John,
I'll try on a couple of these:
> 1) What's good for soundproofing and heat-insulating an ABS transmission
> tunnel for a Spitfire?
There is a neat insulation available from your local home center that is
basically foil clad bubble packing. I don't have a brand name to give
you but I've seen it at our local Menard's. It is thin so it fits
nicely under the carpets. Put it on the fire wall and tranny cover at a
minimum. Coating the floors may help noise. GT-6 people probably know
the brandname!
> 3) Any tricks for putting on a Spit soft top?
Work slowly and carefully :-) The main trick is to set it up so that it
is stetched the proper amount, not too tight, not too loose. The
problem is that a new top will stretch a bit after you install it and
you have to try to guess how much. A top that is initially installed
with the amount of "taughtness" that seems about right will soon be a
bit loose. If you install it slightly over-taught initially, the end
result will be perfect. How much overtaught is something you feel, sort
of like turning a nut...
I have done 2 and have had good luck installing the snaps at the back of
the cockpit first. When I have the top anchored at the back, I then
attach the front with the right amount of tension mentioned above. The
easiest way I have found is to fit the top with the front rail slightly
off of the windscreen frame (that is, slightly back). You can guage how
tight it will be by hanging on to the excess inside the car and lowering
the top into place. I glue it to the front rail (that meets the
windscreen) with contact cement and if you work quickly, you can use the
glue to help you hold things in place and still be able to move things
around until everything seems right. In addition to the glue, the top
gets riveted to the rail when riveting the weather stripping channel in
place. Once the top is glued and riveted in the front, trim off the
excess and leave it for a while to let the cement cure before fastening
down the front rail so it doesn't pull loose.
I hope this makes sense, it is a lot easier to demonstrate than it is
to describe!
> 4) Anything I should look at first to track down a 100-150 mile range
> on 1 qt of oil in an MGB 18V engine? Compression is 120 on all 4
cylinders.
Leaks!
Good luck,
Mike
mburdick@unmc.edu
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