[Mick O'Malley]

I pitched in yesterday morning after a quick refresher course with my Haynes Manual. I'd taken the Spitfire diff. (as well as the engine, gearbox etc.) out of my Marlin Roadster to carry the frame from behind my house to the front before re-assembly, so the job wasn't completely new to me. The Haynes Manual neglected to mention the long bolt through the rear of the diff., an omission that didn't surprise me, as I'd taken issue with them a few years ago regarding a procedure 'detailed' in their BMW GS1100 manual, which, if followed, could easily have resulted in serious injury or death. I received a reply to the effect that, if reprinted, the error would be corrected!

As anticipated, the four studs through the spring into the diff. proved the only difficult part of the operation as the limited access required awkward contortions lying along the passenger side floor. Anyway, it all went fairly smoothly with a minimum of FFS's and skinned knuckles, the lump of oily scrap at last sitting on the ground.

Crap photo' alert.



And again.



If I'm extremely lucky, the replacement will be fitted by close of play on Friday, allowing me to arrive in style at the Lotus Day at Castle Combe on Saturday and the French/Italian day at Prescott on Sunday, weather permitting........

Regards, Mick