Spitfire Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fun...

[DCtr3]

Wanted to introduce myself as well. I am on my 3rd Triumph, first car was a '71 Spit(brg) and my current project car is a '57 TR3(brg). I recently acquired a decently clean '76 Spitfire(inca yellow). This car is to help the time pass while I work on the TR3. Car is just about all original, not too much rust(rockers mostly) but the frame/floors/battery tray/truck are all in great shape.

Now, this Spit is my 3rd car and I wanted to know if fellow spit owners had some suggestions for making the car feel a little more spirited.

Here is the list as of now:

Shorter Front Springs
Uprated Front/Rear Dampers
Retrofit HS2s
Stainless Steel Exhaust(of some sort)
Minilite Wheels w/Newer Rubber

What would you suggest?

Any help making the chassis more stiff?

Thanks in advance, this seems to be a great forum and I look forward to doing lots of reading!

 

[valenciamidget]

you need a cam and a shaved head in addition to all that to get anything significant. a weber DGV may do better then the SU's too. even all that won't be all that much in my opinion. i tried stuff on my midget, and i never really got too impressed. and make sure that a good header accompanies that stainless steel exhaust

 

[DougF]

Welcome to the forum! Is the suspension rebushed? You can always upgrade the type of bushings. Sway bars are always a nice addition.

 

[Jerseygirl]

Re: Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fu

Welcome! I've got a '79 1500 and we've already done a few of the upgrades you listed.

I think the very first thing I did when I bought the car a few years ago was to order a set of Superlite wheels (Minilite imitations) to replace the stock steel wheels. Very spiffy.

Just a couple weeks ago we installed the uprated lowering springs. Much nicer than having the nose of the car pointing up in the air. I replaced the shocks as well, but just went with a stock replacement.

I've got a Bell stainless steel exhaust on the car right now, and there's a matching header waiting to go on when we install the rebuilt HS2's that we're still waiting to get back from being rebuilt. Can't wait to see the difference. I can't say that the exhaust itself made any improvement, but man, does it look and sound GREAT!!!

I can't make any recommendations about stiffening the chassis, but one other thing we have done was to replace all the bushings with polyurethane. Mainly did this for longevity.

Oh, and something else to consider if you're not concerned about keeping the car stock... replace the alternator with a GM alternator. It's a pretty straightforward swap and will ensure you've got all the juice you need to run all your electrical accessories!

Here are a couple shots of "Baldrick" with his spiffy wheels and Bell exhaust:

 

[PeterK]

Re: Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fu

My suggestion would be to sell the Spit and devote your $ and energy to getting the TR3 on the road. This will make driving a little more fun, fer sure.

Having a 2nd car to drive is a distraction that keeps your first choice car in pieces. Ask me how I know - my 4A has been almost done for over 10 years.

 

[tdskip]

Re: Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fu

A K&N air filter and removing the stock air box will make a surprisingly big difference. Cheap too!

 

[DNK]

Re: Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fu

Robyn, can't tell what is shinier. The jack stands or the mufflers

 

[Trevor Triumph]

Re: Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fu

It may be more money than you want to spend, but European HS4s and manifold have been helpful. I bought the stuff from TSI in Pandora Ohio. T.T.

 

[aeronca65t]

Re: Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fu

I've been racing one of these 1500 engines (in a 1500 Midget) for over 5 years.

Most of the things I'd do are not exactly related to the "sexy" parts of these cars. It's fun to personalize a car with nice wheels and so forth, but do the BASICS first.

The NUMBER ONE thing I'd look at is the engine thrust washers. You can get a good idea of this by putting the car in neutral, engine off with wheels chocked. Grab the front pully and try to move it front-to-back. If it has any noticable play when you pull/push it, get a dial indicator and measure it. If it is more than about 0.014", drop the oil pan and replace the thrust washers. It's actually an easy job. If you don't, your engine may become a boat anchor in short order. This is a real weak point in these engines and I have seen plenty of them where the thrust washers have fallen into the pan. The engine will still run and will seem OK, but the crank is usually ruined by this point.

Check for looseness in the rear suspension and drive axles...another weak point if ignored.

For a Spit, I'd re-bush the front suspension with poly bushes and fit new shocks front and rear (unless they're pretty new). Decent shocks can transform these cars.

Lower front springs and a camber compensator or stiffer spring in the back can help. If this is a street car, you don't want to go crazy on making it too low or too stiff. 400 to 450 in/lb springs should be plenty for the front. I'm not sure about the rear spring. If it has a front sway bar, be sure the retaining blocks that hold it to the frame are not all beat up (from ramming curbs), and check the end links that go to the A-arms.

I'll assume that your car has the single ZS carb that's mostly intended to reduce emissions. It can work OK, but replacing it with a similar size SU carb can be a nice help (I had an HS4 that was from a twin-carb MGB adapted to mine for while when it was on the street).
I've bought several cars with the Weber DGV carbs fitted and personally, I prefer the side draft SU carbs. The Euro-style twin carb 1500 manifold (with SU HS2s) is probably the best setup for this car. A header can help, but mostly because the stock manifold (with cat-convertor) is so bad. And the header will make things lighter.

Do all the basic maintenance:
Set the timing (about 10 deg. before TDC is about right). Adjust the valves.
Fit new plugs, wires, rotor and cap. I would guess this has the electronic ignition...if not, replace the points and condensor.
And if you're not sure, change the oil in the engine, trans and rear. Re-adjusting and re-greasing the front wheel bearings is a good idea too. And don't forget to look at the trunions and tie rod ends (front end) for looseness.

I'm re-doing a much-ignored MGB right now and I've gone over small things like the greasing the door hinges, hood lock, trunk lock and stuff like that...it can really make the car seem a lot nicer.

It goes without saying that a workshop manual is a must for this car.

G'luck!

 

[foxtrapper]

Free
Bump the ignition timing forward.
Cut a coil or two out of the stock front springs.

Cheap
HS2's and manifold.
GT6 front springs, cut down.
New suspension bushings.
Good tires (Sumitomo's are cheap)

Not cheap
Camshaft upgrade.
Front swaybar upgrade.
Good shocks.
Good brake pads.
HS4's and manifold.

Expensive
Overdrive transmission or 5-speed.
Larger wheels and really good tires.
Header & exhaust upgrade.
Engine internal upgrades.
Weber DCOE's and manifold.

 

[billspit]

If engine in the car is orignal, it should be the high compression engine. A better cam, dual SUs, a better exhaust system and upgrading the ignition will help a lot. I also like the idea of changing springs, shocks and bushings.

You may want to shop around for the best busing material, as it seems some are notoriously short lived. I don't recall which is the better material as I went back with rubber.

 

[DCtr3]

Thanks!

Thanks for all of the helpful insight everyone. I appreciate the comments on concentrating energy/money on the TR3 but that has been a work in progress since 1969.... Currently it is in 3 pieces(frame/engine/body). Just really needs to be assembled. The idea of driving it one day excites me but we are still 2-3 years away.

Back to the Spitfire:

Speed isnt necessarily the most prominent reason for this. I look forward to it as a 40mpg commuter as well. Handling and the convertible aspect are the most important. I am not a fan of yellow cars at all but i got this one for a good deal(at least i think) and it will remind me of my old car again.

Here is what I have acquired so far

76 spit(of course)

Back up stuff:
Running 1300 motor with HS2s
Back up 4 speed
Mk4 Rear bumper(will this just bolt on the new 76?)
Front Bonnet
Mk4 Seats.
TR4 Seats(perfect condition)

More questions: Will TR4 Seats just bolt in? Are they roughly the same seating position that the standard spit seats provide(would compare but the tr4 seats are in storage)

How about the Mk4 bumper? Will that Bolt on?

Thanks!

Not mine but Inca yellow

 

[eejay56]

Re: Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. Here is a trick for the rear bumper. The overriders come right off as does the big piece in the center. Fill the holes with chrome bolts and you have a nice skinny euro style rear bumper. The front is a little trickier because the frame sticks out but Rimmer Bros has the smaller euro overriders. I'd put on those SUs and get a header for starters .

 

[DCtr3]

Re: Thanks!

That rimmer brother site is quite interesting. Sent in an inquiry regarding how much the UK underrider set up would cost shipped to the USA.

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[eejay56]

Re: Thanks!

I'm curious about the shipping costs. I need to replace mine since I trashed one when I removed my hood. I haven't looked into it yet because I have to pay for my engine rebuild before I buy any cosmetic stuff.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Re: Thanks!

Speed isnt necessarily the most prominent reason for this. I look forward to it as a 40mpg commuter as well. Handling and the convertible aspect are the most important.

You may be a bit disappointed, inasmuch as I rather doubt you'll get quite 40mpg without an overdrive gearbox and some careful driving techniques. But you should probably get into the low 30s with a well-tuned stock (hint: stay with the single Stromberg) engine.

More questions: Will TR4 Seats just bolt in? Are they roughly the same seating position that the standard spit seats provide(would compare but the tr4 seats are in storage)

I don't know if the TR4 seats will "bolt in" or not, but they undoubtedly are not reclining back and also not high back or headrest seats, both of which are worth keeping if you already have them. Are the MkIV seats the one-piece highback? I always found them rather comfortable, as I did the later 1500 seats with the separate headrest. And the adjustable, reclining seatback can make all the difference in the world to some of us!

 

[Brosky]

Re: Need help making my Spit 1500 a little more fu

Robyn,

Does the company that makes the MGB/TR7-8 replacement front and rear panels, make them for this as well?

That car would look soooooo good with a smoothed front and rear.

The front end would look like a Ferrari with the wide open oval grille.

But that's just my opinion....

 

[Bob Claffie]

Re: Thanks!

The 1300 engine has soooo much more potential than the 1500. That's where I would spend my time and money. Prep that one and buy the necessary change over parts so when you get ambitious you can swap them over. Not empty conjecture, I have had both. Bob

 

[DCtr3]

Re: Thanks!

The 1300 engine has soooo much more potential than the 1500. That's where I would spend my time and money. Prep that one and buy the necessary change over parts so when you get ambitious you can swap them over. Not empty conjecture, I have had both. Bob

Bob, can you go into more detail? just wondering why it would make more of a difference? I thought the 1500 was just a stroked 1500?

 

[valenciamidget]

Re: Thanks!

2nd that. 1275 is way better for upgrades.
but, i have heard people claim 45-50 mpg in a stock midget. i guess this one still had all the stock emisions and such.