my u joint went bad on my spitfire 1500 and I thought I would have to remove the tranny to replace it, (wrong) and therefore decided to put in the OD tranny I had got off somebody 15 years ago for 100 bucks. I had no idea of the condition of it, other than it turned by hand, didnt make any awful noises, it switched gears, and the solenoid clicked when I gave it 12 volts of pure power. I had the driveshaft shortened by one inch and the U joints replaced for $110 at drivelines inc. I forgot to order the rear tranny bracket until the day before the project, so I still have to wait a week until it gets here from rimmer bros. the late spitfires like mine did not have a o/d relay into the solenoid and that sounds like a bad idea to me. Im going to put one in. I was able to get the old tranny off today and bolt the new one on sans rear tranny mount, which is farther than I thought Id get in one day because lining up the transmission to the engine and getting it through the firewall and over the exhaust coupling is a pain in the ass. the new speedo cable and angle adapter are on their way as well. now I just have to find a cool od switch that lights up and figure out where to put it. I decided against the stock switch on the shifter because they are way too much money on ebay. I tried to change the clutch but the allen bolt on the pressure plate got stripped so I left it for another day. I dont think there was much wear on it anyway. I replaced the throw out bearing even though the old one was in good condition and spun freer than the new one. it was a good productive day. I cant wait to click into overdrive on the freeway because 4000 revs at 70 is way too many. Tomorrow I do the electrical stuff and maybe Ill install a different stereo as well.

installed these from TRF today. yesterday I replaced the alternator and noticed the top alt bracket had broken in two. It may be a good alternator but changed it out just in case with my spare.

took this picture about 3 weeks ago. I now have about 500 miles on the newly rebuilt head. it has run very well with the rebuilt SU's on. It starts on the first or second try just about every time. the choke works great and the wheels look pretty good with the fresh dark gray paint. I also adjusted the throttle plate which tightened the slack on the petal.

Fixed the tonneau by taking out the zipper stops at the front and rear of the zipper with a knife and needlenose pliers. Removed zipper guide (it was only attached to one side of the teeth) . I removed thread at rear of zipper and pushed guide on (picture). Reattached zipper stops. I also bought a button snap kit at the hardware store which worked out nicely although it is steel colored and not black.