though
I'll let you have it £4,800 Cash.

£4,600.

£4,600

Hold out your hand You've got yourself
a cracking British sports car Well done.

Well it didn't sell for quite as
much as I would have hoped

But we still made £1,168
profit On our little Spitfire

Proving that buying a right car At the
right time Can put money in your pocket.

I always knew our little Spitfire
was a good one It just needed

Ed's technical know-how To
bring it back to life To its best.

We've turned back the years On
this classic iconic British sports car

And I managed to sell it for good
money If you want to see more cars

Getting a Wheeler dealer treatment
Then join us again soon Salah.