The Restoration

Finally, after ten years off-the-road Eggbert is back!

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Chronic Spitfire Syndrome (or how I got where I am today)
	It all started about 10 years ago, when I acquired my very first Spitfire, a 1967 Mk3 in Signal red, with wire wheels. I had been looking for some kind of car - had to be a convertible - for some time, but the MG's were too expensive and common and the others just didn't appeal.
A friend called Dave had a Spitfire and I always liked it, but preferred something which looked a little more classic and '60's. I think a diet of re-runs of The Saint and old James Bond films had made me this way. Anyway, Dave's car was brown (why anyone makes brown cars is beyond me) and so would never do. Sorry Dave. Another friend of mine actually bought that car and is STILL restoring it. That was nine years ago - is it finished yet, Richard? (Makes mine seem straightforward by comparison)
		Brown Spitfires - why?
	I joined the TSSC and flicked through their monthly magazine The Courier. I saw it there. It was like a Spitfire, but wasn't. It looked very '60's and had a funny kind of knobbly-rounded tail. It had lots of chrome and wire wheels and it just looked so good and unpretentious. Above all it wasn't brown.
This was it then, a Mk3 Spitfire it had to be. It had to be red, with wire wheels too. Unfortunately someone had neglected to mention that these cars were so rare. This was devastating and I scanned the adverts for months, looking for something. Then it turned up. A red Mk3 (with wires) just a half mile from my home. SOLD. I went around to the sellers and looked at the car. It had some rust on it and the gearbox was 'tender' but it looked great. He also had the factory hardtop and I wanted it. He was asking 1750 for the car, but I thought it not worth it and talked him down to 1150.
	Over the next year, I had the car rebuilt, without taking off the body (I was on a strict budget) and the following summer, the car rolled out. Perfect. I enjoyed the remnants of that summer and looked forward to the next one, as winter and Spitfires do not mix very well. I scudded through three summers and two engines in that car and loved every minute.
One day I pulled up at a T-junction, right outside a primary school, the kids were at lunch or something. One of them looked over and gasped and yelled. Then the others literally poured over to the fence and started cheering. I'll never forget that moment as I pulled out, exhaust roaring and waving to those kids at the school. This car really had something going for it.
	My girlfriend at the time never understood why I bothered with such an old car - she was hooked on anything new and/or expensive, forever wanting to swap for the latest, greatest model which also extended to securing a replacement boyfriend. I spent the rest of that summer in the girlfriend wilderness, but taking a couple of girls out who really loved that car. Take it from me, Corvettes, E-types or any other such penile projectiles are not what the real girls love. Small, cute and perfectly formed wins every time. One schoolgirl in Brittany Spears ensemble actually climbed into the car, as I was stopped at traffic lights. Had I not been completely goofed by this (as I am with all encounters with anyone even slightly prettier than my mum's Shi-Tzu), I would have whisked her off for her most thrilling spin about town, before dropping her off at her Mum's completely unscathed, but wanting more of that Mk3! As it was, I politely explained to her that the 4 year age gap between us, could never have constituted a lasting relationship. Besides, she had her homework to do. Confused, she climbed out and watched me rumble off into the distance (and I wondered why I never got many dates!). All good things must come to an end and living the "Bachelor Life" meant that either my Spitfire, or my year-old Golf GTi must go. Foolishly, I listened to the sound of practicality (well the Golf has four seats and a hatch). The Spitfire was sold to a young chap, who lived in Driffield, Yorkshire. By this time, I was living in Taunton, Somerset and thankfully never got to wave my pride and joy away.
'Britney' was gutted when I kicked her out of my Spit, she turned to singing as solace.
If you don't hear a word of what I have to say, please heed this; You can sell your Granny to medical research, your sister to a Russian circus, but never, EVER sell your Spitfire. You WILL live to regret it.
	Three years ago, I finally managed to persuade my girlfriend at the time (can you guess what's coming?) to let me replace the lost love of my life. I found a 75% completed project, just a few miles from Taunton. We went to take a look. The car was quite smart, sitting on repainted wheels, a restored chassis and in grey primer. I could imagine a resplendent signal red example, with wires. When the seller threw in a set of painted wire wheels, the deal was done.
That was back in June of 1998 and the car wasn't as good as I first thought. The bonnet was warped and would have cost a fortune to fix, so I bought a brand new one. The engine wasn't so good (AND it was from a Mk4) so I got a rebuilt original Mk3 unit (unleaded, from John Kipping). To this I added brand new SU HS4 carburettors (which needed a later-type throttle pedal and linkage - cable, not lever) and a full sports exhaust. The bootlid was replaced (the entire rear of the car was now new) and I swapped out the doors and windscreen surround. This means that the only original part of the car, is the bulkhead and scuttle.
	Then came domestic devastation #2. The girl whom I was living with became increasingly objectionable (to the car, as well as in general) and so we parted ways. Upon my return to my garage, to ship the remaining 1000's worth of items, I discovered the place to be bare. She had got rid of the lot. Not a nice lady, but at least all my suits hadn't been cut up.
Having now found Karen, (according to my mum, "The best thing that's ever happened to me" - and my Mum's right, Karen even loves Triumphs and old cars!), she and I shipped ourselves to the Cayman Islands and the car to J.Y. Classics in Buckinghamshire. So the car will be finished for us to make a flying visit home in August, this year. I even gave the car to Karen, I'm that sure of her. After all these years, I'll finally be able to get behind the wheel of a Mk3 Spitfire again. After Karen has finished driving it.

The Restoration Pictures

June 1998
The previous owner had taken the body off and blasted the chassis, before reassembly and re-painting. Bit of an improvement perhaps?. I hope to provide a full photographic history of the rebuild and post the pictures up here. This was as I bought the car. I do have some pics of the rebodied version, I'll try and scan them on.
Before:	After:


Since then, the body has been re-mated to the chassis, only for me to take it off again, to have the whole thing painted. I've chosen Signal Red as the colour of the car, partially because my original Spitfire, LRL 701F was this colour.

February 1999
Before:	After:



It's got a new engine from John Kippings, with an unleaded head. Some performance modifications I made include fitting brand new SU-HS4's, a Triumphtune twin exhaust & K&N's. All the heavy work has been done professionally, but I intend to retrim and finish it off myself. This is a tad difficult since me and he are 5000 miles apart, at present. He in south west England, me in the south west Caribbean.

September 1999
The car is now about to make it's way Eastwards to John Yarnell at JY Classics in Bucks. These photo's were taken just before it's dispatched to his workshop, where hopefully we'll see things really take shape.
	The Engine is finally starting to look the part. Notice the non-standard cable-throttle, as opposed to the original lever-action. This is because I'm using brand-new SU HS4's designed for the later 1500's. A by-product plus with this set up is the need for an "organ-style" accelerator.
		Bonnet is now fully-painted and looks smart. I've got a set of halogen headlamps to replace the original candles-in-the-dark versions. ...click on any of these pictures, for a larger one...
Don't think the boot lid support bracket was supposed to be painted. Never mind though, they have painted every last part, inside and out. Pretty good when you realise the car was originally dark blue. Now there's not a single bit of blue paint left on the car.
Interior is still stripped bare, but painted throughout now. New doors are in place and the new windscreen surround can just be seen, to the right of the car, in the middle pic. The only trouble with having the car done in "down time" is that it takes so bl@@dy long! Over a year has passed and poor Eggbert's in need of a good cleaning.

	April 2000

	Car is now being retrimmed and refitted. All the bodywork, paint and 95% of the mechanicals have been completed. Note the Motolita wooden steering wheel, all-new trim, carpeting and a canvass hood. Next will come the chrome and light fittings. The dash will also be recovered

	July 2000
		With less than a month to go, until Eggbert finally rolls out in August 2000, he's finally starting to look like a car again. John is fitting the remainder of the lights and trim and the wire wheels should be fitted shortly.

	August 2000

	I can hardly believe that it's finally finished. I think it was worth the wait though. He also goes as well as he looks, we put over 1500 miles onto the clock, in about two weeks.

One of the few times we managed to stop. Can't keep our hands off the wheel!	Karen ceremoniously cranks Eggbert up for the first time.	The interior, with new carpets throughout, new TSSC club seats and a Moto-lita wooden steering wheel.

First sighting of Eggbert, hidden behind some other cars	It's all your fault! - John Yarnell is pleased to see us off the premises!	Andy enters the "Cheesy Grin 2000" contest...

The End...?