Here is the October 06 report on the rebuild of BL628 the Spitfire V.

Work has continued around the engine installation area with more bracketry completed for the engine accessories. A new bracket to hold hydraulic regulator onto firewall has been fabricated as well as the brackets to hold thermostat housing onto RH leading edge of the wing.

Disassemble and inspect pneumatic regulator – replace gaskets – overhauled and cleaned.

We have fabricated a new fuel bay tank cover. It has now been trimmed to fit fuselage and the holes cut for filling and bonding items. A modern set of fasteners has been custom fitted to allow the use of camlocks along the rear edge replicating the original look. The rear attachment landing is also now complete. The lower flange has been attached with screws and anchor nuts. New wind lacing has been sourced for the longeron edge.

Machine special bolts for upper longeron engine mount. The upper mount fittings and longeron were then reamed and the bolts installed permanently. Four of the bolts are further modified to carry studs for the tank attach fittings. This then allowed us to test fit top tank in mounting brackets – ream holes check the clearance with fuel bay tank cover.

Pressure test top and bottom fuel tanks. No leaks then lock wire bolts retaining inspection panels. We then installed the transfer pipe fittings and file crush washers to get correct angle.

Refurbish elevator and rudder trim hand wheel assemblies. Paint stripped, repainted and detailed. Elevator trim hand wheel required repair of chips to outside edge.

External fuel drop tank release mechanism and fuel shut off Teleflex items refurbished. Placard detailed. Lower casting block, which contains the locking bar, was weld repaired.

Location of pilots headset terminal blocks and jack stowage bracket determined on R/H cockpit side wall. Jack stowage bracket fabricated from patterns and riveted in place. Steel tabs made for attachment of the headset wiring lanyard, terminal blocks installed with corresponding placards.

Location of pneumatic system (brakes and flaps) bulkhead fittings determined on cockpit side walls. Bulkhead fittings riveted in place along with the appropriate placards.

Pilots head armour painted green. Mounting studs for pilots head armour installed into top frame #11

Flight control lock disassembled for refurbishment. Steel items re cad plated. Main locking bar repaired. Items painted silver. Still requires reassembly and new placard OK

Top electrical fuse box tray installed on L/H cockpit side wall below longeron.

Elevator and rudder trim wheel chain guards trimmed and fit improved. Primer painted.

Pilots seat retaining latch and guards fitted to frame #11 cross tube. Lower seat socket brackets installed at base of frame #11. Fit of seat checked.

Started to reinstall square tube structure in cockpit. Partial reinstall of original windscreen de-ice plumbing to determine routing or anything missing etc.

New fairleads have been made for the throttle push rod and cables around fuel tank bay. An new throttle push rod has also been fabricated from the original pattern.

The oxygen bottle mount assembly is now finished and can be installed in the fuselage when appropriate.

Work has begun on finishing the rudder. Detailing has been needed in a number of areas and the lower cap has been removed and remade. A new top balance weight fairing has also been fabricated. During the process of test fitting the rudder we determined that the upper hinge block mounting studs required replacement and this has been accomplished.

Work has progressed on the radio mast mount structure .We have straightened some of the components with the shrinker to allow them to fit into fuselage to locate mounting plates within. Re rivet fuselage mounts. Fabricate L/H upper mount and re fold others to stop stress on the skin. Re rivet to fuse. Make new mounting plates to centralize mast bracket. Paint all components and fit to fuselage.

Fabricate new control stick from alloy tube. The original ends have been reused and the tube drilled to accept the ends.The holes have been reamed for taper pins and the pins fitted.

We have dismantle the seat belt return mechanism and fabricate a new tube from 4130 steel. We have had a new return spring fabricated, have removed the corrosion from the castings, alodined and painted. The unit has been re-assembled and is ready for installation

We have trial fitted the tail to allow us to run the rudder trim cables. We have drilled holes in the frames to allow the cables to run through. We have fabricated wear strips and bolted them to the frames. We have fabricated fairleads for both rudder trim and elevator trim and fitted these into the rear fuse.

Fabricate from aluminum spacer tubes to fit into structure behind the pilots seat. Fit both diagonal parts of structure.

The overhaul of the throttle quadrant continues. The unit has been assembled to ensure the components are working correctly. We have begun to fabricate a new airscrew friction ramp from 4130 steel.

Work has continued on the wing tips and these are now complete. This involved attaching the upper and lower main skins to wooden frame. Using laser for alignment, rivet up trailing edge. Drill all screw holes in wing and wing tip skins. Final trimming of these skins.

Fit anchor nuts to wing skins. Make & fit screw doubler strips for tip attachment. Make & fit nav light fairing. Fit tip to wing.

We have fabricated a new aileron outer hinge bracket to improve the aileron alignment with the wing.

Work has recommenced on the elevator. Tidy up fabric inserts and polybrush. Build up L/H & R/H tips & tip structures and fit to spar. The inboard fairings have been fitted and work can now move onto rib installation.

Make & fit door fasteners to 2 x access doors in aft fuse. Trim & bend doors to fit better.

We have manufactured new rudder pedal adjuster wear tubes. These have been hard chromed and ground aand the assembly has been finished and trila fitted in the fuselage.

We have finished fitting HF antenna mounts into fuse. And have made and and fitted the lower seat attachment points.

The new battery clamp assembly has all been fabricated and the battery can now be fitted.

We have begun to manufacture new custom brake drums to convert the 10” wheels to carry the brake slave assemblies from the 10 ¼” wheel.

The pitot head has been fitted. This required fabricating new mounting braketry and fitting the tubes to the head mount. The pitot static lines have been installed. Brackets and bleed points made and prefitted. Complete except nib 1

Make or prefit all bottom access panels aft of main spar on the left wing. All are completed except rib 14 cannon access and rib.

Work has continued on the radiator housing. All the components are now complete and the fairing is 50% assembled.

We have installed the new frame in the rear fuselage.