On Mon, 3 Jun 1996, Dan Arrington wrote:
>I have a body question on my Spit. After putting in new rockers, floors,
>dog-legs, rear patch panels and miles of weld, I'm finding I have about a
> 1"
>gap between the Hood and Doors. Is this normal for a Spit? I saw another
> Spit
>on the road that seem to have a large gap there, so i'm wondering if thats
>ok. My hood is as far back on it's hinges as possible. I didn't notice
> before
>I started the work if this gap was already there. The hood also lines up
>perfect with the windshield cowl, so the hood can move back anymore. Also
> the
>doors line up perfect with the rear quarters...Hmmmm ?? I can't fiqure this
>one out.
>If you own a Spit, can you tell me what your measurement between the door
> and hood is? Thanks...
>
> John
Unless there are some serious problems, you should be able to adjust the
bonnet and doors to get a good even gap between them. However, if all
else fails and you decide that the gap can't be fixed any other way,
there is an excellent article in the April or May (can't remember
which) issue of Classic Auto Restorer that details how to match panels
to doors, etc. I think it's written by Jeff Lilley, a restoration expert
in the San Antonio area and specifically goes over building up the edge of
the door panel using welding/brazing rods to remove excessive gap.
I'd like to add that I've found CAR to be a good source of info for
general restoration work. Several months ago they had a very good
article on the restoration of a long-door TR-2 and have covered other
LBCs in the past as well.
The usual disclaimers apply.
Chris Sharp
64 Spitfire4 Mk I
96 Cannondale (daily driver)
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