Fellow Listers; Since I am a new Spitfire owner and a new member of this list, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and ask for some advice. My name is Matt Milkevitch and I reside in Willow Grove PA (north of Philadelphia). I have lived in the Philadelphia Metro region for about 3 years, but I'm originally from Virginia. I currently work at the University of PA School of Medicine. I am currently the owner of 3 LBCs, 2 MGBs (yes, MGBs) and the Spitfire. While not an exclusive Triumph afficionado, I have always loved Triumphs and MGs, and have a general fondness for all British marques.
I acquired the Spitfire about 1 month ago (its a '78), I got it for a song ($100) from a local repair shop that wanted it off their lot. The car is complete and the body/frame is sound. It does need some work, such as a new interior and top, along with new paint. Some rust is present, but its mainly surface and no deep rot is evident. It is currently not running. While looking over the car prior to purchase, I discovered that the motor was stuck....hence the price (the guy originally wanted $500, but didn't know the motor was stuck). The car is at home and I've been working on it, trying to free up the engine. I got it to turn, but it only turns over about half-way. I removed the cylinder head in order to perhaps more fully diagnose the problem and I believe that it will not turn over because there is a fair amount of rust on the sides of #3 cylinder. I think that once the piston rings encounter this rust the piston sticks and hence the engine will not turn over further. Question 1: Its clear that this rust needs to be removed, what would be the best way to go about it? Fine steel wool, scotch-brite? Question 2: Once the rust has been removed and the piston is free...does it sound reasonable to clean out the motor as much as possible and attempt to get it running? Perhaps the "better" suggestion would be to pull the motor, disassemble it and have it hot-tanked. Thanks for all your help/suggestions. Any listers from the Philadelpia PA region? Regards, Matt Milkevitch Matthew Milkevitch, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Fellow Department of Radiology B1 Stellar Chance University of Pennyslvania School of Medicine Philadelphia, PA 19040 (215) 898-2045 Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
