Sunday, August 25, 2019

Spitfire Update: Doors, Windows, and Brakes

Decades of age have had quite a toll on the interior and trim pieces of my Triumph Spitfire conversion.

The original side window rubber and interior panel...



They're long overdue for a change.



Before and after to see how bad they were...


Old interior panel off...


And while I have the door open, replaced the non-functioning exterior door handle...


Looking good!




In addition to the cosmetics, I also had to address the brakes. After each winter, I had problems with brakes seizing on me and it had only been getting worse. I was recommended to put in stainless steel brake lines to help prevent the flexible lines from absorbing moisture from the air.

Old lines...


New lines...



The same hard line connection that gave me problems many years ago gave me problems again. Many years ago I couldn't get the flexible to have a good seal on the hard line. I ended up having to take it into a shop to finish the brakes. This time disconnected the hard line piece and found threading damage halfway down the nut. Based on the damage, I can't imagine it was anything I could have done - must have happened long before I owned the car. The shop many years ago just must have managed to push hard enough while tightening to overcome the bad threads.


Thankfully a business nearby could quickly and cheaply create a replacement.


And now the car is running great!

Hopefully it won't have to look like this again anytime soon...