Summary of Seat and Valve Modifications

Now that all of the work on the valves and valve seats is done I wanted to summarize the experience. My goal was to get the largest economical improvement. I'm a starving student, my budget is minimal. The porting modifications cost me a couple of burs and a ton of research time and e-mails to respected experts. Personal labour is free after all.

I don't see a reason why you wouldn't want to have the seats cut to three angle and the valves back cut, even on a standard rebuild. The cost was minimal, the turnover was incredible, I picked up the parts from the shop the next day. I mean just look at the two images below. The top is a standard valve and seat the bottom has the two simple modifications. Using Solidworks to simulate the valve comparison I found a back cut valve flowed 11% better than a standard one. These values are supported in articles by know experts such as D. Vizard. 

I guess this post is a bit of rambling but I really think it's important to show those two images of Spitfire specific head and port. I will probably add to my porting guides page the collective information which I found useful from all different sources.

Parts Orders Out

From Moss

(I wonder how they will bodge this order)

Pair of ABT Needles

TT1209 Lightened and Tuftried Followers (To keep the cam warranty)

Fast Road 89 Cam

Bronze Valve guide Set

From Victoria British

17-201 OIL COOLER - 13 ROW (To replace the damaged one, stupid me)
2-133 WATER PUMP
7-439 CALIPER PIN KIT (To remove the click click of the pad bouncing around)
4-416 FLYWHEEL RING GEAR (looking pretty mangled on mk3 flywheel)
1-803 TIMING CHAIN (Cheap insurance for the new cam)
1-905 OIL PUMP (Higher Capacity)

From Ebay

10" Rad Fan - 1200cfm, 12V, 80W

Aircraft Switch with cover for manual override of termostat

For more information on the Golf Radiator Conversion Click Here

Still to Acquire:

Engine Gasket Set

Head Rebuild Kit

Radiator expansion tank and rad hoses

Oil Filter relocation Kit from Mocal

TIRES - if this car actual starts making power I might have a big problem.

Weekend Work

Mocal oil cooler finally arrived and got installed. I went with the 13row fast row. Bumped up the pressure about 10psi at idle. Gives me a bit more confidence when I'm giving her a good flogging.

Modified, blasted and painted arms are installed. Might tighten it up a bit more, maybe not, but it gives more confidence.

The pair of studded 3/8" rod ends previously installed. They are doing fine, I just give them a shot of lube every once and a while.

Suspension Parts

This week has been a busy one for the suspension and overall handling of the car. New parts to go in include:

• Moss TT4407 Competition Springs
• Spax adjustable damping and ride height shocks in the front
• Moss 1" lowered rear leaf spring
• Camber Compensator manufactured by Joe Curry

If I did it again I would consider the 2" lowered rear spring instead but this give me some flexibility as the spring settles. I will add a lowering block that way if I ever want to bring the car back up to old man height I can just remove the block.

I was back and forth on which springs to get the "uprated"(330lb/in) or "competition"(480lb/in) springs. I asked the question on the forum back in the day and the overwhelming response was to go stiffer if I ever wanted to auto cross the car. I believe Dave P's response was that "uprated springs are soft as poo" and that there were still lines on the road from his car bottoming out.

Here you can see that the rear will definitely need some lowering as this is with a full tank of gas and carrying a spare tire. Current thinking is 3/4" lower on the rear will give a nice balance between empty and full. Ride is perfect for two right now though.

The camber compensator installed in about 20 minutes with a perfect fit. Craftsmanship was top notch with very clear instructions. You can find more information on them here.

A word on handling: AMAZING. The car can take 30km/h suggest highway ramps at 90 without a hint of body roll, with a very neutral feeling. All in all a satisfactory setup. Worth every penny.

New Videos

Here are a couple of video's shot this weekend of some testing on the car. Carb problem seems to be sorted out. The rattle in the second video will be sorted very shortly when the new trunk hinge arrives. Can't wait to get it on the road for this summer.

Short Shifter

One of the first projects I thought of doing to the spitfire was to cut the shifter. If had so much through I felt like a trucker driving. I have the arm reach for it to still be comfortable so after some fiddling I decided to cut 2" from the top of the shifter. I cut the 2" from the middle of the long straight part then used a section of angle iron to keep is aligned while I welded the threaded portion back on. All in all it turned out well. I touched it up with a file to make it all smooth and then coated it with engine block paint and baked the shaft in the oven to cure the paint. it won't be as shiny or durable as the chrome, but it will be better then bare steel. I'm happy with how it turned out and how it shifts. Enough to reduce the throw, but not so much that it's tough to find the gears. Next project is to locate a small lathe for a reasonable price.

Here you can see a stock shifter with the piece I cut out, in it's approximate location.

All welded up and painted. Ready to go in.

Straight as an arrow thanks to the angle iron.

EDIT***

The shifter has been modified again with another inch removed for a total of 3" less than stock. There is still lots of control and it's easy to find gears.

The Cam

Cam will be from a stock mk3 giving 270deg duration with .340" of lift, the stock cam was 240deg duration with 0.215". The cam came with my first car and I was planning on just selling it on e-bay as it seemed to be in great condition. Good thing I never sold it!

Here you can really see the wear on the old cam at the timing gear end. So happy about this result, hopefully it can deliver :D

Balancing Act

Balancing is teadious work, but got to have it perfect. This is the jig I am using to balance the ends, to make sure the center of mass is the same for all rods. A LOT of fine tuning to get all the overall masses the same, and the center of mass the same.

Also on the BRM H-16 found this

The Sound of BRM

Labour

This is how I got money for a new cam! Shovelling snow out from around a tennis dome. Back breaking work.

Three rods are almost all finished finished sanding now. One left!

and then i have to start all over on the caps, CRAP

Grinding and Polishing (The beginnin)

The beginings of the grinding and polising of the connecting rods. Spent the whole afternoon on this, they are almost done the grinding part using a stone on the dremel.

Intake Matching and smoothing

Pile of aluminum dust

Carb Side

Head alignment ring. Much smoother transition now

Whole way through, finished with 80 grit to promote atomization

Couple of hours worth of smoothing, hopefully worthwhile. Going for the small DIY gains. :D

More porting....