Red Arrows' Ascent

Before:
Turn signal light—lamp from the brake failure warning light.
Hazard light—not lit due to malfunctioning relay.
Brake failure warning light—hokey aftermarket LED insert.

After:
Ordered new green turn signal light, much better.
Hazard relays fixed, indicator light back in commission.
Overthrew the aftermarket lamp and put in the turn signal lamp, works and looks better.

On the list of several parts Red Arrows didn't have when I bought her, a grille was one of them. I bought an bare-aluminum-type grille that was meant for earlier MK3s than the 1970 year, but I enjoy the look more and originality is not my priority. It fit on with some nylon spacers and washers, and black-painted nuts and bolts. The inclusion definitely added a more "complete" look to the car, and surely for the better aesthetically and functionally!

A door mirror was nonexistent on Red Arrows, to start. That wasn’t going to fly when inspection came, so I decided on the stylish, impractical approach to the installation of a rear view external mirror. The car is small enough to simply turn around or look through the internal rear view mirror to see behind, so another outer mirror really isn’t too necessary. With that said, I went for the classic bullet mirror over something larger and more functional. A previous owner concealed two previous mirror holes with bondo and paint when they decided to curiously remove the mirror. However, I didn’t like the location of the drill posts, and drilled two new ones. Using a piece of masking tape to protect the paint and draw a stencil of the mirror footprint on, I used an awl, then a pilot hole, then a drill-through hole for the mounting screws. Masking off the area around it afterward, I sprayed some self-etching primer into the new holes to inhibit rust in the future. I cut a foam gasket to pad the plastic buffer from the paint on the car to fit between the mirror and the body, and then secured the mirror with the hardware included. Rimmerbros sells the mirror with all the needed hardware included. Then, from the driver’s seat, I adjusted the mirror as functionally as I could, and it was finished!

One of the first things I noticed about Red Arrows when buying it was the aging state of the rubber stripping throughout. The trunk seal was most urgent, since the rubber was either crumbling, hard as plastic, or gooey like tar. Using WD-40, an old screwdriver, and a dull pocketknife, I carefully peeled and scraped away the old gasket, taking care not to disturb the sheet metal underneath the lifting paint. After a few hours of effort, the metal rim was cleaned, and some soap and water and a few rags removed the oily and tarry residue leftover. A new 3M bulb seal was fitted on and fit perfectly without need of trimming.

The fuel cap grommet was also beyond its time, as it shattered when I disturbed it on opening the cap. Opening the trunk, I simultaneously removed the beaten MDF cover for the gas tank for good and gave access to the ring clamps holding the rubber hose to the cap. Twisting one loose, I had to get inside and remove the screws from the vinyl trim backing to access the other ring clamp and loosen it. I also unthreaded the air tube leading to the cap. The cap slipped out with relative ease, and the old grommet removed. The new grommet was fitted in place, and the filler cap was squished down into it. The air hose connection to the cap juts out, which complicates the process, but the body cutout had a slight oval shape to it that allowed the grommet to just barely allow that part of the cap through (with the aid of careful prying from an old screwdriver). The air tube was rethreaded, the cap refitted into the rubber hose, the ring clamps repositioned and tightened, and the cap rotated with the hinge facing 12 o'clock to my liking (satisfies symmetry and fuel side versatility).

Previously, the propping mechanism was so loosely held together that it would buckle on itself while raising the bonnet, and it couldn't be opened without prying the mechanism away with a thin bar. Disassembling the prop, the hardware was rusty, lazy, somewhat stripped, and most was of no use reusing. New hardware throughout was easy to come by. The bars were beginning to rust and the paint was flaky, so they were cleaned off, abrased, sandblasted, and repainted with high-temp black over multiple coats. The contact surfaces to the bonnet and frame were also cleaned and repainted. When reassembled, the mechanism is less sloppy, glides freely, and looks miles better.

Red Arrows finally has an all-new workshop manual (R. Bentley 1968-1974) to aid its ascent with confidence!
Fascinating to learn about a car's story without any given history on it. I've found out that although my Spitfire is a 1970 model, she's got the engine with twin-SU carburetors, whose last factory installments were supposed to be on the 1969 models (or am I wrong about this?). The commission plate on the body says this car was manufactured in December of 1969, so I'd assume she was sold as a 1970 model (...is this right?).