spitfire sills

[lil nicky]

Hello Chaps,

Quick question about sills. I understand that they are structural and the motor needs bracing before thay are replaced, but is this only if you have to replace the inner sill? Mine is shot on the outer but from what I can see the inner is good. Will it still need bracing for the outer to be replaced?

Thanks in advance

Nick

[TriumphDriver]

Yes. If not you'll lose the reference points for your door gaps and they'll be all over the place. The body will sag any chance it gets, and even a matter of millimetres will affect the gaps.

[mr rusty]

Don't worry, you can satisfactorily using wood-cut up fence posts or similar knocked into the door gap will do the job.

[Grumpy Northener]

I would not use wood - which absorbs moisture / drys out / swells / shrinks / sweats / and rots - dependant upon where it is located and the conditions it is kept in, a length of steel angle or box section is the better and safer option.

[m.thaddeus]

Hello There

I have done this job several times and am due to do another Spit shortly. Brace brace brace. You cannot have enough. Strips of steel 1" X 5mm can be gotten easily enough and make the best braces. Sadly the Sealy adjustable ones are too big. Set one length of steel horizontally across the aperture on line with the lock and another diagonally from the centre of the B post to somewhere about the dog-leg on the A post or higher. If you remove the door rubbers you can drill through the lip and bolt the braces in place. Another good tip is to sit a scissor jack on the tunnel to support the scuttle.

That is the easy part, here is something a bit more technical.
How many Spitfires have you seen with large door gaps at the front and small ones at the rear? A lot of cars are so bad the the rear overlaps the wing or have had the skins ground or the shut face of B post has been dressed backward.

The cause of this problem is that the Scuttle/A post assembly has fallen backward. If you are replacing the sills, then now is the time to address the matter.

Ideally you would use a porto-power hydraulic ram set to push diagonally from the kick plate behind the seats to the A-post around the dog-leg. Dress the floor and the inside of the A-post as you go - so as to re-tension it, and if need be this area will have to be strengthened as it is a weak spot. A problem made worse by decades of rot and repairs.

[Luxobarge]

can be gotten

Gotten? GOTTEN? Good God man, you don't "gotten" things, not on an honest-to-God British car like a Sptifire!

Whatever next???

Horrified of Surrey.

[Grumpy Northener]

Dear, Horrified of Surrey - the use of 'gotten' as a word of the qualified vehicle restorers dictionary is perfectly acceptable : 'Gotten' - Has in 'go get' / obtain / got ten of them.

[Luxobarge]

Dear, Horrified of Surrey - the use of 'gotten' as a word of the qualified vehicle restorers dictionary is perfectly acceptable : 'Gotten' - Has in 'go get' / obtain / got ten of them.

Ah! So what Martin was saying is that you need to get ten braces! Right, I've got it now. Or have I gotten it? Oh my deary me.....

[m.thaddeus]

Unreserved apologies Mr. Obarge.

We may have to get Suzie Dent to rule on this one.
I was raised and educated in Crawley, where the word 'Gotten' or 'Gotton' is common parlance for; bought, acquired, or knicked.

You are in the Smallfield , I did the pub quiz at the Bell in Outwood last night. Nice area. and immpecable grammar.

[Luxobarge]

You are in the Smallfield , I did the pub quiz at the Bell in Outwood last night. Nice area. and immpecable grammar.

You hound! Why didn't you pop in? I'm less than a mile from there, it's pretty much my local. Nice pub eh? I was there on Sunday, for a quick pint.

Seriously - if you're in the area again let me know, it'd be nice to meet. Well, for me, anyway....

Cheers mate!