Joe,
Great job. I took the easy way out and paid a tire and wheel store $25 to
remove the OEM shocks and replace 'em with the Koni's I bought. I had
serious fears of injury and didn't want to pay $50 for a spring compressor.
Back in the mid 70's, I picked up a cheap $10 spring compressor from Pep
Boys that was designed to lower the car in a cheap and easy way. A low
rider special, I guess. Anyhow, I used those things to successfully
compress my springs back then.
Like you, I was also creative today and saved about $30 by creating my own
horn "brush" with a small piece of mini-pvc drip irrigation pipe, a short
length of zip cord and a dollop of solder. Threading the zip cord through
the ends of the pvc, I left a bit of bare wire on each end. On the horn
button side, I created the "brush". I put a large droplet of solder on the
short exposed section of wire on the other end and shovedmthe soldered end
up into the end of the pipe, with about 1/8" of the solder extending out.
Then, I shoved the soldered end into the hole at the top of the horn socket,
placed the horn button in place and voila!! Mrs. Jones yelped for the very
first time! I'm missing one of my horns -- and I now have no doubts that
it's low note that's missing, ha ha. One of these days I may get a "proper"
brush -- but for $25 and a part that's never seen -- I won't be in any
hurry. The improvised brush works great.
Cheers,
Jeff in San Diego
----- Original Message -----
From: Joe Curry <spitlist@gte.net>
To: Triumph List <triumphs@autox.team.net>; Spitfire List
<spitfires@autox.team.net>; <spitfire-enthusiast@egroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 2:51 PM
Subject: Mother of Inverntion
>
> No, we're not talking about Frank Zappa again. What we're talking about
> is making something work when the right tool is not available.
>
> I had my front springs cut down and bought a set of SPAX shocks from
> BPNW for Tiny Tin, the healing Mk1 Spitfire Race car project.
>
> I don't have a spring compressor, although I probably ought to break
> down and buy one. I checked around to see if anybody locally has
> something that I could use and coming up empty, I decided to see what I
> had available to improvise a solution.
>
> Here's what I came up with: (You will have to turn on your imagination
> to picture the crude but effective solution).
>
> I took a 12 inch long 3/8" grade 8 bolt and using spacers and washers
> (camber compensator parts), I threaded the bolt through the bottom eye
> of the shock.
>
> I found a pair of Heavy duty turnbuckles that were originally planned
> for supporting a 100 foot base antenna. I attached the lower end of
> each turnbuckle to the ends of the bolt and extended them to their
> maximum length.
>
> I placed the spring on the shock and the top bracket over the spring and
> took a Spitfire brake drum (the center hole is perfectly sized to fit
> around the three bolts that secure the top bracket) and used it for the
> top piece.
>
> I connected the upper ends of the turnbuckles to either end of a 1/4"
> speed handle (the offset in the middle allows clearance to attach the
> upper bushing and nut).
>
> I tightened the turnbuckles about 3 twists each in rotation until the
> shock mounting stud came up high enough to clear the bracket and allow
> installation of the bushing, 2 washers and the nut.
>
> Not overly glamorous, but highly effective.
>
> Next project: Making a silk purse from a sow's ear!
>
> Regards,
> Joe
>
> --
> "If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
> -- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
>
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