Pierre-Yves Morissette wrote:
I have been working on and off on my '72 spit... The body is in..
> fair/poor condition, I was wondering if anyone on the list could help me
descide if I should or should not take the body off and do a ground up >
rebuild. Or should I just patch it up and use it as is?
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John wrote: Hey Pierre-Yves!
I've recently pulled my tub off the frame too, and got a bunch of good
advice here on the list. The consensus was basically that if your body is
in poor shape you might want to consider making some repairs *prior* to
removing the body from the frame. Apparently the sills are the big
concern, it seems that the body can just break in two there if it's rusty
and you lift it incorrectly. Many respondents mentioned bracing across the
door openings to beef this area up before lifting it off.
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Pierre-Yves & John -
Given that Pierre's body is in fair to poor condition, and 72 Spitfires
aren't rare and can be found in wrecking yards, perhaps Pierre might
consider a body swap with a donor car. This would be far easier, and
probably much cheaper, than undertaking any repairs to the existing body.
So long as you don't mind the mismatched paint, it would seem to me this
would be the best solution.
As to whether to do a full restoration, I don't know how much experience
you have Pierre, so please forgive me if my assumptions are wrong. Keep
in mind that Spits are not particularly rare or valuable. It is VERY easy
to spend a LOT of money on a full restoration, and I am not talking about
concours level here, just a nice daily driver level. More than the car is
worth. If what you want is a nice daily driver/fun weekend toy, I would
recommend the tub swap, and since you will have the tub off and the frame
and mechanicals are so easy to get to, you might as well do some of the
obvious things like clean the frame thoroughly with a wire brush and high
pressure sprayer, then repaint it with a rust resistant paint, check and
replace suspension bushings, shocks, etc., and open the top of the tranny
to see the condition of the synchros, gears, etc.
A full rebuild is a lot of work (fun work but still work) and it may be
that you car doesn't need that much updating to make it a real joy to
drive. Just remember one thing - it is a heck of a lot easier to get to
the differential and rear suspension with the body off than on. ;^ )
Cheers,
Ross D. Vincenti
Asst. General Counsel/Asst. Sec'ty.
Transamerica Home Loan - Legal Dept.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 742-4756 phone
(213) 741-7231 or 741-6945 fax
ross.vincenti@transamerica.com
64 Spitfire 4
64 Porsche 356C Coupe
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